What Would You Improve in Southern Lehigh in 2013?

Mike Zweifel December 27, 2012 at 01:39 pm

Lower our taxes!

thedish December 27, 2012 at 01:46 pm

A community center!!!

John Schubert December 27, 2012 at 02:09 pm

Finish the rail trail. Bring it all the way to Veterans Memorial Park in Coopersburg. This will make it easy for people in Coopersburg to get to the library, DeSales University, or the intermediate, middle and high schools. It will be well utilized.

Chandler December 27, 2012 at 02:27 pm

For the people not to be held hostage by the school district and the constant increase in taxes. Make some budget cuts--like the rest of us have to do just to pay the taxes!

Motherof1 December 27, 2012 at 02:37 pm

Our wish is that a group of investors buys part of the former Center Valley Golf course and builds an indoor sports center. Our local soccer families whose children want to train and play all year around, but must shlep all over the tri-county area to find the programs that they need, deserve a top-notch facility like the Bucks/Mont indoor soccer club. An indoor olympic-sized heated pool would allow the high school to have a competitive swimming and diving team. The possibilities are endless. If you build it, they will come. I guarantee it. If my family wins the lottery, we've already decided we're going to build it. A long shot, yes, but we all have our hopes and dreams!

Chandler December 27, 2012 at 03:14 pm

The school doesn't need an olympic-sized heated swimming pool. Those type of things are the reasons the taxes keep going up. Get back to basic education and stop funding play time.

John Schubert December 27, 2012 at 04:02 pm

Chandler, the school district has been cutting programs for quite a few years. The real expense is in personnel, and the district is economizing through attrition. On the matter of athletic facilities, we lag behind other districts. No pool, no artificial turf field, etc. The weight room in the high school has public access, by the way.

Chandler December 27, 2012 at 04:09 pm

@John--Wonderful! Then keep cutting until are taxes are reduced. Can you give a list of what programs have been cut so I can be more informed.

Notbornyesterday December 27, 2012 at 04:58 pm

I think an indoor sports center would be great as long as it's not funded with taxpayer money. Our sports teams are competitive enough. More students get academic scholarships currently then kids get them through sports, and that's how it should be. The Southern Lehigh Public library is funded by our tax dollars now, that IS a great community resource and is not utilized enough.
I agree with John about the rail trail being extended to Coopersburg. I also think it would be great if there could be a bathroom with water fountain for people and dogs about halfway to Hellertown along the trail.

Motherof1 December 27, 2012 at 05:01 pm

Cutting your taxes does nothing to improve Southern Lehigh, it only improves your wallet. Southern Lehigh has some of the most valuable real estate in the Lehigh Valley and the second best public school system. This information is readily available to anyone seeking to purchase a home here so they can make an informed choice. Good schools don't come cheap and basic education these days involves increased computer technology in the classroom to allow the kids the tools they need to compete once they graduate; The Allentown and Catasaqua public school systems are the perfect example of what happens to school programs when taxes are cut or almost never raised (no 6th grade social studies, no music, no gym). If you don't like the high taxes here, you can always move to a cheaper school district. Improving quality of life, the education and the health of our children should always be a priority. I certainly feel your pain, I pay very high taxes too. I just happen to disagree with you on this issue. Our school district spends the tax dollars much more wisely than does the Federal Government.

Mike Zweifel December 27, 2012 at 05:47 pm

Motherof1. I lived here for over 50 years. I remember when nobody wanted to go to southern lehigh. Our taxes are too high period. Maybe increase sales tax to pay for school taxes.

Cathy Deschu December 27, 2012 at 06:33 pm

Upper Saucon could save a significant amount of money by shopping around (bidders maybe) for more reasonable attorneys. I've heard other attorneys refer to the present office as a money machine.

Scott Diehl December 27, 2012 at 09:05 pm

The last thing we should be doing is attracting more housing developments. John can tell you the same thing. Taxes that a house generates for the district does not pay for the children that go with it. We need some nice light industrial development that would be a good tax base. That is my wish for Southern Lehigh. Oh and extend the trail. Good idea!!!

Stew December 27, 2012 at 09:21 pm

Simple reduce the total administrators at Central Office. Do not recreate new positions under new or different titles. How many new administrators have been hired over the past four years. Look at reducing the amount we pay for sports. Add police that patrol our schools. Finish the Rail Trail while increasing the overall size of our community parks.

Steph December 27, 2012 at 11:19 pm

fix bowwood dr in afton village! how embarrasing to have a road in ssuch bad shape you can get a migrane driving on it

John Schubert December 28, 2012 at 12:00 am

Scott Diehl and I are in agreement about housing. (Hi, Scott!)
For both aesthetic and financial reasons, I would like to see us keep open space open. Some good additions to the tax base -- as he says, light industrial -- would be financially beneficial. Oh, and Chandler -- I don't do homework for everyone else, so, no, I'm not going to spoon feed you your list. Go to some board meetings -- like Scott has done many times -- and see how hardworking VOLUNTEERS have struggled to keep the budget within bounds.

carol sunderland December 28, 2012 at 12:35 am

i'd love to see a dog park at upper saucon community park

Gramma24 December 28, 2012 at 01:46 am

I agree with Stew on this. I graduated from a high school in a class of 750. We had ONE principal and one assistant principal (how many does SLHS have now? 3-4?) and A guidance counselor with an office staff of two. There wasn't a 'school psychologist' and four or five guidance counselors and each of them with their staff.......and how many people do you need in the office.....each assistant has their own secretary and there is an attendance person, and a person to monitor the security camera/sign in people and give out name tags... I can think of a number of positions that can be phased out without even touching the teaching staff.........

Gramma24 December 28, 2012 at 01:50 am

I'd be happy if the people on Bowood coming out of Blue Ridge Estates acknowledged they HAD a stop sign at Spring Drive.......Spring Drive has the right of way, not them.

ben December 28, 2012 at 03:12 am

I agree with stew and gramma24

Stew December 28, 2012 at 04:28 am

A dog park would be great in another location other then the current park. Factor in that soccer, football, baseball, lacrosse, walkers, runners, bikers, all use this facility and consume all of the fields. Not to mention the park does close down fields throughout the summer for spraying and watering. People currently walk their dogs, but to be allowed to run free could cause a host of problems.

John Schubert December 28, 2012 at 02:38 pm

Uh, Stew.... dog parks are completely fenced in, with double-gate entranceways, so there is no conflict with other uses of the land, and no "dogs running free." I think it's typical to fence in about one acre for this purpose. The township owns land on Preston Lane that isn't being used for anything right now. Support infrastructure -- i.e. the parking lot -- is already in place.

Rich W December 28, 2012 at 02:49 pm

I would live to see some tennis courts with lights at one of the public parks!!

Rich W December 28, 2012 at 02:56 pm

It would also be nice to have a shallow ice skating pond at the park which could be flooded and freeze quickly. Something similar to what was at the VFW building at Living Memorial park many years ago. Cheap to build and easy to maintain, that's not asking for much.

Leslie December 28, 2012 at 03:39 pm

SLHS has one principal and one asst. principal. The guidance office has two secretaries, three counselors and a school psychologist. There are approximately 1,000 students in the HS alone. If you look at SVSD, the elementary school has a principal AND an assistant. Their district is smaller.
Cuts have been made and continue to be made across the board...athletics, music, classroom supplies, transportation, etc. I do agree that the salaries in the administrative office/building are skewed and there are personnel there that could be let go or positions reduced to part time.

Joe Sommers December 28, 2012 at 04:11 pm

Rich W...GREAT IDEA...YES and its cheap! One section for skaters and one section for Hockey.

Mallory Vough December 28, 2012 at 06:14 pm

While Upper Saucon Patch would not be successful without contributions -- comments, news tips, photos, etc. -- from users, Patch editors will step in on occasion when we spot content that does not mesh with Patch's "Terms of Use."
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Joe Sommers December 28, 2012 at 06:25 pm

Mallory...Understood. Gramma 24 gets out of line much ofthe time. I had to call the individual out for lying .I will keep it clean moving forward .

John Schubert December 29, 2012 at 01:32 am

You have many comments to delete to meet the "civil" threshold. Please delete them.

Susan Koomar (Editor) December 29, 2012 at 01:38 am

This thread has been shut down because of inappropriate comments that violate our terms of service.