It was a Valentine’s Day sweet farewell for a longtime Salisbury Township Commissioner.

Township Board of Commissioners President Robert Martucci Jr. will not seek re-election.

Martucci, president of the township board of commissioners, made the unexpected announcement during the Feb. 14 township meeting.

“I will not be seeking re-election for my next term,” Martucci announced.

“I will be retiring from my business and moving to my place upstate,” Martucci said in a brief statement.

His announcement received no response from fellow commissioners, township officials or residents attending the meeting. Board Vice President Debra Brinton was absent.

After the meeting, Martucci told a reporter for Salisbury Press that he and his wife Susan, a dean’s office secretary at Muhlenberg College, plan to sell their home, which is in the vicinity of Laubach Park and move to their vacation home in Sullivan County.

“I’ve been in construction for 50 years. I started when I was 16,” Martucci told The Press.

Of his role on the board, he said, “I like it. I will certainly miss it. It’s been a growth experience.”

Martucci, who will be 66 in April, has been on the township board for 14 years. He expects to serve out his term, which expires at the end of 2019.

He is in his second year as board president. He was board vice president for four years.

Martucci is president of Framework Technologies, Inc., Allentown, a commercial construction services firm he has owned and operated for 24 years. The firm has 28 employees. Clients include Lehigh Valley Health Network, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Lehigh University, Muhlenberg College and Moravian College.

He and his wife have three children: Mark, Brett and Megan.

Martucci represents township Ward 1, which includes the area of eastern Salisbury roughly from Fairview Road to the Fountain Hill borough line.

Also up for re-election on the township board are Brinton, representing Ward 3, and township Commissioner Joanne Ackerman, representing Ward 5. Their terms also expire at the end of 2019. Neither has announced re-election bids as of the deadline for this issue of the Salisbury Press.

The terms of Commissioner Rodney Conn, representing Ward 4, and James Seagreaves, representing Ward 2, expire at the end of 2021.

Commissioners serve four-year terms, elected in two staggered election cycles, according to the township website.

Commissioners for Wards 1, 3 and 5 are elected during the same cycle, as are commissioners for Wards 2 and 4. This guarantees all five commissioners will never be up for election during the same election cycle.

The General Primary is May 21. The General Election is Nov. 5.

According to the Election Board of Lehigh County website, the first day to circulate and file petitions to run for election was Feb. 19 and the last day to circulate and file petitions is March 12.

The last day to file objections to petitions is March 19. The casting of lots for ballot position is March 20. The last day for candidates who filed petitions to withdraw is March 27.

Guidelines for printing or downloading of the petition packet for those seeking election is at the county website lehighcounty.org.

The last day to register to vote before the primary is April 22.

In other business at the Feb. 14 township meeting:

•It was announced nominees are being sought for the “Volunteer Recogniton Award” to be held this year. The program, which honors township residents for their volunteer work, is held biennially. It had been held annually. It was not held last year. Residents chosen will be honored at a catered dinner, 6 p.m. April 16, meeting room, township municipal building. Nominations can be made on line at the township website, starting March 1, and also by mail, to Salisbury Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich. The deadline for nominations is March 25.

•Township resident Phillip Bernard, who with his wife, has three children, again complained about what he said are speeding cars in the area of a Salisbury Township School District bus stop along Flexer Avenue. Commissioners and Township Chief of Police Allen W. Stiles said enforcement of the street’s 25 mph speed limit would be stepped up.

•Stiles reported approximately 40 attended the Feb. 6 active-shooter training session at the township police department. He said plans are to hold another, similar session.

•Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve payment No. 6 to Kobalt Construction for Lindberg Park Phase 3 contracted work for new restrooms and the pavilion at $61,878.60; Payment No. 6 to Kobalt Construction for Lindberg Park Phase 4 contracted work for front parking lot signs and markings at $3,510 and Payment No. 2 to Insituform Technologies, LLC, for the 2018 Sanitary Sewer System Rehabilitation Mainline Cured-In-Place Pipe Lining Project at $206,208.64.

The township board of commissioners next meets 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in the municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.