The final public hearing on the William H. Laubach Park and Franko Farms Recreation Area Master Plan is 6 p.m. Aug. 15 in the meeting room of the Salisbury Township Municipal Building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

The format is expected to include a presentation and questions and answers relating to maps, artist’s renderings and diagrams of concepts for the parks displayed on easels in the meeting room.

The meeting is open to the public.

During the July 28 board of commissioners meeting, Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano urged township residents living in the vicinity of the parks, as well as those from throughout the township, to attend the Aug. 15 hearing.

“It is township-wide, but most important will be those who are by the park,” Soriano said.

Soriano told commissioners he’s considering mailing letters to inform township residents of the hearing.

Meanwhile, township commissioners voted 3-0, with two commissioners absent at the July 28 meeting, to authorize Soriano to write a letter to PPL to request a payment of $6,693 in lieu of PPL contracting to plant trees at Laubach Park. The funds, if received, would be applied as a match for a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant application for 2017.

“As a consequence of their work, PPL sent us this plan for the planting of trees that they intend to do,” Soriano explained. The planting of the trees is part of the restoration of the PPL easement through Laubach Park.

PPL estimates the work will cost $6.693, according to Soriano.

Work has been completed on the PPL Electric Utilities transmission line rebuilding project, a portion of which traverses Laubach Park, Fairview Avenue and Lehigh Avenue. Trees were cleared and two lattice towers were dismantled. Single-shaft steel poles about 95-feet-tall replaced old towers in the park, north of East Susquehanna Street and south of East Emmaus Avenue.

“Some of what they [PPL] propose, according to our consultant and the advisory council, does not meet the plan for the park,” Soriano said.

Leonard J. Policelli, landscape architect, project manager, of Urban Research & Development Corp., Bethlehem, is consultant for the Laubach Park Master Plan.

The Laubach Park Master Site Plan Committee has met nearly every month since a tour of Laubach July 20, 2015.

“We’re recommending that you accept the cash [from PPL],” Soriano said to commissioners.

“Being on the [master plan] committee, I would recommend that,” agreed Robert Martucci Jr., who chaired the July 28 meeting.

Commissioner President James A. Brown and Commissioner Debra Brinton, were absent.

Soriano said the funds, if PPL agrees to the proposal, would be placed in an escrow account.

Commissioner Joanne Ackerman made the motion, seconded by Commissioner James Seagreaves, to bring the motion to request a cash payment from PPL to a vote.

After the vote, Soriano said he would write the letter to PPL. “Hopefully, they [PPL] will send the money.”

The PPL Elliot Heights Project ties into the Hosensack-Seidersville Transmission Line Project. The first 0.6 miles of the Elliot Heights Project uses a power line right of way through Laubach.

PPL officials addressed the Sept. 21, 2015, Laubach Park Master Plan Committee meeting and met last summer with Salisbury Township officials concerning the Elliott Heights Project.

Salisbury residents got a first look at the Laubach and Franko plan at a public hearing April 18 in the township meeting room.

An estimated 50 persons filled the meeting room, including about 35 residents, most of whom live in the vicinity of Laubach Park; nine Laubach plan committee members and two moderators.

Policelli was assisted by Joanne H. Conley, landscape architect, assistant project manager, URDC.

Attendees were asked to fill out a three-page survey about Laubach and Franko. Responses are to be included in the updated master plan report.

Franko Farm Park was added to the Laubach Master Plan when it became apparent that low-lying areas of Laubach are unsuitable for upgrading to accommodate improved and additional playing fields for Salisbury Youth Association sports programs. Use of and possible improvements to Dodson Street fields, adjacent to Fountain Hill, have been discussed.

Laubach Park, which gets a lot of use by SYA football and boys and girls softball teams, has sports playing fields, a basketball court, a pavilion, bathrooms that don’t meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, a wooden footbridge, shuffleboard courts and a pond.

The 14.25-acre Laubach Park, accessible from Fairview Avenue and Lehigh Avenue, is located between East Susquehanna Street and East Emmaus Avenue.

Laubach Park priority actions are to:

•Protect and improve water quality at Trout Creek and pond by restoring 50-foot buffers, creating wetlands adjacent to the pond and not direct discharges to creek.

•Improve active facilities, condition, size, over-used turf, flooded dugouts and playgrounds by relocating the playground, relocating one ball field and football field and relocating the tennis court.

•Provide ADA access to facilities and walking paths.

•Manage stormwater using best management practices.

Franko Farm Park priority actions are to:

•Retain passive elements, including community gardens, walking paths, woods, steep slopes, pond and pavilions.

•Provide ADA access to facilities.

•Add a ball field, tennis courts, disc golf, multi-purpose area, nature playground, additional walking loops and remove invasive plants.

•Work with PPL to restore easement and allow access to portions of Franko.

The township recreation commission and URDC are expected to present the Laubach and Franko plan to the township board of commissioners. After that, commissioners would decide how to proceed with the plan and how to fund improvements to the parks.

The time line for Laubach and Franko is: apply for a grant in spring 2017 for improvements, award contracts at the end of 2017 and start construction in 2019.

DCNR approved a $26,700 Community Conservation Partnership Program Grant for the Laubach Park Master Plan and Recreation Connections Project. The grant is matched with an equal amount from the township for the $55,400 project, which is the cost of the master plan. An estimate for park improvements is to be determined.

A similar committee met and public hearings were held for the master plan for Lindberg Park, where a perimeter walkway has been completed, an interior walkway is underway and details of a new pavilion and restrooms are to be forthcoming. These improvements and more are part of the Lindberg master plan.