Canal Street Park was a topic of discussion at the Oct. 19 Northampton Borough Council meeting. Assistant Borough Manager Brian Welsko reported he is looking into the potential development of a disc golf course at the park.

Moore Township supervisors had a disc golf course installed at their recreation center a few years ago. The course continues to grow in use by residents and nonresidents alike.

Disc golf, like pickleball, is a growing recreational sport throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Northampton installed a pickleball court at Canal Street Park last year. The court use reportedly continues to grow.

A possible disc golf course, a pickleball court, basketball courts, baseball fields, exercise stations throughout the park and a walking path will make Canal Street Park a sports and outside exercise mecca in the borough.

Despite sporadic vandalism at the park, borough council and borough administration continue their planned transformation of the park.

At the council meeting, the retired Rev. Jerry Mraz pitched the idea of creating a Konkretetown Beauty Kommittee. His vision, as presented to council, is to develop the natural beauty of Canal Street Park.

He said having a welcoming, warm park environment with perennial flowers and butterflies can help people to appreciate nature and benefit their own psychology. He noted an appreciation of nature can help soothe the observer and improve one’s state of well-being.

The plan is to develop a number of monarch butterfly way stations between the large trees on the Lehigh River side of the park. He noted this would promote monarch butterfly preservation as the monarchs have been recently designated an endangered species.

The plan includes a number of ideas, including memorial plots, which would entail the planting of perennial flowers in plots in honor of loved ones. The nearby Ironton Rail Trail that runs through Coplay Borough and North Whitehall and Whitehall townships offers the purchase and placement of trees along the trail in memory of loved ones.

Mraz suggested placing hummingbird feeders at various locations in the park. He said the new group is open to any and all suggestions to improve the natural environment at the park.

Mraz said he already has about 60 people interested, with a hope that a core group emerges to coordinate, labor and grow the effort and watch their plans blossom. Mraz hopes to hold the inaugural meeting in January 2023.

“If you build it, you have to maintain it,” borough Manager LeRoy Brobst said. “With 68 volunteers on the list, I feel relatively certain that a core group will maintain it. This is a very important idea. The pastor is very thorough.”

In other business, council unanimously approved the advertising of the ordinance establishing the one-mill fire tax. When adopted, the tax will raise about $200,000 a year for major purchases for the fire department, such as firetrucks and other capital expenses.

In a 5-3 vote, council passed a motion for the purchase of livestreaming equipment, so council meetings can be accessed by residents virtually. The method would also serve as documentation of the meeting. The proposal was for $7,600.

Numerous municipalities have opted for the livestreaming of meetings because of the opportunity for residents to be aware of the issues discussed at a council meeting. There were strong perspectives both pro and con expressed by some council members.

Brobst noted there is an open seat on the borough’s planning commission and an open seat on the zoning hearing board. Contact the borough office or visit the borough’s website to apply for either position.

The next council meeting is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 3. It is an in-person meeting at the borough municipal building, 1401 Laubach Ave.