South Whitehall Commissioner Matthew Mobilio held a virtual town hall meeting May 1 to provide updates on township matters and answer residents’ questions.

Mobilio opened the town hall by discussing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on South Whitehall, specifically noting staff are working to keep the township’s budget secure.

“I can assure you, and I think all of my commissioner colleagues would assure you that we are doing everything that we can,” Mobilio said. “The staff is doing an unbelievable job of keeping up with everything, keeping expenses low.

“We are all dealing with things as they come and doing the best we can.”

Mobilio was asked about communication between township, county and state.

He said Jeff Kelly, township emergency management coordinator, has been providing daily updates, and noted that as with the state, Lehigh County is also operating under an emergency order.

He said after having discussions with the office of state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th, and Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, South Whitehall has not declared an emergency.

“My understanding … is that declaring an emergency for the township does not entitle us to any additional funds. It doesn’t entitle us to priority for any funds from the county, it would merely be ‘window dressing.’”

He was also asked if the township police department had sufficient personal protective equipment for officers.

Mobilio said the board, township manager and head of emergency management have been in constant communication with Police Chief Glen Dorney and have heard no concerns with equipment stocks.

Regarding the budget, Mobilio said public services will continue to be provided, and all township expenses for 2020 have been allocated for, although he acknowledged the 2021 budget will be impacted by lower tax revenues resulting from the coronavirus.

He also said there are no estimates yet on next year’s budget since the township’s tax deadline has been moved back to match federal and state dates.

“My concern is we overreact by starting to cut salaries, cut services, cut all these things to save money when the money to do that is already there right now,” he said.

Speaking about public works, Mobilio said the township has been trying to solicit bids for street repair services, however, fixing all the township’s roadways would cost millions of dollars and most companies will not perform smaller neighborhood or district repairs.

Given current economic conditions and Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to allow construction to start again, Mobilio said it may be a good time to solicit smaller bids.

“There’s probably companies out there that are ready to move forward that might not have the work to do,” he said.

Mobilio said seeing township workers performing their duties around the township was a morale boost which “brings a level of normalcy to the craziness that’s going on.

“I think it would be detrimental to at least the mental welfare, to the mental health of the township’s residents to think nothing is happening,” Mobilio said.

He also said while staff and department heads are looking for ways to decrease spending, some projects - including the Covered Bridge Park renovation project - already have allocated money in a dedicated project fund which cannot be moved into the general fund or used elsewhere.

Mobilio also spoke about efforts to increase transparency, inform and engage residents about township business, saying these were important issues for himself and fellow Commissioners Diane Kelly and Michael Wolk.

Proposals have been made to include notices and information with mailed sewer and water bills.

He also said work is being done to update the township Website to host livestreamed board meetings and interactive features for residents to search for specific topics within meetings.

In addition, Mobilio also voiced his approval for keeping audible or video meeting minutes, and for board members to provide their reasoning or rationale behind their decisions.

“I’m in full support of every possibility of transparency, whether it’s audible meeting minutes, video meeting minutes … I engage the public, I speak my mind, and I tell exactly why I’m voting the way I’m going to vote; that’s my way of pushing transparency,” he said.