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Politics & Government

Storage Facility, Flooding Complaints, Flags Disposal (Whitehall Council Notes)

Borough leaders convened on Wednesday night.

New Storage Facility

The Council learned more at Wednesday night's borough meeting about the self-storage facility coming to Weyman Road at the spot of an old junkyard.

Speaking on behalf of the facility's management, Kim Gales-Dunn, of the civil engineering company J.R. Gales & Associates, Inc., officially requested that they be permitted to build nine steel buildings on the Weyman property.

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That plan was not met with much resistance by borough leaders; though,  Chief Donald R. Dolfi expressed concern with vehicles exiting the site onto Weyman.

"Maybe the exit could be drawn back into the property versus coming out to the road to avoid obstructing traffic," Dolfi said. "It's about perception/reaction time. We want to make sure people can have a good view."

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Mayor James F. Nowalk also wanted to see "as much greenery on the property as possible, with the chief's request also considered."

Gales and businessman Tom Kesten, who is overseeing the property's transformation into a storage facility, agreed to address both requests.

Flooding in Backyards

Gary and Teresa Brueggman, of Echo Glen Drive, addressed the borough council on Wednesday about the "exorbitant amount of rain" that they and their neighbors experienced this month, resulting in a backyard flood for the Brueggmans.

"Debris had blocked the storm sewer," Gary said. "Two feet of water came into the basement."

Gary said that flooding experienced in Whitehall in 1999 had been worse, but he still asked the council to consider adding more storm inlets to its water system to prevent future damage.

Teresa said that many other homes in the area had flooded in July, as well.

"It came from the ," she said. "Then, (it) went through (an alleyway), flooding backyards there."

Borough engineer Ruthann L. Omer said, "It is on my list of properties to look at."

Omer later agreed with Gary that, while flooding experienced in Whitehall this past month——was bad, storm water is being handled much better than it has in years past.

The Brueggmans thanked the  for its quick response to their home. Firefighters helped the Brueggmans and many other families to pump water from their basements this month.

Flags and Patriotism

Responding to a that council leaders establish a local receptacle to collect damaged or worn U.S. flags so that they can be , Nowalk said that a receptacle for just such a purpose will be placed in the  lobby—but only during certain time periods.

"The council has decided it wants (these receptacles) available only at certain times of the year, when people are thinking more about flags: Memorial Day, Flag Day and Veterans Day," Nowalk said.

"We'd like to use this not only as a way of disposing flags but also a way to promote patriotism."

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