Salisbury Township is applying for $605,000 in grants for the Laubach Park project and a new township comprehensive plan.

The Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners at the Feb. 12 meeting voted 5-0 to approve:

- A resolution authorizing and approving the submission of an application for a Watershed Restoration and Protection Program grant of $300,000 from the Commonwealth Finance Authority to be used for stream bank stabilization and riparian buffer vegetation installation at Trout Creek in Laubach Park.

Township Commissioner Heather Lipkin made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Alok Patnaik, to bring the resolution to a vote.

“This gains part of the established flow. It is the headwaters of Trout Creek,” Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Gorman said before the vote.

“This makes more sense to try to remake this while construction is underway,” Gorman said.

Work on the Laubach project might begin in 2027.

State Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, previously announced a $3 million grant to restore William H. Laubach Memorial Park.

The estimated $6.8 million project is to improve the 14.4-acre Laubach Park, along Fairview Road, between East Susquehanna Street and East Emmaus Avenue, on the township’s east side.

The WRPP grant can be used for projects “which involve the construction, improvement, expansion, repair, maintenance or rehabilitation of new or existing watershed protection Best Management Practices,” according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development website.

Act 13 of 2012 established the Marcellus Legacy Fund and “allocates funds to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for watershed restoration and protection projects,” the website states.

“The overall goal of the WRPP is to restore and maintain restored stream reaches impaired by the uncontrolled discharge of nonpoint source polluted runoff, and ultimately to remove these streams from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Impaired Waters list,” according to the website.

There is a maximum of $300,000 for any project. A 15% match of the total project cost is required, the website states.

Township commissioners also voted 5-0 to approve:

- A resolution authorizing and approving the submission of an application for a Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program grant in the amount of $250,000 from the Commonwealth Finance Authority to be used for the construction of a pond and boardwalk necessary in Laubach Park.

Township Commissioner Alex Karol made the motion, seconded by Patnaik, to bring the resolution to a vote.

“We were asked to get it down to $600,000,” Gorman said before the vote. “We took out the pond and wetlands, [which qualified for the separate grant application].”

The GTRP grant can be used for projects “which involve development, rehabilitation and improvements to public parks, recreation areas, greenways, trails and river conservation,” according to the DCED website.

Act 13 of 2012 that established the Marcellus Legacy Fund allocates funds to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for “planning, acquisition, development, rehabilitation and repair of greenways, recreational trails, open space, parks and beautification projects using the GTRP,” the website states.

Grants shall not exceed $250,000 for any project. A 15% match of the total project cost is required, the website states.

Township commissioners also voted 5-0 to approve:

- A resolution authorizing and approving the submission of an application to the Pennsylvania Municipal Assistance Program requesting funding in the amount of $55,000. Patnaik made the motion, seconded by Karol, to bring the resolution to a vote.

The resolution states Salisbury Township will be undertaking a project to revise the municipal Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and the municipal Zoning Ordinances.

The DCED makes available grants-in-aid to such projects through the Municipal Assistance Program.

The resolution states Salisbury Township will commit $55,000, or 50% of the proposed costs, as a match for the SALDO and zoning project.

“It helps with many of those intangibles [in the review of SALDO]. It’s a 50-50 match,” Gorman said before the vote.

In other business at the Feb. 12 meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to approve:

- Resolution to approve the appointment of Allison Leayman as 4th Ward commissioner. Her term, which fills out the term of Rodney Conn, who chose to not run for reelection, extends to Jan. 1, 2028. Lipkin made the motion, seconded by Patnaik, to bring the resolution to a vote.

- Motion to declare a snow emergency from 12 a.m. Jan. 25 through noon Jan. 26. Karol made the motion, seconded by Leayman, to bring the motion to a vote. “We already had this. This is to make it official,” Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners President Debra J. Brinton said. The township might be eligible for funding should funding become available.

- Motion to nominate Frank Frankenfield, a 4th Ward resident, to a 4-year term on the Salisbury Township Planning Commission. Leayman made the motion, seconded by Lipkin, to bring the motion to a vote.

- Motion to nominate Mark Wilson, a 4th Ward resident, to a five-year term on the Recreation Advisory Committee. Leayman made the motion, seconded by Patnaik, to bring the motion to a vote.

- Motion to nominate Garbriel Candia, a 4th Ward resident, to a 6-year term as an alternate member on the Police Civil Service Commission. Leayman made the motion, seconded by Karol, to bring the motion to a vote.

- Motion to offer to extend the garbage and recycling contract to Casella Waste Management Services, aka Whitetail, through 2027. Karol made the motion, seconded by Patnaik, to bring the motion to a vote. It was noted before the vote that it’s a 2-year contract extension in one-year increments.

- Motion to approve revisions to the Salisbury Township Purchasing Policy. Lipkin made the motion, seconded by Leayman, to bring the motion to a vote.

- Motion to approve a 2-year service agreement with 120Water, Zionsville, in the amount of $41,480 for identifying lead-lined pipes. Karol made the motion, seconded by Lipkin, to bring the motion to a vote.

“We have to put a plan together,” Salisbury Township Director of Public Works Jim Levernier said before the vote.

“It’s going to be quite a bit of work,” Levernier said.

“What has to be done is an inventory and a plan to move forward. We’re fortunate that we don’t have a whole lot of lead [pipes in the township],” Levernier said.

In his report to commissioners, Salisbury Township Chief of Police Donald Sabo said the township police department received 58 calls during the Jan. 25, 26 snowstorm. “Now we’re dealing with calls for water leaks,” Sabo said.

The evening of the Feb. 12 township meeting, a portion of East Emmaus Avenue was closed to traffic to allow a crew to repair a water pipe break.

In his report, Levernier said there were eight water main breaks in “the last couple days” before the township meeting.

In her report, Gorman announced the township’s administration employee Lisa Casey has been appointed communications and events administrator.

Gorman said township officials will receive nominations for township volunteer honors.

Commissioners lauded the police department and public works employees for their coping with the snowstorm. “We are very lucky in this township that we have such dedicated employees,” Brinton said.

The workshop following the meeting included discussion of the Western Salisbury Fire Department building designated as 5th Ward Voting Poll Station and a request from the PA Municipal League on advocating for the Local Services Tax increase.

“One of the things we talked about when this [Swain Station] was being built is that they have a room set aside for voting,” Brinton said.

“I did speak with them [Western Fire Department officials]. They brought it up at their board meeting. They are not opposed,” Gorman said.

“Lehigh County is certainly not opposed to it,” Gorman said.

“I think in [the] May [20 primary], they should start it,” Brinton said.

Voting in the Feb. 24 special election for House District 22 would not be held at Swain.

The Local Services Tax is $52 in Salisbury. Of that, the township receives $42. Most cities charge $156 for a Local Services Tax, it was said. “You’re going to get money from people who work in Salisbury Township,” Patnaik said.

Salisbury Township Director of Finance Paul Ziegenfus said that, depending on the increase in the Local Services Tax, township revenue could increase from $500,000 to $1 million.

“We have very limited sources for income,” Patnaik said.

The Salisbury Township meetings schedule in the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave., includes: 7 p.m. Feb. 18, environmental advisory council meeting; 7 p.m. Feb. 25, planning commission, canceled and 7 p.m. Feb. 26, board of commissioners.