Representatives of Service Electric Cable TV attended the March 19 Upper Milford supervisors meeting to explain the digital conversion program now going on in the township.

About 25 people were in attendance at the meeting, including members of Cub Scout Troop 31, Old Zionsville United Church of Christ, who were fulfilling their community service requirement.

All subscribers should have received a conversion box in the mail, Service Electric Communications and Public Affairs Director Tim Himmelwright said. Those boxes access about 200 channels. All TV stations have been mandated to convert to digital and Service Electric has been working on the change for several years.

Each household can convert up to two TVs with the new box, but must rent boxes for any additional sets for $2.95 each.

For anyone who hasn't received a box, or who needs more boxes, the company has opened a store in a strip mall on Chestnut Street, he said.

"I know it's an inconvenience," he said, but it will improve signal quality and stop cable theft.

Himmelwright said the company's contract with the township is non-exclusive, meaning another cable company could come in and offer its service, but it would have to wire the entire township at a cost of millions of dollars.

In response to a question from the audience, he said the township has never asked the company to offer a senior citizen discount, but it can be negotiated (supervisors later promised to look into this).

A few residents complained about the cost and the fact they can't pick and choose what channels they have.

"I have 131 channels and nothing to watch," Mary Marger said, adding, "I have no idea how people can afford this."

Himmelwright explained the programmers pretty much call the shots on what channels the company can offer. He said the company would like to offer channel selections on an á la carte basis and they are working with federal legislators to make this possible.

In other business last week, supervisors tabled a request for preliminary plan approval for the Fields at Indian Creek, the 55 and over condo development of more than 200 homes proposed by Kay Builders along Chestnut Street near the intersection of Cedar Crest Boulevard.

Kay Builders representatives said the development, which is partly in Lower Macungie Township and Emmaus, has received preliminary approval from those municipalities, but supervisors said they would like to see the review of the plan from the Lehigh County Conservation District before they take action.

The developers' representatives told supervisors they have addressed all the concerns the conservation district had raised.

The developers also sparred with supervisors over the open space provided by the plan. Twenty-one acres of dedicated recreation or open space are required for a development this size and the developers have only provided 14, saying they'll pay a fee in lieu of open space for the other seven acres.

However, supervisor Robert Sentner wanted to know where in the plan the additional space would be if the township decides to require it. "This is something I've asked for for months," he said.

The developers said they would come back with that information.

The board also heard a presentation by Saible O'Brien of the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy about what individuals can do to reduce pollution of stormwater. As part of the township's participation in the Municipal Separate Storm System permit program, an educational presentation is required.

O'Brien talked about a number of things individuals can do at little or no cost to reduce pollution of stormwater; things like not dumping liquids into storm drains, using commercial car washes, which recycle or treat the water they use rather than washing your own car, raising lawnmower mowing height to at least three inches to minimize soil erosion and minimizing the use of fertilizer.

O'Brien also explained how homeowners can put in "rain gardens" or place rain barrels under their downspouts, to help reduce water runoff during rainstorms.

She also said there are grants available to help farmers prevent runoff of chemicals from their fields.

More information on what she discussed can be found at perkiomenwatershed.org.