Home Care In Mt. Bethel, PA

UPPER MT BETHEL, Pa. — You don't need to wait until it's dark to enjoy one holiday display that's drawing people to Upper Mount Bethel, Northampton County. It's all engineered by a man known as “Josh the Inflatables King.”

“I love big 20-footers,” Josh Spence of Upper Mount Bethel said about his inflatables.

It’s a growing Christmas wonderland organized by Spence.

"I've been doing this since I was a little kid,” said Spence. “My grandfather gave my first one in 2002 for Halloween. It was an eight-foot witch, and then, the rest is history."

69 News first introduced you to Spence in 2017. His house was decked out for Halloween. The then 15-year-old had recently took his family's holiday decor into his own hands. Since then, his inflatables collection has snowballed.

“I own over 1,000 total, but this is just about 200 plus up right now,” said Spence.

There’s always something new.

“Bugs Bunny is new for this year,” said Spence. “They haven't done Looney Tunes since 2004, and that was the UK exclusive. This year, this is being sold at Lowe's."

Spence says some inflatables last just a few weeks, while others have lasted decades.

Certain favorites are timeless.

“SpongeBob is a real hit with kids,” said Spence. “Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars, Thomas the Tank Engine."

The exact address of the secret gem in Upper Mount Bethel is spread via word of mouth.Some message Spence for it on Facebook, too.

His YouTube page Josh The Inflatable And Tractor Guy has taken off with nearly 50,000 subscribers.

Josh says there's a whole online community with people passionate about inflatables. He's part of Facebook groups and has done meet ups.

He says the best parts of all this are the joy and smiles the display brings.

"Everybody loves this. I do this for the community. I do it for myself, my friends, family,” said Spence. “It means a lot to me because we only live once. Everybody has to have a Christmas magic, just to gather together and just have fun."

That fun is had until the new year, when planning for the next display begins.

UPPER MOUNT BETHEL TWP., Pa. — A 66% increase in the cost of trash collection services that also ends discounts for seniors has residents complaining in Upper Mount Bethel Township.

But the township manager said only one trash collection company bid to offer the township services, and the changes are fair and comparable to neighboring municipalities.

"They are so pleased to inform us that they are charging way more and taking way less," one person wrote on the Facebook group Slate Belt Chatter. "Outrageous."

That commenter said his bill for garbage collection rose from $297 a year to $492.25, with an extra charge for each additional can.

Residents on the Facebook group also say the quality of service is inferior to what it was before.

No more senior discounts

Other people in the group took issue with the fact that there is no longer a senior's discount for the service.

Township Manager Ed Nelson said he understands the concerns.

"I mean, it's understandable," Nelson said. He said he's gotten lots of phone calls about the issue.

"The supervisor did not feel that it was fair to have one neighbor be charged $300, where the next neighbor having to pay $600, because the one neighbor is just living by themselves, and the next neighbor has three or four kids, and they have to pay an extra couple hundred dollars."

Upper Mount Bethel Township Manager Ed Nelson

"We have a lot of seniors in this town."

Nelson said that when the township awarded a new contract this year, it decided to do away with senior's discounts, citing fairness.

"The supervisors did not feel that it was fair to have one neighbor be charged $300, where the next neighbor [is] having to pay $600, because the one neighbor is just living by themselves, and the next neighbor has three or four kids, and they have to pay an extra couple hundred dollars," he said.

"We felt as though we put a flat fee on it, everybody pays the same, the contract's up in three years, and hopefully in between, I can come up with some creative ideas as to how we can reduce that going forward."

New contract

Nelson said the company previously responsible for the township's waste collection, Advanced Disposal, was acquired by Waste Management Solutions, a multi-national waste collection company headquartered in Texas.

Advanced Disposal's contract with the township ended this year, so the township was required to accept bids for a new provider.

"We really didn't do too bad for the number, in comparison to the other communities."

Upper Mount Bethel Township Manager Ed Nelson

However, the only company that submitted a bid was Waste Management Solutions — the new parent company of the previous provider, Nelson said.

Nelson said the price increase put trash collection bills closer to what residents of surrounding municipalities pay.

"Well, now that the bid that we got was $485 [per household] and I would like to compare that a little bit with some of our neighboring communities," Nelson said.

"I believe Bangor is at $585, Washington Township is at $505, Roseto is above five [hundred dollars] but I don't know their exact number," he said. "So we really didn't do too bad for the number, in comparison to the other communities."

Nelson also said there was a clause in the new billing statements that did not make clear enough that a $7 one-time fee for the new fee-collecting software was not a recurring charge, confusing some residents.

He said the new billing program was implemented to allow for smaller, more frequent payments for residents who could not afford a lump-sum charge with the new price increase.

Growing pains

On Facebook, some residents complained about garbage trucks not coming often enough, or when they're scheduled.

"Every day, we're meeting with Waste Management. Every day."

Upper Mount Bethel Township Manager Ed Nelson

Nelson responded that because the contractor is new to the township, it is naturally going to take some time for things to be running smoothly and predictably.

"Every day, we're meeting with Waste Management. Every day," Nelson said. "We meet with them and talk about what needs to be changed and improved, and then we identify things we didn't collect.

"We go back and do that, and we move on."

Nelson said he forecasts a noticeable improvement in the service within the next six weeks.

"We should be pretty efficient at what we're doing by then," he said.

An Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisor committed “a clear violation of public trust” for his votes in a long-running fight over a major commercial development, a state board has ruled.

David Friedman twice voted illegally on matters concerning a lawsuit against the township in which he was involved, related to Bethlehem developer Lou Pektor and Pektor’s River Pointe Logistics Center, according to a 20-page decision from the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission released last week.

Friedman, who was elected supervisor in November 2021, can continue to serve on the five-member supervisor board; his six-year term expires in 2027. He said he has appealed the commission’s order to Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

“My contention is they didn’t take all the facts into consideration when they came to their decision,” Friedman said.

Friedman had been a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against the township by a citizens group opposed to a zoning-ordinance text amendment the supervisors passed in September 2020 regarding River Pointe. The lawsuit, filed by the grassroots group Concerned Citizens of Upper Mount Bethel Township, eventually was dismissed.

Before becoming supervisor, Friedman was a member and treasurer of Concerned Citizens, but upon his election to the board, he removed himself from the group after seeking advice from the ethics commission.

“My argument is I knew it would be a contentious matter,” Friedman said. “I contacted the ethics commission. I got their advice and followed the advice they gave me to do in order not to have a conflict of interest.”

In June 2022, Upper Mount Bethel supervisors considered, then rejected, a plan to sue six residents — including Friedman — over their lawsuit. The motion to recover $100,000 the township spent to defend its decision was rejected by a 2-3 vote.

“Basically what they’re saying is I voted not to sue myself,” Friedman said of the commission’s ruling.

He said he voted against the measure in his role as a supervisor because it also proposed recouping costs pertaining to Right-to-Know requests, which he said is not allowed.

The commission did not issue penalties against Friedman, saying that while he acted in violation of state ethics law, his conduct was not egregious enough to warrant sending the case to the state attorney general’s office for further investigation. It also denied a request to order him to reimburse $1,635 in township legal fees or face other financial penalties.

Names of complainants are not made public, according to Mary W. Fox, the ethics commission’s executive director. Friedman said he does not know who filed the complaint.

Friedman has stated his opposition to the scope of Pektor’s development and the text amendment that he says gives Pektor favored options to avoid local decisions made on the project. River Pointe as proposed would have industrial buildings totaling nearly 4 million square feet, and two additional ones across River Road at the site of the former Portland Generating Station electric plant that total 1.5 million square feet.

If completed, River Pointe, which is off Route 611 and near Interstate 80, just south of Portland, would cover 804 acres and have 12 buildings totaling 5.8 million square feet.

Ever since Pektor proposed River Pointe in 2019, critics, including residents and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, have raised concerns about transportation problems and environmental degradation over the massive development in the rural township of less than 7,000 people in northern Northampton County.

Proponents have argued the project would bring additional tax revenue and employment to the Slate Belt and beyond.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at [email protected].

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Review of one township’s zoning amendment proposal was green-lighted.

Another hit a stop sign.

Applications by Palmer and Upper Mount Bethel townships for amendments to their zoning ordinances were among seven reviewed Tuesday by Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Palmer Township’s zoning amendment proposal regarding warehouses and single-family, detached residential dwellings was reviewed without issue by the commission.

Conversely, Upper Mount Bethel Township’s zoning amendment proposal was not embraced by the committee.

It determined the township’s requested change to its Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, or SALDO, “does not align with the intent of FutureLV: The Regional Plan,” which is the Lehigh Valley’s vision through 2050.

The zoning request is related to the River Pointe Logistics industrial park development planned in the township. Plans for the project submitted to the LVPC consist of 12 industrial buildings, or warehouses, totaling 5,873,000 square feet on 804 acres on the site of the former Portland Generating Station electric plant.

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission

The zoning request is related to the River Pointe Logistics industrial park development planned in the township.

Plans for the project submitted to the LVPC consist of 12 industrial buildings, or warehouses, totaling 5,873,000 square feet on 804 acres on the site of the former Portland Generating Station electric plant.

Residents have voiced concerns over the project, citing increased traffic, water and sewer issues and negative environmental impacts.

The committee on Tuesday also reviewed amendment applications by Hanover Township regarding “developments of regional significance,” stipulations for tobacco stores and smoke and vape shops in Slatington, fees in Wilson and Forks Township and single-family cluster development in Bushkill Township.

The full planning commission will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday, an hour earlier than usual because of the holiday.

'We want orderly growth'

Long delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, which impacted the opportunity for public input, the committee was in favor of Palmer Township’s plan addressing warehouses and single-family, detached residential dwellings.

The proposal establishes two warehouse subcategories based on size: Small warehouses with gross floor area less than 25,000 square feet and large warehouses larger than 25,000 square feet.

The proposal also requires truck parking amenities, including electrical outlets, driver lounges and parking space requirements appropriately sized for commercial vehicles.

"I can't speak highly enough of the job the new planning staff in the township has done."

Timothy Fisher, resident, Palmer Township

"I heartily agree with this new zoning ordinance," said Timothy Fisher, a resident at The Highlands at Glenmoor, a 55-plus community in the township.

"We want orderly growth, not just warehouses around us. I can't speak highly enough of the job the new planning staff in the township has done."

The housing zoning proposal focuses on a range of types in several zoning districts and overlay districts.

Single-family detached dwellings at varying densities are the primary housing type permitted in the Rural Agricultural, Low-Density Residential and Medium-Density Residential zoning districts.

The High-Density Residential and Neighborhood Commercial zoning districts allow a greater variety of housing types, including townhouses and twins.

Three of the proposed overlay zones also allow a greater variety of housing types: the William Penn Highway Overlay, Freemansburg Avenue Overlay and Eastern Gateway Overlay.

Other recommendations

The committee was not in favor of Upper Bethel Township’s proposal to exempt the requirement of preservation of certain environmental features because two zoning districts are adjacent to the Delaware River, in an area containing highly sensitive environmental features.

The planning committee recommended that Hanover Township alter the definition of “Development of Regional Significance” to “Any Land Development” that, because of its location, would have substantial effect on the health, safety or welfare of residents in the Nazareth Area Council of Governments.

The committee approved Slatington’s zoning proposal for smoke and vape shops that limits those locations no closer than 1,500 feet to a school, church, library, public park, child care facility, residential district, medical or healthcare building or similar smoke shop.

The committee also reviewed without question the Bushkill Township application to amend a zoning ordinance to remove single cluster development as a permitted conditional use in the rural residential district.

U. MOUNT BETHEL TWP., Pa. – The final master plan governing the Upper Mount Bethel Preserve's future was presented during a public meeting Wednesday night at the township building.

The 171-acre parcel is part of roughly 233-acre purchase the township made in 2008 of the former Eastern Industries quarry site, off Million Dollar Highway, Audubon Drive and Boulder Road. The remaining 62 acres have been designated for public works usage.

The township has solicited public input on the preserve parcel over the last several months with surveys and various other public meetings, the most recent being March 1. The plan is a collaboration between the township and Simone Collins Landscape Architecture, a firm hired by the township.

The firm estimated Wednesday night the project will cost about $2.15 million. The plan assumes public funding will be used to pay for it. Simone Collins cited the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Northampton County, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and Upper Mount Bethel Township as possible funding sources.

The preserve is intended to function "as a healthy ecosystem that offers opportunities for visitors to learn about nature and the potential to see the unique Fens Habitat reemerge." To accomplish this, the plan presented Wednesday night called for the township to not only provide funds for protection and preservation, but to become "active stewards of the land through restorative land management practices." To that end, Upper Mount Bethel Township will consider trail improvements and restorative projects.

Through the surveys and meetings, most residents agreed the preserve's main uses should involve hiking, fishing, bird watching and nature programs. General amenities would include restrooms and adequate parking. Education and stewardship were cited also as other priorities. Suggestions were made to limit the size of a picnic pavilion and other rental facilities.

While many respondents favored nature programs, the construction of a large-scale nature center building ranked lower in priorities. More individuals consider a small-scale building that could serve as a public meeting space and support space for nature programs as ideal.

On a daily basis, the preserve is anticipated tor receive light to moderate use by township and nearby residents.

"We think this plan has all the bells and whistles, and this captures the will of the community," Peter Simone, of Simone Collins, said when presenting the final plan Wednesday night. "...We think this is going to be a popular place once it is up and running."

Implementation of projects similar to the preserve are typically done in phases, according to Simone Collins' officials.

The preserve's main entrance would come from Audubon Drive, which along with the proposed nature center, would serve as the public face. Elements in this area include 30 parking spaces, five Americans with Disabilities Act parking spaces, the nature center, a pavilion, a picnic grove and shoreline fishing access.

The Williamsburg Pond will offer an ADA boat launch, an outdoor classroom, a trail overlook and an osprey nest platform, along with bank access fishing improvements. The Meadow Overlook will have ADA ramp access and the Lenape Pond will have an ADA fishing pier.

The Turtle and Beaver ponds will be home to a turtle basking habitat, forest enclosure restoration and wood duck nesting boxes. The area will have also a boardwalk, a beaver lodge cam, a pond overlook area and a wetland overlook platform.

In addition, representatives said the trail system "has been simplified" and have sleep slope improvements. The trails would also have a rating system and loop trails. The trails overall will total 5.1 miles and are expected "to be a key component" of the preserve. Regular trail blazing and way-finder markers are expected to be a component of the preserve's safety features.

The primary trail for most visitors will be the site's perimeter loop, most of which takes advantage of existing site trails. The nearly 2-mile trail is comprised of Northern Tier Trail alignment to the south and the former haul road that runs through the site's central valley. Both these existing corridors are between 10 feet to 12 feet in width.

"This will be a very interesting place for a lot of people," Simone said.