In their first video conference meeting, Lehigh County Commissioners April 1 listened as Director of General Services Rick Molchany described what he and his department have been doing to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in Lehigh County.

“We have been working diligently for the last month on the COVID-19 virus,” Molchany said. “We started by working on prevention efforts first. We wanted to raise awareness, proceed with an abundance of caution, but not create panic.” He said information had been distributed which described ways to minimize the spread of the virus.

“We’ve added hand sanitizer stations throughout the [county administration building].”

He said supplies of some materials such as masks, wipes and hand sanitizers have not been coming through the supply chain.

Molchany also described the conditions under which county workers should work from home or in the case of those who have been sick, to get work release permits from their doctors before returning to work.

He also noted increased use of parks by people looking for exercise has increased the amount of trash in the parks requiring workers to go out on the trails and pick up trash.

“In parks and rec., we are practicing social distancing.” He said the work is getting done.

Molchany said the county is working with Pennsylvania Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management to identify sites for possible use for hospital expansion to include the PPL Center in downtown Allentown. He said he was preparing for a need for hospital beds like “we’ve never seen.”

He said people are coming into the Lehigh Valley to get away from “the nightmare” in New York and New Jersey. “We have to be aware of that,” Molchany said. “So, we are working on that.”

“We’re doing what we can for the homeless,” Molchany said. “It’s a very difficult initiative. There is talk and discussion [with other municipalities] about how we [support] the homeless in Lehigh Valley.”

He said the county administrative building is effectively closed but social services is still going out to make necessary visits.

Molchany also cautioned that in terms of tax collection, the county is at its weakest cash flow for the year. He said he had been in discussions with County Executive Phillips Armstrong and Fiscal Officer Timothy Reeves about how long the county can continue operations “in the event there is a sluggish response to the tax bills.”

Molchany said he expects to be able to continue business as normal through the end of May. He said Reeves is working on spreadsheets to help understand the county’s cash flow and ability to pay bills, employees, retirees and vendors.

He said the need to get short-term loans to meet expenses is “all to be determined.” He said he is also collecting data to ensure the county submits complete packages for reimbursement from programs such as Community Block Grants and PEMA and FEMA.

Armstrong said he is looking at different options such as extending payment deadlines with no penalty. “We need to keep the county running and stay ahead of the game,” Armstrong said. “The financials in the county right now are stable. We continue to monitor that.”

Armstrong said many taxpayers pay their taxes through their mortgage companies.

In other business, the commissioners approved a $200,000 grant disbursement to the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund.

Lehigh County had previously applied for and received a grant from the state to assist veterans with transitional housing programs.

The funding, according to language from the resolution, is to provide for “appropriate case management and service centers or agencies that provide veteran-centric case management or counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance and life-skills.”

Commissioners also approved an ordinance to “ensure that all work on public construction contracts is performed by responsible, qualified firms that maintain the capacity, expertise, personnel and other qualifications and resources necessary to successfully perform public contracts in a timely, reliable and cost-effective manner.”