Rail Trail Commission Appointments Delayed

At their Sept. 26 meeting, members of the Saucon Rail Trail Oversight Commission decided to table the appointment of a president, vice president and secretary until their Oct. 24 meeting, due to the fact that many members were unable to be in attendance.

Hellertown's Assistant Borough Manager Tina Krasnansky was present and filled in for both Borough Manager Cathy Kichline and Lower Saucon Township Jack Cahalan, who were unable to attend.

Frank J. Pazzaglia, the Hellertown Borough representative to the commission, also submitted a letter of resignation that was read at the meeting.

Pazzaglia cited his frequent inability to make the 5pm meeting time in resigning.

At Hellertown Borough Council's Oct. 3 meeting, it was announced that owner would replace Pazzaglia for the two years remaining in his term.

Coopersburg is also in need of a commission member, which led members to discuss changing their regular meeting time to later in the evening starting in 2012. However, they will not make a decision about that until more members are appointed.

In terms of trail development, there have been memorial benches installed in three locations in Hellertown, and Upper Saucon Township is looking into installing a number of benches along the trail that were already donated but are not currently in use in the township.

The commission also agreed that it is unlikely that building of the trail will continue in 2012.

The trail currently ends at Upper Saucon Township Park on Preston Lane, although plans call for it to be extended south to Coopersburg.

According to Upper Saucon Township Manager Tom Beil, "2012 won't be a lost year," however.

"There are some drainage issues that need to be resolved and taken care of which will be done in 2012, (and) also some permits are needed from PennDOT," he said. "So the permitting process will be started with PennDOT, but there is a possibility of a 2013 timeframe to continue development."

Roger Jurczak of Lower Saucon asked Beil for further details regarding a trail map Upper Saucon provided at its  in June.

Jurczak wanted information about its compilation and accuracy, but Beil said the engineering company got the map from the township and no survey work was done, meaning measurements may not be exact.

Beil agreed to look into getting an estimate for an engineer to map the trail in the future.

The Oct. 24 meeting of the commission will be held at 5pm at Coopersburg Borough Hall, at East State and Main streets in Coopersburg. Meetings are open to the public.

The rail trail commission is composed of representatives from Hellertown, Coopersburg, Lower Saucon Township and Upper Saucon Township.