LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Lockboxes will have to be installed at businesses in Covington Township or owners will face a fine.
Covington Fire Chief Brad Jones says he reached out to township supervisors to make it a law in case there's an emergency during non-business hours and first responders need to get in.
"We don't want to gain access unless it's absolutely necessary, but at a time when it is necessary, we want to be able to put a key in a door, turn the lock, and open the door rather than us having to force the door open," Chief Jones said.
Chief Jones says they would only have to access the key in the lockbox in the event that someone isn't there to open the door.
If not, Chief Jones says there are three boxes inside their trucks which hold a master key to each box.
"Only our officers have that code. What that does is, whoever enters the code puts that information in the cloud, so we know the date, time, who took it out, and when it was put back in. If it's not put back in, that makes all kinds of noise and flashes, so we know there's a key missing."
Denise D'Andrea says her building owner had a lockbox installed at her hair salon, Guyz & Dollz. She says she doesn't agree with the ordinance.
"I didn't think I needed it because it's obviously open in here. You can see inside the building. It's not like a school or something like that."
Aaron Sepkowski says he reluctantly ordered one for his business, Pocono Transportation, and says at the end of the day, it was the cheapest solution for him.
"Although it's a great idea, in my assessment it's either $550 for a Knox Box or a $2,500 door."
The ordinance states that if business owners don't install these lockboxes, they will be fined up to $1,000 per month for not having one.
"We're certainly not trying to impact businesses in a negative way. We're not trying to force something that isn't needed," Chief Jones said.
Business owners in Covington Township have until September 29 to have the boxes installed.
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