At their Aug. 3 meeting, Bethlehem Township Commissioners voted 4-0 to advertise changes to their Weeds and Noxious Vegetation ordinance. The changes will require bamboo aficionados to keep this plant from invading or growing onto adjoining or neighboring properties, which is usually accomplished by installing underground sheathing around what is actually a form of grass.

Ordinances in 17 communities throughout Pennsylvania already ban or restrict running bamboo. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lists this grass, which actually survived the Hiroshima bomb, as one of the fastest growing and most invasive flora in the world.

These concerns were brought to the board’s attention at their last meeting by artist Sean Delonas, a former Page Six Cartoonist at The New York Post. He was experiencing the early stages of the spread of running bamboo. But he was repeatedly interrupted by Commissioner Michael Hudak, who eventually stated “I’m done” and walked out of the meeting.

Hudak is apparently still done. He was absent from the Aug. 3 meeting without explanation. But Commissioner Marty Zawarski, who is president of the board, was just getting started. He began the meeting by publicly apologizing to Delonas for the way that he was treated by Hudak.

“[Delonas] was treated in a manner that I felt was inappropriate on so many levels,” Zawarski said. “I want to extend my apologies for what happened and I will try to make sure that no resident is treated like this again.”

Delonas thanked the commissioners and informed them that he and a neighbor are working together to solve the bamboo problem. Tom Nolan hopes that the ordinance will educate residents about the danger of invasive bamboo.

In other business, the commissioners voted 4-0 to seek $50,000 in funding for a joint storm water study with Freemansburg Borough. Half of this money is being sought from the Pa. Municipal Assistance Program. The other half is being requested from Northampton County’s newly created Community Investment partnership program.

Raging storm waters have become a growing concern in the township, and residents are increasingly asking township officials to do something. Chetwin Terrace resident Wayne Kresge is one of them, and he has been complaining to the commissioners for over two years about the problem. But instead of imposing an assessment for storm water, Kresge urged commissioners to eliminate the annual $40,000 subsidy to the Bethlehem Township Athletic Association.

Manager Melissa Shafer and Zawarski also reported on a recent trip to Lancaster, which is considered a model of successful storm water reduction. Lancaster upgraded what it calls its “gray infrastructure,” which is what it calls its pipes and pumps. But Lancaster is also investing heavily in “green infrastructure” designed to reduce storm water runoff. This includes the introduction of porous basketball courts and parking lots, as well as planting more trees.