Draft Forks Comprehensive Plan

The Draft Forks Township Comprehensive plan is being reviewed by the Planning Commission. The draft plan has the following sections:

- Natural Features and Agricultural Conversation Plan.
- Land Use and Housing Plan.
- Historic Preservation.
- Economic Development Plan.
- Community Facilities and Services Plan
- Transportation Plan
- Putting this plan into action
- Appendices (Population and Housing of Forks and Major Sources of Community Development Funding)

A copy of the plan should be available at the February 26, 2008 meeting. The coolest part of the plan is Section 7: Putting this Plan into Action. The draft plan promotes the following goals to implement the comprehensive plan:

Goal 1: Promote substantial citizen input, including making sure residents are well-informed about community issues and encouraging volunteer efforts to improve the community.

It is essential to keep citizens informed and provide opportunities for meaningful citizen input, while making use of new technologies for communication.

Goal 2: Continually work to put this plan into action – through a program of updated planning and many short-term actions with a long-range perspective.

Maximize communications, coordination and cooperative efforts between the township, the school district, adjacent municipalities, the County, PennDOT, and other agencies and organizations.

The Township cannot implement this Comprehensive plan alone. Involvement is needed by residents, neighborhood organizations, civic groups, businesses, institutions, property-owners, and may other groups.

These are the same ideas we discussed during the past year. I am very glad these ideas are getting serious consideration for inclusion into the Comprehensive plan.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Count

Sincerely,

David Billings
d.billings@att.net

“This is not a local problem”

These are the haunting words of Barry Golazeski of the Northampton County District Attorney office. Barry was a guest speaker at the Easton Community Forum on Reducing Gangs and Violence. The forum was held at Easton Middle School on February 20, 2008. One interesting fact is the State of PA is one of 12 states where being a gang member or the recruitment of gang member is not illegal.

Over 150 people attend the forum, include Mayor Sal Panto, Larry Holmes, several city council members, and representatives from several local churches.

Other speakers at the forum were Terrance Miller of the Route 222 Corridor Anti-Gang Initiative and Nadine Loane of the Easton Weed and Seed program. I got the pleasure of meeting these outstanding speakers at the break-out sessions.

The most inspirational portion of the program was the introduction of three Community Heroes. These heroes talked about the struggles of living with local gang activity, fighting to save Easton streets from violence, and the pain and sadness of having a son killed by gang members. I was moved by the story of an Allentown couple’s struggle of removing their son from a gang and trying to find mental health support from the legal system. These were heart warming and inspirational stories.

On the way home, I had many thoughts. How my daughter feels as she goes to school in downtown Easton everyday? Do we have gang activity in Forks Township? How lucky we are to live in a thriving and safe community. Then those haunting words from the Northampton County DA office continued to ring in my ears: “Gang activity is not a local problem.”

I think it is time we partner with area law enforcement authorities to discuss potential gang activity in Forks Township. It would be a good idea to have the coordinator of Route 222 Corridor Anti-Gang Initiative brief the BoS on the area gang issues and steps we can take to stop the spread of gang violence in the Lehigh Valley.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,

David Billings
d.billings@att.net

Easton Area School District (EASD) Superintendent search

The Express-Time ran an article on the EASD search for a new superintendent (see Express-Time article “Public will have pull; February 17, 2008). As you may recall, the new school board decided to re-open the search for a new superintendent last December.

The Express-Times article talked about how the search process will work and how the public can become involved by answering a questionnaire. The questionnaire is available at http://www.eastonsd.org/. As residents of the EASD, Forks resident’s can participate in the survey. The survey has three general questions:

1. Challenges, Issues, Needs and Goals to be Met by the School District

2. Qualifications and Experience Needed by a New Superintendent of Schools

3.GENERAL COMMENTS: Please share any other suggestions and concerns that you may have regarding information that you think would be helpful to your board of school directors in choosing a superintendent of schools to provide leadership for the school district.

Source: EASD Web Site – Community Survey

Please take some time to provide your feedback on this critical issue. Our children future is at stake!

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.


Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!


Sincerely,


David Billings

Forks Act 4 Update

I was asked whether Northampton County was supporting the implementation of Act 4. I did some research about Northampton County position on this matter.

Just a quick summary of the discussion of Act 4 at the Forks Board of Supervisor meeting held on February 7, 2008. According to the Forks Action Commitee (FAC) BoS meeting summary; Maria Bentzoni said that they are requesting that the Forks Board of Supervisors support Act 4 and HB 87. Act 4 allows for a millage freeze for preserved property at the rate in effect at the time that the last entity signs on. Three entities must sign - the county, the township and the school district. So far the Northampton County is "on board." She is currently working with both the EASD and the (Nazareth) NASD.

Additionally, Act 4 was discussed at the October 18, 2007 County Council meeting. The meeting minutes indicate that both Lehigh and Northampton County passed Act 4.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,

David Billings

Forks Township considering implementing Act 4

What is Act 4? Act 4 allows a municipality in concert with county and the school board to freeze the tax millage on preserved farms. The states Act 4 was passed in 2006. The Easton Area School Board must pass a similar resolution supporting the implementation of Act 4 for Forks Township.

The Forks Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from Maria Bentzoni , Northampton County administrator for Farmland Preservation. She encouraged the BoS to act, “not only because it would provide an incentive to landowners to preserve their farmland but also help sustain the current preserved farms so they can remain productive and continue to support the local community” (see Morning Call article: Forks fills planning board vacancy, February 8, 2008).

Maria also stated that Forks only has 1 farm in the Farmland Preservation program. The preserve farm has only 103 acres. This is a very sad fact!

The Board of Supervisors directed the township solicitor to draw-up an ordinance to implement Act 4. As I have stated many times, we need to take concrete steps to preserve our farmland. This is a good step in the right direction.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,
David Billings
d.billings@att.net

PA Open Records Law

If you are regular reader of my blog, you will know that I am a great advocate of transparent government. I believe it is in our best interest to have greater public input on all matters that affect our daily lives. With our current technology and the hope of even greater access to information in the future, there is no reason to limit the ability of our citizens to access critical public information about any government agency or branch.

This is why the Senate bill 1 is so interesting. As reported by the Morning Call February 1 2008 and the Express-Times February 5, 2008 editorials, the PA State Senate revised the PA House version of the Open Records law. The revised bill places the burden of proof on the government, instead of the citizens on which records are public. It does eliminate language that would have kept past legislative records secret.

However, the bill has created separate standards for the Legislature/Judiciary branch and the Executive branch. The revised bill defines an open record as an executive or local government document. This means all Legislative and Judiciary records are not defined as public records. It does not make sense to create separate standards for various parts of the government. I think the Morning Call has it right; “What is fair for one public servant should be fair to all” (See Morning Call Editorial for February 1, 2008).

The bill does not eliminate the so called nuisance type fees that municipalities can charge for duplicating or researching requests for public information. According to the Express-Times editorial “The law would allow exemptions for police investigative reports, home and personal cell-phone numbers, medical records and Social Security numbers to protect privacy and to protect against identity theft. Letters to elected officials from constituents also would be shielded” (See Express-Times Editorial for February 5, 2008).

In my humble opinion, this is a step in the right direction, so I am hoping the PA Senate passes the bill.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,

David Billings

Grand Opening of Forks Post Office

I attended the grand opening of the Forks Post Office. David Howell, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, participated in the ribbon cutting as well as Mike Anderson, General Manager of ACE Hardware, Rick Cantelmi, and USPS officials.

I talked to Mike Anderson about the new Post Office operations. Mike told us the new Post Office staff attended a one week training session to learn the USPS procedures. The Post Office will be open Monday to Saturday with the mail pick-up at 4:30 PM each day. Mike is hoping to have a second mail pick-up after business picks-up.

We were hoping for a photo of the grand opening, but the Everything Forks photographer forgot the camera.

It is good to have a new Forks Post Office!

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,
David Billings

New Forks Post Office

Welcome to the new Forks Post office. The Post Office is located in the Cantelmi's Ace Hardware store. The Post Office actually has been in operation since Mid December 2007, but the official opening ceremony is schedule for February 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM. It would be very cool, if allot people attend the community open house.

The Post Office is located in the middle of the hardware store and I am sure the Post Office is a welcome sight for many people.

Now, we just need that library.

If you have any ideas or comments about critical issues facing Forks Township, please share your ideas via our blog.

Get Involved – Every Voice Counts!

Sincerely,

David