Autumn began 2:19 p.m. Sept. 22. Salisbury Township officials are already planning for winter, which begins Dec. 21.

In two separate actions, the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners approved a snowplowing contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and payment for work on a new township shed for storing salt spread on ice and snow-covered streets during winter.

Township commissioners voted 4-0, with one commissioner absent at the Sept. 11 meeting, to approve a resolution to enter into a PennDOT “Winter Service Maintenance Agreement.” Board of commissioners Vice President Rodney Conn made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Heather Lipkin, to bring the resolution to a vote.

Based on an example of a contract posted by the township with the Sept. 11 meeting agenda, the cost paid by PennDOT to Salisbury would appear to be $2,781.43 for the snowplowing of Oxford Drive (24th Street) and Fairview Road.

“We maintain Fairview and 24th Street. We plow and salt,” Jim Levernier, director, Salisbury Township Public Works Department, said before the vote, adding, “They [PennDOT] pay us to maintain those roads throughout winter.”

The township does not plow Honeysuckle Road, Seidersville Road, Lehigh Street and Emmaus Avenue, which are also PennDOT jurisdiction highways.

Township commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a motion to approve a payment of $156,500 to Bazella Group, Allentown Division, Whitehall Township, for salt shed project concrete work. Lipkin made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Alok Patnaik, to bring the resolution to a vote.

The salt shed is being built on the former McAuliffe Asphalt Paving Inc. property on the east side of South Pike Avenue, across from the Salisbury Township municipal building complex. The township purchased the 35-acre property.

The township received a state grant of $250,000 toward the salt shed’s construction cost.

Rock salt (sodium chloride) stored in the shed is used by township public works department crews for deicing streets and roads. The shed is expected to be ready for use in the winter 2025-2026 season.

The previous salt shed is in the vicinity of the public works department garage at the township municipal complex. When the shed is removed, the site is expected to provide parking spaces.

In other business, commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a motion to approve an Artificial Intelligence Personnel Policy. Patnaik made the motion, seconded by Conn, to bring the motion to a vote.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a motion to approve an Artificial Intelligence Administrative Policy for third party vendors. Lipkin made the motion, seconded by Patnaik, to bring the motion to a vote.

The 2026 Minimum Municipal Obligation for township pension plans discussed at the workshop following the meeting is to be voted on a township meeting.

The Salisbury Township Board Of Commissioners meets 7 p.m. Sept. 25 in the meeting room of the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

The 7 p.m. Sept. 24 planning commission meeting is canceled. There were no submissions for the meeting, Kerry Rabold, Salisbury Township planning and zoning officer and floodplain administrator, stated in a Sept. 2 email.