Northern Valley Ambulance Corps recently welcomed the winter convention of the Lehigh County Association of Township Officials to its Ormrod headquarters.

Elected and appointed officials from Townships of the Second Class attended the special event.

LCATO President Brian Carl introduced speakers for the night.

The list included Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong, Lehigh County Commissioner Marty Nothstein, local government liaison Matthew Szuchyt, representing state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th, Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Municipal Outreach Coordinator Donna Wright, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Becky Bradley and PSATS Executive Director David Sanko.

Armstrong said it is important for the county to interact with the townships and he encouraged township representatives to contact him regarding any problems or issues that they might have.

He also noted the county will start a newsletter this year to show where resident tax dollars are being spent.

Armstrong noted Lehigh is the only county in the state that has a mobile strike unit available for emergencies.

He also told those at the convention he supports managing regional growth in the county.

Nothstein told the assembled although he traveled the world over, it was always good to come home.

He urged interaction between the townships and the county.

Szuchyt urged townships to contact Browne’s office on any problems they might have.

He also noted a new staff member will be hired in Browne’s office.

Wright noted the farmland preservation office will be moving to the first floor of Cedar Apartments in South Whitehall.

The office will have a new address and phone number. More information is available on the preservation office web-site.

She congratulated the townships with the amount of acreage in agricultural preservation.

Lynn Township is the leader with 98 farms totaling 8,008.51 acres followed by Weisenberg Township with 49 farms and 4,192.22 acres.

Bradley noted every year the Lehigh Valley gains around 4,000 new residents.

All these people add to the traffic on the Lehigh Valley roads increasing wear and tear on the infrastructure.

In a recent traffic study, it was discovered that more people commute to the King of Prussia area than to New York City.

There seems to be a glut of mall space and it will be necessary to find some way to re-purpose these spots in the next 20 years.

Forty million square feet of warehouse space is being built or has been built in the Lehigh Valley.

This figure is the highest in the world for a region.

A long-range transportation plan will be completed next year.

Bradley noted the first roundabout in Lehigh County will be built in Upper Macungie Township.

She also discussed the traffic in the Lehigh Valley.

According to a 2017 traffic study, 14,344,599 daily vehicle miles are traveled in the Lehigh Valley.

The highest traffic count was taken in Hanover Township on Route 22.

A total of 94,872 vehicles were counted at this site with 83,572 counted on Route 33 in Lower Nazareth Township.

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed liked the Parks, Trails and Recreational activities in the Lehigh Valley while 66 percent do not like the truck traffic.

The LVPC has several seminars planned for 2019.

Feb. 27 will feature Equity - a discussion on who has access and who does not have access to the essential qualities of life in the Valley.

On March 14 the topic will be the future of the Lehigh Valley and discussion of the regional plan.

Other seminars are planned for March 27, April 24, May 29 and June 26.

For more information, contact the LVPC for the Planning and Pizza schedule.

Community Planning courses are planned for Sept. 11, 18 and 25 at the LVPC office.

Subdivision and Land Development review will be Oct. 3, 10 and 17 followed by zoning reviews on Nov. 4, 18 and 25.

If the applicant completes the courses, he will receive a certificate designating his or her as a certified citizen planner.

Bradley noted that Brian Carl was recently given this award.

Sanko gave an overview of upcoming items concerning Second Class Townships.

New legislation to be aware of included Act 18 (relating to earned income tax collection), Act 54 (residency for elected officials), Act 31 (oversize vehicles), Act 32 (blight package), Act 42 (fiscal code) and others.

Proposed legislation includes HR 291 (dealing with local EIT collection study).

PSATS will be working on a reform of the right-to-know law, studying the volunteer firefighter crisis, providing common sense relief for unfunded mandates, investment in the transportation infrastructure, local police reforms, high speed internet access and small wireless facilities.