Just as the April 13 meeting of the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting was drawing to a close, Commissioner Gerard Palagonia addressed the issue of Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. sanding the Emergency Operations Center basement floor earlier in the month in the municipal building.

Palagonia also criticized Hozza for any possible action being considered against the police officer who responded to the activated fire alarm.

"I find it offensive that Mayor Hozza is trying to punish a police officer for no reason," he said. "The mayor is using the public release of alleged confidential papers to try to deflect criticism away from himself for his irresponsible actions on March 24 in the basement of the township building. He tried to power sand a floor that was known to contain asbestos, a substance that, when breathed, can cause cancer and other deadly diseases.

"We know this because of a police incident report that I obtained from an officer now under investigation by this administration," Palogonia continued. "The paperwork given to me by that officer was, I feel, a public record and was not, as the mayor alleges, a workers' compensation form. It is labeled police incident form and contains no information of confidential nature about the officer who identified herself as the victim and now fears for her long-term health as a result of the irresponsible actions that took place in the basement."

According to Palagonia, the report was not stamped confidential.

Hozza said the matter is being investigated by the township police department. The investigation was launched because Palagonia was given an incident report that was to accompany the workers' compensation forms instead of the public incident report. The former contains more details on the incident.

"That (former) report was never given to the press, or given to any other elected official, and that is where that investigation of the command staff officer was done, internally by the Whitehall Police Department, and I can state that it was not begun by me. It was begun by the police department, who then returned to me what had transpired, "Hozza said.

Police Chief Linda Kulp was present at the meeting but was not presented with any questions.

Board members also issued no comments or posed questions to Palagonia or Hozza.