Supporting the Hellertown Area Library just got a whole lot tastier. The Friends of the Hellertown Area Library (FOTHAL) are currently sponsoring a pierogi fundraiser that will help pay for projects such as new brickwork and landscaping.
A division between the Borough of Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township that began over differences in funding for the Hellertown Area Library seemingly grew deeper following the decision by borough council earlier this month to end several intermunicipal agreements with the township at the end of this year.
Jayne Shinko says the Hellertown Area Library should "plan a future without Lower Saucon," and that Borough Council should also demand an audit and reimbursement of borough funds that have been used to subsidize library services for township residents in recent months.
A meeting about "issues pertaining to the Hellertown Area Library" was held last week, Mayor David Heintzelman revealed in a letter about it which he read at Monday night's Hellertown Borough Council meeting and shared on the borough's Facebook page.
A resource that is now available for local residents facing financial challenges is a "Help Yourself Shelf" that was recently opened in the basement of the Hellertown Area Library.
Letter writers Mary and Bruce Dawson of Lower Saucon Township write: "It is inexplicable that the (Hellertown Area) library was not even on this month’s council meeting agenda when so many Lower Saucon Township residents are deeply concerned about continuing library services."
A proposal for a possible library services agreement was shared Monday with the members of Lower Saucon Township Council and Saucon Source by Hellertown Area Library board president Ken Solt.
Former Hellertown Area Library board member Lara Goudsouzian, Ph.D., writes that she is "deeply disappointed in my local government" and that she supports "the actions of the Hellertown Area Library Board in removing Lower Saucon Township residents, myself included, from the board."
Lower Saucon Township Councilwoman Priscilla deLeon writes that her attempt to put a library services discussion on the Feb. 16 council meeting agenda for discussion has apparently been thwarted. Some residents are upset and concerned over the future of library services in the township after a council majority rejected a proposed 5-year agreement with the Hellertown Area Library last month.
Hellertown borough council Monday followed through on what it promised to do late last month, by voting to pause all intergovernmental relations with Lower Saucon Township pending their re-examination, which it was estimated would happen in about a month.
