On Dec. 12, the Hellertown Borough Council held a special meeting – its last of 2022 – in place of a regularly-scheduled session set for the following Monday.

The prevalent topic felt apropos, as perhaps the council’s most consistently troubling throughout the year: The formal relationship with its Lower Saucon Township counterpart.

Tensions boiled in January when an LST council majority, led by President Jason Banonis and Vice President Jennifer Zavacky (who resigned in May), voted 4-1 to halve the township’s annual $100,000 donation to – and reject a five-year agreement with – the Hellertown Area Library. Ongoing attempts at mending the frayed relationship have consistently failed, officials said.

Multiple meetings throughout the year, with mediation attempts from parties including Hellertown Mayor David Heintzelman, the Rev. Philip J. Spohn of Christ Lutheran Church and HAL President Ken Solt, brought the parties no closer to an agreement to continue their formal partnership.

Borough council President Thomas Rieger said, “It’s no secret that over the past year, we’ve tried to reach settlements,” referring to specific instances in both April and October, as well as a November letter from the borough which offered concessions in return for a commitment from LST to fully fund the library. (The HAL ultimately waited until last month to officially discontinue free membership for Lower Saucon residents as of January 2023.)

However, Lower Saucon officials showed little appetite for reciprocity. Rieger said, “We asked for [a formal response] to be on their agenda… [and] we found out more by watching the Southern Lehigh school board meeting” than from the township itself.

Along with the HAL, other affected services potentially include the Saucon Valley Compost Center, the Saucon Valley (economic) Partnership, a three-way agreement with Saucon Valley School District, and discounted rates for LST locals at the Hellertown Pool.

A special counsel, Jeffrey Stewart from White & Williams LLP in Center Valley, was appointed to handle any objections or resultant legal matters. The council also agreed to appropriate related funds from the borough’s reserve fund.

After some discussion, councilors unanimously voted to authorize the advertisement of multiple individual ordinances that would terminate each agreement separately. Action on each were to appear on the first meeting of January’s agenda for a final vote.

Multiple council members expressed their displeasure at what they characterized as a painful – but necessary – final straw.

“It’s unfortunate that [LST] has decided not to collaborate, or be transparent with their residents… for the last at least eleven months – or more,” Liz Thompson said.

Rieger further stressed that the actions are not intended to negatively affect Lower Saucon residents.

“We are not forbidding access” to the pool, he said, noting that in past years, the borough could charge discounted rates because the township’s government reimbursed Hellertown for the difference directly.

However, Rieger eventually confirmed that the borough received a letter from Lower Saucon earlier in the day which threatened the compost center – physically located in the township and not the borough – with potential zoning ordinance violations.

He said it was his hope that the center could continue to function “in some form,” but residents should not expect it to be open for Christmas tree disposal in January. Rieger further encouraged residents to patronize a local Boy Scout troop that plans to pick them up for a modest donation.

Most others echoed the council’s sentiments. Heintzelman said he was saddened by “all the negativity,” particularly since 2020, referring to a zoning decision over an Easton Road property straddling the municipalities’ shared border. “From that point on, I feel that… the conversation has headed south,” he said.

Priscilla deLeon, an LST councilor for over 30 years, was the sole township representative to join the meeting, calling it “a sad day.” She said upon her initial election, she “was shocked that [communities] so intertwined – sharing a school district – weren’t talking.”

Ultimately, she expressed sadness and frustration that the partnership, which she said she helped found as an ad hoc committee in the early 1990s, might be abolished.

“I try to get information,” deLeon said, “and I learned more [watching the aforementioned] school board meeting when [Banonis] talked than in the past 18 months.” She added “I’m supposed to know what’s going on, [but] I’m one-fifth of that council. I ask questions and most of the time I don’t really get answers.”

Councilor Matt Marcincin thanked deLeon for her efforts in support of HAL and her “continued quest to get answers.” His fellow councilor Terri Fadem encouraged deLeon’s continued personal partnership with the borough, to which deLeon agreed, saying, “We might not always agree, but at least we’ll be talking.”