Upper Nazareth Township Meetings

                                        Board of Supervisor’s Meeting

                                                   October 21, 2015

All Supervisors attended

Construction Updates

Chrin came to the meeting with maps, seeking approval for 2 more warehouses to be constructed at the intersection at Van Buren and Tatamy Roads.

• The warehouse on the north side will be 1 million square feet, the warehouse on the south side will be 630,000 square feet
• None of the 3 warehouses currently have tenants
• Questions/Concerns from residents and supervisors
  • Chrin representatives estimated each warehouse will provide 150-500 jobs
    • Several people pointed out that most of the jobs will only pay $10/hour which will not be enough to enable a worker to live in Upper Nazareth
  • Under direct questioning, a Chrin employee said they did not envision renting space to anyone storing hazardous, flammable, or toxic material but, if they did, it would be regulated by the EPA
    • Editor’s Note: Congress has chronically underfunded the EPA for decades.
  • Traffic Problems
    • A Chrin representative estimated that 44 trucks per hour will leave/enter the facility
    • There is only 1 exit onto Van Buren Road for the 4 buildings
    • A traffic signal will have to be installed at Van Buren Road
    • Currently, utility work is being done on Van Buren Road now. The road will have to be widened in the future
    • Someone pointed out that Route 33 is often clogged. When that happens, the trucks will travel into town to get to Route 191
    • This project is expected to increase traffic, accidents, dust, and wear and tear on infrastructure
  • A resident wanted to know what benefit Upper Nazareth will receive from this project
    • Upper Nazareth will get real estate taxes from this project but no estimate was provided to show if the amount will be enough to offset off the costs

The supervisors listened to all the complaints about traffic, infrastructure costs, safety concerns, dust, blasting, low paying jobs AND VOTED FOR THE PROJECT ANYWAY, 4 TO 1!!!!!

The Continuing Saga of Installing a light at Friedenstahl Ave. and Route 191

• As for many months now, there’s still no word from PennDOT on when construction can begin

Community Comments

There’s been a long-running conflict between a landowner on Silvercrest Drive and the Township over the failure to cut weeds

• The case went to the district magistrate recently and the magistrate told the township to come to an agreement about the property line and the weeds, which are currently over 5 feet high in places
  • The homeowner claims she needs the weeds to prevent trespassing onto her property
  • After much discussion, the supervisors voted to pay $2,300 out of the Recreational fund to install a fence to delineate the line between private property and Tuske’s Park

Your Tax Dollars at Work

The board approved

• $200 donation to the Nazareth Ambulance
• $140 for township manager Edward Mentry to attend a manager’s meeting in Upper Marion on Oct. 30th

Becky Bartlett is a candidate for Upper Nazareth Supervisor. The election is on November 3rd