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AUGUST 15-21, 2024
Looking by Back Ed Pany
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Lehigh Township celebrates New Public Works building
Becky’s Drive-In: Part 1 of 5
Berlinsville slaters; courtesy of Cindy Deppe
By LAURA KLOTZ A group of about 50 well-wishers, some traveling from as far as Harrisburg, joined the Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors at the ribbon cutting of the municipality’s new Public Works building on Thursday, August 8. Despite the ongoing threat of inclement weather, the parking lot was filled with cars and people ducked inside the spacious building. They were greeted at the entrance by a
new sign, made from a V-plow do- ployees and volunteers, including nated by a local family and paint- Township Manager Alice Rehrig, ed by Rev Signs of Walnutport, Police Chief Scott Fogel and Pubwhich identified the facility. lic Works Director Frank ZamaThe five members of the town- dics, as well as the entire public ship Board of Supervisors, Chair- works crew and members of the man Michael Jones, Vice-Chair- volunteer fire company. The pubman Gerald Pritchard, Cynthia lic works vehicles were brightly Miller, David Hess and Janet polished and on prominent disSheats, welcomed everyone as they play, and the facility was adorned made their way inside. with balloons in the township Among those in attendance were many of the township’s em- Continued on page 5
Bath Borough Council Discusses potential projects For 2025 preliminary budget Berlinsville 1924, courtesy of Cindy Deppe I recently received a letter from Cindy Beck Deppe, a former fine student of this writer at Northampton High School. Cindy’s father was Mr. William Beck, a local icon who founded a Lehigh Valley landmark, Becky’s Drive-In, located in Berlinsville, Lehigh Township. I called Cindy and asked her to share her memories of the drive-in with our loyal readers. She graciously sent a mountain of material to Mr. Larry Oberly, who works very closely with this writer. William Beck was born in the family home in 1909 in Lehigh
Township. William had three sisters, Iola, Virginia and Vera, and his brothers were Clifford, Roscoe and Eugene. As a youth, William was a student at the Berlinsville Elementary School. There he completed seven grades. Cindy recalls, “During those years my father saw his first movie in Slatington; he was so impressed that movies and films would later become his life’s ambition.” At the time, there were over a dozen slate quarries in the area, some small, some very deep. Continued on page 3
By SAVANNAH BROWN Bath Borough Council met Monday, August 12 to discuss changes to the Old Home Week schedule, Keystone Cement Company’s proposed alternative fuel transport, changes to SALDO fees, 2025 preliminary budget items, Storm Water Authority and solicitorship interviews, resolutions and ordinances. Due to the recent storms, Old Home Weekend postponed two events. The Bryant Brothers Band will now perform at Ciff Cowling Park on Friday, September 20 from 5 to 8 p.m. and the Brian Dean Moore Band will perform on Saturday, September 21 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Next, President Frank Hesch re-
ported that Keystone Cement Co. is requesting state permission to use railcars instead of trucks to haul in hazardous materials, which they burn as fuel for the kiln at the plant. For more than three decades, Keystone Cement Co. has transported the hazardous wastes via trucks, although the cement powder product is hauled away by train. In fact, a DEP permit from 1991 includes construction of an enclosed rail-unloading containment area, but the renewal permit also requests approval to build a hazardous waste fuel mixing system at the plant. The potential change in transportation mode has concerned the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association, which prompted them
to issue a letter to the county. In their letter, they voiced how this change creates a “new risk of pollution for the creek,” as well as risks of potential catastrophic incidents in the area given the recent train derailments in the Lehigh Valley and risks to residents that live near the track. However, the cement company’s vice president of environmental Continued on page 7
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