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Updated 2 hours ago
Whitehall Borough wasn't the only Whitehall in Pennsylvania to get hit with snow on Feb. 8 and into the early morning hours.
Whitehall Township in Lehigh County, about one hour north of Philadelphia, was declaring a snow emergency that night. Certain parts of both municipalities have garbage pickup on Thursdays.
But when Waste Management utilized the robocall system to inform Whitehall Township residents of a collection delay, the calls were routed to the residents of Whitehall in suburban Pittsburgh.
Borough Manager Jim Leventry said he received a phone call from the Whitehall Township manager to alert him to what happened.
Leventry also received a call from the borough's hauler, Republic Services, to notify the borough that pickup would be delayed by a day because of the inclement weather.
Confusion about the two Whitehalls in Pennsylvania is nothing new.
Whitehall Borough Mayor Jim Nowalk remembers long ago a story told by then-Mayor Ed Brennan about a truck driver looking for a certain street in Whitehall.
“Ed told him, ‘You're at the other end of the state,' ” Nowalk said.
Whitehall Township amended its home rule charter to change the position of township executive to the office of mayor. Ed Hozza Jr. has been the township mayor for 10 years. When the township amended the charter, Nowalk remembers the phone call he received from Hozza.
“He said, ‘Mayor Nowalk, this is Mayor Hozza.' ”
Hozza said confusion between the two Whitehalls goes back to the mid- to late-1970s when the Lehigh Valley Mall was opening.
“The public relations firm had an actress lined up for a photo opp at the grand opening, but they sent her to the wrong Whitehall,” said Hozza, who couldn't recall the actress.
Hozza said the township has its own postal address with a ZIP code of 18052, but the post office still receives mail addressed to borough residents.
The robocall for trash collection just adds to stories shared by the two Whitehalls.
“This is another one for the history books between the two Whitehalls,” Hozza said.
Jim Spezialetti is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-388-5805 or jspezialetti@tribweb.com.
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