Hellertown Borough Council had a busy month of May, choosing to cancel or indefinitely postpone several of their popular summertime recreational activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the May 4 virtual Zoom meeting, borough officials initially voted unanimously to close the popular Hellertown Pool for the season. Council members cited concerns regarding the need for increased cleaning, social distancing enforcement in such an environment, liability in the case of illness and death, potential attendance uncertainty and similar decisions made by adjacent communities among their reasons for making the decision.

However, there was a substantial degree of pushback at the May 18 meeting, as Pool Manager Ed Kolosky brought forward a proposal to open under safer operating guidelines, as well as a petition with approximately 500 signatures from residents asking council to reconsider. Some council members questioned the prudence of making a decision for the entire summer, suggesting that revisiting the decision at a later date may be a more reasonable approach. Council members were generally willing to concede that if conditions were to quickly improve, a shortened pool season wouldn’t be totally out of the question, but despite the proposal from Kolosky, there was no further discussion other than to wait and see.

The annual Dewey Fire Company carnival, which was scheduled to run from July 15 - 19 at Morris J. Dimmick Park, was also canceled, Fire Chief Mike Maguire said, although it was noted that since a deposit was already placed on the accompanying fireworks display, the star-spangled attraction may still eventually happen in 2020, albeit in an altered form. Additionally, Cathy Hartranft of the Community Day Committee addressed council with a recommendation that the event be canceled as well. She cited social distancing concerns as well as a potentially difficult time finding sponsors as the primary reasons for their decision. Council unanimously passed a motion in agreement with Hartranft.

One community service that has reopened is the Saucon Valley Compost Center, which the Hellertown Council unanimously voted in favor of May 4. Lower Saucon Township Council also voted the following evening to reopen the center, as it is a joint venture between the two. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through noon, although it was noted by council President Thomas Rieger at the May 18 meeting that there has been residential feedback requesting Saturday hours as well. There was some hesitation to this idea from a budgetary perspective, however, as Rieger noted that since the Public Works Department is already short-staffed, additional hours of operation would likely require the borough to pay some overtime.