Easton City Council Committee Meeting – May 26, 2026

Mayor Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. called the meeting to order and City Clerk Karen Roscioli conducted roll call.

Members Present:

• Mayor Salvatore J. Panto, Jr.
• Council Member Frank Pintabone
• Council Member Crystal Rose
• Council Member Frank Graziano
• Council Member Susan Hartranft-Bittinger
• Council Member Ken Brown

Members Absent:

• Council Member Julie Zando-Dennis

Before proceeding to scheduled agenda items, Council Member Frank Pintabone raised a motion to table agenda items F, G, and H, citing concerns that they had been added to the agenda after 1:00 PM that day — too late for meaningful public notice.

The items in question included the NIOSH report and recommendations regarding fire department safety practices, and a proposal related to the Historic District Commission (HDC). Pintabone noted that members of the public had contacted him unaware that these topics were being discussed, and that firefighters who had attended a prior committee meeting were absent because they did not know the item was on the agenda.

A lengthy discussion followed involving Mayor Panto, City Administrator Luis Campos, the City Solicitor, and several council members regarding:

• The legal distinction between a ‘conference’ (receiving information) and ‘deliberation’ (discussion moving toward a decision), as explained by City Solicitor. Official action must be on a public agenda; deliberation should be listed as best practice but is not strictly prohibited if omitted.
• Whether committee meetings — where work, Q and A, and debate take place — should carry the same transparency obligations as formal council sessions.
• City Administrator Campos noted that the NIOSH written response from the fire chief had been prepared per a prior committee agreement and was intended only as a report submission, with deliberation deferred to a future meeting.
• Council Member Pintabone stated his intent to bring a formal resolution requiring that significant agenda items be advertised at least 24 hours before any public meeting, and that the committee agenda ideally be finalized by Friday each week.
• Council Members Rose and Graziano expressed general agreement with the transparency principle.
• Mayor Panto suggested the city clerk stop preparing formal agendas for Tuesday committee meetings, with significant items instead raised organically. Other council members pushed back, arguing the committee is where public input and discussion should occur.
• Campos acknowledged the concern and agreed to work on a clearer process going forward.

Outcome: Items F, G, and H were set aside for the evening. Mayor Panto indicated they would be formally tabled at the following night’s council session. The NIOSH report and HDC proposal were expected to be placed on the next committee agenda with proper notice.

Council Member Frank Pintabone presented an updated version of Housing Bill No. 12, incorporating changes discussed at the previous council meeting.

Key Changes in the Updated Draft:

• Rent cap revised to ‘not to exceed 30% of yearly gross income,’ with utilities — explicitly including heat (added after it was noted that ‘utilities’ does not automatically include oil heat under standard definitions) — factored into that threshold.
• Affordability tiers expanded to cover studio/efficiency units, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units.
• Studios and efficiencies: affordable to households at no more than 75% of median income. Scales up to 95% for three-bedroom units.
• Median income calculation based solely on the City of Easton (Southside, Downtown, West Ward, and College Hill) — not the broader Lehigh Valley area median income, which is driven up by wealthier surrounding townships.
• Affordability unit allocation remains at 25% of units per development.
• Opt-out fee increased from $25,000 per door to $30,000 per door.

Mayor Panto indicated support for the ordinance and raised the importance of assigning someone in the administration to conduct annual reviews of income thresholds, citing past failures to update rents in city-owned affordable housing dating back to the 1960s.

Discussion also touched on the use of a model lease (similar to the Penrose model used at Neston Heights), tenant screening requirements (credit and background checks), and the role of Home Easton in overseeing compliance.

Mayor Panto acknowledged some concern about the social dynamic of mixing market-rate and affordable units in the same building, though council members pushed back on negative assumptions about lower-income tenants. Council Member Pintabone noted these are working residents who simply cannot afford market-rate rents.

The item will proceed to a vote at the following night’s council session.

Jarrad Schantzenbach, city Health Administrator, presented two proposed changes related to temporary food vendor licenses at city events:

Proposed Ticket/Fine Increases:

• Increases to fines for health code violations, split into two categories: ‘risk factors’ (violations likely to cause rapid foodborne illness) and ‘good retail practices’ (general cleanliness and facility upkeep).
• Intended to address repeat offenders and improve enforcement.

Proposed Late Fee on Temporary Licenses:

• A late fee would apply to vendors who do not submit license applications at least five business days before an event.
• Jarrad noted that as of Tuesday of that week, only 4 of 25 vendors had submitted complete applications for an upcoming Saturday event.
• Currently no written deadline exists; Jarrad has been informally requesting 10 business days.
• Council Member Pintabone raised the possibility of aligning the late fee deadline with the pub crawl ordinance (which requires 30 days notice for events with 5 to 250 attendees and 60 days for events over 250).

Council discussed the broader context of event fees, including the cost to the city per event, the differential between large and small events (noting the city breaks even on large festivals largely through parking revenue), and the need for a tiered fee structure for local brick-and-mortar businesses versus out-of-town vendors.

City Administrator Luis Campos noted that the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the citywide parking study was officially published on the city website that day. Campos indicated he and Dave Hopkins would be attending a parking conference in Bethlehem the following two days, where they planned to identify additional qualified parking consultants beyond the two already recommended by peer cities.

Council Member Pintabone asked whether the scope of the RFP could be amended to include handicap parking considerations. Campos confirmed the RFP contains language allowing scope adjustments, and agreed to incorporate handicap parking into the study rather than treating it as a separate process. He noted he expects two to three respondents and plans to stay within budget while keeping the scope flexible for emerging issues.

The handicap accessible space requests that had been on the committee agenda (items A, B, and D) were set aside pending the outcome of the parking study and/or a more comprehensive policy review.

A local bakery owner and longtime Easton festival vendor addressed the committee. She identified herself as a 15-year vendor and owner of one of Easton’s oldest bakeries. Key points raised:

• Health inspection fees increased 66.7% from last year — from $45 per day to $75 per day. She said she accepted this increase given that funds were said to go toward growing the health department and potentially adding an inspector.
• She expressed concern about adding a late fee on top of already-elevated fees before a tiered pricing program for local businesses has been established and voted on.
• She noted that she had been told a tiered/discount program for brick-and-mortar Easton businesses was being developed by the finance department but had not yet been presented to council — and asked that the late fee and the tiered program be voted on together rather than separately.
• She stated that her total festival fees across all Easton events this year came to approximately $5,000, and that she has begun doing more events in Bethlehem due to lower fees.
• She raised an equity concern: vendors at the Easton Farmers Market (America’s oldest continuously operating outdoor farmers market, since 1752) pay $175 for the entire season, while vendors at Live at the Falls pay approximately $75 per day for a four-day event — roughly $300 total for a much smaller event.
• She asked council to consider event size, local business status, and the full cost-revenue picture before finalizing any new fee structure.

Mayor Panto and council members acknowledged her points. Mayor Panto confirmed that a reduced rate for downtown brick-and-mortar businesses is being built into the draft tiered program. City Administrator Campos agreed to circulate the draft tiered fee schedule to council for discussion at the next committee meeting before any vote on the late fee.

Mayor Panto asked if any additional members of the public wished to address council. Hearing none, the meeting was adjourned.