A trail supporter questioned Slatington Borough Council this week about a public health vending machine placed at the Slatington trailhead on the Delaware & Lehigh trail.

Slatington Borough Council approved placement of the machine in November 2025.

The vending machine contains Narcan, wound care kits, reproductive and sexual health kits, hygiene and first-aid supplies, educational materials, menstrual products and toothbrushes.

Nancy Treskot, chair of the Venture Group, asked, “Why wasn’t the Venture Group notified about the public health vending machine at the trailhead?

“We are the group that maintains the trailhead, which is where you placed the machine. Who will be paying for the electricity of the machine? What kind of survey did you do to find placement for it? Will the police be protecting it?”

Lehigh County owns the trailhead. It has a lease with Slatington Borough.

The Venture Group was put in charge of maintaining the trail and the Heritage Trail, bathrooms at the trailhead and the Seventh Street bathrooms, Treskot said.

In August 2025, Lehigh County Drug & Alcohol began installing public health vending machines funded through national opioid settlement funds — more than $50 billion secured from opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains, including CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Johnson & Johnson.

Payments to states, local governments and tribes began in 2022 and will continue for 15 to 18 years.

The funds must be used strictly for opioid remediation, including evidence-based treatment, prevention and recovery services.

Borough Manager Roy Hambrecht responded, “Lehigh County is responsible for the electric bill.”