THE PLAN FOR COMMUNITY FACILITIES
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GOAL: Provide High-quality Community Facilities and Services in the Most Cost-effective Manner.
GOAL: Provide
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A community’s responsibility is to provide its residents with an adequate and efficient system of public services and facilities to protect their welfare and to promote their social and cultural well-being. The buildings, parks and other facilities necessary to carry out these basic services are the concern of this Community Facilities Plan.
Palmer flourishes from an overwhelming amount of involvement by its citizens in volunteer efforts to move their community forward. This strong community spirit must be fully encouraged. The Township Newsletter should continue to stress the opportunities available for residents to get involved.
The decisions and actions that the Township’s elected and appointed officials make help shape Palmer’s growth and development and largely determine what community facilities and services will be provided. These decisions and actions are obviously important to present and future Township residents and landowners. Township staff and consulting professionals can frequently provide information, insights and advice to the elected and appointed officials to help make sound decisions and take logical actions.
The Township needs to continually work to provide quality services in the most cost-effective manner and to attract new business development to minimize the tax burden upon residents and businesses.
Palmer’s 2002 budget projects total annual revenues of $7.4 million, not including funds carried over from the previous year. This budget estimates that $2.4 million will be received in annual real estate taxes, which is approximately 33 percent of annual revenues. The second largest source of revenues to the Township is the 0.5 percent annual tax on earned income of residents. This tax was projected to generate approximately $1.8 million in 2002, which is 25 percent of annual revenues. The next largest revenue source was fees for solid waste services, which are expected to generate approximately $900,000 a year. The fourth largest revenue source is the business privilege tax, which is based upon gross receipts of certain types of businesses. This tax was projected to raise approximately $600,000 a year. The fifth largest source of revenue is the real estate transfer tax, which is equal to one-half of one percent of the value of property that is sold each year. This tax typically generates between $300,000 to $500,000 a year.
In the 2002 budget, the following are the major projected categories of expenditures. These expenditures have been rounded off and combined into generalized categories for easier understanding:
| Sanitary Sewer System (see note 1) | $3,100,000 |
| Police | $2,020.000 |
| Public Works, Public Services & Engineering | $1,400,000 |
| Solid Waste and Recycling | $870,000 |
| Parks Maintenance & Recreation Programs | $600,000 |
| Parks Capital Improvements Account | $470,000 |
| General Administration | $350,000 |
| Traffic Control, Curbing and Street Lighting | $250,000 |
| Fire Protection (includes hydrant cost) | $240,000 |
| Building Inspections/Planning/Zoning | $200,000 |
| Street Cleaning and Snow Removal | $170,000 |
| Swimming Pool | $160,000 |
| Building and Ground Maintenance | $130,000 |
| Note 1: Separate account primarily funded by user fees with $1,230,000 of this amount paid to the Joint Authority for sewage treatment and $540,000 of this total in a reserve fund. | |
Sanitary Sewage System
As of 2002, the Palmer Police Department includes 34 sworn police officers and 4 civilian employees. The Police Chief reports that this level of staffing is currently sufficient, but will need to increase as the numbers of residents, amount of business development and volume of traffic increases in the future.
In addition to having a sufficient total number of police employees, it is also important to make sure that staffing is concentrated during the times of the day and week when there typically are the most calls for police assistance.
One of the greatest methods to deter crime and apprehend criminals is through citizen involvement. This includes motivating residents to provide thousands of additional “eyes” for the police by reporting any suspicious activity, and building a high level of trust between police and young persons.
In addition to preventing and responding to crime, the police also have important roles in responding to traffic accidents and assisting in other emergencies, such as fires and emergency medical calls. The Palmer Police Department receives over 9,000 calls a year. Emergency calls are handled through the County’s 911 dispatch system.
High quality fire protection can save human lives, homes and property. In addition, the home insurance industry studies the quality of a community’s overall fire protection when determining home insurance rates. Palmer’s excellent Municipal Fire Department helps keep home insurance costs low.
The Fire Department operates from an
older station along
It has been increasingly difficult to find sufficient numbers of volunteer firefighters, particularly during weekday mornings and afternoons. This is because of the increased time required for training and the fact that many persons work outside of the area. The Township should consider offering some financial incentives to attract additional volunteers. For example, some municipalities offer pension benefits to those volunteer firefighters who provide the highest numbers of hours of service. Incentives could also be offered to Township employees to encourage their involvement as volunteer firefighters. This system is particularly beneficial because Township employees work locally, as opposed to having to drive long distances from work to respond to calls.
Over the long-run, it may be necessary to consider hiring some paid firefighters. A limited number of paid firefighters can be particularly beneficial as drivers during weekday morning and afternoons. This allows volunteers to respond directly to the scene of an incident without having to first travel to the fire station. The paid firefighters can also relieve the volunteers of some of the burden of maintaining apparatus, equipment and the stations and completing paperwork.
The Suburban Emergency Medical Services
(SEMS) provides emergency medical, ambulance and
medical transport services from its headquarters on
SEMS’s station in the southern end of Palmer requires several miles of travel through congested roads to reach the northern part of Palmer. This issue will become important once additional development occurs in the far northern end of Palmer. As a short-term solution to this concern, SEMS has provided automated defibrillators to the Palmer Police Department so they can serve as a first response. As a longer-term solution, SEMS is studying the possible construction of a new station in the northern part of Palmer. It might be possible to design a coordinated site in which SEMS could lease space within a new Palmer Fire Department sub-station, or visa versa.
In the future, as development moves into the northern part of the township, SEMS will have to demonstrate that they can provide EMS service from their existing facility or provide another facility in that section of the township. If this does not occur, the township will have to determine the most effective solution to providing emergency medical and paramedic services to reduce response times.
As the world moves continually towards
an economy based more on information, libraries will become increasingly
important in many aspects in addition to providing enjoyment. The residents of Palmer have realized the
important educational and economic roles of information and books by funding
the Palmer Memorial Library south of Newburg Road. This library operates as a branch of the
Easton Area Public Library, but it is only open during limited hours. The main facility of the Easton Area Public
Library is located on
Palmer has developed an excellent system of parks and playgrounds throughout the residential areas in the southern and central sections of the Township. The challenge will be to assure that adequate “close-to-home” recreational facilities are available to serve future residential areas, while avoiding major municipal expenses.
Palmer’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance requires developers of subdivisions to provide recreation land within their developments, or to pay recreation fees to the Township. All land is required to be suitable for active or passive recreation. The Township should require additional amounts of open space if the land being offered is not prime for active recreation purposes. In addition, the Conservation Design form of development (described earlier) can also be used to preserve land for recreation. This method is not only appropriate for residential development, but also can be used to provide open space in an industrial or office park. This open space can serve as a buffer alongside nearby residential development.
Within existing wooded areas and immediately along creeks and rivers, the emphasis should be upon passive recreation, including trails, preserved woods and informal activities.
This Plan encourages the continuation by the Township of its excellent and diverse recreational programs. The programs should be directed towards all skill levels and all age groups, including senior citizens. Through these programs, residents will be able to learn skills, perform abilities and enjoy interests.
This Comprehensive Plan strongly encourages the preservation of open space as part of the township’s land use strategy. Open space can be provided through the following methods, among others:
- innovative housing lot layouts that provide substantial open space in return for the township allowing smaller lots,
- conservation easements on environmentally sensitive lands, which can either be purchased or donated,
- dedication of open space or payment of recreation fees as part of new development, which is currently being required by township ordinances (as described above),
- preservation of substantial open space in new business developments, in return for smaller lot sizes or more intense development of certain lots,
- open space within business/industrial development as part of their normal development design, and/or
- purchase of land by the Township or another governmental agency.
This Plan recommends that the
township’s 1991 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan be updated. To make the best use of existing township
open space, the Weller Tract behind the
The Township should continue to actively work to acquire additional parkland. Some needs can be met by a landowner allowing use by the public of trails through privately owned open spaces, such as within business developments in the northern part of the township. There is a need for a wide variety of open space and parkland, but in all likelihood this will not involve one new large public park. For example, some open space needs can be met by landscaping and trails around well-designed stormwater retention ponds. An emphasis should be placed upon trails that interconnect with other parks and trails.
If an applicant provides a major recreation land donation in one area of the township, that donation should be able to count towards meeting obligations for a certain amount of the developer’s future development projects in other parts of the township.
Palmer should periodically publish an
insert to Palmer’s newsletter to make residents fully aware of all the varied
recreational facilities and programs available to each resident, including
major nearby facilities such as
As the Township continues to grow,
there will be a need for additional park and recreation land and
facilities. The Township is currently
working on two main projects: a) the
development of a park along the Bushkill Creek south of Tatamy
within the Village at Mill Race development, and b) the purchase of land to
allow the development of a new indoor community center and related outdoor
facilities west of the
Most land along the Bushkill Creek is highly scenic, forested and worthy of protection. As shown on the Comprehensive Plan Map and explained further in the Plan for Conserving Natural Resources, this Plan strongly urges the preservation of the Bushkill Creek and Schoeneck Creek stream valleys and lands along the Lehigh River. The areas adjacent to these streams are mostly undeveloped and provide natural areas for wildlife and opportunities for walking, picnicking and other forms of passive recreation. The streams should continue to be emphasized as a recreational and open space network throughout much of the Township.
Most land along the
The existing and proposed recreation
trails are shown on the Comprehensive Plan Map.
Two State laws limit the liability of a landowner who allows public access to a trail or unimproved lands for recreation - provided the landowner does not charge any fees.
The following sketches illustrate design guidelines for trails.
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State and Federal funding for acquiring open space is expected to be extremely limited throughout the foreseeable future. However, other options exist. Landowners of important natural areas should be encouraged to donate scenic or "conservation easements" to the Township or a conservation organization in exchange for Federal income tax benefits. If an easement or land is sold for less than its fair market value, the difference between the sale price and the market price can also be deducted as a charitable donation for Federal income tax purposes.
A conservation easement allows a person to continue to own their land, but it can never be developed or subdivided. A conservation easement is recorded and legally enforceable. A conservation easement can be combined with a trail access easement that allows the public to use a defined trail. Otherwise, a conservation easement typically does not allow any access or use by the public. A conservation easement is particularly useful when a property-owner wishes to continue to live on land and does not want to sell it for parkland. A conservation easement is most appropriate when the goal is to preserve important natural features or scenic areas, as opposed to providing public recreation.
The Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance requires dedication of recreation land by developers. In place of dedicating land, a system is in place allowing the payment of recreation fees by developers. These fees can be used to purchase or improve parkland in other locations.
Land could also be preserved through the Conservation Design concept, as explained in the Land Use and Housing Plan. In addition to Township efforts to preserve special lands, cooperative efforts are needed with the Wildlands Conservancy and the Bushkill Stream Conservancy.
The
As of March 2002, the High School had 2,412 students, Tracy Elementary had 640 students and Palmer had 768 students. Tracy and Palmer are the largest elementary schools in the district. The highest enrollments in the district were between 4th and 9th grades. These large classes will be moving into the senior high school in the next few years. The district has been experiencing steady increases in enrollment over the last 8 years - with a total increase of 1,100 students.
The State Department of Education provides projections for enrollments of each school district. These projections are based primarily upon recent trends, such as the numbers of students entering and leaving at each grade level (such as from new construction and transfers from non-public schools), local birth rates, and drop out rates. These trends are then used to estimate the number of students projected to be added or subtracted each year as students in a grade level advance to the next grades. The State is projecting an increase in enrollment to approximately 8,500 students in the 2004-5 school year, followed by decreases in enrollment to approximately 8,100 students by the 2010-11 school year. It is particularly difficult to project elementary school enrollments more than 5 years in advance because many of the students have not yet been born, and birth rates can vary greatly from year to year.
As of 2002, the school district
reported that there are beginning a Facilities
Utilization Study that will consider future needs for a new school or school
expansions. The district noted that the
most severe demand for school space is arising in
The
This Plan endorses the continued
cooperation between the Township and the
The fiscal impacts of new development
upon the
In addition, Palmer residents attend a
number of private and parochial schools.
For example, a new Catholic elementary school is proposed on the St.
Jane’s Church site along
The Township’s Public Utilities Director reports that there are no significant capacity constraints in the current collection system. This is because, over the years, the lines and pumping stations have been designed with capacity for future growth.
The Nazareth Plant has a treatment
capacity of 1.3 million gallons per day.
Approximately o.3 million gallons per day of this capacity is not being
used and has not been reserved for new development. Most of the available capacity is controlled
by Nazareth Borough. The
A 1999 study by the Pidcock
Company proposed a set of sewage line extensions to efficiently serve the
northern part of
That study estimated that the
development of land in the northern part of Palmer that are controlled by the Chrin Company will generate approximately 0.36 million
gallons per day of sewage flow, 0.15 million gallons per day of which could be
most efficiently serviced by
In 2002, the Township Sewer Authority's
engineers performed a Sewer System Capacity Evaluation to determine existing
flows and capacities, project future wastewater flows from the undeveloped
lands in
Based
upon that study of sewage system capacity, Palmer Township advised the Easton
Area Joint Sewer Authority (EAJSA) that Palmer would
like to purchase an additional 0.5 million gallons per day of wastewater
treatment capacity at the EAJSA Wastewater Treatment
Plant. Currently, Palmer has sufficient
treatment capacity at the EAJSA plant to meet the projected
needs of
The Northern
Tier Sewage Service Areas Map shows intended
service areas of the Easton Area and Nazareth Area sewage systems. A more detailed sewer service areas map will
be included in the Township Sewage Facilities Plan Update. That detailed sewer
service areas map will show the entire Township, including those properties
along the southwest border of the Township that are served by
The
properties in Palmer Township that are both north of Route 33 and west of the Schoeneck Creek are proposed to be served by the Nazareth
Borough Municipal Authority (NBMA) treatment
plant. This appears to be a feasible and
logical scenario due to the proposed development of adjacent lands in
The
remaining lands in the northern part of Palmer that are north and west of Route
33 and east of the Schoeneck Creek could either be
served by the EAJSA or the NBMA
treatment plants. Some capacity was included in the wastewater flow projections
that the Township accomplished in 2002 that resulted in the Township’s request
for 500,000 gallons per day of additional treatment capacity at the EAJSA plant.
However, if further study shows that it would be more practical and
feasible for the area in the northwestern corner to be served to the NBMA plant, this option should not be ruled out at this
time. The use of the NBMA
plant may allow wastewater to be transported by gravity to a treatment plant,
as opposed to needing more expensive pumping to reach existing
The primary water supply source for
The
Palmer Township is served by a portion
of the Easton Suburban water system that also includes the eastern part of
Bethlehem Township and southwestern Forks Township, and which connects into the
system serving Lower Nazareth. This
service area currently uses approximately 3 million gallons per day of water,
approximately 1.5 million gallons of which are used by Palmer. Approximately 3.5 million gallons of water
storage capacity is available for the Palmer/
The northern one-third of Palmer (north
of the Schoeneck Creek) is within the service area of
the Pennsylvania American Water Company (PAWC). The Northern Tier Water Service Areas Map PAWC's intended service
area. PAWC's
water system is composed of older smaller systems that have been
interconnected. Some lines may need to
be upgraded to handle future development, because they were not designed to be
part of a larger regional system. A PAWC water main is to be extended from
The PAWC
system includes a main along
A 1999 study by the Pidcock
Company showed a possible water line extension to serve the northern end of the
Township. This involved the extension
of a "loop" water line from the existing main along
A few properties in the northern part of Palmer are currently served by wells. Although most Palmer residents are not currently dependent upon groundwater, it is important to make sure that the quality and amounts of groundwater are protected. In the long-term future, it may be appropriate for some public wells to be built in northern Palmer to supplement the current sources of water from outside of the Township. Because most of the water sources are located outside of Palmer, regional efforts will needed to protect the water supplies. Studies have been completed to identify the most likely sources of contamination of each major water supply, including upstream companies using large quantities of possible contaminates. It will be important for the State Department of Environmental Protection to make sure that these facilities comply with environmental regulations. For example, measures should be installed in advance (such as impervious surfaces and containment berms) that will be able to contain any accidental spills before it flows into creeks or the groundwater. Municipalities can also have a role in informing DEP of businesses that may not be in compliance with environmental regulations.
This Plan is consistent with the State Water Plan. This Plan recognizes that mineral extractions and intensive livestock and poultry operations may have negative impacts upon water supplies and are further regulated under State law. Those uses are primarily intended to be limited to the northwest corner of the township.