Neighbors' Dispute Brought to Light at Council Meeting

A Lower Saucon Township resident told township council Oct. 19 that he and a neighbor have not exactly been getting along.

Francis "Fran" Callery, of the 4200 block of Lower Saucon Road, said the most recent "flare-up" involving his neighbor occurred the previous weekend, when an ATV was being used on his neighbor's property.

Callery said he called police to report the use of the ATV, which Township Manager Jack Cahahan confirmed has been investigated in the past and found to be illegal, since Callery's neighbor's property is "insufficient to allow ATV riding...due to the 100 foot setback (required by the ordinance)."

Cahalan told Callery that if the use of ATVs continues to be a problem he should continue to call police.

"Well, that's what we did this past weekend and it created quite a commotion," Callery responded.

After police came and went, Callery said, his neighbor "threatened" him and he called police back to report it.

Callery said that in addition to threatening him, his neighbor "basically sat there with the four-wheeler revving it up."

He wanted to know what decibel level and duration of noise would constitute a violation of the township's noise ordinance, and he said the removal of mufflers from vehicles on his neighbor's property has also led to a lot of noise in the area.

Callery said his neighbor has taken the mufflers off cars to be "spiteful."

"They jack (the car) up real quick, (and) yank it off," he said.

"I don't want to get into a Hatfields and McCoys type of thing," he added. "I'm not looking to have him thrown out or anything like that. I'm just looking to have the four-wheelers stopped."

A nearby neighbor of Callery's, Mike Kiefer, was also in attendance at the meeting and confirmed the problems Callery described to council.

"I also have the same issues," Kiefer said, adding that his wife is a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital and has had difficulty sleeping because of the excessive noise.

"We just want it to stop. Everybody wants it to stop," he continued. "Everybody in the neighborhood pretty much gets along, except for him."

While the neighbor involved in the dispute was unnamed by Kiefer, Callery and council members, a Lower Saucon Police Department press release issued Oct. 20 indicates that William George Broad, of 4303 Lower Saucon Road, is to be cited for harassment following an incident that allegedly occurred on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 4287 Lower Saucon Road.

According to the press release, police planned to cite Broad after they were dispatched to 4287 Lower Saucon Road "for a threats report."

Callery is not named in the police press release, but at the meeting he gave his address as 4287 Lower Saucon Road.

A public records search also indicated that that is his address.

In a separate incident, Broad was .