New borough council member Theresa ‘Terri’ Fadem was confirmed and sword in Jan. 3, joining longtime members who were re-elected to their seats.

Fadem, Mayor David Heintzelman, council President Thomas Rieger, and council members Gil Stauffer, Matt Marcincin and Andrew Hughes took their respective oaths of office. Each will serve the borough for the next four years, unexpected circumstances aside.

Rieger was re-elected to continue serving as president by his fellow council members. Marcincin and Stauffer were nominated to serve as vice president, with Rieger casting the tie-breaking vote for Stauffer.

The council also addressed the recent redistricting proposal for the Pa. House of Representatives. The new district partitions would remove the borough from the 136th legislative district - which has been represented by Robert ‘Bob’ Freeman since 1983 (aside from a five-year hiatus in the 1990s) and includes Easton, Wilson and Freemansburg - and align it with neighboring municipalities to the southwest in the 131st district.

The 131st district, which currently lies in Lehigh and Montgomery counties, is represented by Milou Mackenzie. Mackenzie, a Republican, defeated Hellertown business owner and Democrat Kevin Branco in 2020 to replace the departing Justin Simmons. Shortly after the proposed map was released, Branco announced his intent to challenge Mackenzie this November.

“We would lose our longtime state representative, but most importantly, the cohesiveness that we have with the other municipalities in Northampton County,” Rieger said about the redistricting adding “Surprisingly, both parties agree that (the map is) horrible,”

Borough manager Cathy Hartranft drafted a resolution opposing the plan, Rieger said, as he encouraged borough residents to make their opinions on the proposal known publicly. The resolution was approved unanimously.