Township Manager Zach Cooperman read the public works report at the July 18 Lower Milford Township Supervisors meeting noting certain roads in the township are experiencing severe erosion due to recent flash flooding.

Chairperson Donna Wright mentioned she’d, “never seen flooding that high in certain areas ... a foot deep to cross.”

Flooding from the heavy rainfall caused severe damage on dirt roads. Severe gully and potholes have formed on the following roads; Pond, Scout, West Mill Hill, Schoolhouse, Bushman North, Janes Lane, Peach and Elm.

Cooperman said he was working with the public works crews to patch roads as quickly as possible. However, Supervisor Michael Snovitch pointed out with the intense rainfall, the roads are just accumulating water and it’s making fixing these roads impossible.

Snovitch remarked, “It’s like nailing jelly to a wall. We just got one and a half inches in the past 24 hours.”

Plans have been established to run trucks filled with stone to these areas with 350 tons of stone ordered at an additional cost of $4,500. The report estimates completion of this project will be Aug. 2.

Moving on, Wright mentioned the Upper Perkiomen Valley Ambulance Association has not submitted a report in almost a year. She asked Cooperman to contact them as she is hoping to finally hear some news or updates on how the company is doing.

The meeting then moved to the appointment of Elaine Snovitch as Lower Milford Township’s new emergency management coordinator. Cooperman met with Elaine Snovitch July 17 and he mentioned he had already submitted the paperwork. She would like to move forward with the training courses immediately; a meeting is scheduled in August with emergency management.

In other business, Ryan K. Field was appointed Southern Lehigh Public Library’s representative. He has been invited to the next meeting and the supervisors are excited to hear his inaugural report.

Fire Marshal Jerry Graham asked for $3,000 in funding for an incentive program for the Lower Milford Township Fire Company. The fire department is a volunteer-based company and so lack of compensation can be burdening after answering call after call. He would like to reward the hardest working members of the department who put the most time in.

Graham hopes this will encourage others to join the department and give some rejuvenated life to the current firefighters. These volunteer firemen are given a golf shirt at the end of the year as payment. The money would help in motivating the volunteers to come out on more calls and would be a gesture toward members of the community who volunteer to risk their lives for the safety of others.

Solicitor Mark Cappuccio raised the issue of whether the township’s tax dollars are permitted to fund payments to a volunteer firefighter’s salary. He thought the incentive program might be possible, but he was going to have to research a way to set up the correct foundation to start a program of that nature.

The township’s ordinance states tax money can be allocated for training, but salaries or payment plans are not permitted. The supervisors will reconvene to think of an idea, with Snovitch stating, “Somehow we’ll get this to work.”

Cappuccio also spoke about the new zoning map being drawn for the township. He presented the old zoning map and showcased the new map which cleaned up older zoning issues. The new map is in its final stages of completion and only needs an approval to be completed.

Wright wanted to have the area redrawn in a different pattern on the new map after Cappuccio showed her how the map would eliminate an unnecessary arm near Palm Road. Two pieces of land are jutting out in the new plan and they are to now be redrawn to run smooth across, which will make them a more openly classified zone.

Hopefully by August, the new map will be complete and sent to the various planning commissions to be voted upon and approved. It will be advertised as quickly as possible.

The meeting concluded with public comments.

A public complaint was made for the establishment of an ordinance to restrict certain fireworks or the ability to set off fireworks at certain times. The community member was tired of hearing extremely loud fireworks from a neighbor, who he described as having fireworks as a passion.

Several neighbors were there and said this specific neighbor sets off large fireworks in his leisure time and for friends. A neighbor in attendance said the neighbor discussed has two trailers with thousands of dollars of fireworks inside. The question of whether this is safe for the community was raised. Neighbors are afraid they could explode and injure or cause extreme damage.

Solicitor Cappuccio said he would look into ordinances prohibiting the distance from where you could set fireworks off or noise ordinances.