The City of Allentown submitted a grant application to the federal government to develop land in Whitehall Township along the Lehigh River.

With abandoned industrial buildings dotting the landscape, the land has been largely ignored for decades.

Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. announced at the June 6 township board of commissioners meeting the federal transportation TIGER grant application was submitted the week before the meeting for $33 million.

He said the money would create a trail on Riverside Drive, cutting a path near the once-flourishing vinyl kitchen flooring manufacturing plant.

The City of Allentown, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the Waterfront were involved in the grant application.

The decision on whether or not the grant will be awarded will be announced in October, Hozza said.

"Riverside Drive and Trail will begin in the City of Allentown and, in this phase, end south of the Race Street Bridge in Whitehall, Hozza said.

Hozza also said a $4.1 million federal grant application has been in place for several years, but he said no grant money has come to the region.

In other business at the meeting, Hozza said legal steps have been taken by the township code enforcement officer to have subcontractors cut the weeds on private properties where the owners do not cut the grass and ignore notices to remove weeds.

The service will include administrative costs that will be billed to the property owner.

If the owner ignores the bills, the property will be liened with Lehigh County.

Also at the meeting, Hozza said township commissioners appraised 28 municipal liens filed with the country from property owners who have not paid their garbage bills.

The total amount owed the township in the latest round of lien filings amounts to $22,421.

"Most are repeat violators," Hozza said.