Richard Ward became the newest member of Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners during the June 1 meeting.

Prior to the appointment, Ward resigned from the zoning hearing board. Ward’s appointment to replace Commissioner Ben Galiardo, who resigned from his position, made sense to the commissioners as Ward recently won the Republican Primary election for commissioner.

Ward was sworn in by the Honorable Michael J. Faulkner. He remains in office until Jan. 2, 2018 when Galiardo’s term was to expire.

Ronald W. Beitler was elected as the vice president of the board; committee appointments will be determined in the near future. Ward was named as the third signatory on township checks.

Movie Tavern Theatre personnel attended the meeting for a hearing on the inter-municipal transferring of the liquor license for the local movie tavern. The applicant will operate according to local ordinances and the operation of the facility will be similar to the operation of a restaurant. Several managers will be on the site during operation. There have been little problems at other locations.

There will be an additional agricultural security area at Schoeneck Road. The land is owned by the Krause family and is an additional 4.3 acres to the existing 12.03 acres already approved for the area.

Julie McDonell wrote a note to commissioners about Lower Macungie Township Community Day. “Citizens enjoy a well-organized and diverse event. Denise Folk and her staff and volunteers deserve much congratulations and recognition for their dedication.”

In other business, the township received a grant for recycling in the amount of $250,000.

Gerry Yasso, from Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon, made a request for road closures during the marathon. This was approved. The event will be held Sept. 10.

The Sanitary Sewer System Rehabilitation project has a bid for the Main Line, the cured in place pipe lining project. The bid was awarded to Insituform Technologies, LLC in the amount of $469,000.

The Southwest Comprensive Plan has a draft which will be presented to the planning commission.

Township Manager Bruce Fosselman said the latex paint recycling event was well received. This event was in partnership with Macungie and Alburtis to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

There were 176 participants with 1,014 cans collected. It was the most collected by Habitat in any single event. Township Representative Stan Cupp oversaw the event.