The successor to the prince of planning has been named.
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, the Bethlehem Town Board unanimously voted to appoint former Deputy Planner Rob Leslie to the position of planning director. He is taking the place of former Director of Economic Development and Planning Mike Morelli.
Morelli spoke to the board on Leslie’s behalf at the meeting. He said over the past several years, Leslie has been professional, hardworking and committed.
“I’d like to go on record supporting this promotion,” he said. “I think it’s not only a good opportunity for the board, but a wise opportunity by the board.”
Clarkson said despite the receipt of 30 resumes and after eight interviews, “no one had the qualities of a broad skill set and background of the town.”
“Rob Leslie is the type of employee we would all like to have,” said Clarkson. “He was universally admired.”
Leslie has been working for the town for seven years. He is working solely as the town’s director of planning, with the hope that the town and the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency will partner to hire an employee to focus just on economic development. The town is now also seeking applications for senior planner.
The new planning director’s goals are to continue to implement the town’s Comprehensive Plan, especially in upcoming projects like the Wemple Corners development, along with making improvements to the town’s waterfront.
Leslie also wants to move forward with the town’s Delaware Avenue Hamlet Enhancement Study to make the road more attractive and easier for cyclists and pedestrians to travel.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Leslie asked that the town apply for grant funding through the state Department of Transportation’s Transportation Enhancement Program to initiate the recommendations made in the Delaware Avenue Study. The town has also applied to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Cleaner, Greener Community Program.
The intersection of Delaware and Kenwood has already seen improvements in recent years. Leslie, who also works as the town’s liaison for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, said the hope is to extend the same features down to Elsmere Avenue.
“Right now when you go out there, facilities for pedestrians are poor and not continuous,” he said. “If you look at the area in front of Main Square or St. Thomas, it’s all asphalt. So you have this sea of asphalt where pedestrians want to travel, but at the same time you have cars parked because there’s no distinction.”
The new planning director said the town would be looking to better define those areas. Leslie said the town meets three of the criteria to receive the DOT Transportation Enhancement Program grant. The project is aimed at improving pedestrian and bicycle safety, improving streetscaping and landscaping and adding access points to the Albany County Rail Trail. The town also meets the qualifications for the NYSERDA grant because it focuses on projects that reduce greenhouse gases and encourages alternative traveling methods.
The entire project is estimated to cost $3.1 million. Leslie said the TEP grant is for $1.2 million, while the NYSERDA grant is for $1.2 million. If the town happens to win both, the project would cost the taxpayers $700,000.
“Hopefully we’ll be successful, we think we have competitive applications,” he said.
Award announcements won’t be made until December.
Leslie said the project is important to him because of his work on the BPC and his initial work on the Delaware Avenue Hamlet Enhancement Study.
“This project is clearly accomplishing the study recommendations, and that’s always nice when you can take the study, and work with it and implement the recommendations,” he said.
