Pottstown, Pottsgrove, Limerick Primaries On Tap

Editor’s note:  We urge voters to check out the Reform Party candidates for Pottstown Borough Council and mayor of Pottstown.  Pottstown desperately needs a leadership change!  The elected leadership needs to have a positive vision for the future of the borough.   Currently that vision does not exist or if it does, it is a well kept secret.  It’s time to clean house.  Vote the incumbents out of office.

Although the ballot isn’t official yet, primary elections are shaping up in several Montgomery County communities.

As of Friday, some candidates had already withdrawn, but so far it looks like there will be three primary battles in Pottstown, but no contest for the school board.

In the neighboring Pottsgrove School Board race however, it looks like a real race may be brewing and several tax collector contests are in the offing as well.

In the Pottsgrove School Board race, four incumbents — B. Scott Fullmer, Nancy J. Landes, Diane M. Cherico and Michael G. Neiffer — will square off against four challengers.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130331/NEWS01/130339980/pottstown-pottsgrove-limerick-primaries-on-tap#full_story

Pottstown School Board Approves Keystone Tax Break For New Business

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  See what happens when we are all on the same page!  This sends a positive signal to the investment community that Pottstown is “OPEN FOR BUSINESS”.   This needs to happen more often.  Two Thumbs Up to all involved!

POTTSTOWN — With a 7-2 vote Monday night, the Pottstown School Board endorsed a property tax break for a business that wants to re-locate to the former 84 Lumber truss plant on Keystone Boulevard.

School board members Polly Weand and Andrew Kefer cast the only votes against endorsing the Keystone Opportunity Zone tax exemption for Conshohocken-based Heritage Coach Co., which sells hearses and limousines.

The vote comes just three days after state Rep. Mark Painter, D-146th Dist., announced his support for the tax break.

Under the terms of the deal negotiated by Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana and Borough Manager Mark Flanders, Heritage would pay no property taxes in the first three years of the 10-year deal.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130326/NEWS01/130329480/pottstown-school-board-approves-tax-break-for-new-business

Pottstown School Board Urged To Approve KOZ Deal

Editor’s note:  We agree!

The Pottstown School Board is set to vote tonight on a tax break deal that would bring a new business to the Keystone Opportunity Zone.

Pottstown Borough Council has approved the tax break, but if the school board votes no, the plan is nixed.

The three boards that levy property tax — council, school board and county commissioners — must all approve it for the business to relocate to Pottstown.  Montgomery County Commissioners have said they will go along with whatever the two local governing bodies decide.

As with council, we urge the school board to vote yes to this proposal as an incentive to business and as a smart move in the longer view of the borough economic development.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130325/OPINION01/130329656/pottstown-school-board-urged-to-approve-koz-deal-#full_story

Pottstown, West Pottsgrove Push Extension Of Keystone Boulevard

POTTSTOWN — Just two days after borough council approved a property tax break for a new business proposed along Keystone Boulevard, officials from the borough and West Pottsgrove Township met to brainstorm about extending the road to the Grosstown Road exit off Route 422.

The extension of Keystone Boulevard through the former Flagg Brass property in West Pottsgrove and over to the Stowe interchange has long been envisioned and was the subject of an $81,000 study by the Rettew Assoc. engineering firm.

Paid for through a grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the grant brought both municipalities together to plan jointly for the project, which could cost as much as $10 million.

Although PennDOT does have plans for a $30 million improvement to the Stowe interchange as part of its long-range plans for upgrading Route 422, Brian Regli, Montgomery County’s Director of Commerce, told the assembled officials not to expect the state to come up with the money for that project any time soon.

Read more:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130315/NEWS01/130319529/pottstown-w-pottsgrove-push-extension-of-keystone-blvd-#full_story

Pottstown Regional Recreation Post Could Wear Many Hats

POTTSTOWN — Sometimes things just fall into your lap just when you need them.

Just one day after members of the Pottstown School Board and borough council brainstormed about ways they can work together to cut costs and market Pottstown to a broader region, an opportunity to do just that for free was again presenting itself.

During their first joint meeting of the year on Feb. 25, members of both Pottstown boards echoed a common lament, the need to market what Pottstown has to offer to a wider audience, to better coordinate and add to major events and the need for additional funding help from outside sources and the surrounding townships.

On Tuesday, the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee heard about an opportunity being developed over the last year with the help of the Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation to do many of those things at a ridiculously low cost.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130304/NEWS01/130309833/pottstown-regional-rec-post-could-wear-many-hats#full_story

Pottstown Joint Meeting Wrestles With Jobs Versus Lost Tax Dollars

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — During the first joint meeting of the year between borough council and the Pottstown School Board, discussion was free-flowing and frequent.

Perhaps highest on the list, and the subject which generated the most focused conversation, had to do with a business that wants to occupy the former 84 Lumber truss plant at the end of Keystone Boulevard.

Steve Bamford, the director of Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. and the borough’s chief economic development officer, gave for the third time, an overview of the Keystone Opportunity Zone program and the request from Heritage Coach Co. to occupy some of the space there.

Sellers of hearses and limousines, Heritage began as a side business for the Lankford family, which also operated a GM dealership in Conshohocken that was shut down during what Jay Lankford, a Hill School graduate, called GM’s “political sham of a bankruptcy.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130228/NEWS01/130229383/pottstown-joint-meeting-wrestles-with-jobs-vs-lost-tax-dollars#full_story

Pottstown Meeting Set To Boost Borough-School District Cooperation

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Considering the same 5 square miles comprises the school district and the borough, this is well overdue.  However, on a positive note, we will hope this leads to substantive change for the beleaguered Pottstown taxpayer.

POTTSTOWN — It won’t just be the location of the joint school board/borough council meeting Tuesday that is unusual.

The agenda is short, unusual in itself, and further, it is focused almost exclusively on breaking down barriers to cooperation.

“We want to set the stage for collaborating, for open communication,” said schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana who, along with Borough Manager Mark Flanders, met with The Mercury Thursday to outline their efforts.

“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to have the meeting off-site,” said Flanders. “To put everyone in a setting that encourages participation and interaction.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130225/NEWS01/130229649/pottstown-meeting-set-to-boost-borough-school-district-cooperation#full_story

Objection To Pottstown Elementary Plan Focuses On High Street Crossing

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — Few objections were raised Thursday night when the official redistricting plan for elementary school attendance was unveiled, but the one that was focused on the safety of students crossing High Street.

“I think rather than throwing our children under the bus, we should put them on a bus and come up with a better transportation plan,” said North Hills Boulevard resident Madison Morton.

The only speaker on the subject of redistricting at Thursday night’s public meeting, Morton has a child that currently attends Edgewood Elementary and he is unhappy about the possibility that his daughter’s trip to Rupert Elementary may involve crossing High Street.

Currently, High Street is considered by PennDOT to be a hazardous road similar to Route 100 and, as a result, the district must bus students across it.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130223/NEWS01/130229714/objection-to-pottstown-elementary-plan-focuses-on-high-street-crossing#full_story

Hearing On Closing Of Edgewood Elementary Set For 6 p.m. Thursday

Editor’s note:  Isn’t this like beating a dead horse?  Hasn’t this decision already been made and haven’t people already got their guts in an uproar?  Aren’t the renovations for the other three schools already in the works?  Why can’t Pottstown made a decision and stick with it?  All this vacillating is why NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!

POTTSTOWN — The start of the public’s opportunity to offer comment on the proposed closing of Edgewood Elementary School begins at 6 p.m. Thursday with a public hearing to be held in the cafeteria of Pottstown’s High School.

Called an Act 34 hearing, it is a requirement of Pennsylvania law whenever a school building is to be closed.

However, what is not required, according to School District Solicitor Stephen Kalis, is any kind of informational packet for the public to study before hand.

Rather, he said, the school board’s rationale for its decision to close the building will be offered at the beginning of the hearing, and the public is invited to comment after that.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130212/NEWS01/130219800/hearing-closing-of-edgewood-elementary-set-for-6-p-m-thursday#full_story

Hartman Will Not Seek Fourth Term On Pottstown School Board

Editor’s note:  I can’t blame him.  13 years is a pretty huge commitment. 

POTTSTOWN — For Pottstown School Board member Robert Hartman Jr., 13 years of service is apparently long enough.

At the close of Monday night’s school board meeting, Hartman announced that he will not seek another four-year term on the board in the spring primary elections.

Hartman said that with the deadline for petitions for the primary election approaching, he wanted to be sure his intentions were known so that anyone who is considering running for the office would know whether or not they would have to face him in the polls.

“I’ve heard that other people may be interested and it’s not fair for them not to know,” Hartman said.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130129/NEWS01/130129256/hartman-will-not-seek-fourth-term-on-pottstown-school-board#full_story

Foundation For Pottstown Education Outlines 2013 Goals

POTTSTOWN — As 2012 wound down to a close, the Pottstown School Board got a glimpse of what 2013 may look like — at least in terms of the plans being made by the Foundation for Pottstown Education.

Executive Director Myra Forrest outlined for the board the eight major goals the foundation has set for itself in the coming year.

Here is a brief look at those goals.

• PEAK: The foundation wants to ensure continued funding for PEAK, which stands for Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten readiness is Pottstown’s signature early education program. It partners with pre-schools and childcare providers to get youngsters read for school.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130105/NEWS01/130109773/foundation-for-pottstown-education-outlines-2013-goals#full_story

Pottstown School Board Will Keep Property Tax Hike To 2.4% State Limit

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — The Pottstown School Board will limit a property tax increase for the 2013-14 school year to 2.4 percent.

Each year about this time, under the state’s Act 1 legislation, school boards must decide whether to have the administration prepare a preliminary budget for examination, or pledge simply to keep beneath the state-determined index or “cap” for any property tax increases required as part of the budget that gets adopted in June.

The law requires that decision to be made 111 days prior to the spring primary.

That’s because if the board decides it wants to adopt a budget with a tax hike higher than the index allows, it must be approved by voters in that election.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130104/NEWS01/130109843/pottstown-school-board-will-keep-property-tax-hike-to-2-4-state-limit#full_story

Ron Downie Reflects On 20 Years In Pottstown Public Service

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Very nice article by Evan Brandt on Ron Downie’s public service to Pottstown.

POTTSTOWN — When Ron Downie first came to the Pottstown area as an infant, his family for a time got water from a hand-pumped well and used an outhouse at a home outside Harmonyville.

Now, he composes poetry on a hand-held electronic device thinner than most books of poetry and shares his words with the mere touch of a button.

All of which is to say he has seen times change.  And he has changed with them.

One of four children of Scottish immigrants, Downie has alternately been a landscaper, a Firestone plant worker, a bartender, a ski-slope operator, a school board member, the president of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area and the AMBUCS and the Building and Industries Exchange.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121231/NEWS01/121239979/ron-downie-reflects-on-20-years-in-pottstown-public-service-#full_story

Pottstown Council, School Board Want To Work Closer

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Two Roy’s Rants thumbs up to Acting Superintendent Jeff Sparagana for being proactive!

POTTSTOWN — When it comes to getting along, it could be said that the borough and school district governments in Pottstown sometimes get along like siblings on a long car trip.

Acting Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana is among the first to admit that and did so Wednesday when he told borough council that “it is important to acknowledge and recognize there have been breakdowns in the relationship between the borough and the school district in the past.”

But he was also the first to offer an olive branch in pursuit of a new era of cooperation.

Appearing before council during the Wednesday work session, Sparagana prefaced a presentation of the district’s land development plans for Rupert, Franklin and Lincoln elementary schools with a statement — and an apology.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121209/NEWS01/121209423/pottstown-council-school-board-want-to-work-closer#full_story

Thomas Hylton Mentioned In Morning Call Article About Bethlehem School District Building Project

Editor’s note:  This is priceless!!! 

…By sticking to Roy’s timeline, the district will not invite a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historic preservation advocate, Thomas Hylton, to tour Nitschmann as south Bethlehem resident Stephen Antalics had requested.

Board President Michael Faccinetto said Hylton, who had argued in a recent Morning Call editorial for the cheapest possible renovation of Nitschmann, could present his views at a public meeting.  But Faccinetto said the district would not allow Hylton a private tour of Nitschmann as he had gotten at Broughal before the building was torn down to make room for the new school and its athletic fields.

“The last time he came here, he billed the district $5,000 for his services,” Faccinetto said.

On Nov. 20, Hylton, a member of the Pottstown School Board and president of the nonprofit group Save Our Land, Save Our Towns, said he never offered to tour Nitschmann.  He said he did not know his name was being bantered around the district.

“All I ever did was write the piece in the op-ed,” Hylton said…

Read the whole story here:  http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-bethlehem-nitschmann-broughal-20121126,0,5200349.story

Pottstown School District And Teachers Agree On 3-Year Pact

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA — With a unanimous vote Thursday night, the Pottstown School Board signed off on a three-year contract with the teachers union.

The Federation of Pottstown Teachers had approved the pact earlier in the week, said School Board Solicitor Stephen Kalis.

Under the terms of the agreement, retroactive to Sept. 1, teachers will received a 1 percent raise and a “full-step increase,” on March 15, 2013.

Tuition reimbursement has been changed to provide a maximum of $3,000 for those who receive an “A;” $2,500 for those who obtain a “B” average and nothing for those who score less than a “B.”

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121019/NEWS01/121019287/pottstown-schools-and-teachers-agree-on-3-year-pact&pager=full_story

Property Taxes Are Killing Pottstown

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This is a well-written opinion piece from the Fishwrap that was sent to Governor Corbett and other state and local officials.  Sums up the state of Pottstown pretty well.

An open letter sent to Gov. Corbett and copied to state Rep. Thomas Quigley and Pottstown Mayor Bonnie Heath.

Gov. Corbett:

There’s a lovely stone house for sale on High Street in Pottstown.  Yes, it’s our house.  It’s reasonably priced and has piqued the curiosity of many prospective buyers but one item makes them turn and run.  “What is so frightening?” you ask.  It’s the property taxes!  Over $7,500 per year on a house assessed at $150,000.  That’s outrageous!  We have friends in other Montgomery County communities such as Springfield Township, Abington and Upper Dublin.  Their houses are assessed higher than ours but, in some cases, they pay less than half our taxes.  There is something drastically wrong with this scenario.  Pottstown ranks seventh in school taxes out of 500 Pennsylvania districts.  We also rank at the top for producing underachieving students.  We have 13.4 percent of our residents over 65, an inordinate number of Section 8 and transient residents in this blue-collar town, and high unemployment.  Property values are spiraling downward, creating a dismal sinking into the quicksand of urban destruction.

Our delusional council and school board keep raising taxes as though we were a booming town but we’ve lost our industrial base that employed hundreds at Bethlehem Steel, Firestone, Mrs. Smith’s Pies and other long-gone businesses.  Sadly, we’ve also had to say good-bye to our wonderful Pottstown Symphony.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120928/OPINION02/120929459/property-taxes-are-killing-pottstown

Superintendent’s Resignation Stuns Pottstown School Board

Editor’s note:  I am unfortunately not surprised by this.  I am guessing this is just another person who is tired of banging his/her head against “the proverbial wall” trying to make things better for Pottstown.  The assembly flap might have been the last straw but there is more to this than just one incident. 

Maybe it’s the constant barrage of criticism being lobbed by the Fishwrap at community leaders that helps push them out of town.  People like Jason Bobst and Reed Lindley always have other options.  After a while, no matter how good someone’s intentions are, people reach a saturation point and “walk away” to save what’s left of their sanity.

It’s a vicious cycle in Pottstown.  My condolences to the new Borough Manager and Superintendent of Schools.

POTTSTOWN, PA — Reed Lindley stunned the school board and the community Thursday night by resigning as superintendent, effective immediately.

Lindley, who was not present for the regular board meeting, submitted his letter of resignation to the board, citing only “personal reasons” for his decision.

Following a 30-minute, closed-door executive session at the opening of the meeting, a somber-faced school board returned to the meeting room and unanimously accepted his resignation.

The resignation comes on the heels of community outrage over a three-hour assembly at Pottstown High School in which a speaker extolling the virtues of entrepreneurship also challenged students to sell coffee to compete for an iPad.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120921/NEWS01/120929898/reed-lindley-resigns-as-pottstown-schools-superintendent&pager=full_story

Pottstown School Board Rejects Second Look At School Project Plans

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN — With a 7-3 vote Thursday night, the school board rejected a proposal to suspend work on designing additions to three elementary schools to allow the potential to save as much as $6.5 million to be explored.

The proposal, made by school board member Thomas Hylton, sought to take advantage of a recent change in long-standing state policy that was made with the passage of the most recent budget in Harrisburg.

Throughout the many years of discussion on the elementary school project, it has been state policy that it will not provide reimbursement to any school construction project that does not eliminate the use of modular classrooms.

The need to meet this requirement is among those driving the decision to add between 12 to 14 classrooms in additions to Rupert, Lincoln and Franklin elementary schools, which is where the $24 million project now stands.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120803/NEWS01/120809803/pottstown-school-board-rejects-second-look-at-school-project-plans&pager=full_story

Montco Commissioners Tell Pottstown The Era Of The “Big Check” Is Over

Editor’s note:  What else is new.  The county is over involved in Pottstown‘s affairs and has helped to create a great deal of the problems Pottstown and Norristown both face by making them the dumping group for Section 8 Housing and social services.  Now we just wash our hands and say “see ya”.  Typical!

POTTSTOWN, Pa. — Say goodbye to the big, giant check.

That was one of several messages Montgomery County Commissioners Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards had for Pottstown officials last week during a rare joint meeting of borough council, school board and members of the board of Pottstown Area Industrial Development, or PAID.

Officially, the joint meeting was also the required annual meeting of PAID at which the executive director, Steve Bamford, is required to give a report on the activities of the year before.

But since Bamford was not hired until November, there was not much to tell.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120529/NEWS01/120529365/montco-commissioners-tell-pottstown-era-of-the-big-check-is-over-(video)