Upper Milford Township supervisors heard a plea from Robert Sharpe Jr., member of the board of directors of Meals on Wheels, to provide the organization with some modest funding, but politely refused to change their decision not to include any such money in this year's budget.

"We're not just picking on Meals on Wheels," supervisors Chair Daniel Mohr told Sharpe. "We cut everybody [nonprofits] this year except for the fire companies."

Sharpe said Upper Milford gave his organization $12,000 in 2011, which he considered extremely generous, but didn't donate anything last year or this year.

"I am asking for $832," he said, which represents 20 cents for each meal Meals on Wheels delivers to township residents. About seven or eight residents of the township use the service.

He noted other municipalities give them some money every year.

Meals on Wheels visits "provide more than just nutrition," he stressed. Sharpe said the home visit makes it possible for people to stay in their homes, rather than go to assisted living or a nursing home, and enables other family members to go to work, knowing their relative is being checked on.

"I think they do a great job," Supervisor Robert Sentner said, but "I don't think this is the township's responsibility."

He suggested Meals on Wheels contact local businesses for donations, noting he has a business in the township and has never been approached to donate.

In other action, supervisors adopted a resolution opposing Allentown's plan to lease its water system. The resolution states Upper Milford residents use the city's waste water treatment plant and supervisors believe leasing the water system to a private operator or other authority will ultimately lead to higher costs.

Supervisors also approved a proposal by Township Manager Daniel DeLong to use a Kutztown University student, who is also a township resident, as an unpaid summer intern.

Andrew Keller is a geology major who has proposed working on some projects using the Geographic Information System database. One would be to integrate minor subdivisions into the database, and another would be conducting an inventory of pipes and culverts in the township.

Supervisors also approved a field use policy which would become part of the township's parks policy, and heard from DeLong that Earned Income Tax collections are up about 30 percent over last year.