The Aug. 15 Lower Milford Township Supervisors meeting was conducted with only one supervisor, Donna Wright, present. Supervisor Michael Snovitch was available via telephone and Supervisor John Quigley was absent for a second consecutive meeting.

After all minutes, bills and short reports were approved, Wright moved on to the public works report. Lower Milford has been experiencing many difficult situations with their roadways recently.

The public works department reports road repairs will continue as weather permits; pothole repairs are being made to County Line Road, Yeakels Road and Plover Lane; trees are down on Greenhouse Lane, Schoolhouse Lane, Bell Gate Road, Chestnut Hill Church Road, Scout Road; road cracks are being sealed on Glenn Rogers Road and Urffers Road and there are many other projects on the list to complete.

The issues with water runoff and erosion have been ongoing and multiple efforts are continuing to get these roads up to par.

In other business, the zoning office reported it has been getting four to five calls a day for various inquiries for permit and property information. A visual report showed no violations in the township. Additionally, the manager’s report showed the zoning office is currently collecting donations for the fall festival.

A library representative from Southern Lehigh Public Library was in attendance. Ryan Fields thanked everyone for having him at the meeting and gave a full rundown of all upcoming events and fundraisers. A Read Between the Wines: Wine Tasting and Silent Auction Benefit Event will be held 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 19 at Southern Lehigh Public Library, 3200 Preston Lane, Center Valley. Guests will have seven wines available for tasting, accompanied by food samplings from local vendors and caterers. Guests will also have the opportunity to bid on silent auction items donated by various community sponsors and to enter a wine raffle. All proceeds will go toward supporting Southern Lehigh Public Library programs..

For additional upcoming events and fundraisers, visit the website www.solehipl.org.

In other meeting news, a report on the new emergency management coordinator was made. Elaine Snovitch has assumed the position and is currently attending several courses. She will be taking additional courses the next few weeks to get her prepared for the position. Township Manager Zach Cooperman announced he will attend the trainings with Snovitch.

A representative from the office of Solicitor Mark Cappuccio, Eastburn and Gray, P.C., was in attendance for Cappuccio. Attorney Zac Sivertsen announced the findings of their research behind the types of programs available for compensation to the volunteer firefighters. He gave two options.

The first option is a lump sum stipend which could be donated to the fire company. The fire company would allocate the money to what is needed and then give a report back to the township on what they used it on.

The second option would offer volunteer firefighters a form of an income tax credit. Examples used were of a possible $500 tax incentive or some type of real estate incentive. This option was dismissed quickly.

Fire Marshall Jerry Graham attended the meeting. He announced he would prefer the first option as the tax benefits would not help firefighters in the township who are part of the company. Supervisors Wright and Snovitch were in favor of his decision and Wright announced she would like Cooperman to push this forward as soon as possible.

All legal documents and processes will be worked out in the upcoming month. The goal is to get a contract presented as soon as possible. Urgency was stressed on this subject.

The last portion of the agenda was for the approval to authorize advertisement of zoning ordinance amendments. A motion was made and accepted to pass the advertisement of the new zoning ordinance amendments for the hearing in September.

In public comments, Graham asked for Elaine Snovitch’s contact information since she is now in her role as emergency management coordinator.

A resident asked why there was not a noise ordinance in the municipality. Wright explained Lower Milford does not have a police department to enforce such laws, so a noise ordinance was not possible.

A nuisance ordinance was brought up by another township resident. It was suggested the resident could go to the magistrate’s office to have something sent to the neighbor.