Monday, December 17, 2012
On Dec. 3 Jan Doddy asked Hellertown Borough Council why two Main Street traffic lights aren't programmed to turn green when a car approaches from a side street or flash at certain times of day.
A Hellertown resident told Borough Council Dec. 3 that he has issues with two Main Street traffic lights. Jan Doddy said the lights that frustrate him are at High Street and Walnut Street. Even at 5:20am--which is when he's normally stopped at it--the light at High and Main remains red for up to 70 seconds when a car approaches it from High, Doddy told council. And he questioned why the light at Walnut and Main no longer flashes during the overnight hours. "These two at the ends of the borough seem to take forever (to change), and it’s a waste of time and gas," Doddy said. In response to the criticism, borough manager Cathy Kichline said she had contacted Signal Services, which discovered a "failed vehicle loop" at High Street that will be…
40.5904
-75.34004
W High St & Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/resident-questions-traffic-lights-programming
/locations/8302071
40.57241
-75.34137
W Walnut St & Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/resident-questions-traffic-lights-programming
/locations/8302072
On Dec. 3 Ryshard Grzanka told Hellertown Borough Council that the required $1,000 recreation fee he must pay as the new owner of 117 Main Street represents an 'undue economic hardship.'
A new property owner who came before Hellertown Borough Council seeking relief from what he called "undue economic hardship" Dec. 3 didn't find it. Ryshard Grzanka asked council to consider waiving the $1,000 recreation fee he's required to pay the borough for his conversion of a former single-family home at 117 Main Street into a two-unit that will include a professional office. According to Northampton County online property records, Grzanka paid $83,500 for the property on July 20, 2012. Grzanka told council he's already committed a significant amount of money to the project with his purchase of the property, the renovations to the home--which had been vacant--and various fees he has paid as part of the permitting process. The home is …
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-denies-property-owners-fee-waiver-request
1785475
/locations/8301555
40.57284
-75.34124
117 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-denies-property-owners-fee-waiver-request
/locations/8301556
Friday, December 7, 2012
On Monday, Dec. 3, Hellertown Borough Council voted to adopt a final 2013 budget that includes a one mill property tax increase.
Hellertown Borough Council voted 5-2 Monday to adopt a 2013 budget that includes a one mill property tax increase, as it had discussed when it approved a preliminary budget earlier this fall. One mill is equal to $130,659 and the current borough millage rate is 17.75, which means a resident whose home has an assessed value of $50,000 pays $887.50 in borough property taxes per year. With next year's millage rate increasing to 18.75 mills, the annual tax burden will increase $50 per year--or to $937.50--on a home valued at $50,000. Borough Manager Cathy Kichline said the borough's 1.5 mill fire tax will remain the same in 2013, for a total millage rate of 20.25 mills. She explained following council's vote that a full-time police officer …
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/borough-council-approves-tax-increase
1785475
/locations/8320900
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Allentown-based company was the low bidder for the Hellertown borough recycling contract. It received a three-year bid award Nov. 5.
Allentown-based recycling company J.P. Mascaro & Sons was awarded a three-year contract to pick up and dispose of recyclables in the borough of Hellertown Nov. 5. Council voted unanimously to award the contract to Mascaro, which was the lowest bidder for the contract, borough manager Cathy Kichline said. The company submitted bids for one, two and three-year contracts. Kichline recommended that council accept a bid for the $213,408 bid for the three-year contract be accepted. That contract, she said, will "give us sufficient time to review some of the new methods of recycling,” such as single-stream recycling, before it's time to bid another contract. Single-stream recycling "refers to a system in which all paper fibers, plastics, metals, …
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Council members praised the updated logo design, which was created by Hellertown architect Maria Diaz-Joves with input from members of the Borough Business Revitalization Committee.
Hellertown officially has a new logo with which to brand itself. Borough council unanimously approved the updated logo design presented by Maria Diaz-Joves, of the Hellertown Borough Business Revitalization Committee, on Nov. 19. The colorful design features the easily recognizable Detwiller Plaza clock tower, along with a pathway, pedestrians, a bicyclist, a dog-walker, a treeline representative of natural areas, and the statement: "Borough of Hellertown - Cherishing our past, embracing the future." The borough's year of incorporation (1872) is also commemorated within the circular logo, which will be featured on official letterhead and elsewhere. Diaz-Joves, who is a member of the committee and a Hellertown-based architect, explained …
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-adopts-new-borough-logo
1785475
/locations/8210058
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Hellertown Borough Manager Cathy Kichline announced Nov. 19 that a resident has requested an audible pedestrian signal be installed at the intersection of Main and Water streets.
A Hellertown resident has requested that the borough install an audible pedestrian signal at the intersection of Main and Water streets, borough manager Cathy Kichline told borough council Nov. 19. Audible pedestrian signals emit chirps, beeps or spoken recorded messages that can assist visually impaired pedestrians with crossing a street. Kichline said it's estimated that installing spoken-word signals at the busy downtown intersection would cost about $5,000. It would also require the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's (PennDOT) consent, since Main Street is a state road. In fact, the intersection of Main and Water streets was recently upgraded with new pedestrian safety features, including ramps, crosswalks and visual signals. …
40.57922
-75.34083
Main St & E Water St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-discusses-talking-crossing-signal
/locations/8209863
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-discusses-talking-crossing-signal
1785475
/locations/8209862
Friday, November 9, 2012
Hellertown Borough Council announced Monday that it's considering a one mill tax increase and possible layoffs in order to balance the borough's 2013 proposed budget.
Residents of Hellertown could see a modest tax increase next year. The preliminary version of the borough budget approved 6-1 by Hellertown Borough Council Nov. 5 includes a one mill property tax increase, which is equivalent to $50 per year for a home with an assessed value of $50,000. One mill is equal to $130,659 and the current (2012) borough millage rate is 17.75, which is equivalent to a tax burden of $887.50 per year on a house with an assessed value of $50,000, according to information shared by the borough. An increase of the millage rate to 18.75 mills would thus increase that annual burden to $937.50 on a home valued at $50,000. The lone council member to vote against the preliminary budget as Thomas Rieger. Council also …
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/council-considering-tax-increase-layoffs
1785475
/locations/8110216
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Hellertown Historical Society president Earl Hill asked Borough Council Oct. 15 to consider removing a ditch next to the "Pony Bridge" on Walnut Street. Society volunteers recently completed a bridge restoration project.
In light of recent restoration work that was done on the historic "Pony Bridge" on Walnut Street, on Oct. 15 Hellertown Historical Society president Earl Hill asked Borough Council members to consider making changes to the area around the bridge. Specifically, Hill asked council to consider extending a three-foot drainage pipe near the bridge, which would allow for the elimination of a large drainage ditch that he said is difficult for the society's many elderly volunteers to maintain. "I have people...that are a lot older than I am that are trying to get in there and I don’t want anyone to get hurt," Hill said. Hill estimated that the pipe would need to be extended by 20 to 25 feet, with some regrading also required. "It’s not a lot of …
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/pony-bridge-ditch-an-issue-society-prez-tells-council
1785475
/locations/8026469
40.572334
-75.343314
Hellertown Historical Society
150 W Walnut St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/pony-bridge-ditch-an-issue-society-prez-tells-council
1785626
/locations/8026468
Monday, October 8, 2012
Hellertown Borough Council solicitor Michael Corriere said it's unclear whether the owners of a parcel at 1400 Whitaker Street plan to develop the self-storage facility they won approval to build in 2008. The property was listed for sale on Sept. 8.
It's unclear whether a self-storage facility will be constructed on land near the closed High Street Bridge in Hellertown, solicitor Michael Corriere told Borough Council Oct. 1. The vacant property at West High and Whitaker streets was once the site of a public playground, but its owners ultimately decided to pursue its commercial development after a lease agreement with the borough ended. Corriere said a proposal to construct a self-storage facility on the parcel--which is owned by J & M Birk Inc. of Lower Saucon Township, according to Northampton County property records--was approved in 2008. According to the county records, a sale price of $280,000 for the lot was recorded on Jan. 2, 2008. The development plan that was later approved …
40.59067
-75.34314
Whitaker St & W High St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/former-whitaker-street-playground-property-for-sale
/locations/7949094
Friday, September 28, 2012
Hellertown Borough Council voted Sept. 17 to permit the owner of a home near Dimmick Park to install sidewalks around it instead of paying for a raised crosswalk on Durham Street.
An unusual aspect of a pedestrian access agreement that was forged between Hellertown Borough and Silver Creek Country Club earlier this year was made null and void by borough council Sept. 17. Property owner Kevin Lott approached council about the agreement, which he said would present him with a hardship. The agreement stipulated that in lieu of sidewalks around the perimeter of a corner property the country club had subdivided and was selling, a raised crosswalk across Durham Street would have to be installed nearby. Lott was ultimately the buyer of the property at 621 Durham Street that was the focus of discussions about whether the sidewalks should be required. He told council he has had second thoughts about purchasing the historic …
40.58537
-75.333659
Silver Creek Country Club
700 Linden Ave, Hellertown, PA
/articles/borough-council-nixes-raised-crosswalk-plan
875028
/locations/7873694
40.57936
-75.33406
Durham St & E Depot St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/borough-council-nixes-raised-crosswalk-plan
/locations/7873695
40.57948
-75.34084
Borough of Hellertown
685 Main St, Hellertown, PA
/articles/borough-council-nixes-raised-crosswalk-plan
1785475
/locations/7873696
Dane Janas
11:31 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
I agree with Jan's suggestions. I approach the High Street light at all times of day and night from West High Street, and since the sensor is on the East High Street side, I sit for at least 90 seconds some days, easily. It's completely unnecessary, because at the time of night you are talking about in the article, the traffic count in Hellertown is VERY minimal. As far as Walnut Street goes, I … more ›