EASTON, Pa. --Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure addressed a room of leaders at the State Theatre Tuesday morning to give the State of the County address. He says it's possible the county is in the best state that it has ever been.
McClure said he wanted to focus on county government, public safety and unexpected crisis.
COVID-19 in Northampton County
Executive McClure started his speech with public safety measures with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. He says COVID was a health emergency that Northampton Co. stepped up to meet.
McClure says the county paid for over 13,000 tests and collaborated with the area hospital's to give over 1,600 vaccinations that were paid for by the county if you did not have insurance.
"Who knows the untold numbers of people who were not affected and did not die because that testing was available," he continued.
He also spoke on the economic impact of COVID and the ability to put 25M in the hands of small businesses owners in the county during the height of the pandemic thanks to a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
McClure says 166 businesses benefitted from the funding and that the economy is skyrocketing today.
The Fentanyl Crisis
Executive McClure says thousands of lives have been saved from the distribution of Narcan kits in the county.
With the Fake is Real program starting in January of 2023, the county has distributed 3,869 Narcan kits, McClure reports. Thousands more have been given out through various programs.
There are distribution boxes all over the county, he says.
He also says the county is offering the product Deterra to destroy prescription and over-the-counter medicine. This includesopioids and fentanyl.
Bridge Repairs
McClure says there are three bridges on Little Creek Rd. that were severely damaged by heavy rains.
He says thanks to the Public Works Dept., two of the bridges opened with one lane almost immediately to provide travel access to those in the area. The third bridge was almost completely destroyed, he continued to say.
He continued to say half a million dollars of county money was used to fix and open the bridges.
"We protect the public safety, even when we had to go looking for that money," he said.
Norfolk Southern andEast Palestine train derailments
McClure says after theNorfolk Southern and East Palestine derailments, safety became a top priority. Three additional trainings were offered on top of already ongoing Hazmat training.
"This is one of the busiest freight corridors in the entire country for train traffic, and I believe it is Norfolk Southern's busiest corridor," McClure explained.
He thanked the area fire departments for their response to train derailments and says our area first responders were ready in an emergency because of recent trainings.
Even more trainings are going to be offered in the future.
Taxes
McClure says he has passed six budgets. Five of the budget were no tax increase budgets and one was a tax cut.
"When government is not just throwing money at a problem, government has greater ability to gain trust from the folks who pay for that government," he said about his budget plans.
McClure also says the county fund budget has never dipped under 50M during the last six years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. He wants to pursue another tax cut in the future.
"We have a sufficient amount of money in reserves should we have another crisis that we need to tap it," he says.
Farm Preservation
McClure says 256 farms in the county have been preserved and this year that number will increase to over 270 in Northampton Co. He says this is part of the county "green future" that includes open space.
Over 9M dollars has been put into the county farmlands grant funding that is also supporting area parks and trails to preserve environmentally sensitive land. That number has been matched, McClure continued to say.
"We put the green into it," McClure said of making a difference in the county preservation.
McClure says there needs to be a balance between preservation of land and manufacturing for long-term goals.
Gracedale Nursing Home
McClure says COVID-19 hit nursing homes, including Gracedale.
He says the county worked to get protective equipment to the large nursing home. He thanked the staff for helping county works keep Gracedale operating.
He says the nursing home is "on its way" to recovering from the pandemic.
He also says a new pay structure will help Gracedale be able to compete for its current employees. This will include a higher starting payrate and more money for employees that stayed in place during the pandemic.
McClure also gave an update to the possibly of a daycare at the nursing home.
"It will be heavily subsidized, free at first," he said.
He says providing this will help keep and recruit employees, and that would help keep Gracedale county owned and operated.
Garage construction and elections
When talking about McClure's 'vision for the future' he said manufacturing is important. Northampton County's physical plan was on the topic list.
McClure says the parking garage has protentional for "injury" and the elections division is not "appropriately outfitted" at this time with respect to the office space at the current courthouse.
McClure says the plan is to build and attach to the parking garage for safety reasons. The new building to accommodate needs of the election office. It will provide "ultimate transparency" to avoid distrust in the community.
"The more people can actually see being done, the more confident folks will feel about the results," McClure said of having large glass windows on the future building.
He also says the garage-attached building will also have office space included.
Parks and Trails
There are 300 miles of trails in Northampton Co. McClure says he wants to develop the trails to promote eco-tourism and enhance tourism.
Housing
"We need housing for all income levels," McClure said when speaking about the future of building housing that would grow the middle-class.
The county has several partnerships, including one with Habitat for Humanity, McClure reports.
"Building housing will create jobs and will further enliven and expand our economy, and expand the ability for people to reach into the middle-class and grow the middle-class," McClure also said.
He believes Northampton Co. will soon become a destination for high-tech workers that will buy homes in the county.
He focused on theDixie Cup Factory redevelopment and how this is a glimpse at the development and job creation that is possible if given the chance.
Council granted New York-based Skyline Investment Group tentative approval on its application to convert the former Dixie factory into 405 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
McClure also spoke about the recovery from the bankruptcy of Bethlehem Steel.
"We are on our way to being a modal for others to copy all around the commonwealth and all around the country," he said. "I truly believe the Lehigh Valley is going to be a destination, not just to live and play and retire... I think it's going to be the premier destination to relocate your high-tech, manufacturing jobs too."
Passenger Rail
In a long-term vision, McClure says he wants to implement passenger rail that will connect the Lehigh Valley to New York City.
He says the rail would also connect Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton to the city and provide travel for workers.
"It will invigorate a revolution in our economy where we can truly recruit these high-tech manufacturers to relocate to here and create an economic boom," McClure said.
Watch the entire State of Northampton County speech below:
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