Upper Macungie

8 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 UPPER MACUNGI E , PA “We passed this ordinance last year and recently received our first official submission, but we know that additional developers are champing at the bit to use the ordinance,” says Martocci. Upper Macungie’s continued growth in the industrial and commercial sectors is a story that is best told by Ibach, “Kraft Foods had a manufacturing facility in Upper Mac which was decommissioned and later sold – clearly bad news for the township and all those who worked there. A new owner began developing the property into two warehouses on speculation; however, Kuerig Dr Pepper, seeing the opportunity in the region, purchased the property and developed one of the two buildings into a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant while maintaining the second for warehousing of their product.” Currently, this plant is estimated to employ around 500 to 600 people. The Lehigh County Authority is in charge of water delivery, while the township takes over sewerage. Together the county and township handle water conservation which needs to be handled with care as the area is home to several water-bottling plants. Certain companies like Blue Triton Brands need to ensure that their source meets an international standard of AAA plus rating in conservation. This rating is an attractive incentive for businesses to be located in the area. A Pennsylvania program called MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) has an education and outreach component that helps ensure stormwater and streams are kept clean. Along with the conservation standards, other green initiatives that the township has undertaken includes budgeting for hybrid vehicles and the replacement of street lighting with LEDs. Also, the new planned community center is proposed to accommodate a solar panel installation. Another exciting project in the works is a “Trail Connectivity and Walkability Plan” study, out of