At the Aug. 9 Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting, Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. announced all township employees and visitors are again required to wear a mask when entering the municipal building, 3219 MacArthur Road.

Employees may remain maskless in their own offices but must wear a mask when passing through common spaces.

In other business, according to Deputy Mayor Jack Meyers, unexpected savings will afford Whitehall Township additional upgrades in the municipal building project. Meyers relayed the information to the board of commissioners on the morning of Aug. 9, detailing a new development plan with three major upgrades.

He explained the savings came from unexpected pricing of nonnegotiable material bids in $788,000 of funds to be used for construction. The proposed upgrades would only cost an additional $731,000 and would result in a remodeled public and employee restroom area, improvements to the exterior of the building and remodeling of the board public meeting room.

Commissioner President Philip Ginder asked Solicitor Jack Gross to draw up a verbal motion so the board could vote and keep the construction project moving. The board passed it with six affirmative votes and one abstention from board Secretary Thomas Slonaker, who said he did not have enough time to review the materials. Construction on the municipal building will continue forward.

Also at the meeting, Bill 24 was unanimously passed and will amend the township’s personnel policies and procedures about harassment. This amendment will provide more opportunities for an employee to report misconduct to various superiors.

Bill 25, pertaining to planning, zoning and development amendments, was also unanimously passed, but there were no additional comments or discussions from the board or the public.

The public works bureau will be getting a new 2022 Ford F250 4x4 pickup truck with the passing of Bill 26. Commissioner Charles Fisher brought some discussion to the table about purchasing electric cars in the future as the car and truck industry builds toward that initiative.

Harakal said he hopes the township moves in that direction as soon as it is feasible. Fisher said he would bring this idea back to the board.

Bill 27 and Resolution 3166 were pulled from the agenda per the developer’s wishes. The items are expected to reappear as soon as next month’s meeting.

Moving forward with resolutions, the passing of Resolution 3167 will allow Whitehall Township to request a grant from Pennsylvania’s Keystone Communities Program for the Whitehall Parkway pavilion project. There were no additional comments from the board.

The board honored former Civil Service Commission chair member Donald W. Hayn, as he retired from his position of 21 years. Hayn was present and able to hear a tribute from Meyers that was read by Ginder.

Hayn said he left the Civil Service Commission feeling great about its future.

Commissioners Michael Dee and Jeffrey Warren both brought attention and praise to the Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative for its recent efforts, including providing 1,065 bags of food to Whitehall and Coplay children since the launching of its summer program.

The commissioners will meet again 7 p.m. Sept. 7 for the monthly workshop meeting. For viewing instructions, visit whitehalltownship.org and click on the Board of Commissioners page.