K9 Protection Dogs in Bethlehem, PA

Bethlehem will soon be home to the Lehigh Valley’s first non-congregate emergency family shelter, thanks to a $1.45 million state grant.

The property at 232-234 W. Packer Ave., owned by the Lehigh Conference of Churches, will receive extensive renovations to transform it into an emergency shelter with 11 rooms for families facing homelessness.

The state grant will close the city’s funding gap — it had already allocated $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan dollars toward the long-planned project — and allow the work to move forward.

“This investment by Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration will help bring the Lehigh Valley its first non-congregate family shelter, filling a large void in the region’s emergency sheltering system,” said Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds in a news release. “This critical award allows the city to fully fund this project and brings us one step closer to offering families year-round shelter.”

The private units will each have their own bathroom facilities, allowing families privacy as they seek permanent housing. They also made the project eligible for the state and federal grants — some funding sources will only pay for shelters with private living units, as opposed to congregate settings with shared quarters.

The Lehigh Conference of Churches will donate the property to the city and will handle the shelter’s day-to-day operations, including a case management office on the shelter’s site.

The city expects engineering and design of the renovations to take six months, and renovations themselves will take around a year.

The funding awarded to Bethlehem is part of a $27 million investment from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development to address homelessness in 38 counties statewide.

“The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring Pennsylvanians have more housing options,” said DCED Secretary Rick Siger in a news release. “The funding approved today is just one tool that will allow more individuals and their families to maintain a roof over their heads that they can afford.”

The city is still seeking enough funding for its planned 82-bed emergency congregate shelter, in partnership with the nonprofit Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering. The city has dedicated $2 million toward that project.

The number of unhoused people in the region has only increased since the city announced its strategic plan to address homelessness in early 2022. According to data from the Lehigh Valley Homeless Advisory Board, there are around 1,032 unhoused households across the Lehigh Valley, an increase of 38% from 2022.

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at [email protected].

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Crews in the Bethlehem area are still working to close a sinkhole on Schoenersville Road that opened up Tuesday morning after a water main break.

The road remains closed right at the Bethlehem-Hanover Township line.

About 20 homes and businesses have been without water as crews worked on the hole in the road. A few businesses had to close for the day but one pizza shop was up for the challenge.

"I'm still working, yes, still making pizzas. We bought containers of water and we keep operating," said Jairon Gonzalez, owner of Good Times Pizzeria.

A flurry of equipment and a giant hole in the ground outside is no match for Gonzalez's oven.

"People want the pizzas and we're here to make the pizzas," Gonzalez told us.

He first knew something was wrong when he came to work on Tuesday and had no running water. He called the city's water department which then discovered the water main break and spent hours working to stop the leak.

"When the leak occurred, it flowed underground opening up some of the voids underground," said Edward Boscola, Bethlehem's Water and Sewer Director.

The water flow created the sinkhole and took out the sign outside Gonzalez's shop. He's had two inspectors come by and report his building is safe. He was told if he had a basement, it would be another story.

"We had inspectors out here about midday today, they took a look at the foundations of the various properties around here and they didn't see any damage. We hope to get the line fixed sometime tonight and get people back in full water service by tonight and come back tomorrow and fix the road," Boscola stated.

In the meantime, it's business as usual for Gonzalez. He was forced to close on Tuesday but was determined to stay open Wednesday.

"So everybody come get a pizza," Gonzalez said.

Schoenersville Road remains closed between Illick's Mill and Catasauqua roads.

City crews plan to repair the road Thursday morning.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bethlehem Area School District’s board voted Monday to move forward a proposed 2025-26 budget that includes a 4.3% property tax increase and a $5.9 million drawdown from the district fund balance.

It's just shy of a 4.8% increase, which would be the highest allowed increase for BASD under the state's Act 1 Index.

State law requires school districts to sign off on a proposed budget before they can vote to adopt it, a procedural step meant to give the public time to examine the district’s proposal before a final vote.

Board President Michael Faccinetto

“This is not a final budget,” board President Michael Faccinetto said.

“Things can change and will change, most certainly, but this is where we are right now in the budget process as dictated to us by the state.”

The $373.5 million budget advanced Monday largely resembles the draft version presented in March.

Further changes coming

Further changes likely are coming as Pennsylvania’s budgeting process reaches its conclusion and districts learn exactly how much state money they will get.

Overall, BASD’s projected 2025-26 revenue grew more than $600,000 from March to May, driven by higher-than-expected state gaming revenue.

At the same time, district financial staff cut about $3.4 million of spending, largely by eliminating 20 positions, putting off some capital outlays and spending less on transportation.

“There is some tightening of the belt here, in operational savings and less service"

BASD Superintendent Jack Silva

“There is some tightening of the belt here, in operational savings and less service,” BASD Superintendent Jack Silva said.

“They will not directly affect what students or teachers experience in their classrooms, which was always our goal.”

Taken together, the adjustments shrink the district’s expected budget shortfall, covered by spending down its general fund, from nearly $10 million two months ago.

Bethlehem Area School Board will vote on adopting its proposed budget June 9.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Working as a sustainability consultant, Vibhor Kumar is familiar with certifications — and how they can act as a tool to drive change.

“I feel like the certification programs, of all sorts, their motivation is to have cities, companies start intentionally thinking about what more they can do,” said Kumar, who also is a member of the city’s Environment Advisory Council.

“I handle the reporting for Bird Town, and a lot of the work that happens is already organically happening throughout the city.

"But at the same time, you do see all these other opportunities where we are not getting scores — that is a motivation for us to do more.”

EAC members in both Bethlehem and Allentown have achieved gold status through Bird Town Pennsylvania.

“What's good for birds is good for people, too.”

Heidi Shiver, president of Bird Town Pennsylvania

An annual certification focused on community-based conservation, the program aims to create a healthier, more sustainable environment for birds, as well as other wildlife and residents.

“We work at the municipal level, working with municipal leaders to address the threats to birds, because of the populations really continuing to decline across all species,” Bird Town Pennsylvania President Heidi Shiver said.

“Really trying to work with municipal leaders to let them know about that, and using that information to engage with them and educate their residents about what they can be doing to support birds.

"Like I always say, we're not just about birds — we're really about healthier habitats. What's good for birds is good for people, too.”

‘Everyone works at their own pace’

Starting the process to become a Bird Town is relatively simple. After contacting Bird Town Pennsylvania for an application toolkit, municipal officials have five steps to complete.

They are scheduling a meeting to discuss the process, creating a Bird Town Committee, passing a Bird Town municipal resolution, completing the application and paying a one-time $100 fee.

The application fee helps offset costs for Bird Town street signs, Shiver said. Once approved, municipalities get two, each costing $60.

“Some municipalities act very quickly on it — sometimes it takes a year,” Shiver said.

“It really is just informing them about the program, educating their commissioners or supervisors or councils about the process and what it's about, getting them on board and then moving forward.”

Each year, municipal officials — oftentimes through an EAC — will check off projects and tasks from the program’s Goal and Activity Worksheet.

Depending on how many are completed, points are calculated to determine an annual designation.

“It's a four-tier program,” Shiver said. “They come in at the green level, but we really want them to move up to bronze, silver or gold within the first year.

“We're checking in with them, making sure they know what to do, guiding them on things that they can be doing to help them along.

"We understand there's only so many volunteers and so much funding, so everyone works at their own pace.”

‘Valuable opportunities to network’

Allentown in 2011 was the first city in the Lehigh Valley to become a Bird Town, said Tinku Khanwalkar, co-chairwoman of the city’s EAC.

“As the first city in the Lehigh Valley to become a Bird Town, Allentown is pleased to see its numerous community-based stewardship programs recognized by Bird Town PA,” Khanwalkar said in an email.

“The city does not yet have systems in place to capture all data on community-based environmental actions, but even the limited data shows that in 2024 the city had at least 815 volunteer hours, 118 participants, managed 1,500 acres of park lands and planted at least 300 trees.”

Notable projects included a monthly environmental education workshop for children at the Allentown Public Library and installing an education banner on bird strikes at Muhlenberg College’s Fahy Commons for Public Engagement, among others.

The goals of the program align well with the EAC’s mission to promote community-based environmental programs, Khanwalkar said.

“Bird Town provides valuable opportunities to network with other municipalities in promoting such programs,” she said.

“In fact, shortly after Allentown became a Bird Town, the Allentown EAC spear-headed an effort to create an informal network of other municipalities and organizations [called the Lehigh Valley Bird Town Coalition] with a shared goal of promoting municipal environmental stewardship.”

The Lehigh Valley Bird Town Coalition posts activities on Meetup, an online event platform.

‘The program is doing great’

The Bird Town program has been active in the commonwealth for more than a decade.

Upper Moreland Township, Montgomery County, in 2011 was designated the commonwealth’s first Bird Town. Others, such as Allentown, soon followed.

While the program first was administered through Audubon Pennsylvania, that changed several years ago.

“The [Pennsylvania] office merged with a number of other states, becoming the Audubon Mid-Atlantic regional office, and at that time, they decided to no longer support the program,” Shiver said.

“That's about four or five years ago, just because of funding and staffing.”

At the time, Shiver was a member of the Doylestown Township EAC — she's now chairwoman — as well as Bird Town coordinator for the township and president of Bucks County Audubon.

“I just felt really passionate about the program,” Shiver said. “I really didn't want it to fall to pieces — I think there's a lot of great things that come from this program.

“So I took it upon myself to reach out to some other folks that I thought would be really good board members, potentially. We started as a working group, and then eventually evolved to be a board to make it more sustainable.

“And, here we are, a few years later, and the program is doing great.”

Currently, there are 83 Bird Town programs in 15 counties across the commonwealth.

In the Lehigh Valley, there are five Bird Towns. In addition to Allentown and Bethlehem, others are Lower Macungie, Whitehall Township and Salisbury Township.

All have achieved gold status this year, except for Salisbury, which achieved bronze.

‘More and more Bird Towns’

Kumar got involved with the Bird Town annual reporting for Bethlehem’s EAC a couple years ago, but the city got involved in the program in 2015.

“Every year I see more and more Bird Towns,” he said.

“They do have this annual presentation, like a meeting, where they announce all the new Bird Towns that joined and that's also when they provide the different certifications to different Bird Towns.

“It’s very exciting to see this program grow over the past few years.”

After looking at the goals and activities outlined in the worksheet, EAC members realized they already were completing projects needed to achieve Bird Town status, he said.

“I think the motivation was more of that — we are already doing all of this stuff,” Kumar said. “It'll be nice to get certified for it.

“Even if it started organically, that we were already doing these things, these certifications do help motivate us to do more and maintain some of these certifications, and hopefully Bethlehem will always be a gold-certified Bird Town.

"If we see that you're not meeting that certification, it motivates us to do more.”

To Kumar, the program really focuses on conservation, but also on communicating those projects with residents. The latter, he said, is “a big aspect that I feel like we haven't fully explored.”

“That communication could be through schools, through libraries,” he said. “And generally, as part of the Climate Action Plan for the city of Bethlehem, that community engagement is a big aspect.

“And this fits really well into that goal and program, and something I would love to explore is maybe some more programming with the library where people who are knowledgeable about this stuff can come and speak.”

Editor’s Note: Tinku Khanwalkar, who is quoted in this report as co-chair of the Allentown Environmental Advisory Council, also serves on the board of directors of Lehigh Valley Public Media, the parent organization of LehighValleyNews.com. Her involvement with the board had no influence on the reporting or editorial decisions related to this story.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Organizers have canceled an international symposium that was to be held next month centered around the city’s recent inclusion as a World Heritage Site for its preserved Moravian settlement.

They announced the cancellation Thursday.

“This decision was not made lightly,” Moravian Church Settlements said on its website.

Moravian Church Settlements website

“In recent months, a combination of factors including increased financial pressures on individuals and institutions, evolving travel restrictions, and uncertainty surrounding federal and cultural heritage funding, has created significant challenges for large-scale in-person convenings across our sector.

“Like many organizations, we are responding to a complex and rapidly changing landscape that has made traditional event planning especially difficult.”

'Explore the past, present, future'

The symposium was being organized by the International Council on Monuments and Sites USA.

It was to mark the organization’s 60th anniversary and celebrate America’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bethlehem from June 4-6.

The three-day conference was set for Moravian University’s Foy Concert Hall.

The university, which oversees the Moravian Church Settlements group, previously said the conference would “bring together leading preservation experts to explore the past, present, and future of cultural heritage conservation in the United States.

“The symposium will feature distinguished speakers, panel discussions, and opportunities for professional networking in one of the nation’s most significant historic locations,” organizers previously said.

Bethlehem’s roughly 10-acre Moravian Church settlement — which led to the founding of the city — was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year.

It was included among other Moravian sites in Christiansfeld, Denmark; Gracehill, Northern Ireland; and Herrnhut, Germany.