The Dec. 6 Hellertown Council meeting began with a moment of silence in memory of longtime member Richard Staffieri, who passed away Nov. 20. Staffieri is Hellertown’s all-time longest-tenured council member, serving from 1970 until his retirement in 2015. He was 94 years old.

In council business, a supermajority voted to bypass Mayor David Heintzelman’s veto of the council’s prior passage of Ordinance 837. The proposal from Star Pre-Owned of Hellertown owner Clete Landis, asking the borough to vacate the block of Oak Alley that sits behind his business, was initially approved at the Oct. 4 meeting with only council President Thomas Rieger voting ‘no.’

Heintzelman expressed concerns similar to Rieger’s, who suggested that without the alley open for traffic, misdirected truck drivers coming from the Interstate 78 ramp could cause major tie-ups and safety hazards. After about a half-hour of deliberations, including the suggestion of large signs directing truckers to turn around, council member Andrew Hughes joined Rieger, but the two ‘no’ votes were not enough to sustain the mayor’s veto.

In other news, Borough engineer Bryan Smith provided brief updates on several items: the completion of the Main Street Pedestrian Safety Project with the installation of a bus shelter at Thomas Avenue; construction concluding on the Dimmick Park Swale Greening Project; and the Walnut Street. Project is “complete aside from the installation of rapid (crosswalk) flashers,” he said.

Police Chief Robert Shupp offered his department’s idea to assist borough residents’ understanding and observation of the new crosswalks, with flashers at several Main Street locations: an instructional video. The department has shared “typical Penn DOT video(s)” in the past on social media, but a more specific video for the borough featuring members of the department might “gain more traction” with residents, he said.

The final 2022 General, Sanitation, Fire, Liquid Fuels and Capital budgets were unanimously approved. They were soon followed by the 2022 tax rate, which will go unchanged, and Fee Schedule (of which the only notable increase will be Hellertown Pool admissions).

The remainder of the meeting consisted of regular business, including authorization of several payments totaling approximately $200,000 to Kobalt Construction for the previously-mentioned Swale Greening and Walnut Street projects.