Thoughts on the Workshop Meeting

As noted, Thursday night's meeting of the Borough Council had only seven people in attendance and no one from the media was there. I'd like to broach three topics that were addressed and hear what your thoughts and opinions are:

1. Driving in town/pedestrian safety.
2. Compost/waste/recycling yard on west end.
3. Nazareth Borough Web site.
   

The primary discussion in Community Corner addressed unsafe driving in the borough. Specifically, speeding, running/rolling through stop signs, and the difficulty of walking in town as a result. It was noted that police enforcement was most needed, followed by signage and painting or repainting of crosswalks in intersections. Education/reminders of laws and speed limits would also be helpful if the other steps were also being taken. (One good example is that when pedestrians are in a cross walk the driver should wait until they are out of it before proceeding through. On our way to the Halloween parade, three adults had four children and we were halfway across the street just past the double yellow line, when the car shot through with us still right there).

I've regularly noted on this site the need to make Nazareth as pedestrian friendly as possible. The more people who walk in town, the more likely someone will stop in a shop or local business. It also encourages people to interact and presents a good image for the community. Additionally, it is a healthy activity.


Following Community Corner, another topic that the Council discussed was the compost/waste/recycling yard on the west end of town. The discussion was that the facility was working well, the workers were very helpful, but the cost was not inexpensive. Previously dumpsters had been on South Green Street and they were not regulated causing problems. Now the yard is enclosed, there are hours of operation, and there are paid workers ($8 per hour based on meeting last week). The question now is how do you manage the cost to operate the facility so it is a benefit not a burden. This seems to be the question before Council.

Another issue that was previously raised was the management of the Borough Web site. At the meeting on Thursday, Mayor Keller announced that the web site will be managed by students from the school district as part of the curriculum. The details need to be worked out, but it looked like this could be done at no cost and there was some amazement noted in the room that the students could perform the work without going to the municipal building (a clear indication that there is not a high level of understanding on web related services).

His major concern was to have a mass warning system, of which the web site would be one component (along with a siren, announcements on WFMZ etc). [In fair disclosure, over the summer before the site became an issue, I offered to help identify what the borough wanted and to identify possible solutions. There was an exchange of emails, but I did not receive a request for my help or advice so I let it go.]

The solution being proposed may work for 180 days a year between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm, but outside that period of time the Borough will be back in its same position of being virtually helpless in this regard unless the students are building an interface that will allow municipal officials to make relatively easy updates. It will be interesting to see where this leads and what happens. While students may be able program basic html, I'm not sure they'll be able to identify the business requirements of the Borough, have the knowledge to recommend the best solutions to meet the needs of the Borough, and then implement and maintain the site at the level required. At the same time, some help is better than none at all.

Feel free to share your thoughts on each or any of these issues and have a great week!