Politics & Government

Bethlehem Will Apply for Gaming Grants

City hopes to buy fire truck, ambulance and contribute funding to the LOOP shuttle.

The city of Bethlehem, already the beneficiary of about $9 million a year in casino host fees, plans to apply to the county gaming authority for county casino-hosting revenue.

On Tuesday night, City Council approved three resolutions to apply for a local share gaming grant to help pay for a new fire truck, a new ambulance and operational costs of the LOOP shuttle, an internal Bethlehem LANTA bus route which carries passengers to the and around both North and South Side downtowns.

Bethlehem did not apply for a grant during the first round of budgeting in the Northampton County Gaming Revenue and Economic Redevelopment Authority a year ago, but is eligible to, said Joseph Kelly, the city’s director of community and economic development, and a member of the gaming board.

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The authority’s charge is to prioritize requests from the city’s contiguous neighbors, including Lower Saucon Township, Hellertown and Bethlehem Township, before considering requests from the city and Northampton County, but the board did not spend all of its committed funds last year, Kelly said.

In a city budget crisis that culminated with the at the end of 2010, Mayor John Callahan elected to defund the city’s $100,000 portion of the LOOP, the operational costs of which it had previously shared with the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority.

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Nonetheless, the LOOP survived, as LANTA decided the route had enough ridership to continue, even with a reduced schedule. There were 9.61 passengers per hour, on average during 2010, with much higher numbers during Musikfest and the Christmas shopping season, Kelly said.

The shuttle route could be poised for even greater use with the recent opening of the and the and planned openings in 2012 of a hotel events center and an upscale shopping mall attached to the casino. There is also a new unknown in the shifting of more Musikfest and Christmas season activities to the SteelStacks campus.

Maintaining a bus route between the North and South sides could do much to alleviate traffic congestion, Kelly argued.

“In speaking with businesses on the North Side … they said one of the great needs is to find ways to bring people from the North Side to the South Side and from the South Side to the North Side,” Kelly said.

Even though LANTA is currently retaining the shuttle, there is always a danger that it could cut the service if it believes it is failing. But the LOOP is less likely to go away if the city made itself a financial stakeholder again, Kelly said.

The fire truck the city is applying to get a grant for would replace an aging truck in the Schweder Fire House in South Bethlehem, the primary responder to any calls made at the Sands.

That would be the same fire truck that the city is funding through a .75-mill tax increase passed for this year. However, that truck will not be purchased this year because even with the dedicated funds from the tax increase, there is not enough money being generated to pay for a new truck and a new EMS Center, which were the stated aims of the 5.3-percent tax hike.

Kelly said the grant, combined with the dedicated tax money, would pay for the truck and enable him to preserve more CDBG block grant money to preserve other programs.

Council approved all three grant applications by 5-0 votes.


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