Odds and Ends From Easton City Council

Two promoted Easton firefighters were sworn in to their new positions Wednesday evening.

Mayor Sal Panto and Easton Fire Department Chief John Bast praised Captain Henry Hennings and Lieutenant Jeffrey Mutchler for their service to the city and congratulated them on attaining their new positions.

Also, the mayor and council thanked retiring firefighter Capt. Wayne Unangst with a Certificate of Appreciation for his 38 years of service to the department and Easton.

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After hearing testimony from the city's Historic District Commission, Easton's mayor and council unanimously voted to deny a certificate of appropriateness to Matthew DiGirolamo of 2 Bennett Court. He , which lies in the city's historic preservation district.

Various members of the commission and city officials confirmed that the street is indeed a public thoroughfare and therefore subject to the preservationist rules of the city's historic district, and that restoration of the existing windows or aluminum clad replacements, allowable under the city's guidelines, would not be considerably more expensive.

Owners of other buildings in the historic district that did not follow the guidelines have been required to remove nonconforming vinyl replacement windows in the past, city officials noted.

“When you uphold the law, you uphold the law, not create exceptions to it,” Vice Mayor El Warner said.

“Not everything has to look like phoney baloney,” Panto said, adding that the city has worked hard to preserve its historic district.

DiGirolamo declined to testify.

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Councilman Michael Fleck apologized for "the distraction," referring to media reports of his recent arrest for unpaid parking ticket fines may have caused and thanked those that called him to offer support.

Thanks to the extra fines Fleck incurred, “The city, will be, as a result, getting a large portion of my councilman's salary back this year," he said.

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Council voted to apply for a matching grant in the amount of $240,000 from the Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to extend the to Lehigh Drive.

“We don't know how much money DCNR has, but it's worth a try,” Warner said.

Panto said existing RCAP (Rural Community Assistance Program) funds the city has could be used to match any grant award Easton might receive from DCNR.

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Councilwoman Sandra Vulcano reported that a sign campaign aimed at attracting occupants to vacant Downtown properties is showing signs of success.

The signs, which read “This building is full of possibilities” have generated an increased number of inquiries to the city's Main Street program, which is sponsoring the campaign.

“Just want to let you know, it is working,” Vulcano said. “Things are happening. Hopefully, we'll see more before summer is out.”

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Preparations for the Chansonnette Fringe Fest are well underway and the festival is set to begin on May 7, Fleck reported.

Taking place in the West Ward, the free arts fest will offer two stages, fine arts and crafts, and kids activities. Trolley service is to be offered and will coordinate with the concurrent art sites.

Set on North 12^th Street between Northampton and Spring Garden streets, the fest will run for 16 Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. rain or shine.

For more information, go to www.chansonettefringe.com.

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The city's pools will be open for an extended schedule this season for the second year in a row.

Both pools will be open every day while in the summer and the sites will alternate days while school is still in session, Warner reported.

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The Easton City Council meeting scheduled for April 27 will be held at the , as part of the council's efforts to hold meetings in other districts of the city from time to time.