The Sept. 18 Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors meeting convened with Chair Dan Mohr notifying the public of an executive session held before the meeting concerning a personnel matter.

Office Assistant Kyle Walbert represented Upper Milford Township Manager Bud Carter who was not at the meeting.

A moment of silence was held for U.S. Coast Guard veteran Robert Salasky Jr. who died Sept. 15.

Salasky served the township December 1998 to December 2003 as a member of the zoning and hearing board. Salasky was acknowledged for regulating wireless communication facilities for the township. The board recognized Salasky’s service to his country and the township.

In public comment, President of the Homeowners Association Dave Skinner explained three issues of concern the residents of the Fields at Indian Creek continue to endure with Kay Builders.

Skinner reported Kay Builders is using a resurfacing coating rather than replacing damaged sidewalks.

Skinner presented supervisors with large photos of the damaged sidewalks and warned Kay Builders is looking to “make cheap repairs.” Skinner is concerned the residents will be forced later to pay to repair sidewalks that should have been replaced now by Kay Builders.

Supervisor Angela Ashbrook asked how old the sidewalks were and Skinner responded that “they are about six years old and they are in the same poor condition they have been in since year one.”

Skinner’s second concern involved the access road with a gate. He would like to see the gate down on the property by House and Barn and he requests additional signage. Currently one sign states “authorized vehicles only” and this has not deterred drivers from accessing it.

Skinner’s last concern involved a grinder pump cable at 4114 Blue Sky Place. The HOA is concerned about potential freezing issues and asked about a code or ordinance governing water feeds.

Emmaus Library Director Alison Floray spoke next and anticipated sharing a presentation on the library. Unfortunately, the presentation was unable to be shared at the meeting due to technical difficulties.

Floray said 2,064 Upper Milford residents have library cards with 104 new additions this year. In the past three years, 597 new users have taken advantage of the library’s resources. Floray said the library has more than 5,500 visitors each month.

Summer reading participants increased from 880 in 2024 to 923 in 2025.

There has also been a 40% increase in teen volunteers.

Floray reminded residents their library cards give them access to 27 libraries that maintain 1.4 million items in their collections. The Emmaus library has approximately 70,000 items. In addition to books, the library offers Wi-Fi hot spots available for a week.

The library offers a seed library of four packages of seeds for residents to use for gardening.

Residents also can secure museum passes for a week. For example, a family of four would have to pay $62 to visit the America on Wheels Museum; but with a pass from the library, there is no cost.

Upper Milford residents can sign out e-books, audiobooks, music, movies and television streaming apps.

Floray noted the improvements to the HV/AC units and capital improvements to make the library ADA compliant using grant money and private funding.

Special events at the library have drawn approximately 5,227 people with 145 people attending the Lehigh Valley Zoo event.

Floray recognized Emmaus Public Library board members in the audience as well as the volunteers who dedicate more than 70 hours a week.

Floray appealed to supervisors for a budget increase of $2,600 to help with the increasing costs of payroll, COLA, utilities and professional fees. Employee benefits are covered by the library’s endowment. Floray said she is trying to be conservative, but the costs for these aspects of maintaining a “safe and comfortable environment” continue to rise. The library received $51,948 in 2025 from the township and seeks $54,545 for 2026.

In new business, Chief Executive Officer of the Lehigh County Authority Liesel Gross anticipated the board’s approval of Resolution 2025-034 in which the township would adopt the Act 537 Plan for the Kline’s Island Sewer.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Act 537 is the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act “enacted to help address existing sewage disposal needs, and to help prevent future problems through proper planning, permitting and design of all types of sewage facilities.”

Excessive rainfall in 2018 and 2019 resulted in a hydraulic overload on an aging system that is 100 years old.

Kline’s Island Sewer System serves Allentown and 14 other communities throughout the Lehigh Valley. It involves approximately 1,000 miles of pipes and approximately 270,000 people rely on this system to treat 32 million gallons of wastewater daily. Challenges include aging and size of infrastructure, capacity for new connections and regulatory oversight.

Act 537 emphasizes “DEP oversight in which plans are subject to strict environmental regulations.” It also involves two sets of approval — one from the DEP and the other from the municipalities. This approval is what Gross was hoping for at this meeting but it led to over an hour of questioning from the supervisors and residents; and ultimately, supervisors did not approve the resolution at this time.

Ashbrook asked “why the board needs to approve this if DEP is going to do whatever they want anyway?”

Solicitor Marc Fisher explained LCA cannot proceed with the improvement plan without township approval because Act 537 requires townships approve it before LCA can proceed.

Ashbrook asked, “What happens if we say no?” Gross said if the township does not approve the plan, the DEP would meet with them.

Ashbrook was concerned residents of Upper Milford who are customers of LCA would be required to pay increasing rates to pay for the system in Allentown. Gross assured her the customers in Allentown will be paying for the system in Allentown and the Upper Milford residents will be paying for their township repairs.

“This is not true (that surrounding municipalities are paying for Allentown). Rates will likely increase,” Gross said.

According to Gross, the last rate increase for Upper Milford occurred in 2013 and the rates are the lowest in Lehigh County because many residents use septic tanks.

Supervisors appeared concerned residents could be paying for increasing costs indefinitely. Gross clarified the discussion to be about approving Act 537 to move ahead with the improvement proposal and this is not a budget plan.

She explained customers who normally pay $300 a year could see a 3-5% increase, or about $9 to $15.

She noted a budget meeting scheduled Sept. 22.

However, the supervisors and residents complained the improvement plan is dependent on the rates.

The residents thought Gross was “spinning” the information and Gross made several attempts to explain her purpose for township approval of Act 537. All the other municipalities and Allentown have already approved of this plan. Upper Milford is the sole objector.

There was also discussion about Allentown’s 38-year lease.

In addition to the LCA budget meeting Sept. 22, two additional meetings will be held in October.

“We hoped for final approval tonight. You are the last municipality. This is about the long-term plan,” Gross said.

The total cost of the plan is estimated at $135 million, of which $65 million is for the pipes in Allentown and to be paid for by the customers in Allentown.

Gross emphasized residents who are not customers of LCA are not going to be billed for this project. “If residents are not an LCA customer, this does not apply to them,” she said. “This is not money to fix other people’s problems. This is money to fix Upper Milford’s repairs.”

Secretary/Treasurer Jessi O’Donald noted the township does not do any repairs or billing for sewer and these are all done by LCA. Fisher clarified that in the 1980s, Upper Milford signed to designate LCA as its agent.

Ashbrook questioned why it needed to be signed again.

“Because it is required by law for the township to adopt it and that it was initiated by DEP,” Fisher said.

Fisher commented the township would need to rewrite its Act 537, but state law requires township approval before LCA can proceed.

Residents asked how they could be involved in this process and Gross explained that for the past few years, community meetings have been held explaining the project to residents. Presentations were held at Emmaus High School and Lower Macungie Township Community Center last year.

One frustrated resident commented, “They’re not here asking us. They’re here to tell us what they are doing. It’s like taxes, they never go down.”

Mohr intervened and wondered if the township was actually getting a break. He explained he is not hooked up to LCA, but wishes he was. Because of his home’s location near a railroad track, it would have cost everybody in his area $2,000 more for his house to have access, so he decided against it.

Mohr asked how often the Act 537 plan is updated and Planning Coordinator Brian Miller explained “it depends what is going on in the township” and the dates are random.

Mohr said he supports approving the plan but not the rate increases.

“Users pay the cost. Allentown needs to be repaired.”

Mohr made a motion, but it was not approved.

Supervisor John Zgura inquired if “we do not approve, is the DEP going to tell us we have to sign this?”

Gross explained none of the other 15 municipalities have questioned the plan and the plan has been in the works for the past six years. Carter has attended the bimonthly meetings about this plan.

“We are solving a greater problem for the least amount of money,” Gross said.

Miller said six years ago the project by the DEP was much larger than this one.

Ashbrook wants to speak with someone at the DEP and Gross said Carter can provide Ashbrook with that contact information.

The motion did not pass.

Gross added she can return to share information about the township’s system. Miller said this “plan is a direction to move toward a budget to do the project.”

Gross finished by stating this is a “minimum of five years plan and will be submitted to DEP in October. DEP review could take six months.

In other new business, Western District Fire Company’s request to apply for a state LSA grant was approved with stipulations.

Supervisors gave Walbert permission to write the grant but the board needs to see numbers for the cost and how it will be funded. There is a Nov. 30 submission deadline for the grant. Stipulations include the scope of the plan for the new building, plan for paying the balance and subject to board approval. A letter will be sent to the fire company. The board requests this information preferably by Oct. 17 and at the latest by Nov. 2.

The board also approved a time extension for Dec. 5 for Brookshire Development as requested by Joseph Steinheiser of Judd Builders.

The recreation committee shared a possible partnership between Jasper Day and Vera Cruz Homecoming is being discussed.

Finally, supervisors approved the use of solar lights by Lower Milford Youth Association at Jasper Fields.

Due to increased participation in the sports programs, teams are struggling with field time as daylight hours start decreasing. O’Donald noted the soccer program has used similar lights with time restrictions and there were no complaints from residents. The lights would only be used for practice and to finish out games. Coaches would be responsible for the remotes.

The next township meeting will be held 7 p.m. Oct. 2 in the township building, 5671 Chestnut St.