BY MARIEKE ANDRONACHE

Special to The Press

Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong wants to modernize the county website as a helpful and entertaining resource with informative short videos.

He explained his plan to commissioners at their April 10 meeting.

Armstrong said he recently met with representatives from CGI Digital, of Rochester, N.Y.

He provided the board with background information for a possible contract to cover eight, one-minute shorts for the website.

Known for producing short informative clips, CGI Digital cites work with nearly 70 counties across the country.

According to Armstrong, this would be a great way to promote local events, the IronPigs, as well as what the county government does.

Commissioner Jeffrey Dutt agreed.

“What a great way to advertise what the county does,” Dutt said. “A lot of times people ask me what their tax dollars are used for in the county.

“What a great way to show what is being used and what is being done at the county, and how affectively we are using it.”

Commissioner April Reddick expressed support for the idea, as long as it is free, in order to not take away from local talent.

Armstrong confirmed that was the case but wanted the legal department to look at the proposal.

In other matters, a donation of $10,000 was presented by Susan Giralico to the Lehigh County Agricultural Land Preservation Board for a parcel of land in Lynn Township.

Commissioner Antonio Pineda thanked Giralico on behalf of the board.

“I’d like to thank Ms. Giralico for all the support she has provided to land preservation to this county,” he said.

Chairman Geoff Brace added his comments.

“Farmland preservation is something Lehigh County does pretty well,” he said. “We always need more support to do that.

“This will certainly allow us to continue the mission of preserving our open space and agricultural economy Lehigh County does so well.

Additionally, 12 air pack frames, previously used by the Lehigh County Special Operations Team, are being donated by the county to the City of Allentown for training purposes.

“Glad to see we are donating these,” Pineda said. “We have no use for them in Lehigh County anymore.

“They are going toward training of our first responders, so I’m glad to see that.”