City Council Approves Alpha Building Sale and Lease Agreement

By Christina Georgiou

Easton City Council officially authorized the sale of
the Alpha Building and agreed to lease back city
hall offices in the building Wednesday evening.

 Easton city council members unanimously officially approved selling the Alpha Building to developer Mark Mulligan for $4 million and leasing back the space city hall offices occupy in the building while the new city hall and transportation center is constructed on Wednesday evening.

The city will pay $13,750 per month to occupy its current offices on the second, third, fourth, and sixth floors of the building, along with some basement storage space.

Space currently used by the Easton Ambassadors and for storage of Heritage Day equipment on the mezzanine level of the Alpha Building will be vacated and both will move to space in the Weller Center building, which council also agreed to fund the purchase of via a $1 million grant on Wednesday night.

The basement storage space used by the city is "minimal" and takes up about two rooms, said City Administrator Glenn Steckmann, adding that most of the Alpha Building's basement had been leased to the Crayola Store, which has since vacated the building to move next door when the Crayola Experience museum expanded in May.

Councilman Roger Ruggles pointed out the basement space had not been included in the actual lease agreement, though Steckman assured him it was understood by both the city and Mulligan that the space is to be included in the deal.

City officials agreed to add the space to the lease agreement wording on the advice of city solicitor William Murphy before voting to approve the deal.

The sale of the Alpha Building is set to close at the end of November, and the city will begin renting the 27,500 square feet of space it occupies on December 1 for 19 months. City officials have estimated the new city hall offices should be complete and ready to move in to in the first half of 2015.

Numerous Officials Celebrate Groundbreaking of New City Hall & Transportation Center

By Christina Georgiou

The project to build a new bus terminal has taken more than a decade and been passed along through the terms of four Easton mayors, but Easton's intermodal complex project is finally a "go", as 20 shovels were wielded by people who have played a part in making the project finally become a reality on Friday afternoon.

More than 100 people gathered on South Third Street to witness the groundbreaking ceremony for Easton's new City Hall and Transportation center complex.

The crowd, comprised  mostly of local and state officials of both government and area NGOs, braved a chilly wind as a small batallion of speakers praised the project's finally coming to fruition, after more than a decade of planning, changes and hurdles overcome to make the bus terminal a reality.

Full of praise for the final incarnation of the project, which will be built on the sites of the former Perkins restaurant and Marquis movie theater, one by one officials took to the podium.

"I know we've been accused of rushing things, but I don't think 12 and a half years is rushing things," said Easton Mayor Sal Panto, adding that "doing over" the Perkins site make him happy.

He noted the suburban style of the restaurant's architecture and site plan didn't fit in the city, but that doesn't mean more modern styles like the one that will grace the intermodal center's facade aren't a good idea.
 

 "As you walk Downtown, you can see we built according to the era," he said.

Fred Williams, a former Easton councilman and now LANTA's treasurer, praised the project and noted that change is part of the city.

"Believe it or not, this is the fourth groundbreaking I've been to on this street. I go back a long way," he said. "This is a great project of the city."

For bus passengers, the new terminal will be an improvement over the current one and allow them to be safer when waiting for transfers, Williams said.

He also noted the cooperation of officials over a long period of time to extend grant funding to make the new transportation center, which will also house Easton's new city hall, the National High School Hall of Fame, and a yet to be defined commercial space, a reality.

Planning for Easton's intermodal complex has spanned across
the terms of four Easton mayors. From left to right, current
Mayor Sal Panto, former Mayor Phil Mitman, former
Mayor Tom Goldsmith, and former Mayor Mike McFadden.

"It's not easy to get the right combination, to get local and state and the federal government to work together," he concluded.

One by one, state and local officials echoed that sentiment. The project, envisioned near the end of former Mayor Tom Goldsmith's term, was passed along through the terms of Tom McFadden and Phil Mitman too, to finally be inherited by Panto.

"It was quite a puzzle. As each mayor took office, he had to make the pieces fit. And now they're finally glued together," said Vice Mayor Ken Brown. "The complexity of our city has changed. Development is happening. Easton is changing."

Representing the Easton Parking Authority, which will run the new parking deck at the complex, Skip Fairchild said more parking is necessary to support the growth of tourism, business investment, and new housing in the city.

"I'd like to take the opportunity to say how excited the parking authority is to get this project off the ground, or into the ground, rather," Fairchild said.

However, site preparation construction won't begin in the first week of April as was  recently announced--rather it will more likely start at the beginning of May due to the geotechnical survey reports for the site just being completed now, Panto said.

Now that is done, the city needs to put the site prep work out for bid, he added.

Former mayors Tom Goldsmith and Mike McFadden, Easton
Councilwoman Sandra Vulcano, former Easton Mayor
Phil Mitman, Vice Mayor Ken Brown, and Easton City
Controller Tony Bassil prepare to wield shovels at
the groundbreaking ceremony for Easton's new City
Hall and Transportation Center on Friday afternoon.

The concrete footers and parking deck slabs were to be installed in late June or July, the mayor had previously said, and meeting that milestone is still being anticipated, Panto said.

"We think we'll still be on schedule for site work," Panto said.

"It's taken a number of years, but the that, the building has come full circle," Joseph Biondo of Spillman Farmer Architects. "Imagine this thing rising out of the ground in the next few months...It's going to be a civic building unlike any others seen in the Lehigh Valley."

"In many ways, spring symbolizes rebirth, and this project will be the catalyst to revitalize this neighborhood," said State Representative Bob Freeman, noting the street's past as home to the city's Lebanese community. "Unfortunately, mistakes were made during urban renewal."

Freeman said the project will bring opportunity back to the block.

Either in person or via representatives, State Senator Lisa Boscola, former State Senator Bob Mensche, Congressman Matt Cartwright, and others, echoed the sentiment that the new complex will be good for the city and aid in its economic development.

City Planning Director Becky Bradley and Easton
Councilman Jeff Warren smile broadly after taking
part in the groundbreaking ceremony Friday
afternoon.

"The Easton Intermodal Transportation Center is breathing new life into a city filled with vacancies by spurring new economic development that will draw people back to the downtown corridor," said Federal Transportation Authority administrator Peter Rogoff in a press release.  "This facility will also make it easier than ever for commuters from Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton to save money on gas by taking transit to jobs in Western New Jersey, Newark and New York City."

And then, the dirt of the "first" shovels to break ground on the site flew.

Easton Planning Commission Approves Changes to New City Hall, Transportation Center Plan

By Christina Georgiou

Members of the Easton Planning Commission voted 3-1 to approve changes in the building plan for the city's new city hall and transportation center Wednesday evening, including an increase in the structure's footprint and moving the public plaza area from the south to the north side of the building.

Planning Commissioner Dennis Lieb cast the lone dissenting vote, after raising point-by-point criticisms of the construction of the facility, despite having voted in favor of giving the project approval last year.

In a statement that took nearly 30 minutes to deliver, Lieb contended that the design for the new complex "is deficient" in meeting numerous city zoning codes and also does not fit with the city's comprehensive plan for development.

He also took issue with specific aspects of changes made to the design, such as the public plaza area of the building being moved from the south side of the structure to the north.

"The plaza, as rendered, will be quite inhospitable (on the North Side). It could have gotten sunlight if it was retained on the south side," Lieb said.

Lieb also contended that the building's scale isn't in keeping with the character of the 100 block of South Third Street, and that the large windows will result in them being blocked from the inside.

"The garage itself and the bus station may have been pre-approved, but (these changes) affect the whole design," he said, further adding that he feels the building will have security and logistical issues, and that the plan lacks parking for bicycles.

"I think there's a lot of crucial concerns, and I don't have the time and ability to absorb all this tonight and give my approval," he said.

Lieb added that he has spoken with "numerous" urban planners, as well as other residents, and they agree with him.

"But I'm not going to drop any names because it doesn't make any difference," he said.

He added that the plan for the project changed, adding the move of city hall into the complex "out of the blue."

"We're doing this at a very tenuous time in this country (economically)," Lieb concluded.

City Planning Director Becky Bradley countered his complaints individually, citing each of the zoning and planning ordinances Lieb claims are not being followed and explained how each is being adhered to.

"This is a plan amendment," she said, noting that the ground floor is dedicated to commercial space. "It's important to note the plan was already approved. The primary function of the building is a commercial function."

She said that property lots on South Third Street vary "greatly, from very narrow to very wide."

Bradley added that the windows on the second and third floors won't be blocked and that she doesn't know why Lieb would think this would happen. Additionally, the large windows are in line with green building standards to provide natural light.

The building will be LEED-certified, city officials have previously said.

"The design has stayed roughly the same now for the last year," Bradley said, adding that approximately $40 million has been invested in Easton by private developers in the past four years, indicating that the city's parking needs will be increasing.

"That's a remarkable feat for any city," she said.

"This isn't personal. There are a lot of people out there that can't be here at meetings, and when they come to me and I agree with them, I'll speak for them," Lieb said. "This is going to be the city hall I will look at for the rest of my life, and it's not good enough."

Bradley said the building reflects the quality design and building standards of current times.

"We have an unofficial 'no phony colonial' policy," she said.

Great cities, such as Los Angeles and New York, are admired for their mix of architecture, and that is because they approve the construction of new buildings on the basis of their concept, Bradley said.

"Concrete and the cement industry is iconic in Easton," she said, adding that the design of the new city hall and transportation center was drawn somewhat from looking at other buildings, such as the post office and the Simon Mansion, and that the interpretation of what is appropriate in modern construction is the same set of criteria used for the Sigal Museum and new Lafayette College construction.

"We're not here tonight to discuss what's already been approved by the Historic Distric Commission," Bradley said. "This is the third location in the city for this site, and it's the best location for this site, near the center of the city, on a road corridor, near rail transport (which supports future development).

"We've put a lot of time and effort in this project, and I think we've gotten it right," she concluded.

Only one member of the public, Pastor Susan Ruggles of St. John's Lutheran Church, which lies adjacent to the planned parking deck, attended the meeting.

"We've been watching this carefully, and we're excited," she said.

Ruggles said the church's only worries about the project involve the buses, that one might collide with an adjacent brick wall near the bus entrance to the parking deck, and the exhaust they emit.

"They're going to be sitting there exuding fumes that are coming into my building. They've been parked out there before, and we've gotten sick," she said. "We've got a beautiful brick wall there, and I'm worried it will be hit."

"We've used the largest bus model to project the turning model. Will that mitigate anyone ever hitting the wall? I can't say that," assistant city engineer Dave Horton said.

He added that a new traffic signal pattern could eliminate the problem of buses idling waiting to exit the bus terminal.

LANTA Executive Director Armand Greco said that idling is against state law and that it won't be allowed.

Signs reminding bus drivers of that, along with prohibiting them from lining up to wait to exit the facility might also alleviate the potential issue, Horton said.

"I know it's going to be a problem, and I'm trying to be proactive," Ruggles said.

Planning Commission members Charles Elliott, Ronald Shipman, and Bonnie Winfield voted to approve the changes to the city hall and transportation plan, with Dennis Lieb voting against approval. Other members of the planning commission were not present Wednesday evening.