A retirement incentive for Salisbury Township Public Works Department employees has been approved.

"We would like to exercise that option in 2014," Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano said. "This doesn't have to be negotiated because we're following the contract."

The Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a resolution opening the retirement incentive for public works employees. Commissioner Robert Martucci, Jr., made the motion, with Commissioner Joanne Ackerman seconding it.

"We kept it the same. The only thing that's changing is the year, 2014, from 2010," Soriano said.

"They must give their actual notice between June and October," said Salisbury Township Assistant Manager-Director of Finance Cathy Bonaskiewich in answer to a question from Commissioner James Seagreaves.

Salisbury Township and Salisbury Township Public Works Employees Association in 2009 ratified a collective bargaining agreement to cover the years 2010 through 2014. The contract is up for renewal.

Section 18 of the contract refers to the retirement incentive program for a window period for 2010. That period now has been changed to June 1, 2014, through Oct. 31, 2014.

The employee must be 60-years-old, have completed a minimum of 20 years full-time township employment and must retire not less than 30 days after the date of the notice and not more than 60 days after the date of the notice. The earliest date would be July 1, 2014 and the latest date would be Dec. 30, 2014.

The employee would receive an incentive cash payment of $27,000, payable at the rate of $450 per month for 60 months, starting on or after Dec. 31, 2014.

In other business at the March 13 township meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to approve:

- The Lehigh Valley 2013 Hazard Mitigation Plan. State and local governments must develop and submit for approval a mitigation plan identifying natural hazards, risks and vulnerabilities, according to Section 322 of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The Lehigh Valley plan has been developed by the Lehigh and Northampton counties emergency management services. The Department of Environmental Protection approved the plan. "We are probably the last municipality to approve this," Soriano said.

- Escrow release for Kost Tire & Auto Service, 3117 Lehigh St., Salisbury Township, in the amount of $69,070.76, with $10,258.04 retained of the $79,328.80 total. "We watched them put the improvements in. Everything's there according to township plans and specifications," said David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., township consulting engineers.

Also at the March 13 meeting, Soriano discussed:

- A recent Recreation Commission meeting, when a traffic calming project along Lindberg Avenue at Lindberg Park was discussed. The plan must receive Pennsylvania Department of Transportation approval. "We discussed putting in some sidewalks," Soriano said.

- Recycling bins for township parks. Soriano will apply for a $4,000 grant through the Keep America Beautiful Foundation. The project will be coordinated with Waste Management, Inc., township garbage hauler. "We'll probably have a better chance of getting the money for the parks," Soriano said.

At the workshop following the March 13 meeting, discussion included:

- A $15,000 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection grant to retrofit the municipal building detention basin. "There's a lot of invasive plants," said Salisbury Township Director of Planning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka. "We have to prepare a landscaping plan." Sopka is working with Tettemer, Salisbury Township Director of Public Works John Andreas and the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council. Township public works employees would probably do the bulk of the project, to be completed by 2016.

- A request by Valley Mountain Bikers for its annual "Steel City Enduro Race" in Walking Purchase Park, with the request expected to be voted on at the next township meeting, 7 p.m. March 27.