Northampton Borough Council President John Yurish is among a large chorus of officials stunned on learning one of the borough's historic and scenic treasures, the historical Atlas Dam, will be demolished.

Yurish is particularly bothered because the decision was made without any input from the public or borough officials.

"It seems as if it is a done deal," Yurish told The Press Sunday.

Although the borough received no timetable when the approximately 100-foot-long dam located along the Coplay Creek will be dismantled, he said Yurish expects demolition to begin when the weather breaks. He said tearing apart the dam could occur as soon as spring,

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded a $429,900 grant to Martins Jacoby Watershed Association for the removal of the dam.

Borough Manager Gene Zarayko and Councilman Ed Pany said they have no knowledge of the watershed and its officers and members.

Zarayko and Yurish said members of the Horwith family, owners of the large tract of land through which the Coplay Creek runs and the Atlas Dam, also have no knowledge of the state grant to the watershed association.

The Horwith family said they were not informed of the dam's demise.

"I received a call from an Allen Township resident who gave a name of a person that may have some involvement with the dam," Zarayko said.

"Blindsided," Yurish said after receiving news of the fate of the dam.

Borough council meets this evening. Although not an agenda item, Pany, local historian and curator of the Atlas Cement Memorial Museum, is expected to broach the subject, questioning the manner in which the state handled the issue.

Pany said the near half-million dollars being spent on the dam's removal could have been better spent on restoring the dam to its former grandeur. He said funding the destruction of the dam is a waste of resources and an insult to the taxpayers.

Pany was very critical several years ago when an individual approached council, asking they support the removal of the dam.

Years ago the dam was utilized to supply electric power to the Atlas Cement plant, once the largest cement producing company in the country.