Kathy Pichel McGovern has announced that she is running as a Republican for Lower Saucon Township Council on a platform that includes support for the Hellertown Area Library and opposition to the proposed expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill in the township.
Opponents of a proposed landfill expansion in Lower Saucon Township are taking their case to the motoring public by planting yard signs asking them to "Dump the Dump" along busy local roads and at intersections.
For those who don't regularly rely on library services it may not seem like a big deal, but for residents of Lower Saucon Township who were Hellertown Area Library cardholders, the news Thursday that Southern Lehigh Public Library will continue to provide them with services and programming no doubt came as a relief.
Three Democrats, one of whom is an incumbent, announced that they are running for Lower Saucon Township Council Thursday. Priscilla deLeon, Victoria Opthof-Cordaro and Laura Ray all said that if elected they will fight to restore library services for residents and to preserve open space in the township.
Lower Saucon Township resident Kimberly Humberd says council needs to explain what its plan is for providing library services to residents, now that they no longer have access to the Hellertown Area Library.
A Lower Saucon council member Tuesday sharply criticized a resolution authorizing a lawyer and his firm to be the township's special legal counsel that also retroactively authorized work performed by the firm on library service matters in 2022.
A standing room-only crowd filled Lower Saucon Town Hall's meeting room Wednesday night to oppose a zoning amendment that would allow the Bethlehem Landfill on Applebutter Road to double in size by expanding across nearly 275 wooded acres. However, after a hearing that lasted several hours, township council voted 3-2 to approve the controversial rezoning from Rural Agricultural (RA) to Light Industrial (LI) and other changes.
Nearly a year after township council declined to adopt a new agreement with the Hellertown Area Library, the state's Office of Commonwealth Libraries has approved Lower Saucon Township's removal from the library's service area. But that's not where things will end, the township said in a statement released late Friday afternoon, at the start of the long New Year's holiday weekend.
"Elected officials are supposed to be responsive to the wishes of taxpayers," writes Lower Saucon Township resident Mary Dawson. "The reputation of our township has been negatively impacted by the actions of council and I would like some answers."
At its most recent meeting, the Southern Lehigh Public Library Board of Directors instructed its Solicitor to advise Lower Saucon Township officials that the Board is “on hold” with any activity as it relates to their joining SLPL’s service area until they meet "two basic requirements."
