Lehigh County Authority will get its requested 43-year lease extension. In a preliminary first reading, Lehigh County Board of Commissioners approved amending the articles of incorporation for the LCA to extend its term of existence 43 years from the date that the deal is approved by the Pennsylvania Department of State.

Commissioners approved the bill 9-0 at the June 12 meeting.

The move allows LCA to negotiate long-term financing at the best rates for “capital improvements for its many water and wastewater systems serving fourteen municipalities,” as stated in the bill.

LCA’s Executive Director Liesel Gross attended the meeting and reiterated her pledge to provide an annual report and offered to provide an annual public presentation to the board of commissioners. That commitment is spelled out in the amendment to be sent to the Pennsylvania secretary of state.

In a final approval vote, the commissioners finalized the lease of The Seed Farm to the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley. The 43-acre farm is located at 5854 Vera Cruz Road in Upper and Lower Milford townships.

Alan Jennings, executive director of CACLV, attended the meeting.

“The premises are leased to CACLV for the purpose of operating and managing the functions of The Seed Farm and to create programs to introduce, train and develop farmers,” according to the terms of the lease.

Commissioners gave first reading approval to appoint Diana Scholl to the position of deputy clerk.

Erin Yasenchak, a partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau, encouraged everyone to get involved in the upcoming census scheduled for April 1, 2020. She said undercounts in the county’s population result in losses of government grants back to the community.

In other business, members of the Lehigh County Youth Advisory Council were recognized for their contributions and received citations from the county administration. The citations were presented to the high school students by Joshua Siegel, public information officer for the county.

The youth advisers receiving citations were Nicholas Saylor of Whitehall High School, Ga Young Lee of Parkland High School and Thomas Chakif and Zahi Awad, both of Dieruff High School.

Douglas Graves, adjutant for Detachment 284 of the Bethlehem Marine Corps League, presented citations to two of the commissioners, Amy Zanelli and Dan Hartzell, and two members of the administration, county Executive Phillips Armstrong and Siegel, recognizing their voluntary work supporting the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program at Allentown’s Salvation Army building in December.

Commissioners also approved the distribution of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to several municipalities. Included is Whitehall Township for curb cuts, $113,400; Emmaus Borough for curb cuts, $34,700; Fountain Hill Borough for street reconstruction, $284,050; Macungie Borough for curb cuts, $11,600; Slatington Borough, $98,085; and Salisbury Township for sanitary sewer rehabilitation, $90,799.

Organizations getting CDBG money include Catholic Charities for a self sufficiency and intervention program, $29,700; Communities in Schools of the Lehigh Valley for career supports at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, $25,000; Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation for English as a Second Language communication for success, $6,000; Lehigh Carbon Technical Institute for scholarships for Section 3 residents, $19,500; Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living for housing location assistance to 20 households to avoid homelessness, $15,052; Meals on Wheels for meal preparation and delivery, $20,000; North Penn Legal Services for legal help, $10,000; and The Literacy Center for ESL and adult basic education, $15,000.