Lt. Jonathon Nederostek, Station Commander of Troop M at the Fogelsville Station, Pennsylvania State Police, presented a report for Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2014 at the Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners meeting March 5.

Nederostek has been with the state police for 23 years and was originally a Lower Macungie Township resident.

There were 5,077 incidents for 2014 which is less than 2013.

There were 31 residential burglaries and 367 thefts in the township with 123 of those retail thefts. The majority were at Walmart.

The second highest retail theft incidents were at Kohl's.

There were 496 vehicle crashes reported with 191 non-reportable and three with fatalities.

There were 107 driving under the influence arrests which included 23 crashes.

Data also shows 1,832 traffic citations.

Police said vehicular break-ins continue to be a problem. Most cases were between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. In most cases, the vehicles were left unlocked. Locked vehicles are also included especially when valuables are left in sight.

State police again urged residents to lock their vehicles and remove keys. Do not leave valuables in sight such as laptops, GPS and purses. Remove suction cup mounts from windows.

Residents were advised to report all suspicious activity to the police.

Residents frequently make comments about there being no local police but the state police said they consider themselves "the local police." They want to be community oriented. They work at relating with kids to deter negative images often told to kids such as "if you don't behave, that policeman will arrest you."

In other business, a resolution was approved for a property on Mountain Road. It is a sewer planning module which is somewhat unique due to property location.

The Yen Family Limited Partnership subdivision was approved. This subdivision was a two lot parcel which has now been made into four lots. It is located at 5131 and 5141 East Texas Road.

There were 76 responses regarding upgrading the Route 222 Bypass. These citizens used a form letter, signed it and delivered it to the township. A concept of making the bypass have regular interchanges with on and off ramps is the suggested upgrade. There were various letters supporting farmland preservation.

There is a plan to make a left turn lane on East Texas Road by Township Engineer Alan Fornwalt. It is unnecessary to make one on Brookside Road as there are not a lot of left turns made from Brookside Road. The part of East Texas Road considered for the left turn lane is coming from Harvest Fields, making a left onto Brookside Road and heading toward Hamilton Boulevard. The plan will be submitted to PennDOT for approval.

The financial picture of the township is good. It appears the township has underspent, ending 2014 on a good note.

Wawa on Route 100 is converting some of their pumps to diesel, which will cause some construction at that location.