Easton Upgrades City Hall Security

By Christina Georgiou

Easton City Administrator Glenn
Steckman holds up his new city
employee ID card. All Easton
employees and elected officials
have been issued ID cards as part
of a security upgrade at city hall.

City employees and elected officials are sporting new ID cards as part of Easton's effort to upgrade security at city hall.

The cards, along with an electronic key system, new security cameras and related software, are intended to provide a safer environment at the city center, said Mayor Sal Panto at Wednesday evening's city council meeting.

No exact figures were available of what the new measures cost, but city Finance Director Chris Heagele said the amount was low, perhaps a few thousand dollars at most.

The electronic lock and key system for the building will be used exclusively beginning next week, Panto said.

While there have been no direct threats or serious security issues at the Alpha Building, the upgrades will help city employees feel safer, Panto added.

"The employees, with all the things going on in society, were beginning to feel a little weird," the mayor said.

The new cameras and related software are expected to be installed in about a week, City Administrator Glenn Steckman said.

Most of the new equipment is able to be moved and reused when Easton's City Hall is relocated to the soon-to-be-built transportation center a block south of its current location, though the city may leave the new electronic key system behind as a property upgrade that the city will likely be reimbursed for when the Alpha Building is sold, Steckman added.