A transmission line vegetation management presentation was made to the board at the March 7 meeting by Earl Burnside from PPL.

Burnside said trees have a huge impact on power outages and the vegetation discussed lies on PPL property easements.

Over the next several weeks, under PPL's vegetation policy, trees and other noncompatible vegetation will be cut down along the Wescosville Trexlertown transmission line.

Stumps will be ground out and EPA-approved herbicides will be used to further control vegetation. The herbicides will not be harmful to people, animals or the environment and will not be used near streams.

PPL previously trimmed this vegetation but removal is more cost effective. With the extensive and lengthy power outages during the last two Halloween seasons due to extraordinary storm systems, this vegetation control has become a necessity, considering the damage one tree can cause.

Residents have expressed concerns about the effect of the vegetation control on their personal property, citing a property value decrease and the general landscaping to the area.

The Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners said they have no control of the PPL vegetation management program.

Popular varieties of trees are on the list including a popular screening item such as arborvitae and forsythia which surrounds a newly designed screen at a retention pond. Ornamental grasses are a possible substitute for some areas.

Affected property owners should have received a letter with literature about the project which should include information about unacceptable and acceptable vegetation for these areas.

Diane Licursi, a resident in the affected area, suggested the possibility of a grant to help replace the vegetation.

There will be free recycling event 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 23 at Willow Lane Elementary School.

Lower Macungie is hiring Hough Associates to improve the collection of recycling data. They help municipalities in obtaining grants based on recycling efforts and promote awareness of small business recycling efforts. Compensation is received only after grant awards exceed $55,000 which is the 2012 compensation award.

It was announced the township will not take any action on the proposed Allentown water privatization.

Lehigh Christian Academy is seeking support from the township for the extension of their charter due to their leasing sewer and water from Allentown. They need to re-establish their 50 year charter. This was approved with Ryan Conrad voting no.

Craig Bartholomew and Christine Troxell were appointed to the historical commission with terms expiring December 2018.

Wildlands Conservancy is seeking to partner with the township to restore the Little Lehigh Creek in the Wild Cherry Lane area. This requires the removal of two dams which serve no purpose.

The Church Lane bridge project is awaiting approval from Norfolk Southern. The township has everything ready for completing the project which will take about three days to finish as soon as it is started.

The fire false alarm is awaiting a review. In January and February, 45 percent of calls were false alarms.

Budget and Finance is looking to improve upon bank charges to reduce the banking fees.

The improvements for the Willow Lane Elementary school walking plan are being reviewed. There are still onsite and offsite improvements to be made and approved.

Robert Erney was approved as the part-time Public Works employee. His position will not be any more than 1,000 hours a year. Bernie Kirkham was named as the community center's full-time employee.

Street light requests were made for Willow Lane.

Derek Weber, the Scout who created the garden in honor of the military, with his family are requesting to be involved in the creation of a handicap parking spot and handicap access to the garden.