Two members of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission addressed Northampton Borough Council during its meeting July 20. Council is facing a vote on the River Central Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan. River Central has five municipalities - Northampton, Catasauqua and North Catasauqua boroughs and East Allen and Hanover (Lehigh County) townships.

The goal of the group is to develop a comprehensive plan to provide for more uniformity in zoning laws and improve the ability of these municipalities to more efficiently work together to control costs and have smoother, less complicated development processes within and between these communities.

A final vote by the five municipalities to adopt the plan is expected this month. The plan is available for review by visiting planrivercentral.org. All five municipalities encouraged their residents to review the plan and share their thoughts.

The LVPC representatives provided a brief overview of the plan and requested questions from council and the mayor. Issues raised by council were increased warehouses in the area and the traffic overuse of Northampton’s infrastructure, particularly 21st Street (Route 329).

In other business, council received a request from St. John the Baptist Church to use the borough’s portable band trailer Sept. 23 with a waiver of the rental fee. The church is required to provide a certificate of insurance naming Northampton Borough as additionally insured and pay a delivery and setup fee of $150. The request was approved.

Bath Borough received council permission to use the portable band trailer for the Old Home Weekend celebration, set for Aug. 10-12. Bath is required to provide insurance and a $150 setup and delivery fee.

Council granted a request from Northampton Area School District to use the borough’s recreation center, 1 Lerchenmiller Drive, as a temporary mass sheltering facility for the 2023-24 school year.

A request for the use of Municipal Park to hold the Equinox music and arts festival, planned for Sept. 23, was tabled because council felt more information about the group desiring to use the park and the size of the festival are needed. Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst will follow up with the Equinox group and report back to council.

Councilman Kenneth Hall said preparation of the 2024 borough budget will begin in less than two months. Hall added delinquent taxes are being turned over to the borough’s delinquent tax collection firm, Portnoff Law Associates, for collection.

Councilwoman Judy Haldeman said state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, will have staff members at the recreation center 9-11:30 a.m. the third Tuesday of each month. They will be present to assist Miller’s constituents with any issues or concerns they may have.

Haldeman also mentioned there was, during the recent heat wave, a day when the municipal swimming pool had more than 600 patrons in attendance.

Councilwoman Bonnie Almond said the Northampton Fire Department will place a container for the drop-off of used clothing in the back end of its parking lot. This will allow residents to recycle unwanted clothing. The fire department will share any proceeds generated by donations.

Council Vice President Ron Glassic reported a PPL transformer caught fire outside of the Stewart Street pump station. PPL arranged to have a HAZMAT team evaluate and remediate any issues in the area.

Glassic also said the public works department placed more than 300 Hometown Heroes banners throughout the borough. More orders for banners are coming in. The cutoff date to order a banner is Aug. 18.

The next Northampton Borough Council meeting is 7 p.m. Aug. 3 in the municipal building, 1401 Laubach Ave. It is a hybrid meeting, with both in-person and virtual options. Visit YouTube and enter Northampton Borough Council in the search box to access the meeting virtually.