Editor’s Note: This is a corrected version from the story which ran in the Nov. 2 edition of The Press.

The October 2022 Lower Milford Township Board of Supervisors meeting was held Oct. 20. As a reminder, all meetings are held at the Lower Milford Township Building, 7607 Chestnut Hill Church Road, Coopersburg and begin 6:30 p.m.

The meeting began with the approval of the meeting minutes of Sept. 15 and the workshop minutes of Oct. 6.

During the Oct. 6 workshop meeting, a representative from the Lower Milford Township Fire Company #1 asked the township to raise the fire tax to fund equipment replacement. Instead, it was suggested by the supervisors to seek help from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. The supervisors decided they would send a letter of intent to the DCED to initiate technical assistance.

At the end of the workshop meeting, Supervisor Ellen Koplin expressed her deepest condolences from all the supervisors and township staff on the passing of former Lower Milford Township Police Chief Jeffrey Tapler.

There were a few highlights from the administrator, zoning and secretary reports. The Sept. 24 township fall festival went smoothly and drew a large crowd. Additionally, materials and planning were completed for the township septic replacement. Work was expected to begin at the end of October. The township is currently seeking a new township forestry consultant.

The fall festival was specifically highlighted. There were 67 different vendors of food, crafts and activities. Mentioned was an alpaca booth, a scarecrow booth and a ton of food. The only unfortunate occurrence was it was too windy for the hot air balloon.

“The festival was a great success. We (estimated) three thousand,” Secretary Stacy Smith said of attendees.

“People were surprised at the size of the festival,” Supervisor Ellen Koplin said.

Following this, two Southern Lehigh Public Library representatives were in attendance to pitch the 2023 budget request from Lower Milford to the library. They said the library was able to fundraise just over $62,000 in the past year. They held a variety of successful events however, they are still operating on a deficit.

There has been a request from Lower Saucon Township to join the Southern Lehigh Library service area. The library board has yet to accept the request and is currently trying to decide if they can or can’t take on the size of Lower Saucon Township. The library board does not believe they have enough staff, space or resources, and will need to scale up. There are also mandates from the state that incur very high costs due to the size increase.

Near the end of the discussion, there was almost a plea for help from the library representatives. They said the library is currently understaffed, with only 10 paid staff members.

Ultimately, the library representatives requested the same amount as last year, $20,000. However, if Lower Saucon is accepted, Lower Milford should expect to see an increased budget request in the future. The supervisors agreed to that amount during their budget discussion.

Additionally, it was mentioned by a library representative there is a municipal responsibility to contribute a certain percentage toward the library funding, and if not met, the library board can take a voting member from Lower Milford away. Lower Milford residents would still be served.

In old business, there was a lengthy discussion of the “over the cap” payment requests for preservation from Fadil Farm and Lafrenz Farm. “Over the cap” funds are paid to landowners with appraisals over the county cap.

Lehigh County hires its own personal appraiser to look at the farms for preservation. They look strictly at the land and the appraisals are determined on similar properties and what they were worth. Landowners can pay for their own second opinions. More than likely, the second appraisal will be for almost double the money. Lehigh County will pay a cap of $6,000 per acre, and so, if the appraisal is “over the cap” they request help from the municipality to help pay.

In Lower Milford Township, the agreement with the county is to pay $100 per acre that’s over the cap.

The county requested just over $10,000 to help pay for Fadil Farm. This was approved. It is a 103-acre farm, and the county appraised it for over $6,000 per acre.

The county requested $3,345 to help pay for Lafrenz Farm. This was denied since the second appraisal from the landowner was much higher than the $6,000 cap. The county appraised it for under.

A quote from Cowan Associates was then approved for the creation of a Deed of Dedication Roadway Map for the township. The township agreed with Cowan they will not pay more than $5,700 for the project. However, funds may need to be relocated in the budget. This may need to be revisited at the next meeting.

The meeting then moved to the review of the 2023 township budget. Township Administrator Emily Fucci requested if the supervisors wanted to highlight any items or discuss anything about the 2023 budget.

There were adjustments for inflation in facility costs. A new item was IT support services for the township building.

A bump of $1,500 to $5,000 is budgeted for The Sanctuary at Haafsville for animal control services. Plus, they were worried about the rising fuel prices. However, that was almost entirely out of the supervisors’ control.

There were many additional increases in the public works area. Sewage repairs, line painting, signage, equipment and other items are included. They are twice over the budget this year for signage. The board and township staff are still trying to find ways for discounts or alternatives to bring down costs for signage.

The budget will be reviewed again at the Nov. 3 workshop meeting so they can get the budget approved for advertising with plenty of time before the end of the year meeting.

In new business, there were three items.

Resolution 2022-12 was approved. This authorized the distribution of the 2021-2022 stipend to the Lower Milford Fire Company’s eligible members.

Ian Farrell was appointed the alternate sewage enforcement officer.

The last item was a discussion of the 2022 Veterans Day Event Nov. 11. There will be an event in dedication to former Supervisor Ted Benson. He was a Lower Milford Supervisor for 32 years. He was a retired Army Colonel and died last August. More information will be posted on the township website and social media pages.

The only item of note in correspondence was a congratulations to Brian McKee. He completed the PEMA certifications for the role of emergency management coordinator.

The meeting was then adjourned. The next township workshop meeting will be held Nov. 3. The next regular board meeting will be held Nov. 17.