Margaret Armenante says nothing improper about transaction with the borough.
By: Mark Moffa
ALLENTOWN Democratic Borough Council candidate Bill Soodul said on Tuesday he and running mate Stephanie Smith might sue the borough over a land swap completed in 1999 between Allentown and Margaret Armenante.
Ms. Armenante, who currently is on the council, was a Borough Council candidate at the time.
Prior to 1999, the driveway to the rear of borough hall was technically part of the adjacent Malsbury & Armenante law firm. And the driveway on the other side of borough hall, which is for Ms. Armenante’s house, was part of the borough hall property.
The borough decided to combine the Armenante driveway and a piece of property behind it with Ms. Armenante’s property and to add the law firm’s driveway to the borough’s property. Overall, the move meant the borough was giving up 0.070 acres of land, and receiving 0.032 acres.
Mr. Soodul said he spoke Monday with a lawyer, William Slover of Princeton, and that he and Ms. Smith were to decide by the end of the week if a lawsuit will be filed.
A letter to the borough’s attorney, Donald Driggers, was in the works, he said.
"I’m sure litigation will follow," Mr. Soodul said. He said he envisioned a suit on behalf of borough residents for spending taxpayer money improperly.
"All we’re trying to do is be honest and report the facts to the people," he said.
Mr. Soodul said he and Ms. Smith hope to decide on a course of action by the end of the week.
"We’re going somewhere, we’re just not sure where," he said. "It certainly appears the dealing wasn’t proper."
Ms. Armenante said there was nothing improper about the transaction. In fact, Ms. Armenante added, "screaming fights" took place between the borough and her before the matter finally was resolved.
She said the driveway to her house, which is at 6 N. Main St., was owned by the borough. Borough hall is at 8 N. Main St.
Since 1919, she said, the owner of the 6 N. Main St. property had an easement for exclusive use of the driveway.
On the other side of borough hall, at 12 N. Main St., stands the Malsbury & Armenante law firm. Ms. Armenante said the law office owned a single driveway between the two properties that was used by the borough and the law firm. This created "hellacious issues," she said, as parking was a nightmare.
In 1986, Ms. Armenante said, she applied for and obtained a permit for an addition onto her house at 6 N. Main. She said that after issuing the permit, the borough, under Mayor Robert O’Hare Sr., decided Ms. Armenante needed a variance to build the addition because the addition included her driveway, which she did not own.
Ms. Armenante said the borough sued her, but the matter was dismissed by a judge who instructed the parties to work out a compromise.
"It took until 1997 for things to come together," she said.
It was at that time the borough, under current Mayor Stu Fierstein, and Ms. Armenante agreed to a solution. In a move that was completed in 1999, Ms. Armenante’s house driveway was added to the deed of the house and the law firm’s driveway was added to the borough’s property.
The firm built a new driveway for itself.
Also, old gas tanks located on a 20-square-foot plot at the end of the Armenante driveway were owned by the borough before 1999. The tanks were removed and the site was remediated at the borough’s expense, she said, before the property was added to the house’s deed.
Mr. Soodul has criticized the borough for spending money to clean the site and then giving it to Ms. Armenante.
Ms. Armenante defended that move, saying "the borough would have to remove the gas tanks anyway," even if the property was not given to her.
Mr. Soodul said he questioned the borough last month as to how much it cost to complete the deal, including survey and permitting fees, but has yet to receive an answer.
According to the 1997 boundary line agreement between the borough and Ms. Armenante, the borough was to "be responsible for all costs and fees at 8 and 12 North Main Street incurred with the preparation of surveys, including engineering, in connection with the construction of the common driveway’s opening…. (The) borough agrees to assume responsibility for fees and costs incurred to obtain any permits necessary to construct said driveways and apron."
The agreement stipulates that the borough was to pay no more than $5,870.94 for its driveway and landscaping fees.
Ms. Armenante said the borough did not pay for any of the landscaping along either driveway. She said the borough does not pay for maintaining the shrubs, and did not pay for the paperwork necessary to complete the land swap she said that was done by the law firm.
"All three property owners were effectively paralyzed unless something was done," Ms. Armenante said. She said if the borough hall property was sold as it was, the new owner would need to obtain a variance before doing work on the property an unneeded and costly process.
"There wasn’t any funny business going on here," she said. "I didn’t appreciate the implication that there was."

