Council to Discuss Allocating Money for Grandstand, Stage

Hellertown Borough Council is expected to discuss the potential allocation of funds to several projects Monday, June 18, including the and in .

A capital projects committee has been reviewing projects for consideration and will make recommendations as part of council's capital budget discussion.

At council's May 21 meeting, Hellertown Enhancement Project (HEP) chair Dr. Susan Ackermann addressed council and urged support for funding the concert stage project, for which .

Ackermann noted that she recently appeared before Northampton County Council to discuss funding options for the stage's construction.

County council urged her to approach Borough Council, she said, to request that $80,000 in county-allocated open space funding that was initially awarded to the borough in 2004 be re-allocated toward the stage project.

That money was originally intended to help finance the grandstand's rehabilitation, but county councilman Tom Dietrich said replacement funding for the grandstand project could be available if county council authorizes another round of open space funding.

Dietrich referred to that potential round as "Municipal Park Funding 2.0."

He told council that he didn't "want to give any false promises" about future funding, but encouraged council members to draft a letter to county council in support of additional open space money.

Council unanimously approved a motion that authorized Borough Manager Cathy Kichline to draft such a letter.

HEP's Dimmick Park Stage Committee has already raised more than $20,000, and with the $80,000 in open space funds Ackermann said she is hopeful that Phase One of the long-discussed band shelter could begin construction this year.

Council president Phil Weber, however, said he is dubious that the project can get off the ground in 2012, even if the $80,000 transfer is approved.

"I don't think construction would happen in 2012," he said. "I don't see it happening."

He did acknowledge that construction of the band shelter could potentially begin in the spring of 2013.

And borough councilman Tom Rieger optimistically stated, "I truly believe that bandshell will be up before June (2013)."

Councilwoman Gail Nolf said she would support transferring the $80,000 in order to fund the stage's construction.

"Eighty thousand dollars plus $20,000 is not going to rebuild that grandstand," she said.

Nolf also said she hoped council would take decisive action to move the stage project forward by seizing the opportunity to make use of the available funds.

"In the past things in Hellertown have tended to be dragged out, or forgotten about, or put on the back burner," she lamented.

Council vice president John Bate agreed.

"This is very important," he said. "We need to move on this money."

Borough Council will meet at 7pm Monday at .