The new year brought new faces and fresh leadership to Hellertown Borough Council during its reorganization meeting Jan. 5.<\/p>\n
The meeting began with the administration of the council oath by Northampton County District Judge Alan Mege to councilors elected to four-year terms in November, including incumbents Tom Rieger, Larry O\u2019Donnell and Gail Nolf, and newcomer Cathy Leibensperger. Newly-elected council member Matthew Ward was sworn in for a two-year term, and Mayor David Heintzelman, who was re-elected in November after running unopposed, was sworn in for his third term in office.<\/p>\n
Following the swearings in, council wasted no time getting down to business, electing Lynley Solt as council president and O\u2019Donnell as vice president. Richard Fluck, a former Hellertown mayor, will continue serving as vacancy board chair.<\/p>\n
Two New Officers Join Police Department<\/p>\n
Heintzelman swore in two new full-time Hellertown police officers: Madisyn Einfalt and Ryan Kardoley.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are part of an elite group,\u201d Heintzelman told the new officers. \u201cHellertown needs you, Hellertown wants you. And we certainly hope that you can stay a long time with us as we grow together as a great community in this world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Council had conditionally approved their hiring in November.<\/p>\n
Chief\u2019s Contract Extended Through 2027<\/p>\n
Council approved a new employment contract for Police Chief James Baitinger, through Dec. 31, 2027. The agreement provides him with an annual salary of $121,923.98 in 2026, increasing 5 percent to $128,020.18 in 2027. He\u2019ll also receive $800 annually for holding a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice plus a $3,000 retention bonus in 2026 paid in two installments.<\/p>\n
Council also approved revised contracts for three other borough employees, shifting them from salaried to hourly positions: Zoning and Codes Enforcement Officer Terri Fadem, Senior Administrative Assistant Tanya Stametz and Administrative Assistant Kristi Curry. Fadem\u2019s contract requires her to obtain certification as a Fire Code Inspector by June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
Committee Assignments and Board Vacancies<\/p>\n
Council committee assignments for the year included:<\/p>\n
Hellertown Historical Society: Larry O\u2019Donnell<\/p>\n
Public Safety Committee: Lynley Solt, Gail Nolf and Tom Rieger<\/p>\n
Finance and Capital Committee: Solt, with one newer member still to be added<\/p>\n
Hellertown Area Library Board: Cathy Leibensperger<\/p>\n
Borough Authority: Michael McKenna\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chamber of Commerce: Solt and Matthew Ward\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saucon Rail Trail: Gail Nolf\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fire Company Staffing Program Gets Formal Approval<\/p>\n
Council passed a resolution establishing the Dewey Fire Company Duty Crew Staffing Incentive Program<\/a>, which was already funded in the 2026 budget.<\/p>\n The program aims to improve daytime fire company response times by incentivizing volunteer firefighters to provide scheduled coverage. Duty crews will consist of three to four members, with a goal of responding to emergencies within 60 seconds.<\/p>\n Firefighters will earn $100 per 12-hour shift and $12 per incident response while on duty. The maximum annual payment per individual is capped at $11,000.<\/p>\n Other Business<\/p>\n Council approved three other resolutions:<\/p>\n The 2026 fee schedule for borough services<\/p>\n A reduction in police pension plan contributions from 8 to 5 percent for 2026, matching the collective bargaining agreement<\/p>\n The 2026 appointment resolution for borough officials and board members<\/p>\n Meeting updates<\/p>\n Council\u2019s regular meeting schedule will remain the first and third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. Meetings are open to the public and are held at Hellertown Borough Hall and online.<\/p>\n Solt announced that borough meetings are now being livestreamed on a Borough of Hellertown YouTube channel<\/a>. The Jan. 5 council meeting may be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The next regular Hellertown Borough Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m at Borough Hall.<\/p>\n A Hellertown zoning hearing board meeting is scheduled for the following evening, Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new year brought new faces and fresh leadership to Hellertown Borough Council during its reorganization meeting Jan.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,16129,25599,10494,204,10495,4012,206,50,11962,35648],"class_list":{"0":"post-88888","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","11":"tag-borough-council","12":"tag-contracts","13":"tag-council","14":"tag-hellertown","15":"tag-meeting","16":"tag-members","17":"tag-police","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-reorganization","20":"tag-youtube"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88888","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=88888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}