Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners said it wants to move forward aggressively with plans for a new emergency services building.

The township had hoped to build off Lehigh Street on a 14-acre vacant parcel behind Arlington Cemetery, but plans fell through last year. Now they are looking for another piece of property.

“We need to find land,” board member Joseph Marx said. “We’ve been working on this for the last two years, and we’re still looking, but we are going to be very aggressive.”

The plan for a facility that would include the police department, a police training facility, a satellite base for Cetronia Ambulance Corps, a storage center for fire department equipment, a gym for police and public meeting rooms was first proposed in 2014, Marx said.

The township police department has been operating from a building that originally was the home of the now-defunct HMS (Hokendauqua, Mickleys, Stiles) Ambulance Corps. The building, which has several levels, is not efficient and does not meet current safety standards, according to the township budget.

“Our firefighters and police officers deserve better,” Marx said.

Marx also noted interest rates are low, making it an ideal time to move ahead with the project.

Board member Jeffrey Warren said grants are available once a site is found.

“We worked hard to pay down debt to put us in a position to do a project,” Warren said.

Marx said he wanted to form a committee that would look at possible four- to five-acre sites in the township.

“I would like it to be seen by the public and not stuck back in the woods,” he said.