During public comments at the April 14 Alburtis Borough Council meeting, resident Matt Mumma and his neighbor Mehmet Birtek asked council if they would consider an alternate Lockridge Park entrance.

According to Mumma, Lehigh County Authority would approve an alternate route to the park, but not “over an existing entrance,” meaning the borough would need to create an alternate entrance for another route to lead to. The neighbors have attended various borough meetings due to their privacy and safety concerns about a proposed path leading through their backyards. Mumma also noted Jaindl Land Development previously offered to create an alternate path free of charge.

Borough Manager Sharon Trexler explained the alternate route would go “across Scenic View [Drive] and run up that field maybe 20 yards ...”

Birtek then voiced his privacy concerns after seeing how close the poles marking the path are to his house.

“I can see [them] from my kitchen,” he said. “ ... I would never want anybody with a home to have a walking path in their backyard. We want privacy. We are kindly asking everybody here to look at this alternate route that Lehigh County Authority is not opposing.”

Council President Ron DeIaco shared his sympathy but said with the path in plans for nearly 15 years, the borough finds it difficult to create an alternative route. He also shared homeowners could access the original plans on their property deeds. However, DeIaco proposed meeting with Jaindl representatives to hear their ideas.

Mumma said the plans don’t accurately depict where the walkway lies – it’s much closer.

“Believe me, it is not to scale,” Mumma said. “It looks like the pathway is quite a distance away from the house itself, but like Mehmet just said, in reality, it’s like 20 feet away from your house.”

Council member John Aleszczyk said he prefers the alternate route lie outside of the park. Following that, DeIaco and other council members agreed they would like to look at or obtain pictures of where the alternate route might go.

Birtek explained he and his neighbors will welcome council to exploring the current route and alternate options if it helps them come to a decision.

Trexler and three council members plan to visit the properties and look around the areas in question. DeIaco said council will make a decision next meeting following the visit.