May 2, 2018 – Upper Nazareth Supervisors Meeting
Announcements
The yard waste facility is now open
Electronics Recycling Event this Saturday, May 5th, 9am – Noon at the Intermediate School, 355 Tatamy Road, Nazareth, PA
Hazardous Waste Collection on May 19th, 8:30am – 2pm at Northampton Community College
Community Concerns
A resident from Deerfield Road complained about a neighbor who lets their cats roam free. The cats keep coming onto this property and killing the birds he feeds. He requested that the supervisors pass an ordinance, like the one Nazareth has, which would make it unlawful for owners to let their pets run at large. Township solicitor, Gary Asteak, pointed out that such an ordinance would not work in a rural community where people keep barn cats.
Friedenstahl Avenue
The Supervisors approved Ordinance #175 which lowers the speed limit on Friedenstahl Avenue, from 5th Street to Tatamy Road, to 25 mph and also designates Penn Allen Road as a snow route. The vote was 4 to 0 (Donna Hirst was absent)
Zoning
The Zoning Board denied the appeal to build a 5th apartment house on 4th Street.
The board also denied a contractor’s request to grade and remove dirt from a site where Phase II has yet to be approved. Gary Asteak says the township will not allow construction work without a security deposit
Your Tax Dollars at Work
The 2017 audit was delayed due to problems getting the Pension report. The audit should be presented during a meeting in June.
Approval to pay for an advertisement about adopting the official map of the township.
Adopting of the Fair Housing Resolution with Betty Parrish to once again serve as the Housing officer.
Approval to accept $31,440 in Gaming funds. The money must be spent by June 1, 2019.
Approval to hire a Seasonal Employee at $9/hour
Approval of $8,096 to aerate the playing fields. This should help improve drainage on the sports fields.
Approval of $6,883 for fertilizing the parks
Approval for Jersey Cloth and Body Armor for the police department at a cost of $2,530 with $2,500 to be paid for with a grant from Martin Guitar
Becky Bartlett is a resident of Upper Nazareth and covers these meetings because citizens have the right to know what their government is doing.
Upper Nazareth Township Meetings 
I am the resident, Phillip Rissmiller, who expressed concerns that cat owner’s in the township allow their cats to freely roam throughout the neighborhoods without supervisor. Nazareth Borough passed an ordinance in the 1980’s that encourages responsible pet ownership. It requires that pet owners keep the pets on their own property—not allowing their pets to move throughout the neighborhood unattended. This common sense ordinance simply treats cats and dogs, as well as any other pets the same. I don’t understand Attorney Asteak’s comment that this ordinance would not work in a rural community where people have barn cats. It would have little or no affect on barn cats on farms. These cats would be able to roam freely throughout the farm property as they are used to doing. If a farm has 100 acres, the barn cats would be free to roam all 100 acres of the farm. The big change would be in residential areas where homeowners lot are 1/2 acre or less. It is in these residential areas where a cat owner, as well as a dog owner, would be required to keep ther pets on their own property. To me, this is just common sense, responsible pet ownership. My wife and I have Four cats. They are part of our family and we choose to keep them inside at all times. If we decided to allow them outside, we would not allow them to leave our property. It would be improper to allow them to leave our yard. The ordinance I am proposing (like the one Nazareth has had in effect since the 1980’s) would require that a pet owner like me, keep my cats on my own property. Please contact me at(610) 759-7948 if you are an Upper Nazareth resident and you have concerns about neighbors allowing their cats to leave there property unattended.
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I believe Mr. Asteak’s point is, once an ordinance is in place it would have to apply to everyone and it isn’t realistic to expect UNT’s rural residents to do that.
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I don’t understand why it would be unrealistic to expect UNT’s rural residents keep their pets on their own property. The larger the property, the larger the area for one’s pet to roam. As I stated, if a farm has 100 acres, the pet (cat) would have 100 acres in which to roam. It would actually be more realistic to expect UNT’s rural residents to abide by this ordinance. The problem that I am requesting be addressed is in residential areas (1/2 acre and smaller lots) where pet owners allow their pets to freely roam the neighborhood. It would be the residential residents of the Township that would have to change the most, not the rural residents. Again, the ordinance that I propose encourages responsible pet ownership. It requires that pet owners keep their pets on their own property — not allowing their pets to move throughout the neighborhood unattended. This will be a challenge for residential residents, not our rural residents.
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Hi Becky. My comment about cats in the neighborhood is tied to me making a comment about the speed limit on Friedenstahl Avenue, for which I made no comment.
Phil Rissmiller
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