Five state roads meet in and run through Bath Borough, bringing outside traffic along with other challenges, including high truck volume. These roads were a focus of many previous borough council meetings. Certainly, it was an important focus.

However, it was recently discovered that many Bath thoroughfares are not official streets as viewed by Pennsylvania. They were never ordained - a situation in need of an immediate remedy.

In nearly all cases, the borough did maintain them - plowing snow, filling potholes, etc. Fortunately, there was no legal action taken involving these unofficial streets.

The current Bath Borough Council is moving to correct this decadeslong oversight by having borough streets take the front seat.

During the Dec. 7 council meeting, board President Mark Saginario informed those in attendance the meeting’s committee reports and all other matters would not be discussed. Instead, they would be reviewed in January 2021.

Saginario noted the core business of that night was a hearing regarding Bath Road Plan Ordinance 2020-698. The legal hearing was guided by Assistant Solicitor Jamie Kratz.

The current road plan ordinance is 94 pages long, according to Kratz. All who spoke were sworn in at the legal proceeding before they could make remarks or ask questions.

Reportedly, the borough has been reviewing and drafting the road plan for many months, including examining the status of all streets in Bath. The plan currently addresses 23 of some 32 existing streets used by the public that had not been ordained by previous councils.

The ordinance attempts to provide a legal description of the not-ordained streets to advance them to ordination. Saginario explained this effort and the subsequent ordinance are just “the start of a process” to correct the street situation.

He said streets not on the list contained in the road plan ordinance can be added if they meet the criteria for inclusion.

Bath resident Lauren Bullsnake, after being sworn in at the hearing, asked what the criteria is for inclusion in the road plan ordination effort. She described the process as “willy nilly.”

Borough Manager Bradley Flynn noted there are eight criteria items and criteria delineated by the commonwealth’s liquid fuels reimbursement program. It is a complex formula to determine those streets’ eligibility for achieving official status. After Flynn’s explanation, Bullsnake thanked him for clearing up any misconceptions.

Acknowledging the complexity of the rules, Flynn reiterated, “This is a starting point. Anyone can approach council to have a [not ordained] road ordained.”

Despite having about 27 people at the virtual meeting, there was little public comment. All on the call were individually identified and asked by Kratz if they have a comment or question. If not, they were asked to say they are observing only.

One resident submitted a letter urging council to vote to defeat the ordinance. No explanation for the request was included in the letter, it was noted.

Saginario closed the hearing by thanking council for its extended time and effort to advance this issue. The ordinance was passed unanimously.

The next borough council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Jan. 4, 2021. It will be a hybrid meeting. Visit bathborough.org or call the borough office at 610-837-6525 to obtain the meeting phone number and access code.