Northampton County Council's approval of an $11.4 million bond sets the county on the road to much-needed bridge repairs and Gracedale improvements.

Council's June 20 unanimous approval of a 2013 bond will officially take place with a July 2 Internet auction which will set the terms of the borrowing and interest rates.

With interest rates so low, council will also take advantage of cost savings by refinancing the 2006 debt and adding millions of dollars for 18 Priority 1 bridges which PennDOT has evaluated as unsafe and needed to be repaired in a three-year time period.

The county plans to spend about $7 million for bridge work and $4 million for new generators at Gracedale.

Council has reviewed a number of presentations on the condition of the county's bridges and determined that state funding is not enough to finance the necessary repairs.

In August 2012, engineering consultants told council that 53 county-owned bridges need to be replaced, removed or rehabilitated for safety reasons.

The condition of the county's bridges received between a C-minus to a B-plus grade as compared with the state's bridges which rated a C when evaluated for safety. Eighteen bridges, which have an average age of 60 years, are already on PennDOT's priority maintenance list. Priority maintenance bridges require immediate attention. A bridge's lifespan is 75 years. Of the county's 115 bridges, 31 bridges are between 75 to 100 years old; 49 are between 10 and 50 years old.

Council President John Cusick said that the state's liquid fuel tax which funds the county's bridge maintenance work as well as roads doesn't allow for repair of the number of bridges that are in a state of deterioration.

"This has to be done for public-safety purposes. The refinancing will save us a lot of money and help with capital projects," he added.

Tricia Mezzacappa, a former Northampton County Council candidate, voiced her concern over the tax burden to county residents that would come with the county taking on more debt. Mezzacappa's recommendation to council was to finance the work out of the county's budget.

Councilman Bruce Gilbert responded to Mezzacappa's concern by saying that residents have expressed to him their fear for the bridges' safety. Gilbert said that county's capital improvement projects are always a matter of prioritizing funding and that fixing the bridges is a fiscally sound decision in his opinion.

Also to be financed by the bond will be new generators at Gracedale to better enable Gracedale residents to live through emergency situations. Last year's Hurricane Sandy left residents in the dark when the facilty's backup generators failed.

County Executive John Stoffa said in his report to council that since January 2006, the county has spent about $28 million for capital improvements at Gracedale. This year the county's contribution is expected to be about $4.3 million.

In other business, council solicitor Philip Lauer said that council's injunction to prevent the Stoffa administration from signing a sealed-bid contract with LifeStar Response for Gracedale Nursing Home's routine medical transport needs was granted. Council and the county executive will now wait for the judge's determination on how to best resolve the contract issue. While the judge's ruling says that Stoffa's action may have been well-intentioned, council's authority cannot be circumvented.

Putting out a sealed-bid contract circumvented council's authority and its two previous Request for Proposal bid refusals to accept LifeStar in favor of Nazareth Ambulance Corps.

Due to July 4 holiday, council's next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 2 at Northampton County Courthouse's third floor, 669 Washington St., Easton.