With the warm summer days approaching, the lack of public accessibility to water in the city took center stage during the May 21 Bethlehem council meeting.

Resident Jesse Almodovar brought the issue to the forefront during public comment.

A year ago, Almodovar first spoke to council about living with disabilities. Building on this, he explained the difficulties in getting access to free water, especially on warm days, for those who walk everywhere. “I shouldn’t have to use my money if I just want some hydration. Maybe if you could get the water fountains back working. Maybe it would be less of a hassle about me needing certain things to be able to get water.”

Responding to a question from Councilman Bryan Callahan, Director of Public Works Michael Alkhal confirmed only five or six of the 19 city water fountains are operational.

Recalling policies with COVID-19 and issues with the aging abandoned fountains, Alkhal said, “It’s been happening over a long period of time. The common attitude was they’re just not in demand, they’re not needed, they’re not maintained. Like I said, we’ve been revising that.”

He confirmed all fountains currently not in use need extensive repairs and would most likely need to be completely replaced. Costs are estimated at thousands for each, but Alkhal made it clear if the demand is there, “we will have to incur the costs.”

Police Chief Michelle Kott spoke of the recent arrest of former School Resource Officer Costas for an alleged relationship with a female middle school student, emphasizing, “I want to reiterate the Bethlehem City Police Department takes allegations of professional misconduct and public trust violations very seriously. We are fully committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability within our ranks.”

In other news, council approved the mayor’s nomination of Mike Reich, who has 36 years in the fire service, as the city’s new fire chief.

In announcing his appointment, Mayor William Reynolds called Reich, “a man of integrity, a passion of service to the city.”

Reich told council, “I look forward to leading this department from the front by working with our firefighters, working with our union, working with our paramedics and providing the best service for the city with our wonderful training staff that do an amazing job, and I want to help them to the job that they can do.”