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MAY 18-24, 2023
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Lehigh Township Planning Commission Considers medical Marijuana campus By SAVANNAH BROWN The Lehigh Township Planning Commission met Monday, May 8 with a lengthy meeting to discuss the construction of a Verizon Wireless communication facility and the building of a medical marijuana campus on Birch Drive. The first order of business was Verizon’s special exception request to erect a 180-foot-tall wireless communication facility at 3861 Lehigh Dr. due to the height of the pole exceeding the township’s ordinance. The
manacle will be set back 369 feet on the Villanova property along Indian Trail Road off of Route 248 and will help provide coverage to Verizon customers where there are coverage gaps in that area. Representative Kate Durso also acknowledged that Verizon would be willing to share the tower with other companies. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval for the variances conditioned upon the applicant Continued on page 2
East Allen Supervisors hear plans for Lettuce greenhouse off Route 512 By KERI LINDENMUTH During their meeting on Wednesday, May 10, East Allen Township supervisors met with representatives of Bright Farms LLC, an indoor farming company that grows local, nonGMO lettuce. The company is interested in building one of its East Coast greenhouses in East Allen Township on Locust Road between Route 512 and Arrowhead Road. The company already has six greenhouses along the East Coast, including one in Selinsgrove. Kate Bowdler, Senior Project Developer, said Bright Farms grows lettuce for local consumption. West Coast lettuce, she said, lacks in quality due to shipping times and also pollutes the
Academic updates presented to Northampton School Board
By SAVANNAH BROWN During the Northampton School Board meeting on Monday, May 8, Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik and Assistant Superintendent Michelle Schoeneberger provided academic updates on 2022 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) results, projected Star assessment scores, and academic remediation contracts for students. The PSSAs are state standardsbased assessments that show student and school performances for proficiency in English and language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science and technology based on grade level. Students in
Grades 3 through 8 are assessed in ELA and math, and students in Grades 4 and 8 are additionally assessed in science. The Star assessments measure students’ reading and math skills, monitor achievement and growth, and track how well students understand skills aligned with state and common core standards. Schoeneberger revealed the spring 2022 Northampton Area School District PSSA results that the state recently released. For ELA, the district received the following scores: Grade 3 had a 64% proficiency score with the state average showing a 52.3% proficiency score and a 65.7%
projected proficiency score for the Star assessment; Grade 4 had a 65% proficiency score with the state average showing a 52.2% proficiency score and a 66.1% projected proficiency score for the Star assessment; Grade 5 had a 63% proficiency score with the state average showing a 53.6% proficiency score and a 64.3% projected proficiency score for the Star assessment; Grade 6 had a 47% proficiency score with the state average showing a 56.1% proficiency score and a 60.6% projected proficiency score for the Star assessment; Grade 7 had a 57% proficiency score with Continued on page 7
environment because of crosscountry shipping. Bright Farms lettuce is consumed by customers within a four hour radius. Giant is currently one of the company’s biggest customers. The 32-acre greenhouse is powered by sunlight and uses horizontal farming. It would cost roughly $300 million to develop and create 255 full-time jobs with healthcare, 401Ks, and managerial opportunities. The company predicts 68 trucks per day at full-build, which will happen over the course of eight years. To begin the development process, Bowdler and her team requested the opportunity to open up an escrow with the township and meet with the township’s so-
licitor and engineer to potentially plan out language for a zoning amendment that would allow for a controlled environment greenhouse in this agricultural zone. The draft amendment must still go through the proper advertising procedures. Supervisors approved this request. In other news, supervisors also granted conditional final plan approval for the 6292 Hanoverville Rd. Minor Subdivision Plan. This plan is part of developer Abe Atiyeh’s Farmhouse Village Major Subdivision in Hanover Township. The development is at Jacksonville and Airport roads. The municipal dividing line between Continued on page 6
Lehigh Township Supervisors hear Resident complaints
By LAURA KLOTZ The Lehigh Township Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. A representative of the Vineyard Estates project was present to discuss their request for an extension of time for plan recording. The Vineyard Estates project is a development of 17 singlefamily homes along Persimmon Road, Willow Road and Long Lane Road. The representative explained that the original model which had been submitted was denied due to a need for their drip irrigation system to be a certain depth. This has been met and
the planning module has been resubmitted to the Department of Environmental Protection. The plan was set to expire on June 14 and they asked the board for an extension until the end of the year in order to allow enough time for the DEP to send their approval. Continued on page 9
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