Greetings, everyone. Entering March, it’s great to see the days getting longer with winter passing by as we inch closer to spring.

Still, being Pennsylvania, we could still be in store for some wintry surprises. As with our public works street crews and snow removal trucks, be sure to stay prepared at all times.

Looking ahead to an upcoming spring thaw, you’ll see more activity converting the Canal Street Park grove into the much-anticipated Riverfront Flower Garden. Only the winter cold has prevented any work from proceeding.

In the meantime, I’ve been working with our borough manager, landscape designer and horticulturist to ensure the project is adequately moving along to meet all the design, digging and planting dates required for a successful planting. As we move along with the planning, I’ll be sure to share any landscape designs here and on my Mayor Tony - Northampton, PA Facebook and Instagram pages.

The borough was also blessed with county grants to defray costs associated with the site, along with the proposed monarch butterfly way stations. This will truly be a community park, as we’ll be looking for future volunteers to assist with the planting and moderate upkeep the park will require. I know the Rev. Jerry Mraz has started gathering names for a garden club to spearhead these tasks and future expansion, as any and all assistance will be appreciated and only enhance the park.

All in all, our Canal Street Park continues as a great asset and resource to our borough, and I’m adamant about keeping it safe, pristine, user-friendly and as naturally colorful and beautiful as possible. Stay tuned!

On another point, know that I’ve always felt transparency in government is the cornerstone of trust. In that light, you’ve heard me continually advocating for the livestreaming of all borough council meetings. Livestreaming is a media source in which the meetings would be simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real time over the Internet.

I feel livestreaming is a free, viable option to attend borough council meetings, making it all the easier for our citizens to tune into each event from the comfort of their living room, office or mobile location. As long as you have the Internet, you can to tune into the meeting as it happens.

The meetings will also be saved on our borough website for later viewing. This technology will give many across the borough who are not able to attend the meeting a front-row seat, staying promptly informed of council decisions and happenings. It is a very affordable service, transparent and readily available, which is already in place in many government entities across the country. It’s time for us to join in.

Looking ahead, the borough is also looking for qualified lifeguards to work at the municipal swimming pool this upcoming summer. If you know of anyone interested in working as a lifeguard, please contact the borough hall office staff at 610-262-2576 for further details.

To all of our Northampton residents of Irish descent, I wish you a very happy St. Patrick’s Day, with all the blessings and celebration associated with the day. I’ll be sure to put aside the black and orange color duo of the Konkrete Kids for the day in deference to the green. I hope many of you will join me.