Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners held an emergency meeting March 27 with the sole agenda item being a vote on extending the state of emergency declaration Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. had made March 20.

The board voted unanimously to extend the state of emergency indefinitely throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike typical board meetings, the emergency meeting was not open to the public to comply with social distancing recommendations from health officials. The township did, however, intend for the public to be able to call in and listen to the meeting and provide public comment.

Unfortunately, the call-in system failed during the meeting. Harakal said those technical issues will be dealt with because he expects it will be difficult for the board to hold public meetings for some time.

At this point, Harakal said the township is just waiting for a bill to pass in the Pennsylvania State Senate that would allow municipalities to make independent decisions about whether or not to hold meetings publicly.

Planning and zoning meetings require groups of people to gather, so the township is hoping to push back planned meetings and get deadline extensions wherever possible.

The massive shutdowns that have been implemented in Pennsylvania and other states across the country have put municipalities and leaders in an unprecedented situation of uncertainty.

“There’s no template or guidance,” Harakal said, “but we’re trying our best to serve the public.”