Lower Saucon Township Acquires Trailhead Land

Lower Saucon Township is in the process of acquiring a two-acre parcel of land at Reading Drive and Bingen Road, which will be used as a trailhead for.

Lower Saucon Township Manager Jack Cahalan said the purchase is not yet finalized, but the township has offered the Timko Family Trust $40,000 for the property. The township has a tentative agreement, subject to the Timkos' attorney's review, approving the agreement of sale. Lower Saucon Township Council approved the purchase of the land at its Sept. 22 meeting.

The township submitted a grant application to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) for 50 percent of the purchase price. If the township is awarded the grant, the acquisition cost to Lower Saucon Township would be $20,000.

According to Cahalan, the township planner is designing a plan for the property which will be brought before Lower Saucon Township Council for approval.

“The priority is for parking and a portable restroom. We do have this past summer that will pay for trash receptacles, picnic tables and benches on the site,” Cahalan stated in an e-mail. “I would like to see if we could get the parking area and portable restroom put in by at least next spring.”

The township will be working with Roger Jurczak, a Lower Saucon representative on the Saucon Rail Trail Oversight Commission, on plans for a kiosk at the site. Cahalan said the kiosk will be similar to the one that was constructed by a Boy Scout in Hellertown’s .

Jurczak and Jerry Holum, another township representative on the commission, are also interested in providing information on the historical significance of the property because it was the site of the Bingen Station on the North Penn Railroad.