Borough Manager Eugene Goldfeder asked Catasauqua Borough Council recently to approve an expenditure of $3,000 to determine the impact of truck traffic on the borough from the proposed FedEx hub in Allen Township.

The Rockefeller Group, a real estate development company, proposed establishing a FedEx Ground transportation hub in Allen Township on land adjacent to Willowbrook Road owned by the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The proposal has approvals from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and PennDOT.

From the plans presented to Allen Township, most of the truck traffic is expected to bypass Catasauqua.

Council President Vincent Smith supported the proposed expense.

"We could use the results of the study to present our case to PennDOT on the need for improvements to the intersection of Lehigh, Race and Second streets," he said.

Others on council dismissed the opportunity.

Councilman Brian Bartholomew suggested any study should be deferred until after the hub is operational.

"The traffic plan is approved by PennDOT and there is little that can be done now because the plan is approved," he said. Councilwoman Deb Mellish is not happy with the assumptions made in the traffic study and leans toward investigating the potential impact on the borough, but is not sure how the analysis would be conducted.

The approved traffic study shows little or no impact on the borough, but there is little data in the approved traffic study about Catasauqua.

Bartholomew, for one, disputed the assumption that the borough would be spared an increase in traffic. In his assessment, Bartholomew, who drives large delivery trucks, says that drivers will find a way through the maze of streets if access roads to Route 22 are blocked.

The bigger concern for Bartholomew is the increase in traffic from hub employees driving to and from work.

In a related report, Goldfeder informed council that he met with representatives of the Rockefeller Group concerning sewage.

The developer estimates the FedEx hub project needs sewage capacity of 50,000 gallons. The logical place to provide wastewater treatment is Catasauqua.

Connecting directly from the hub location to Catasauqua is difficult. The best tie-in for the FedEx hub is with a connection in Hanover Township along Willowbrook Road.

"We would prefer that they go direct with us because it will reduce our costs," said Goldfeder. "But even if they go through Hanover, the increased flow into the plant will benefit us."

What Goldfeder proposed is that the developer construct a direct line to Catasauqua. Although significantly more costly, a direct line would bring public sewer to potential development property on the other side of Willowbrook Road.

"There is no public sewer to that area, but the grade goes the wrong way and we would need to install a pumping station," he said.

Goldfeder explained after the meeting, that Catasauqua's wastewater treatment plant has more than enough hydraulic capacity to handle the increased load presented by the proposed hub and any future development in the area.

"Where we are limited is on the organic capacity," he said. "Organic capacity are things like truck washing areas. I talked with them about establishing a pretreatment facility that would reduce their costs and help us out, too."

According to Goldfeder, East Allen Township is reviewing their Act 537 plan, the plan that identifies future sewage needs. In East Allen's review, they discussed with Goldfeder that the township may want to use Catasauqua to provide wastewater treatment for future growth.