Borough Council Roundup - 2/1/2010

Sorry it's late folks - been very busy. In any event, the meeting for the most part was relatively uneventful. Some highlights:

1. I have decided to sit on the Residential Rental Property Inspection Program committee. While the program has passed and is now officially on the books, there are things that still need to be ironed out - so I thought it would be best if I sat on the board and offered, wherever and however I can, some assistance to ensure the success of this program.

2. We passed the ordinance designating several additional streets in the new developments (Tatamy Hunt and Fieldstone) as "Snow Emergency Routes". Please folks - when it's going to snow - remove your cars from the Snow Emergency Routes. I had the opportunity to once again ride in the plow with Frank Young, our road foreman on Saturday afternoon. What an eye opening experience. I have several photos of that adventure that I will share with you shortly. Please also remember that the guys driving the plow trucks are doing their jobs. Yes - I understand that it sucks when the snow gets dumped on your driveway after you've just cleared it. Unfortunately there's no other way. Frustrating? Absolutely. Does it merit getting yourself all riled up and swearing at us as we're driving by? No. Also - do NOT, under any circumstances, throw your snow into the street. This includes snowblowers. Please make sure that the snowblower chutes are aimed toward your property and not out into the street. If you're caught throwing snow into the street you risk getting a ticket. Thank you in advance for your support.

3. Help Wanted. The borough has two open positions:

- Borough Secretary. In case you haven't already heard, Joanne Keifer is no longer with the borough. We wish her well as she pursues other opportunities. This is a part-time position, maximum of 30 hours / week with no benefits. If you're a detail oriented, organized individual with office experience, please stop down the Borough Office and turn in you resume and fill out an application. I will be interviewing next week.

- Part Time Police Officer. All applicants must be Act 120 certified. If interested, please submit an application at the Borough Office. All applications must be received by 4:30PM on Tuesday, 2/23/2010.

That's about it for this month folks. Stay tuned - looks like more snow (and the fun that goes with it) is on the way!

Borough Council Roundup - 1/4/2009

Well - the first Council meeting of 2010 was held this evening. Mayor Duignam opened the meeting, and swore in our newly elected officials, Hazel DeReamus (new to council), and Bob Hayes, who was re-elected to another four-year term. Unfortunately, due to illness, Mike Racz was unable to join us tonight, but Mayor Duignam will make sure Mike is sworn in properly in the next day or so.

The first order of business was to elect a council president. After much deliberation (well, there really wasn't that much deliberation - hell, there was hardly any discussion) I was nominated by Stuart Albert and elected by my fellow colleagues on council as your new Tatamy Borough Council President this evening. It's an honor that I do not take lightly, and I will do my best to make sure that, at the end of the day, we do what's right for the citizens of the Borough of Tatamy. Stuart Albert was once again re-nominated as Council Vice President.

Once that was completed, we had an executive session to discuss some personnel issues.

Coming out of that executive session, the following personnel changes were approved, effective as of January 1, 2010: The hours of the borough secretary and treasurer will be set at 30 / week, making these positions part-time. They will no longer participate in the full-time benefits program (e.g. vacation, sick, personal time). If they are scheduled to work on a holiday and the office is closed, we will pay them the hours for holiday pay. This will result in a significant cost savings to the borough. I have asked the finance committee (now headed by Hazel DeReamus and Bob Hayes) to report back to council next month with the amount that this change will save us moving forward.

Other appointments confirmed tonight include those of the Solicitor (Elviria LaBarre), Engineer (Hanover Engineering; Bob Mack and/or Brien Koecher); Building Code Inspector (Keystone Engineering); Zoning Officer (John Soloe). The only outstanding appointment remaining is that of the auditor. We have tabled that until next month at the earliest.

Other than that - it was pretty much business as usual. Some other highlights:

1. Dale Fern presented an update to the Residential Rental Property Inspection Program, to include announcing a public meeting to review the new program on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7:30PM. This meeting will be advertised. If this program affects you, as a landlord OR as a tenant, I highly recommend you attend.

2. We approved an ordinance increasing the mayor's salary. For the life of me I can't remember how much it was, but trust me - for what he does, it's not enough.

3. The mayor reported that the police department handled a total of 1,233 incidents last year. A special "Thank you" to the police department for taking care of us and making sure that we're safe.

4. Speaking of the police department, they had a great turnout this past Christmas with the "Visit from Santa" program. Collaborating with the Fire Department (we had two trucks on this year) - Santa was able to visit quite a few homes and put smiles on the faces of a lot of children.

That about sums things up. As always, please email me or drop a comment here if there's something that you need help with, or if there's anything that you have questions on.

Stay warm - according to the weather folks, it's looking to be quite cold for the foreseeable future. It is winter, after all.

Hello Everyone!

I was reminded last night that I have been remiss in posting here. My work life has seemed to get very crazy these past few weeks, and I haven't taken the time to post here as much as I like, and for that, I apologize.

In any event, I thought I'd give you an update on a few things.

1. Hollo Road. In case you haven't noticed, yes, it's still closed. Someone from Lower Nazareth actually came by sometime last week and uprighted the barrier that was knocked down and put the plastic fencing back in place to keep folks from driving around the barrier.

2. Election. Tatamy voters came out last week to show their support for the candidates in the local primary election. A total of 105 votes were cast by Tatamy voters, 53 Republicans (50 voters and 3 absentee ballots) and 52 Democrats. The tally for the Council race is as follows (you can get the remainder of the Northampton County results, including those for Judge and District Judge here). Search for Tatamy.

DEMOCRAT:
Mayor
One vote cast for a write-in (no name listed). No official candidate running.

Council
Michael Racz - 33 votes

REPUBLICAN:
Mayor
Luke J Duignam - 44 votes

Council
Hazel DeReamus - 45 votes
Robert Hayes - 36 votes
Robert Fisher - 27 votes

It looks like things are going to be interesting this coming November. There are currently three seats open, and four folks running.

3. Into the Woods. I posted recently about Into the Woods - the play that the Nazareth Area Middle School Drama Club was putting on in the beginning of May. Let me say - that show was fantastic. The kids did an awesome job. Once again hats off to Tatamy's own John Nadolski for his role as "Jack". Great job (as always) John! My son Jordan played the part of the Prince's Steward. Let me take this opportunity right now to gloat (it's my blog and I believe I have the right to occasionally gloat) and say that he did an awesome job. I am very proud of you son.

4. Chrin Commerce Centre and the Route 33 Interchange. Recently it was reported that Chrin Land Developers has submitted plans to construct a $25MM interchange at Route 33 and Main Street, to provide enhanced access to the Chrin Commerce Centre and other projects in the area. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. June 25 at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township. I encourage everyone to attend and ask questions. I will go on record and publicly say that I support the entire Chrin project, including this interchange. In my opinion that interchange is probably one of the best things that can happen for Tatamy and the surrounding area. It will provide improved (almost immediate) access to Route 33, and allow the Chrin Commerce Centre to really grow and attract top notch businesses, which, in turn will provide Tatamy with much needed local jobs and the accompanying tax revenue that those business (and jobs) will generate. This interchange, should it be approved, will be funded entirely by Chrin. No township (the interchange would actually be located in Palmer Township) or state money will be used to complete this project.

5. Memorial Day Service. Don't forget to join us tomorrow, Monday, May 25, 2009 at the Borough Hall for our annual Memorial Day service. The weather looks like it will cooperate. Please take an hour out of your holiday weekend and come honor those folks, both living and dead, who have served for this country (yes, I'm a US Navy veteran). Part of what makes Tatamy so special is the fact that we actually have services such as this. I hope to see you there.

That I think pretty much sums things up. As always, feel free to drop a note at any time.