Upper Milford Township supervisors, at their Aug. 16 meeting, vented their frustration with the new, lengthy requirements for renewing a state mandated stormwater discharge permit.

Township Manager Daniel DeLong said the original permit was to expire in 2009, but the township has been granted extensions through June of 2013. However, he said, neither he nor sewage enforcement officer Brian Miller has the time to complete the requirements, which were spelled out in a six-page document for supervisors. He suggested contacting Hanover Engineering, which is working on Emmaus's permit, for assistance.

"It's going to be very expensive," he predicted, although the township can charge fees to the owners of private property where stormwater is being discharged.

Essentially, DeLong said, the township has to obtain a permit from the state to go along with federal regulations addressing the discharge of stormwater in protected watersheds.

"This is another unfunded mandate by the feds," Supervisor Robert Sentner complained. "How are we going to afford this?"

DeLong said the township is already compliant with the applicable regulations.

"I don't see a huge change [from our current practices]," he said.

When he pointed out the township will be able to charge fees to property owners to recoup the costs of complying," Supervisors Chairman Daniel Mohr remarked, "So we look like the bad guys."

The state Department of Environmental Protection will be reviewing the application, prompting Supervisor George DeVault to say, "This is the same DEP that can approve a fracking application in 35 minutes."

"Someone has to stand up and say 'this is ridiculous'," Sentner said.

However, the board reluctantly directed DeLong to go ahead and contact Hanover Engineering.

In other action, supervisors went along with Solicitor Marc Fisher's recommendation and denied the objection filed by Integrated Capital Management to their selection of Municipal Retirement Trust to handle the township's pension services.

In July, supervisors chose Municipal Retirement Trust from three proposals. They learned at their last meeting of the objection filed by Integrated Capital Management.

After reviewing the objection, Fisher, in a written opinion, said he did not think Integrated Capital Management's criticism of Municipal Retirement Trust was valid.

Integrated Capital Management can still appeal the decision in court.

Supervisors also discussed what action to take regarding the handful of property owners within the Vera Cruz sewer project who still have not done anything about getting the necessary permits or hiring contractors.

The board directed DeLong and his staff to send letters to them saying if they haven't moved forward by Sept. 1, supervisors will have to take further action.

After the last letters went out, a lot of people got permits, DeLong said.

There are still 16 property owners who haven't responded, and three of those are eligible for grant subsidies to defray their costs, he said.

Supervisors also listened to a plea from Gary Allan and Chris Pranzo, owners of AP Automotive, to be allowed to lease parking space for up to five employee vehicles on the township building lot during the day.

AP Automotive is located across Kings Highway from the township building and fronts on Route 100, so has very limited onsite parking. At their last meeting, supervisors turned down AP's request to lease 10 spaces, some of which could be for overnight parking, citing safety concerns.

This time, the board took the request under advisement, suggesting Allan and Pranzo first talk to the zoning officer and see what he recommends. DeVault said he thinks safety is still a concern, because of the number of vehicles turning onto Kings Highway from Route 100, often at a high rate of speed.