Bethlehem’s City Council convened Tuesday to discuss the progress of the Bethlehem Food Co-op project, staffing of the Bethlehem Fire Department and housing affordability amid efforts to remove a homeless encampment. 

The Bethlehem Food Co-op

During new business, the council discussed updates to the Bethlehem Food Co-op, a member owned grocery store planned to open on the North Side, that’s opening date has been postponed multiple times.

Originally founded in 2011, the co-op had been set to open in summer 2024 before being postponed to late 2025. According to a timeline on the organization’s website, the project was said to be approaching its “final steps” in 2024 with no further updates listed. 

Councilwoman Colleen S. Laird asked if the process of financing the Bethlehem Food Co-op, which is funded by a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is different from other city projects that also are supported by that grant. 

Laura Collins, Bethlehem’s director of community and economic development, said the process of reviewing financing is the same for all recipients of the grant and is conducted by the county controller. 

She also clarified that in accordance with grant funding periods, there is a specific timeframe projects are expected to be completed by. The Bethlehem Food Co-op is still developing within its allotted project interval.

Mayor J. William Reynolds said he believes the co-op is “about 95% of the way there” as far as funding to open its doors, with about $2.8 million being spent, approved and reimbursed by HUD. 

He also said the co-op’s board has asked the city for advice in navigating the best avenues of completing the project.

“I would be lying to you if I said that there weren’t moments of frustration,” Reynolds said. “I think there are moments that they haven’t necessarily shared with all of the members and all of the community to the extent that they could about what are some very legitimate reasons why that project has slowed down.” 

He said the board needs to recruit more members that can specialize in specific areas to help the project move forward and set a final timeline for when they will open the market. 

“(The city) can only provide advice,” Reynolds said. “They need to take it. And at times they have, and at times they haven’t. (The city) shares some of the frustrations.” 

Encampment updates

During mayoral reports, Reynolds discussed updates to the homeless encampment located under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge that has been asked to relocate by Norfolk Southern railroad company.

He said on Sept. 16, there were 75 unhoused people reported to be living in the area.

At that time, 55 of the 75 individuals said they were interested in receiving emergency housing. However, 23 individuals said they had no interest in receiving housing assistance. 

As of last week, Reynolds said the number of unhoused individuals living in the encampment has decreased to 53 people. 

He said the city’s administration is spending a lot of time working with nonprofits and organizations to help the people in the encampment to the best of their abilities.

“There are some success stories, and then there are people who are reticent to look for any help, at least from what is being offered,” Reynolds said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop.”

Firefighter vacancies

After discussions at the previous meeting about staffing of the Bethlehem Police Department, Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith asked Matthew Griffin, the chief of the Bethlehem Fire Department, about vacancies.

Griffin said there are currently 104 firefighters in the department with 8 vacancies. He said four recruits are scheduled to join the department by the end of November. In January, they will start the process of interviewing more new recruits from fire academies.

Griffin also said there has been a large number of firefighters who have retired, which has led to more new recruits. He said there are 33 firefighters in the department with under three years of experience.

“That is a huge number,” Griffin said. “We’ve gone through a lot of firefighters.” 

The Bethlehem City Council will meet next on Nov. 5, rescheduled from its original meeting date of Nov. 4 in lieu of Election Day. The agenda for the next meeting will be posted on the City of Bethlehem’s website the Friday before.