A change to the township Shade Tree Ordinance is proposed by the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council.

The EAC voted 3-0 at its monthly meeting Sept. 16 via the Zoom online format to add to the ordinance to “Require a minimum time of 20 years from when a subdivision is built until a tree is replanted.”

“This ordinance is still going to go to the planning commission,” Salisbury Township Assistant Manager Sandy Nicolo, who chaired the one-hour meeting, said.

The recommendation for the change was made by EAC Vice Chairman John Barbaz, who was re-elected at the meeting.

“Can we require a list of trees that are recommended to be planted? Oaks are one of the better trees,” EAC Chairwomen Jane Benning, who was re-elected at the meeting, said.

“We’ll make the change,” Nicolo said after the vote. “I’ll get it out to you. And we’ll vote on it at the next meeting.”

If the planning commission would recommend the change, it would go to the board of commissioners for consideration.

“I’m just passing this along because I’ve been getting a lot of complaints,” Nicolo said.

Before the vote, EAC Secretary Jacquelyn Heiserman, who was also re-elected, said, “They’re going to pay $2,000 to $3,000 to take down a tree. I believe they have the right to cut down a tree without replanting it.”

Salisbury Township Commissioner Heather Lipkin, who attends the EAC as the board of commissioners’ liaison, noted, “The street tree ordinance would apply to the whole township.”

The planting of trees would still be required at new residences at part of the township Subdivision And Land Development Ordinance.

“We’re still going to require them [trees] for the land development,” Nicolo said.

In other business, EAC members discussed having speakers at its meetings.

“We can advertise meetings and possibly bring in speakers to educate the public, and anyone can sign up for it,” Nicolo said, noting the next scheduled EAC meeting, 7 p.m. Oct. 21, is also expected to be held via Zoom.

Citizens For Pennsylvania’s Future is being contacted to provide speakers.

EAC topics could include water pollution, composting, climate change and deer management.

The EAC discussed the township’s dumping ordinance, specifically, the continued dumping of debris along Constitution Drive in the 500-acre Walking Purchase Park, north of East Susquehanna Street and between Lehigh Mountain and the Lehigh River. The park is administered by Lehigh County, Allentown and Salisbury.

“There’s a [surveillance] camera at one end. There’s a camera at the other end. You would have to have more cameras,” Nicolo said.

“It’s even worse from the Riverside [Drive] end, coming in from Bethlehem,” Nicolo said.

“From what I’ve seen there, it’s contractors,” Nicolo said of the reason for trash along Constitution Drive.

“We could even put up some dummy cameras,” Nicolo continued. “I put up a dummy camera at Laubach, and they broke that. Then they put in a real camera and they broke that. And they caught the kid and the judge left him off.”