Bowmanstown appears to have hit the pause button on placing cameras inside the tunnel under Route 248.

Borough council on Tuesday debated whether cameras were the way to go as a means of improved safety measures inside the tunnel.

Essentially, council said the borough would need to provide electric to the tunnel, and Blue Ridge Communications would install the cameras.

“I think the idea to have cameras is for a sense of safety,” Councilman Rob Moyer said.

Mayor Zach Snyder asked what crime in particular the borough was looking to deter.

Public Works supervisor Chris Bixler noted the tunnel has “been relatively quiet over the last year.”

Ultimately, council decided to table the matter.

Last month council said it planned to look into putting security cameras in the tunnel, but that doing so would require electric and Internet access.

Council then inquired with Blue Ridge Communications on the cost of Internet access in the tunnel.

In March 2022, a mural in the tunnel was vandalized.

It was noted at that time that graffiti had returned under the tunnel where the Bowmanstown Area Residents Connected hung the entire mural.

Councilwoman Kara Scott, who serves as president of BARC, said at that time the vandalism wouldn’t be tolerated.

She said at that time state police had been contacted, and indicated they would try to monitor the tunnel more frequently.

Scott said at that time the borough’s goal was to make the tunnel safe for people to be comfortable, and not threatened.

Led by artist Carrie Kingsbury, the entire mural was hung in October 2021.

The hanging of the mural in the fall of 2021 came on the heels of a community paint day that was held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bowmanstown.

Kingsbury painted the mural on parachute material in her studio and brought it to the borough.

The scene is a compilation of local flora and fauna, including endangered species, and was done in collaboration with the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s projected mural to create a continuity of art connected by the D&L National Heritage Corridor Trail.

Scott said Rodney Reeser, vice president of BARC, has been painting over graffiti for years, and played an instrumental role in seeing the project come to fruition.