Northampton County Council met March 3 to hear an update on COVID-19 in the county and introduce a hearing to be held at the next meeting.

Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said Northampton County Prison and Gracedale Nursing Home both had no COVID-19 cases, at the time of the meeting. The county sits around 30-35 cases a day and is still at a high transmission level.

Vaccinations and testing will continue as long as people keep showing up. The 1,000th COVID-19 vaccine was recently given out at the county’s drive-thru vaccine clinic with Coordinated Health and Lehigh Valley Health Network.

During his report, McClure also stated the county will withdraw pension plan money and any other financial holdings from Russia in light of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Council also discussed an ordinance authorizing Northampton County to lease a property at the corner of Main and East streets in Easton. A public hearing, debate and possible vote on the matter will be held at council’s next meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. March 17 in the county building, 669 Washington St., Easton. The meeting will also be streamed on council’s YouTube page.

In other news, council approved a motion requesting the controller’s office prepare and submit an “audit report of the Vision Technologies Inc. contract for information services.”

The audit shall include, but is not limited to, “analysis of the operating costs, including costs for hardware/software and labor, to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of all contracts and additional contract modifications or alterations to the contracts; comparisons in cost to other third-class counties; and identification of options that may give the county improved value and/or a cost savings.”