Lehigh County Board of Commissioners held its second bimonthly meeting June 25. During the meeting, commissioners discussed the purchase of a K-9 for the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office, authorized a $135,000 grant for the local organization Bloom for Women and passed all items on the agenda with two deferrals to the next meeting, which is set for July 9.

The meeting began by passing a bill to waive Article VIII of the administrative code, which pertains to the public fitting process, in order to allow the sheriff’s office to purchase a K-9 and bypass this process. This bill was sponsored by Commissioners Ron Beitler, Antonio Pineda and Jeffrey Dutt.

Before voting on this bill, the board heard from Charles Smith, an assistant solicitor in the Lehigh County law department, who was introduced by Lehigh County Sheriff Joe Hanna.

Smith explained the need for a new K-9 for the department since they had just retired one of their longtime K-9s.

“A trained K-9 is a very specialized animal. The sheriff’s office will be using it for advanced explosive detection and tracking,” Smith said. “[The K-9s] need to meet certain criteria.”

Smith elaborated the office’s K-9 handler owns a dog, which the office would like to purchase for this purpose by bypassing the lengthy procurement process.

The bill was passed with no opposition and Commissioner Geoff Brace mentioned looking at a change in the administrative code in the future.

“I don’t like the idea of treating breathing creatures as a process of procurement in the traditional sense,” Brace said. “This might be a good policy to adopt.”

During the meeting, the board did a first reading on a bill to authorize a grant of $135,000 to the local organization Bloom for Women in order to help those suffering from opioid use. The bill was sponsored by Commissioners Dutt, Pineda and April Riddick.

The money for this grant would come from the funds the district attorney’s office received from an opioid settlement case.

Brace said he was initially concerned the funds would be focused on enforcement and arresting people for conduct related to opioid use disorder. Brace said he is appreciative this grant will be used to follow a different path, focusing on treatment and recovery.

“I think the creativity of this ... is an indication that we’re looking at a whole community instead of simply addressing the effects of substance use in our community and punishing people for substance use disorders,” Brace said. “The more we can do along this line, the more I’m going to be supportive of it.”

This bill will go to a second reading at the next commissioners’ meeting July 9.

A resolution to approve Primecare Medical to give comprehensive medical services to the inmate population in the custody and control of the department of corrections was deferred to the next meeting with no opposition.

The board plans to enter conversations to amend the agreement to ensure regular reporting and oversight from the board over the course of Primecare’s contract.

A resolution to approve a professional services agreement with Alfred Benesch & Company was also deferred until the next board meeting due to some changes made to the agreement within the 24-hour window. The deferral passed with no opposition.

The meeting adjourned with the rest of the agenda items passing with no opposition.