The Council Meeting ran very long last night with a lot of conversation on many topics, but none more so than whether or not to have a dog park.
I'll gather up the notes and get more detail up by tomorrow.
Most important part is that tonight's meeting was adjourned until April 24 at 7:00 p.m. when new proposals are to be made regarding the recreation monies from the development impact fees.
14 comments:
I don't understand are society. Pet spas, pet hotels, pet cementaries, pet parks, Gimme a gosh darn brake. Got anything in there for the kids?
And when I say kids, I don't mean the deviant skaters. I mean the normal ones.
What do you mean nothing for kids? Our school board is is writing blank checks for anything to do with sports for the kids.
Personally I do not have any children but I do have two dogs and it would be nice that this town would actually offer something that I could enjoy.
It's about time this community starts to focus on the rest of the population and not just the kids.
Barry ...
You are talking about apples and oranges. School board does waste those tax dollars. This is recreation monies for Nazareth Boro.
The recreation programs in this town stink. Ever see the Nazareth Boro softball team? No? Thats because there isn't one.
Then we waste tens of thousands of dollars on a skate park for derilects. That was to appease Jack Herbst and the nasa geniuses.
Softball fields only cater to a small demographic of the population. A well rounded community will offer a little bit of something for everyone.
Dog parks, bike paths, whatever it is we need more focus on a variety activities rather than just sports.
Notafan,
Guess you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
I do not have a child that uses the skate park, but I find your generalization of the kids that do to be more than offensive.
Recreation dollars are meant for the entire community, not just the kids. A dog park would be a welcome addition to the downtown area.
There are a lot of activities for kids. Last time I looked, the boro park offered a lot of different venues for the kids and adults to use, including the skate park.
If you want a softball team, or any other team for the that matter, there is nothing stopping YOU from approaching the town leaders and starting it yourself.
Your argument against the dog park is clearly just a front for your attack on the skate park and the kids that use it.
Have dogs and think the dog park idea is cool but only afer we have:
1.a community center complete with indoor pool and workout equip and basketball courts
2.a town ice skating rink
3.a great downtown and thriving main street
4.numerous wonderful parks with updated equipment for the kids
5.a walking path
6.a bike path
bethlehem has all of the above including a terrific dog park....
oh but we have the skate park
hmmmm
Yes, Bethlehem does have those things, but they have real businesses to draw on as a tax base and people willing to invest because they actively go out and find those investors.
We have warehouses and cement plants, and many of them are empty.
A few clarifications:
This is borough of Nazareth, not NASD, therefore the sky is not the limit.
The monies being discussed total about $30,000 and are not taxpayer funds, but are impact fees assessed to developers.
The money must be used for recreation, and it can't be used for maintenance of existing recreation.
The money cannot be applied to a sports league.
$30,000 won't cover an ice rink, community center, or other structure. We do have a YMCA that has an indoor pool and fitness equipment
If you want a walking path or bike path, it will be tough to create inside the borough today, but a walking path was proposed several years ago by the developer whose money is now being spent and it was shot down. We do, however, have Louise Moore Park which is within ten minutes from the borough.
A thriving downtown would be great, and you can join NDA to help develop one, but recreation funds won't help that cause.
We do have a lot of parks. In addition to the borough Park, there is west end, kokolus, kiwanis, and the one across from Potts.
Plus we have the ball field at Hall Square and South Green Street's fields.
Additionally there are facilities at Holy Family and Shafer.
The big question is what are we missing that can be purchased for $30,000 or less and has a low annual upkeep cost?
Then we can debate the value of greatest good vs. filling a niche.
I'm disappointed by the disparaging reference to skateboarders. I thought we were past that. The best use of that rec money is a dog park, which everyone love. It sounds elitist. It's not. The dogs don't act that way.
I think the money should be used for the Nazareth Food Bank, but I am sure it can't. I am not sure $30K is enough for a dog park though, perhaps there vould be some coporate sponsors to help, like Naz Vet Center, and they could get a tax break...anyway...
I hate to generalize, but I think most of the Joe Schmoe's out there think "Nazareth" is upper, lower, the borough and Bushkill( and some might even argue Tatamy and Stockertown). Although we are one community, we are seperate fiscal entities. We are only united by the school district and being close neighbors. Therefore we can never have some of the things Bethlehem does. I wonder how much the various "Greater Nazareth" officials communicate, we depend so much on each other for a great "community", it seems like a no brainer to me that the variuos municipalities should have some kind of task force to work with the NDA on bettering our community.
I am moving near the skate park next month and looking forward to taking my kids there, and helping keep it clean. Any ideas for a new screen name? (be nice)
Noc
guess you missed my point or I didn't spell it out
my thought was that in my list of priorities the dog park falls at the bottom---even as a dog owner
not saying naz should have all that Beth has...just that when you say beth has a great dog park my thought is yes and it has all sorts of other terrific things but is this where the $ is best spent
said it before but I would love to see a walking path started...30K wouldn't complete it but hopefully this isn't the last of rec funds seen...path in boro park above parking lot would be a great start?
or how about sidewalks around our soon to be completed school campus? could have mile markers workout stops, just a thought...
anyhow what I meant was simply people before pets
I was responding across the board, because it seemed to me there was not a clear understanding of how this money could be spent as well as where it came from.
The borough has very limited funds. I don't know if the dog park is low on a list of priorities, because the only other options I've seen to date is a slide for borough pool and suggestions made on this site about a walking path.
Since it must be contained within the borough boundaries, and presumably on borough property, I'd imagine we are pretty limited on the walking or bike path unless it was at borough park (the new school campus is in Upper Nazareth twp).
An assessment of all parks and equipment at each park would probably be good for council to conduct, but as far as I can tell that hasn't been done.
Again, to have priorities, we kind of need to know what is in play and what is not.
So far the only two items I could identify from the meeting were the dog park and a slide at the pool.
I love the skate park, and use it all the time — find me there any Sunday morning... right before the derelict deviant skater punks show up and out-skill me. Great bunch of kids, btw!
Anyway, no pets here, but a dog park sounds like a great use for these funds! And a reasonable way to further round out our recreational offerings.
Have a better idea? Start planning for next year..
NOC Again, its interesting how even in this post 2 of the people dont consider the boundries of the municipalities, not that its any "fault" of theirs or anything. I think this is a good thing and since we all seem to think like a community shouldnt our officials work more like a community? Does anyone (Bernie?) have opinions/info if our officials do work together at all, or is it pretty much how i would expect, only communication and co-operation that happens is what has to happen.
Post a Comment