The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners finally approved the Green Future Fund at its Jan. 23 meeting, after tabling it on three previous occasions.

The full $1.06 million will be funded and paid for by money received from impact drilling fees through natural gas. The bill will fund the Martin Luther Trail in Allentown, the Saucon Rail Trail in Upper Saucon Township, Camp Olympic renovations in Lower Macungie Township, the Lindberg Park connection trail in Salisbury Township, community park improvements in Emmaus and restoration projects on Sand Island in Bethlehem.

"This motion and the subsequent releasing of the funds demonstrates that this board does have the capacity to, if it's willing to, work collaboratively and solve the problems of county government," Commissioner David Jones said.

Board Chairwoman Lisa Scheller thanked the citizens and community leaders for their patience in the process.

"We're spending your money," Scheller said. "I would hope you want us to be as careful with this money as you would want us to be with your own personal money because it is your money. I really feel that this is the way government should work, even of it is slower than any of us would like."

In the past few meetings, the more conservative members of the board said they did not question the merits of the bill, but were hesitant to approve the bill as they tried to find a way to fund the projects without putting a burden on the taxpayer. Marcellus Shale drilling fees from 2012, 2013 and 2014 will pay for the Green Future Fund.

The motion to use gas impact fees also specified that this will be the last year of the Green Future Fund. The motion was approved 7-2, with Commissioners Daniel McCarthy and Brad Osborne voting against the measure.

"What we have here is a motion to make the board feel good about funding this," McCarthy said. "It's really saying that we're taking money out of the left pocket instead of the right one."

Commissioner Vic Mazziotti disagreed with McCarthy and said while it was a "feel good motion," there is substance behind it and money left over from impact drilling fees could be used to fund other projects in the future.

Osborne said he voted against the motion because he felt the Green Future Fund should have been passed on its own merits.

The board also tabled a bill that would repeal the Lehigh County affordable housing ordinance.

"We had this extensive committee planning meeting and as a board, we want to be deliberate, thoughtful and we want to take into consideration the needs, the desires and the programs that are here in Lehigh County," Scheller said. "We felt the need to gather more information, allow more public input and understand what the program does for the residents and how it is being delivered to those residents."

Scheller said there will be a public hearing about the bill. A date has not been set, but she said plenty of notice will be given.

The next board of commissioners meeting is Feb. 13 in the public hearing room of the Lehigh County Government Center in Allentown.