During its July 14 meeting, Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners unanimously approved, in a 5-0 vote, a spending plan for emergency services to acquire radios and necessary equipment needed for the fire and police departments and emergency management.

The township voted to fund the equipment through the Lafarge Fund.

According to Deputy Mayor Jack Meyers, the project of acquiring new radios and equipment was several years in the making. The total cost for the handheld and vehicle radios and microphones will be $879,174.05.

The purchase of these radios was made with the approval of the board because the township is converting from an older system to a digital system, which will provide better clarity and help solve dead spots within the Lehigh Valley.

Lehigh County had offered to pay up front for the equipment and listed a repayment schedule.

The township board discussed the option of a five-year repayment schedule with zero- percent interest, as well as a 10-year plan, but ultimately decided to use money from its Lafarge Fund.

According to supporting documentation, the Lafarge Fund was created to finance capital projects. The money is paid back to the fund over an established time schedule.

Commissioner Ken Snyder affirmed to the board this was the method chosen by the board and township for payment of the radios.

“The Lafarge Fund is something I don’t want to do, in this manner, at this point,” Snyder said to the board while voting in favor of the bill.

Snyder mentioned the Lafarge Fund was proposed to fund the radios as of now; however, a final decision on how the radios would be funded wouldn’t be made until the end of this year when the township will prepare its annual budget for the fiscal year of 2026.

Last month, the board voted to acquire the radios and necessary equipment for emergency services to perform their jobs. Concerns were raised at last month’s meeting about how the radios would be funded and whether it would have to go through as debt under the township debt act.

Mayor Joseph R. Marx noted municipalities are rated on credit, so the Lafarge Fund was a more feasible option for the township because it didn’t want the amount to accumulate and be seen as debt. Marx also stated a 10-year payment plan was also proposed, but it wouldn’t have had the option to allow zero-percent interest payments over time.

Solicitor Jack Gross stated at last month’s meeting if the township had gone that route, it would have needed to be approved as debt under the act; however, he said, the final decision to use the entire amount for the Lafarge Fund will have to be determined by the board at some point in the future, especially when it prepares the 2026 fiscal budget.

The township would replace the Lafarge Fund money in the amount of $175,834.81 annually from 2026 to 2030.

The equipment will be delivered and rolled out to emergency responders throughout the county by the end of this year, per the county’s plan.

Board President Thomas Slonaker and Commissioner Elizabeth Fox were absent from the meeting.