The Board of Commissioners met April 4, and in the course of about a half hour unanimously voted to spend $222,000 dollars and seek $273,611 in grants. The money spent was included in this year’s budget

Spending

$116,474 goes to Recon Construction for cold in place asphalt recycling to rehabilitate township roads. This was the lower of two bids. According to Township Manager Melissa Shafer, it’s $30,000 less than what was budgeted.

$68,000 is an annual allotment for the township’s two athletic associations. Bethlehem Township Athletic Association, also known as the Bulldogs, received $40,000. The Freemansburg-Bethlehem Township Athletic Association, which runs the baseball program, only received $28,000. That’s because the township paid for the cost of lights, and the baseball association agreed to take $12,000 less each year for the next 10 years.

Most of the other items are smaller expenditures, but they include a $5,000 contribution to The Miracle League of Northampton County.

Grants

$213,611 is sought from the state for the Housenick Trails project. Thanks to the state’s failure to adopt a timely budget, the township has been forced to reapply. There is a matching grant from Northampton County’s open space program.

$60,000 is being requested from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for clean-up costs associated with winter storm Jonas. “We met the thresholds so that we can get reimbursement,” said Shafer.