Materials, personnel and programs are available to assist the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council in meeting its task to fulfill MS4 requirements.

More than 400 volunteers are involved in the Lehigh Valley Master Watershed Steward program, Rebecca Kennedy, president, Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, said in her presentation at the June 17 EAC meeting.

It was the first time at a public meeting the township's new meeting room video monitors were used.

The Lehigh Valley Master Watershed Steward program in Lehigh and Northampton counties trains volunteers annually.

A master watershed steward has completed 40 hours of training and 50 hours of volunteer service.

After the first year, master watershed steward status is maintained by 20 additional volunteer hours and 10 hours of continuing education annually.

The EAC is tasked with fulfilling the first two of six Minimum Control Measures under the DEP MS4 Stormwater Management Program Protocol: public education, public participation, illicit discharge detection and eimination, construction site runoff control, post-construction stormwater management and pollution prevention for municipal operations and maintenance.

David J. Tettemer, Salisbury Township consulting engineer, of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., is initially in charge of MCM points three to six.

The Lehigh Valley Master Watershed Steward Program is a partnership between Penn State Extension, the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, Northampton County Conservation District, Appalachian Mountain Club, Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Wildlands Conservancy, Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Nurture Nature Center and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation of Natural Resources.

In other business at the June 17 EAC meeting:

- Karen El-Chaar, an EAC member and director of Friends of the Allentown Parks, said she is recommending "rumble strips" be installed on the road surface of the Allentown portion of Walking Purchase Park to slow down drivers of vehicles who may be there with the intent to litter. El-Chaar questioned the $300 township littering fine and urged a $500 to $1,500 fine, which she said is the littering fine in Allentown.

- Robert Agonis, EAC task force member, noted information was obtained about recent dumping in Walking Purchase Park. The information was provided to Keystone Engineering for MS4 tabulation.

- Agonis said he had photos of the draining of water from a neighborhood swimming pool. "There was thousands and thousands of gallons of water," Agonis claimed. It is uncertain if the water was chlorinated. An illicit discharge report was filled for the MS4 files.

- Cynthia Sopka, Salisbury Township director of planning and zoning and EAC secretary, said she and other EAC members met June 10 with Salisbury School District representatives. "I think it was a very positive meeting," Sopka said.

- Sopka said despite the success of the goats eating of weeds at the township municipal building detention basin, the weeds' roots will need to be dug out. Also, diseased trees and gravel and soils deposited there will need to be removed.

The EAC meets 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month in the municipal building. The next meeting is 7 p.m. July 15.