Lehigh Township supervisors approved most of the township’s bills last week but held payment on one — a $3,880.41 check to engineering firm Pennoni Associates — over concerns about delays in a zoning and mapping project.

Supervisor Cindy Miller said the firm has been working on zoning and mapping updates since 2023, but progress has stalled.

“They send us a 300-page draft for us to check and we send it back and they change things that do not need to be changed and do not change the items that need changing,” Miller said.

Supervisors agreed to invite Pennoni representatives to the March 24 meeting along with township officials involved in zoning.

Miller also proposed giving the firm a deadline of May 26 to complete the work, which the board approved.

Supervisor Janet Sheats, who participated by phone, said she recalled Pennoni representatives previously saying they would attend meetings whenever needed.

Police and fire

Police John Chief Henry told supervisors the department is currently down two officers. Five interviews are scheduled this week and five more next week.

He asked the board to allow an outside agency to conduct background checks on the top four candidates selected after testing.

“It saves our officers who need to be out on the road and will take less time if someone else does it,” Henry said.

Supervisors approved the request.

Fire Commissioner Rick Hildebrand said the department’s new fire truck is expected to arrive March 18. The department’s 1991 truck has been put up for sale, and Hildebrand said the new truck may be brought to the March 24 meeting for residents to see.

He also noted that firefighter Janet Sheats was named the department’s top responder for 2025.

Parks

In other business, Keith Hantz of the Recreation Board said members are working with Jaindl on playground equipment promised for Indian Trail Park.

“They gave us catalogs to choose equipment,” Hantz said.

The board is also planning events for the year and considering adding a pavilion at Berlinsville Park.

Other business

• Resident Thomas Szoke was appointed as an alternate to the Zoning Hearing Board.

• Supervisors granted M & U International an extension until Sept. 30 to record a plan after stormwater infiltration was moved to accommodate a loading dock. The project had been delayed during the winter.

• Public Works Director Frank Zamadics said crews completed repairs and routine maintenance on the township’s paver and backhoe and inspected police vehicles. He added that staff are benefiting from the additional space in the township’s new maintenance building.

“The space is great,” he said.

• Street sweeping is scheduled to begin April 1.

• Supervisors approved several resolutions, including appointments to the Zoning Hearing Board and its alternate members, and Resolution 2026-12 establishing a sewage enforcement fee schedule.

• Proposed ordinance changes related to noise and the township’s property maintenance code were tabled until the March 24 meeting.

• At the start of the meeting, Supervisor Jerry Pritchard asked to amend the agenda to discuss the Northampton Area School District.

Pritchard said he attended a school board meeting the previous evening where members voted not to pay the township’s fire tax. “They said they have no funds for that,” Pritchard said.

Solicitor Dave Backenstoe advised discussing the matter in executive session.