Nazareth Council plans to hold meeting with 2012 event planners prior to approvals

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES
Crossing guard Arlene Fehnel says she’s owed an apology from the Vigilance Hose Fire Co.

She was directing traffic Sept. 24 for the 5k Dragonfly Walk/Run charity event in Nazareth, when a fire police officer came to her intersection at Broad and Belvidere streets and started directing traffic alongside her.


“He’s directing this way. I’m going the other way,” she told borough council at Thursday’s workshop. “I was getting sworn at by the cars. I don’t like to be made a fool of. I don’t know who did this and it was wrong.”

Event organizers had to overcome late hurdles because Nazareth police Chief Thomas Trachta didn’t learn about it until 11 days before the race. He was able to quickly round up enough help to man intersections for the route from Nazareth Area Middle School to Nazareth Area High School.

Borough council President Dan Chiavaroli apologized to Fehnel and told her she was the “official” person in charge of that intersection. Fehnel said the fire department should offer an apology to all the crossing guards involved that day.

“It was embarrassing. It happened in many places in town,” she said.

Reached Friday, Vigilance Hose fire Chief Danny Keenhold said he received no complaints about the way the race was handled.

“I didn’t know there was an issue,” he said.

Neither did fire company President Carl Strye. He worked the intersection of Whitfield and Belvidere streets alongside another crossing guard.

“I thought we worked pretty good together,” Strye said.

Borough council members want all organizations planning events in 2012 to come to a special meeting to resolve similar issues with council before approval. That meeting is expected to take place sometime after the annual reorganization meeting in January.

The Dragonfly race raised funds for children battling cancer in the name of Brenton Krouse, an 11-year-old Shafer Elementary School fifth-grader who succumbed to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2009. The event, which had been organized by Brenton’s mother, Louise Krouse, received approval in May. Trachta was absent from the council meeting when the race was approved.

Trachta told the public the fire department initially didn’t commit to helping at the event and then, turned up in the 11th hour to help man the intersections.

“I had no commitment from the fire department at all and the day of the event several had showed up and there was some conflicts at the posts,” Trachta said. “Apparently they committed that day.”

Strye said he put the word out at a recent fire company meeting and about six or seven firefighters volunteered. He sent them to some of the busier intersections along the route.

“If we did anything wrong, I apologize,” Strye said. “I don’t know what we did wrong other than lend a hand.”

“I guess we’ll mind our own business from now on,” Keenhold said.

Council Vice President Larry Stoudt said its plan to meet with organizers of future events will reduce confusion.

“They have to show up at that meeting. It has to be put down on a master schedule,” Stoudt said. “We get a lot of these. About a month before they want something and nobody has a clue how much it’s going to cost and the manpower to organize it.”

Chiavaroli said the YMCA in the borough holds an annual walk similar to what Krouse had planned, but that organization offers volunteers and is familiar with getting manpower to help the police department. The Dragonfly had been put on by a private citizen.

“This was a first time for this one and they weren’t fully aware of what they needed to do,” Chiavaroli said.

In overseeing a dwindling police force down to just two full-time officers, Trachta asked to hire four part-time officers. Stoudt said council planned to review a list of potential candidates recommended by Trachta in closed session at the end of the Thursday meeting.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/10/nazareth_council_plans_to_hold.html