LoriAnn Fehnel took her turn at the podium during the Feb. 12 meeting of Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners. At the meeting, Fehnel had a video of a potential burglar who cut at least two of her cameras down before taking off.

“There is always activity in the alleyway. The same people are now trying to break into our houses,” she alleged.

Fehnel’s video shows the suspect leaving the property. A neighbor has the suspect on video heading up Second Street.

Commissioners reviewed the video at the meeting, and the police will review it.

“I wanted them to see if there might be other videos that could track him further,” Fehnel said.

She asked why there was no neighborhood crime watch program. President Dennis Hower responded that there was little interest in the program.

“The programs start up with some level of participation, but then membership dwindles,” he said.

Hower did not let the situation end without some action. He asked Fehnel to rekindle the neighborhood watch program for Hokendauqua. Fehnel asked to expand the group to include areas of Coplay that expressed interest. She wants to keep the program relevant to the Hokendauqua neighborhood. Hower gave his approval.

Fehnel posts activities on a Facebook page, Whitehall Coplay Community Crime Watch.

In other action, commissioners addressed the Eagle View Estates development. The project consists of 35 townhouses on a triangular-shaped piece of land consisting of seven acres just south of the intersection of Route 329 and MacArthur Road. The actual address is 5266 MacArthur Road. The property is bounded by a narrow roadway, Mason Drive, that is parallel to Route 329.

The township wants to see sidewalks around the outside borders of the development; the developer wants to eliminate the requirement. According to the developer, sidewalks along MacArthur Road or on the east side of the project go nowhere and are not connected to any other sidewalk.

The property owners and businesses bordering Mason Lane have little interest in sidewalks. The property owners, according to the developer, believe sidewalks could be more of a nuisance than a benefit.

The only sidewalks rejected were the sidewalks along MacArthur Road.

Commissioners granted approval for the police department to add two Dodge Chargers, two Dodge Durangos and a Ram pickup truck to its fleet.

Also, commissioners appointed John Delserro to the environmental advisory council and Joseph Wilfinger to the recreation commission. Wilfinger will represent Whitehall Historical Preservation Society.