LN Twp 003b
2007 Front Page

Lower Nazareth Township Citizens Forum

Past Items from the 2007
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  1. NASD - We aren’t hiring any Teachers, but we have room for another $87,000 administrator. She will be assuming some of the responsibilities currently performed by one of the two Assistant Superintendents. Also the district is moving forward with the tax shift. (No reduction in salary for the Assistant, just responsibility.)

    For in-depth coverage on the NASD and many, many other events of local interest, visit Ross Nunamaker’s site News Over Coffee.  See our new Links page for this and other sites of interest.
     
  2. Nazareth School Board Approves another Tax Increase of 4.26% and that does NOT include any funding for the extravagant new $58 Million Middle School. That boondoggle alone is going to set us (taxpayers) back to the tune of 6.51 mills over the next couple years even as they freeze hiring of new teachers. The new pool alone will cost us $625,000 per year so somewhere in the vicinity of 50 students don’t have to use the YMCA pool. Read the Express Times and Morning Call articles of February 13, 2007 (as well as earlier articles) here.

    Is it possible the Board believes this is what their constituency needs? Unlikely, as Francine Niemira presented the board with a petition containing in excess of 1,300 signatures of residents opposed to this spending spree.

    At least they voted to cease and desist abusing the power of eminent domain in seizing the Calandra’s property.
     
  3. Tax Referendum Notice - The Nazareth Area School District is raising the millage to raise property taxes to pay for the new middle school, now they want to increase the Earned Income Tax by 229% and will use the proceeds to partially reduce your recently increased property taxes. Legal Notice posted in the Express Times on February 5, 2007.
     
  4. Nazareth Area School Board is Off to a Great Start - Extravagant Spending Again - residents are up in arms, but it’s probably too late.  The papers have done an excellent job covering this. See the News Articles. Don’t you wish you could spend without regard for budget or income?
     
  5. Another Warehouse in the township? Opus development is proposing a warehouse that will increase traffic by 800 trucks per day accessing Rte 191. The proposal is currently before the Bethlehem Twp. Board of Supervisors because access to the Lower Nazareth warehouse facility can only be obtained via Broadhead Rd. Read the Express Times article.
     
  6. Problems with the existing Logisticenter Warehouses, Tractor Trailers are causing traffic problems - Who would have thought

    From BOS Meeting 12/20/2006 During the meeting discussion about Logisticenter's current warehouse operations (two buildings on Hanoverville Rd.) was a topic of discussion.  Timm Tenges (Twp. Mgr.) stated we are having No Success rectifying existing problems.  "I was even Not Tactful." They aren't listening to us. I'm asking the police to cite all traffic infractions and ordinance violations.

    I would like to ask that Gary (Asteak, Twp. Solicitor) look at what legal means we have to "bring them to their knees."  A motion was made and carried to pursue legal remedies.

    Stu Schooley (resident) asked if they could also do anything about the use of Jandl Rd. as a parking lot for tractor-trailers. Timm pointed out that Jandl is not yet a public road, it is still private and as such not too much can be done about that.
     
  7. Be sure to VOTE May 15, 2007. Local School Board vacancies, Magistrate and ACT 1. Morning Call article explains some of the issues and concerns surrounding ACT 1; the accompanying chart shows how it impacts you.

    If you want to really delve into Act 1, visit the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Cyber Coalition (ptcc) web site.  They have a multitude of information available as well as tax calculators allowing you to see it’s impact on your situation.
     
  8. Logisticenter Conditional Use approved, (Documents all in one PDF File) these are the new warehouses to be constructed on the north side of Hanoverville Rd. (05/23/07)
     
  9. Approximately 100 residents made an appearance to protest the IDI Warehouses along the border of Lower Nazareth and Palmer Townships during the first of the Conditional Use hearings (Morning Call and Express Times articles here). Most of the 100 attendees were Palmer residents even though only about seven homes border the warehouse property; what a show of unity. By comparison during the Conditional Use hearings for Warehouse Row (Hanoverville Rd.) in Lower Nazareth Township (LNT), maybe ten residents turned out - and that after flyers had been circulated. It’s not too late to make your voices heard, see Traffic for more info. (05/13/07)

    Palmer Township’s solicitor, representing the Palmer Township (PT) Board of Supervisors made note that PT had requested copies of certain documents such as Traffic Study, Lighting, Buffering plans etc.. and had not received anything until last evening (05/12/07) leaving no time to review.  Some documents have still not been received.  Blake Marles, solicitor for IDI stated the documents were only recently finalized and they did not want to send PT documents under revision, the rest of the requested documents will be sent.

    Attorney, Rene Ferretti representing herself, husband and four other residents asked some very good questions regarding potential occupants, uses and whether any noise studies had been conducted on a fully operational warehouse. IDI representative could not provide anything specific.

    The LNT Supervisors had no questions during the hearing which was adjourned at 9:00pm, to be continued July 25th, 2007 (see above).

    During the normal LNT meeting, the Supervisors voted unanimously to pay for the township's share of the new Colonial Regional Police headquarters in Hanover Township whether the Borough of Bath participates or not.  (See Express Times article.) (06/13/07)
     
  10. An article in the Morning Call regarding stopping for school buses caught my attention. The penalty for not stopping is significant: $250, plus a 60 Day License Suspension and 5 points on your license. Did you realize all vehicles at a 4-way stop intersection must stop for a school bus when it’s lights are flashing? Here is Pen Dots summary.
     
  11. The Township fee Schedule has been updated.  At the BOS mtg. (05/23/07) a new fee was authorized - “Zoning Certification Letter” with a fee of $30.00 per occurrence. According to the township manager many mortgage companies have been requiring this letter when a mortgage is secured or refinanced. The complete township fee schedule can be viewed here.
     
  12. So you want to know how the township will handle our garbage pick up?  Just take a look at Palmer Townships latest (Morning Call article)  endeavor. There was a day I'm sure that residents of Palmer Twp. chose who would pick up their garbage.  If at any time the vendor did not  provide satisfactory service  they simply changed providers.  As such  providers had to compete every month to keep their customers by providing a high level of service at a competitive price. That's how it works today in Lower Nazareth Township. We choose who  gets our money based on performance.

    When Palmer Township took over collection, they no doubt offered comparable service and possibly a price reduction from what residents were  currently paying and probably met little resistance to the change. Currently Palmer Twp. residents pay ~$152 per year for all inclusive pick up. Next year the price will be at least $274 per annum.  With sky rocketing costs for fuel, taxes, wages, health care etc.. an increase  was inevitable. So now the fun begins; Palmer Twp. Recycling  Coordinator, Cindy Oatis wants to use the appearance of the garbage  containers as a criteria for selecting a vendor. Oh and by the way, reducing the level of service - No more bulk pickup or White Goods. Residents are required to find their own way of disposing of that old couch or electric dryer.

    Lower Nazareth Twp. hasn't taken away our free choice yet, they tabled the discussion temporarily, but it's still in their plans. Will we follow the same course as Palmer Twp.? Now is the time to write or send an email to our Supervisors expressing your view. Contact information  is available here.
     
  13. Jill & Ron Fuhrer  of Palmer Township (Web Site) located this information on how a community in California challenged IDI’s proposed warehouses.
     
  14. A the the Board of Supervisor meeting of Aug. 22, 2007 - Resident Joseph Fresco proposed to the Board the creation of a Crime Watch/Block Watch program. His proposal was supported by the Twp. Mgr., a copy of the proposal is available: Other Documents Also added here are documents
     
  15. The Conditional Use Hearing for IDI has been continued to the December 19, 2007 Board of Supervisors Meeting. The meeting will be held at the Twp. Offices at 306 Butztown Rd. beginning at 6:00pm with the hearing not to commence before 7:00pm.  At the 11-29-07 meeting, Attorney Renee Ferretti had a witness from the American Lung Assoc. testify in regard to diesel pollutants, his presentation is available here.

    The Palmer Twp. residents are circulating a Flyer with a petition attached asking the Supervisors to make the hard choices.

    News articles covering past five IDI Conditional Use hearings available here; earlier notes here

    At this stage of the process their are two primary actions for the Supervisors, they can either: Approve or Deny the “Use” and if they approve (very likely) they can Impose “Conditions” on said Use.  The IDI Covenant (exhibit #35) discussed at the Nov. 14th meeting are conditions IDI has agreed to voluntarily implement in an effort to address concerns voiced during the hearing by citizens. The Supervisors may require additional conditions as part of the approval.

    Even after receiving Conditional Use approval with conditions, IDI will still have to submit a Site and Development plan for approval. This would include blueprints of the buildings and grounds and the Supervisors have the opportunity to approve or deny specific portions of the plan. Citizens have another opportunity for input at this stage as well.
     
  16. Don’t forget the three huge traffic generating warehouses Greenfield Development has pending west of Dutch Springs.  These are going to add thousands more vehicle trips per day, and they are proceeding! Some of the history and back up data is available in Archived Documents.  You might also want to read some of the old news articles to refresh your memory on this nightmare of a project.
     
  17. At the May 09, 2007 BOS Mtg. During Courtesy of the Floor, resident James Pennington asked about road resurfacing plans. Timm Tenges (Twp. Mgr.) said their are some issues to be resolved before any resurfacing can take place. Can’t just add to the road surface as it would affect residents ingress/egress since the roadways, driveways and swales are all integral to storm water management.  Earlier this year Timm had requested a plan from the Roadmaster (Patrick Murphy - also a Supervisor) to identify the necessary process and procedures that will be required to insure a satisfactory outcome of any resurfacing. Mr. Murphy did not provide a date the plan might be available.

    Twp. resident Noreen Reid of Oakwood Lane asked when we were going to get Township managed trash pick up, because she thought it would minimize the number of trucks on the road and also be less expensive for residents. (There was a slight chuckle at this comment and she was asked if she had been reading the paper regarding other Townships that had implemented), Mr. Tenges replied he has almost completed a draft of the ordinance for presentation to the Board. One change from earlier versions, it will not be part of your Township taxes, the Township will select a vendor for you, determine the level of service, force you to use that vendor at that service level, and you will be billed direct by the vendor. Seems like a good idea.
     
  18. Another item regarding revenue, the Board of Supervisors passed an Ordinance requiring ALL owners of property in Lower Nazareth Twp. “.....who rents or leases any parcel of real estate, in whole or in part to any other person(s)...” to provide a list to the township secretary of all occupants in the preceding six (6) month period or face fines up to $300 per DAY. You can read the complete ordinance (2 pages) here: Landlord Ordinance
     
  19. At the May 09, 2007 BOS Mtg. During Courtesy of the Floor, resident James Pennington asked about road resurfacing plans. Timm Tenges (Twp. Mgr.) said their are some issues to be resolved before any resurfacing can take place. Can’t just add to the road surface as it would affect residents ingress/egress since the roadways, driveways and swales are all integral to storm water management.  Earlier this year Timm had requested a plan from the Roadmaster (Patrick Murphy - also a Supervisor) to identify the necessary process and procedures that will be required to insure a satisfactory outcome of any resurfacing. Mr. Murphy did not provide a date the plan might be available.

    Twp. resident Noreen Reid of Oakwood Lane asked when we were going to get Township managed trash pick up, because she thought it would minimize the number of trucks on the road and also be less expensive for residents. (There was a slight chuckle at this comment and she was asked if she had been reading the paper regarding other Townships that had implemented), Mr. Tenges replied he has almost completed a draft of the ordinance for presentation to the Board. One change from earlier versions, it will not be part of your Township taxes, the Township will select a vendor for you, determine the level of service, force you to use that vendor at that service level, and you will be billed direct by the vendor. Seems like a good idea.

     

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