There have been three Lower Saucon Township Council meetings so far this year – the organizational meeting on January 5 which was covered in the last Saucon Shenanigans, and two regular business meetings on January 21 and February 18 that we’ll cover in this edition. If you take the amount of time spent on each of those three meetings and add them all together, you come up with five hours and fifty-three minutes total – over 3 nights.
Let’s compare that to council meetings in 2025. Last year three individual meetings ran more than 6 hours. In fact one, on April 16, 2025, ran 7 hours and 57 minutes. Go back to 2024, and you’ll find that eight (!) council meetings that year ran more than 6 hours EACH. The one on August 21, 2024, ran 9 hours and 8 minutes. It’s no wonder residents had no interest in coming to council meetings.
So what’s the difference in 2026? It’s very obvious.
The return of civility.
The council is now comprised of five elected members who are focused on the work for which they were elected by their constituents – responsibly managing the township in a way that seeks to improve residents’ quality of life. Treating each other with respect, preparing for agenda items ahead of time, using their time wisely. No more name-calling, no more lying, no more dredging up completely irrelevant topics, no more behaving like six-year-olds fighting on the playground. Just five fellow residents doing their job.
What a relief!
So let’s see what’s been accomplished in just 3 meetings.
Probably the most important steps that the Council has taken were to engage both the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) and Lafayette College’s Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Governments to perform in-depth assessments of the township’s organizational and financial structures. The first event of LVPC’s assessment is a public meeting on Monday, March 16 at 7 PM at the Saucon Valley Senior High School Auditorium. The purpose of the meeting is an opportunity for residents, business owners, and stakeholders to provide input that will help guide future planning, land use decisions, economic development strategy, and community priorities. In the 20 years that I’ve lived in Lower Saucon Township, this is the most significant step I have seen this township take towards economic development and strategic planning. And unlike the behavior of previous township leadership, this is an opportunity for residents to have a say in what they’d like to see in the township, instead of having their views ignored and the future dictated to them.
If at all possible, please join us on Monday to take part in this important community event. You know the loud-mouth clowns will be there. Let’s make sure that those of us with the most interest and investment in the quality of life in LST are there as well and make sure that OUR voices are heard. If you want more information, you can find it on the Township website here.
The Lower Saucon Fire Rescue company has presented a new program that’s available on their website called Community Connect. It’s a place where both residents and business owners can create a profile about their property that might be of especial importance to the fire company in the event of a fire. For example, residents can share information about any pets that might reside in the home, any young children, residents with disabilities or who are elderly and may have difficulty leaving the house. There’s room to report anything that you think will be necessary. Same goes for business owners. Anything in your business that might help the fire company protect your property.
The program is password protected and completely voluntary. Take a look at it here today and see if this is something that might be valuable to you. It’s a great addition to LST’s safety and protection.
The Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) has developed a survey on microplastics in the township. These are sometimes known as “forever chemicals” and can find their way into our water, air, soil and, most concerningly, our bodies. The EAC is seeking input on single-use plastics and their impact in our community. You can take the survey using this link – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/86B3FKC – or find out more about microplastics on the EAC website page here. The survey will be available until April 20, 2026.
The EAC microplastics survey is not the only way that the township is trying to get ahead of situations that might be of potential concern to residents. The Council also drafted a data center ordinance in reference to possible zoning regarding the building of data center(s) within the Township. Unlike the situation that developed in the Valley with the explosion of warehouses over the last 15-20 years where municipalities either didn’t see them coming or were too slow in creating protections for land, water, and neighborhoods, LST is proactively exploring how to protect the township from the environmental and energy disasters than can come attached to the development of large data centers. The Council created a draft ordinance which has been forwarded to the LVPC for their input on both the legality of the zoning changes and the thoroughness and efficacy of the changes. Based on the response from LVPC, the Council will determine whether to move forward with the zoning change or what changes need to be made to the draft. The ordinance will then need to be advertised and a hearing held on it before any action can be finalized, so there will be plenty of opportunity for public input. I’m sure you’ve seen other municipalities where just such action is being taken. We don’t want to be caught short.
Also under consideration is the adoption of the International Property Maintenance Code Ordinance. The International Property Maintenance Code, otherwise known as IPMC, is a model code by the International Code Council setting minimum standards for the upkeep of existing residential and non-residential buildings and premises, ensuring public health safety and welfare by covering issues like sanitation, structural integrity, light, ventilation, heating and fire safety. It would be appropriate that we have this in place to protect our community. Both Mr. Goudsouzian and Mr. Finigan explained that this is a pretty standard code for a municipality to adopt and that it was surprising to both of them that LST did not already have it in place. It provides a standard process and procedure for a municipality to follow in the event of problem properties, making both the job of the Code Enforcement Officer more standardized and moving the remediation process along more quickly than having to rely on nuisance ordinances. The vote on January 21 was to advertise the ordinance for future consideration, not to adopt it at that meeting.
At the February 18 meeting, the Council considered a hybrid manufacturing district draft ordinance. This is to deal with the issues that have arisen over zoning changes along the Easton Road corridor over the last couple of years. The draft ordinance would propose creating a hybrid manufacturing district. Just like with the data center ordinance, this ordinance would be forwarded to the LVPC for their comments and suggestions before it returns to the Council as well as the Lower Saucon Planning Commission for approval. At that point it would need to be advertised and a hearing held so there will be ample opportunity for public input.
Of course there have also been all of the usual housekeeping responsibilities of a council – beginning police contract negotiations, various property variance requests, pavilion rental requests, condemnation of properties, appointments, etc., etc. But what we’re seeing here is a Council that is working with an eye to the future, anticipating challenges and opportunities and taking steps to deal with them. And all within 2 hour meetings.
I would be remiss if I left you thinking everything is just hunky-dory at Council meetings. Because we still have public comment periods both before the meeting for agenda items and after the meeting for agenda and non-agenda items, we do still attract residents who seem to think that they know more about how to run a township than anyone else and who regularly violate the code of conduct for public comment, calling council members names, pushing misinformation or disinformation either because they don’t understand how municipalities operate or because they are deliberately trying to cause confusion. Here’s a perfect example – one of these people claimed that the Council was violating the Sunshine Law because some Council members went to a local restaurant after a Council meeting. Mr. Goudsouzian had to set the person straight that, unless they were discussing Council business at the restaurant – which they were not, they were not in violation of the Sunshine Law.
In addition some of them include non-agenda items before the meeting – which is prohibited – or refuse to stop when their 3 minutes are up. If you’ve been to past Council meetings, you know who these people are so I won’t bother to name them. Unfortunately, it now also includes a former Council member as well who regularly brings up items in the pre-meeting public comment that are not on the agenda or are completely disconnected to anything of substance. In fact, it’s hard to understand what he’s even saying. I wondered why he felt he had to do this in the pre-meeting comments until I watched and discovered that after he spews his gobbledy-gook, after about 10 minutes or so, he leaves the meeting. He doesn’t even stay for the actual meeting. Saucon Shenanigans will keep an eye on these “shenanigans” and correct any false information that is put forth. Thank goodness they are limited to 3 minutes each.
Once again, please take the opportunity to attend the Public Meeting on Monday, March 16 at 7 PM at Saucon Valley High School Auditorium to provide your input into what can help us all grow this township into an even better place to live! Hope to see you there!
Next Council Meeting Wednesday, March 18 6:30 PM Township Building