Members of the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council are apparently still uncomfortable with some aspects of their MS4 mission.

"The suggestion is to hire someone to manage these four items part-time. We, the EAC, don't have those capabilities," Joseph Hebelka, planning commission representative to the STEAC, said at the Dec. 17, 2014 STEAC meeting.

"We don't have the expertise, the time, the mechanics to do this," Cynthia Sopka, Salisbury Township director of planning and zoning said.

The STEAC voted 4-0, with one member absent, at its Nov. 19 meeting to urge the township Board of Commissioners to hire a part-time MS4 coordinator.

MS4 is shorthand for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System, with the "M" standing for "Municipal" and the numeral "4" representing the four "S" first letters of each word in Separate Storm Sewer System.

MS4 pertains to a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection program to improve surface waters by reducing pollutants transported through runoff into the storm sewer system during rainfall.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, a municipality is required to have an MS4 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to cover stormwater discharges and to maintain compliance with the permit.

In Pennsylvania, the MS4 program is administered by the DEP, which has federal oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Salisbury Township, along with other Lehigh Valley municipalities, received notice June 25, 2014, of a 30-day deadline to provide the EPA with evidence of MS4 compliance.

Commissioners and the Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, following presentations and discussions to township commissioners and the STEAC, have tasked the STEAC with administering the township's MS4 program.

STEAC members have said they agree with disseminating educational components of the MS4 program, but not with its enforcement.

The STEAC was briefed at its Sept. 17, 2014 meeting by Tettemer, assisted by Benjamin D. Bowen, also of Keystone Consulting Engineers.

Mary Anne Stinner, STEAC member, inquired at the Dec. 17, 2014 meeting about the EPA compliance deadline, which was Dec. 31, 2014.

Hebelka said of Salisbury Township and its contractors, "They're videotaping piping, looking for cracks and inflow and regrouting sanitary manholes."

"Have they had any results?" Stinner asked.

"Yes, but even if Salisbury addresses it, other municipalities must, too," Hebelka said.

"It's really only a problem when we get certain storms at certain times of the year," Sopka said.

"Does anyone know what they're doing in other municipalities?" Jane Benning, STEAC member, asked.

According to Hebelka, "They're forming a stormwater authority," referring to Philadelphia and Scranton.

Robert Agonis, STEAC Task Force member, said some municipalities are operating storm sewer systems as a public utility.

"Some municipalities are joining to take care of some of those aspects," Sopka said, noting she has been in discussions with an Upper Saucon Township official.

"The watersheds don't end at the municipal boundaries," Hebelka said.

In other business at the Dec. 17, 2014 meeting, STEAC members discussed:

- The new Salisbury Township Zoning Ordinance, recommended for approval by the township planning commission to the township commissioners.

Atty. John W. Ashley, township solicitor and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission were to review the ordinance.

"It probably would be good to state this zoning ordinance was a two-year process," Glenn Miller, STEAC vice chair and a member of the township planning commission said.

'Yes, there was a lot of effort and emphasis put to this," Sopka said.

Miller noted a community advisory group was formed by Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest officials and neighbors.

"And they're going to keep that going," Sopka said.

"You were the one that recommended that [the community group]," Sopka noted to Miller.

"They were able to work out their differences in an agreeable fashion, to where it got to the planning commission, which recommended approval. The LVHN worked with the residents," Miller said.

- The township municipal building basin retrofit is being funded through a Lehigh County "Growing Green" grant, which is being utilized for the design plan.

- The township website is being redesigned. Kreg Ulery. STEAC chair, said he would be the "point person" for the STEAC portion of the website.

- The annual Lehigh Valley Audubon "Christmas Bird Count" was held Dec. 14, 2014 and the Audubon Society annual "Great Backyard Bird Count" will be held Feb. 13 through 16.

- The Penn State Master Watershed Steward Program is 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning March 10 and continuing through June. An information session will be held 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Lehigh County Agricultural Center, 4184 Dorney Park Road, South Whitehall Township. To apply, call 610-391-9840.

The STEAC next meets 7 p.m. Jan. 21 in the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.