Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners approved a resolution at its March 9 meeting allowing the mayor and township staff to enter into a community partnership and park facility agreement with Sports Factory of the Lehigh Valley LLC, in regard to the reservation of Schadt Avenue Park for community and athletic events in Whitehall.

Sports Factory of the Lehigh Valley has agreed to partner with the township to host numerous programs, especially sports programs for the kids in the township. Commissioner Ken Snyder noted this partnership requires them to promote community outreach events. The partnership will last until the end of August of this year.

Board President Jeffrey Warren noted Sports Factory promoted events last year, such as National Night Out and many movie nights. He added they did a “trial run” last year, but the official partnership agreement wasn’t finalized until this year.

According to the Sports Factory’s website, other events are included in this partnership, such as training and fitness sessions, camps and clinics, fundraisers and other special events.

“They’re a phenomenal organization, and they’re very engaged,” Mayor Joseph Marx said.

Schadt Avenue Park is operated by the township, and Snyder noted this agreement doesn’t give Sports Factory 100% control of Schadt Avenue Park. Solicitor Jack Gross noted other parts of the park will be available for public use. He also noted they are allowed to reserve specific fields at the park for events, but they won’t be able to reserve all of them.

“It’s a framework on how we work with rentals, sports and tournament teams. I think it’s a good thing, and we’ll see how it goes this summer,” Warren said.

Secretary Randy Atiyeh stated his support for the partnership with Sports Factory and noted they’re doing great things at the park. He said he’s not opposed to the partnership, but he would be open to volunteers from families and other residents in the township.

“Our parks and youth programs are best when they’re run by our parents and people living in the township,” Atiyeh said. “In today’s day, it’s not happening as much as it used to.”

Resident Richard Sharkazy asked the board what the township is doing to encourage children to get outside and be more involved with community programs.

Snyder noted the Sports Factory is open to the general public, including outside of Whitehall Township. He noted Tri-Boro consists of 70% Whitehall kids and 30% outside residents.

Snyder said when an open space study was completed, they found kids ages 11-12 left the park system and moved into club arrangements, so it’s harder for them to become more convinced to be more engaged.

Gross noted Sports Factory is paying the township $5,000 to use the facilities. They also include services such as handling maintenance of the fields and hosting events at the park.

Snyder mentioned the $5,000 was determined based on what the township collected in fees from people who rented the space.

According to Snyder, Schadt Avenue Park has two baseball fields, a soccer field and other fields. They will be using the two fields near Schadt Avenue for primary use. The soccer field will still be available for Tri-Boro if needed.

Sports Factory will need to present a schedule of times and days they will be using the fields. If the field is not booked by Sports Factory, it can be reserved.

As for maintenance of the fields, Snyder mentioned the possibility of maintaining the clay and pitcher mounds and cutting the grass.

In other news, commissioners approved a new 2025 Caterpillar asphalt paver for the public works department in a 6-0 vote.

Marx said these new pavers have greater capabilities than the previous ones the township was using. Instead of three passes on a conventional roadway, these new pavers will be able to do two passes now, making it a faster and smoother process, according to Marx.

The agenda reported the item was $7,613 more than budgeted. However, Marx noted they received a statewide Local Share Account grant for $500,000 from state Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, and state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, for this project, saying he was “forever grateful” for their support.

He noted they will keep the old paver as backup.

Commissioners approved the appointment of Sean Roth in a unanimous 6-0 vote to serve as a member of the Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board.

Commissioners approved the refund of pension contributions, plus accumulated interest from the police pension fund, to former police officer Thomas C. Geib.