5 Things You Should Know This Week

This is shaping up to be a very significant week in local and statewide politics.

Before you yawn and click to a different page, hear me out. What happens this week could have a significant impact on real estate tax rates, road improvement projects and a myriad of other issues in Bethlehem and across the Commonwealth for years to come. Really.

1. Gov. Tom Corbett delivers his first budget address on Tuesday. There is no question that there are going to be spending cuts in a number of areas that will have real impacts on local people and programs. The only question is how deep the cuts will be and what areas of government will be most affected. Nationwide, some pundits are interested to see if Corbett’s budget will lead to another , though the tealeaves seem to indicate it will not.

Two people who will be analyzing the underlying budget document very closely are Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph J. Roy and district finance chief Stacy Gober. Whatever the governor says on Tuesday is likely to shape through June. Even the anticipation of budget cuts has already prompted the district administration to the and building a much smaller pre-K education program in its place.

And even with that controversial cut, the district needs to find $4 million in revenue or more cuts to meet its goal of keeping its next real estate tax hike to 1.7 percent or less. Corbett’s budget will tell them what the balance between revenue and cuts will be or if $4 million is even enough.

2. The school board will meet in a finance committee meeting tonight on Sycamore Street at 6 p.m. The will likely dominate the discussion. Despite a generally clean bill of health, the board seemed less than pleased with issues that apparently lingered from the previous administration. It’s unclear why or what those issues are, as the district has yet to make the document available to the public on its Website as it promised it would.

3. Tuesday is the last day for candidates to file nominating petitions to run for local offices across the Commonwealth. After then, we will have a clear picture of who will be seeking Democratic and Republican nominations for three seats on Bethlehem City Council, five seats on the Bethlehem Area School Board, as well as seats on the Bethlehem Township Commissioners, Northampton County Council and Lehigh County Commissioners. Spring may not be in full bloom just yet, but silly season has arrived.

4. The fight over the comes back to Town Hall on Thursday afternoon when the city Planning Commission is scheduled to look at the plan once more. It after two hours at its February meeting after it came to light that neighbors who oppose the plan are appealing to Northampton County Court the city Zoning Hearing Board decision to allow a special exception to expand the nonconforming use. It is unclear whether any progress has been made in that court case since then, however.

The Planning Commission agenda also mentions a land development plan to build a new grocery store at 719 Stefko Boulevard. The meeting gets under way at 4 p.m.

5. This week in road maintenance and construction, we lead off with UGI making gas main repairs in the area of the Interstate 78 interchange with Route 412. Expect lane restrictions in that vicinity during daytime hours all week. You can also anticipate lane restrictions along the westbound lanes of Route 22 from 25th Street in Easton to Route 191 while maintenance crews trim brush along the highway on Wednesday and Thursday.

More brush trimming is planned along William Penn Highway from Hope Road to Bethman Road in Bethlehem Township today and Tuesday, which again, will lead to lane restrictions. Lane restrictions could also affect Freemansburg Avenue from Stones Crossing Road in Bethlehem Township to Butler Street in Palmer Township today and Tuesday as road crack sealing is planned.

Of course, the construction at the south end of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge continues, making traffic sluggish both ways along W. Third Street and on the bridge going south.