Winning the Crowd & Delaying the Vote

First and most importantly...
Thank you for your interest and engagement on the redevelopment of the Dixie Cup site. I hope I reflected your questions, ideas, and visions for this site well at Thursday night's hearing. If you haven't been able to get involved or couldn't make it out Thursday night, there will be another opportunity: the County Council is voting on a new LERTA in two weeks (Aug 18), meaning that there will be another public hearing and another opportunity to make your voice heard. To the folks who came out Thursday, thank you so much for your presence, your time, and your contributions to this vital public debate. We are in a better position politically because of the small and large acts you all took. We're not out of the woods yet, but I am incredibly grateful to each of you for being a part of this process.

Where do we go from here?
As I mention in the below meeting recap, the Wilson Borough Solicitor is attempting to fundamentally shift the entire frame of this policy debate. While this approach seems to have some supporters on the Council, others are clearly not convinced. This new strategy doesn't change what we have all heard in the press, from elected officials, and from Nick Tsapatsaris himself: There is a specific developer, Nick Tsapatsaris, who is in negotiations to buy the Dixie Cup site and wants to use it as a warehouse. If you are still opposed to taxpayer dollars going towards a warehouse on this site, we still need you to come out on August 18th and make your voice heard to County Council. Until then, we need to keep engaging friends, family, and neighbors. If you're interested in being more directly involved, please let me know via email (achapelliquen@gmail.com).

So What Happened Thursday Night?
As many of you may have seen in The Morning Call or WFMZ, the Council voted to table this version of the LERTA by a vote of 8-1. A new LERTA was proposed and will be debated at the August 18th County Council meeting. This outcome doesn't fully reflect the scope of what happened Thursday night, so I'm sharing some timestamps to save you from watching the full 2+ hours of the meeting on Youtube:

• 2:21: I provide some background on how the Wilson Borough Council conducted itself prior to their unanimous vote in favor of this LERTA. In short, they were rude, confrontational, and aggressive to a resident (me) in a way that made it very clear they are not interested in honest dialogue
• 40:26: Wilson Borough's Solicitor, Stanley Margle, provides testimony and argues that this LERTA is not about a developer or a use; it is about a site. He is, in essence, suggesting that the County Council disregard *all* the discussion about this LERTA as benefiting a particular developer (Nick Tsapatsaris) or going toward a particular use (warehousing), whether that is new articles, TV coverage, our petition, or the very presentation made by the potential buyer of this site, Nick Tsapatsaris. If you watch the discussion among members after 1:21:02, it does convince some members.
• 47:01: Wilson Borough's Solicitor, Stanley Margle, essentially proves my earlier point, yelling at County Councilmember Kevin Lott (the full quote is also in the Morning Call article linked above).
• 1:02:11: William McGee, former Northampton County Councilmember, provides testimony highlighting how the Council considered past LERTA, ways LERTA should be improved generally, and how this proposed LERTA falls short.
• 1:05:51- I provide testimony, highlighting the petition drive and elevating conversations and uses that have come up in conversation with neighbors over the past few months. Special shout out to Breena Holland (Bethlehem), Samantha Apple (Easton), Kelly Keegan (Forks), and Daniel Dewey (Tatamy) who I explicitly quoted.
• 1:21:02- Councilmembers begin their discussion, laying out their positions and concerns with the proposed LERTA.
• 2:06:11- Councilmember Kerry Myers introduces a motion to table the existing LERTA ordinance. Vote passes 8-1.
• 2:07:13: New LERTA ordinance introduced, with a public hearing and possible vote scheduled for August 18, 6:30pm.