The Oct. 7 Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors meeting turned out to be a celebration of sorts.

Under the guise of celebrating Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 3-9, Fire Chief Joseph Sherman arrived to find the celebration was to honor him for his 50 years of dedicated service to the Vera Cruz Citizen’s Fire Company.

Thirty-five of those years he has served as chief of the department. During the meeting he received commendations from the offices of state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th and state Rep. Milou Mackenzie, R-131st, as well as the Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors.

As the commendations were read firefighters filed into the room in support of their chief. All in attendance offered a standing ovation.

After the meeting he spoke of his pride in the way the fire company has grown.

In his first year of service the fire company had only two trucks and responded to seven calls all year. At present the department has seven trucks and responds to upwards of 250 calls a year.

Sherman also recalled during his first week on the job, footers were poured for the fire station and how later in his career he, his crew of firefighters and township residents helped to build an 80-foot addition to the fire station.

After thanking everyone for the unexpected honors, Sherman presented his report from the fire department.

During September the fire department responded to 27 calls bringing the total yearly calls to 155.

Sherman also reminded residents as the days get colder residents will be utilizing heating units and fireplaces so now is the time to have duct work and chimneys cleaned to prevent fire.

In closing, Sherman expressed his thanks to Tim Anger for a job well done on the Upper Milford Fire Prevention flyer recently distributed to residents .

During the public input portion of the meeting Maryellen Kanarr, library director for the Emmaus Public Library, gave the yearly report.

The library currently has 2,260 card holders and 19,801 items have been checked out over the past year. In addition to books, patrons of the library have access to museum passes, music, movies, e-resources, technology classes, story time and summer reading club for children, book discussions, community events and more.

Kanarr also recounted the many improvements made to the library through various grants and fundraising. Improvements include new carpet tiles, a STEM workplace unit, a new entrance sign and a new phone system. In order to continue to promote literacy and provide these services to residents the library respectfully requested the sum of $45,341, a 2 percent increase from last year. The board will place this request in the draft budget for consideration.

Also, Phil Casey and Jim Krippe raised questions pertaining to new regulations from the state about Sunshine laws and asked for clarification from Upper Milford Township Solicitor Marc Fisher. The men questioned whether the board needs to be more specific in their reasons for holding an executive session.

Fisher explained the agenda must be posted 24 hours in advance but the rules for executive sessions have not changed. He will look more closely into this matter and clarify at a later date.

In other news, Brian Miller, planning coordinator, reported his research into the issue raised previously by Krippe concerning 5 acres of land used by the Buckeye Pipeline Solar Farm Plan is complete. The acreage in question is located on 3760 Tank Farm Road and therefore it is not in Upper Milford Township.

Last month the board of supervisors requested the Upper Milford Township Planning Commission review a request to change the designation for 4650 Indian Creek Road from industrial to residential. It was decided that no change be made and the tract will remain designated for industrial use.

Supervisor John Zgura expressed his view there should be further review of the matter and the board collectively decided it would be prudent to schedule a joint meeting with the planning commission to further the discussion.

In new business, the board approved a motion to purchase a tar kettle from the Borough of Emmaus for the sum of $4,500. Also, a boundary line adjustment at 528 and 4002 S. Second St. was approved contingent upon the completion of items outlined in a letter from the planning coordinator have been met by the surveyors.