The Salisbury Township Police Department is said to be at the forefront of ensuring student safety in Salisbury Township School District.

“We have the wherewithal and skilled officers,” Salisbury Township Chief of Police Allen W. Stiles said.

“We appreciate your being proactive,” Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners President Robert Martucci Jr. said.

The discussion at the Feb. 22 township meeting happened after the Feb. 14 shooting rampage at a Parkland, Fla., school, in which 17 died.

“Whenever there is an incident like this, we attend a seminar where officers involved speak to us,” Stiles said.

Mention of policing efforts to curtail school shootings tragedies was prompted by a report of a re-posting on social media where violence was threatened. Police investigated.

“We take such incidents seriously,” Stiles said.

“We’ve done security upgrades for the schools in Salisbury School District,” Sgt. Donald Sabo Jr., in charge of investigation, fire inspection and community policing, said.

Salisbury Township Officer Richard Nothstein is the police department’s school resource officer.

In his report to commissioners, Stiles mentioned a 2019 paving project is planned for Cedar Crest Boulevard, a portion of which traverses Salisbury Township. During the work, one lane only is expected to be open to traffic. Stiles said he has recommended to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials that the paving take place during non-peak travel times. Traffic counts have recorded 23,000 cars daily on Cedar Crest Boulevard, according to Stiles.

In other business at the Feb. 22 township meeting, commissioners voted 4-0, with one commissioner absent, to approve:

- A resolution for a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development application for a $403,750 water and sewer grant with a 15 percent township match commitment for the Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation 2018 Project. Board of Commissioners Vice President Debra Brinton asked Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich if the township would be committed to undertake the project if the grant isn’t approved. “You’re not committed to the work,” Bonaskiewich replied.

- A motion to approve $10,414.71,which is Payment No. 2, the final payment, to Insituform Technologies, Inc., Easton, for the 2017 Cured-in-Place Pipe Lining Project.

During the commissioners’ discussion portion of the meeting, Brinton said she had a phone inquiry about surveying work being done at the Mountain House Girl Scout Camp, South Mountain Trail Service Unit, on South Mountain. The South Mountain Trail Service Unit is part of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Council, serving girls in the East Penn and Salisbury Township school districts.

“They seem to be extra concerned there are surveyors there,” Brinton said. “They’re concerned about the traffic flow.”

“It’s not intended to expand the facility. They don’t plan to increase the traffic. They’re not changing the traffic patterns,” Salisbury Township Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., said.

“For sanitary reasons, they want to put up a new building with a bathroom in it. They’re going to need a septic permit and building permit and they may need a land development plan.

“The township will be revisiting this with the planning commission,” Tettemer said.

Also, Brinton said “Lexington Avenue is being ripped up because of garbage trucks. There’s someone who works for Republic and they’re bringing in stuff.

“The recycling that belongs to Salisbury should be going to us and not to someone who makes money,” Brinton said.

Salisbury Township Assistant Zoning Officer and Township Codes Enforcement Officer Sandy Nicolo said, “I’ve spoken with the gentleman and his son and I will check it out.”

Salisbury Township Director of Plannning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka congratulated Nicolo on attaining zoning officer certification.

Sopka noted the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council is hosting a Penn State Lehigh County Extension Office workshop on the Spotted Lanternfly menace, 7 p.m. March 21, at the township municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

It was said $16.7 billion in Pennsylvania forest products, $944 million in nursery and landscape products, $87 million in apples, $28 million in grapes and $19 million in peaches could be jeopardized by this invasive species.