Published January 06. 2026 11:06AM<\/p>\n
Bethlehem City Council finished 2025 with its final meeting Dec. 16. This meeting also marked the end of Kiera Wilhelm and Grace Crampsie Smith\u2019s terms on council. Both decided not to run again. Filling their seats in January 2026 will be Jo Daniels and Justin Amann.<\/p>\n
Residents repeatedly brought up three subjects: Water, firefighters and homeless encampments.<\/p>\n
International Association of Firefighters\u2019 Local 735 President Lou Jimesnez, representing Bethlehem\u2019s firefighters, spoke directly to the need for more firefighters and the city\u2019s 2026 budget, which did not propose adding firefighter jobs. Councilperson elect Jo Daniels commented that \u201cdisrespect has been shown to these men (firefighters) by not budgeting any new hires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents voiced concerns regarding the removal of the homeless encampment by the railroad tracks owned by Norfolk Southern. The final physical eviction started Dec. 15. Residents helping the homeless, on site at the time of eviction, viewed this as \u201cinhuman treatment,\u201d with \u201ccallousness and lack of respect.\u201d Resident Valerie Noonan described the eviction as \u201csupremely depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking for the administration was Director of Community and Economic Development Laura Collins and Health Director Kristen Wenrich. They cited the many resources available for the homeless before eviction day. \u201cStarting as soon as August we engaged Community Connections, Lehigh Conference of Churches and the mobile health clinic, specifically to offer aid to these people\u201d said Wenrich.<\/p>\n
The board voted on final passage of the general, water and sewer fund budgets.<\/p>\n
The next council meeting was scheduled for Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. in the city hall Rotunda.<\/p>\n
photos by Jenn RagoResident Dominic Trabassi speaks regarding the treatment of the people living in the homeless encampment and his concerns for their safety.<\/p>\n
Director of Community and Economic Development Laura Collins explains the administrations efforts to safely remove and re-home homeless residents at the Norfolk Southern Railroad property.<\/p>\n
Resident Valerie Noonan speaks during public comment regarding the homeless encampment and the treatment of the residents living there.<\/p>\n
Resident and newly elected city Councilperson Jo Daniels speaks on behalf of the fire department and the need for more firefighters.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem City Council\u2019s final meeting in 2025. Council contemplates citizens comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published January 06. 2026 11:06AM Bethlehem City Council finished 2025 with its final meeting Dec. 16. This meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-79366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}