Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners President Dennis Hower was sporting a different look for a very important cause at the township board meeting Oct. 8. Not only was he wearing a bright pink tie, his signature beard was dyed the same hue.

Hower is one of 20 Lehigh Valley men, and leaders in the community, committed to wear pink throughout October to raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

The campaign, Real Men Wear Pink, has been put together by the American Cancer Society in honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Hower had set a goal to raise $10,000 for his campaign and promised to dye his beard pink if that goal was reached. In only the second week of the campaign, he has already raised more than $25,000. He has upped his goal to $30,000, which he is confident will be raised by the end of the week.

He said the Whitehall campaign is in the top five nationally.

“It’s amazing what happens when a community comes together,” Hower said.

Upcoming events for the campaign include a comedy night 8 p.m. Oct. 12 at Ramada Inn, as well as a fitness boot camp and a taco night at Teamsters Local 773 union hall later this month. All tickets are $20 and benefit the campaign.

Also at the meeting, the board discussed implementing quarterly bills for garbage fees to make it easier for people to pay their bill. Currently, residents get a yearly bill.

Deputy Mayor John Meyers told the board more than $300,000 in garbage bills remain unpaid.

Commissioner Jeffrey Dutt suggested new families in the township might not be aware of the garbage collection fee.

Colleen Gober, township treasurer, said people are told about the garbage fee when they apply for a moving permit.

The board agreed to discuss the issue at the legal and legislative committee meeting Oct. 10.

The board approved a proposal to buy a Faro S70D laser scanner for the township police department for more than $25,000.

“This is a really exciting piece of technology,” township Police Chief Michael Marks said. “This is a three-dimensional scanner that can recreate accidents and plot different scenarios. It will dramatically cut down the time on accident investigations and shorten the amount of time a road needs to be shut down.”

Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. thanked the board for accepting the plan for a proposed township emergency services complex after getting a first look at the plan last week.

The nearly $18 million project will include a new 29,000-square-foot police station and renovation of the township building on the current township municipal site on MacArthur Road.

Harakal said the project is projected to begin construction in spring 2020.

“It is woefully needed,” Harakal said. “The time was ripe to move forward. With the support of the entire community, we will have a building we can be proud of.”

In other business, 6-8 p.m. Oct. 26 was designated trick-or-treat night in Whitehall.

Also, the board reappointed Robert J. Abbot to the recreation commission, and Peter Pasceri and James Bucklin Jr. were approved to serve as township fire police.