The construction of the new 29,000-square-foot police station and renovation of the township municipal building is within budget and on schedule, Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners learned at its meeting Sept. 9.

Moving the project forward, the board approved both an ordinance to accept a proposal for the removal of hazardous materials including asbestos and a resolution conditionally approving the land development plan at the township municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road.

Deputy Mayor John D. Meyers said the winning bid to decontaminate the basement of the municipal building, which has asbestos around the pipes and in other areas, is $91,000 by Prism Response Inc. of Drums, Luzerne County. Work will begin Sept. 23.

Kimberly LaBrake, of D’Huy Engineering of Bethlehem, and Jay Clough, of KCBA Architects of Hatfield, presented board members with an update on the project.

“We are through design development and ready to move into construction design,” LaBrake said.

She said the estimated cost is slightly up at $17,855,604. Although costs for overall construction and renovation were down, the costs for site development and outbuildings have increased, she added.

“The bidding climate is high,” LaBrake said, adding that when the project goes out for bid in January, it will be the first big project in the area and, hopefully, will get better pricing.

Clough showed renderings of the site, as well as of the facade and interior of the proposed building.

“We are very much improving the stormwater situation by introducing 20-percent green space back into the site,” he said.

He said the two buildings would be joined by a vestibule that can be locked in three different ways to make it very secure.

“The transaction area will be more spacious with walk-up windows,” Clough noted. “It will make it a more inviting area for the public.”

The police building lobby will be secure but will have a desk for public interaction.

D’Huy wants to have the complete construction plan ready for bid by the end of November, so the board can vote to advertise for bids at its Dec. 9 meeting.

The board then can vote on bids at its February meeting, and work can start on the addition in March.

Clough said once the addition is 80- to 90-percent complete, everything will be moved into the building for four to six months while the existing building is renovated.

Commissioners also voted to accept a bid of $12,014,513 for a five-year contract with Waste Management, one of the township’s current trash haulers. The contract would include three one-year extensions.

The amount per year is 10.5 percent higher than last year, and Meyers said residents’ garbage rates will increase.

“Recycling costs almost doubled,” Meyers said.

The bid includes grass and yard waste collection to take place the day after residents’ regular garbage collection.

Board members decided not to include household hazardous e-waste collection, which would have added another $1 million to the cost. Meyers said community recycling events cost about $10,000 and would be more economical, even if they were held four times a year.

Commissioners also denied a conditional use request by United Liberty to build a special care community on a six-acre lot at 1995 Schadt Ave., citing concerns about parking, wastewater, sewer and potential problems with homeowners’ associations.

The project includes 32 age-restricted condominium-like units on the property and would have a community center, a public road and access from both Mauch Chunk Road and Schadt Avenue. In the plan, the units were individually owned and a homeowners’ association would maintain the property.

“There have been notable failures of homeowners’ associations,” Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. said. “What is the township’s protection against failure? It’s a concern.”

Since the property can’t be served by a gravity sewer, Engineer Harold Newton said developers had talked to Coplay Whitehall Sewer Authority about installing a low-pressure sewer with pumping stations at each unit that all feed into a main that then goes into the gravity system.

“There is none like this in the township at this time,” Vice President Philip Ginder said. “This is new, uncharted territory. These systems have a lot of maintenance. If the homeowners’ association fails, the burden falls on the township to make sure residents have sanitary sewers.”