The Sanatoga Post

• Boys 8th Basketball at Pottstown, 3:30 p.m.
• Girls 8th Basketball at home vs. Pottstown, 3:30 p.m.
• Boys 7th Basketball at Pottstown, 4:30 p.m.
• Girls 7th Basketball at home vs. Pottstown, 4:30 p.m.

Provided by HighSchoolSports.net

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, Jan. 24

• Final Monday For Tree Recycling
  Next week holds the last opportunity for this year to recycle your Christmas tree in Lower Pottsgrove.
• Celebrate With The Falcons
  The PAC-10 Football banquet is scheduled for Feb. 8; show your support, end enjoy supper too.
• Thank Yew. Thank Yew Vera Much
  Elvis, or someone who looks and sings like him, headlines the show next Saturday at Sunnybrook Ballroom.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports for Jan. 24, 2009
  Who’s playing what, when, and where in the Pottsgrove School District.

Friday, Jan. 23

• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
  A sole member of the public commented in Limerick during a hearing Thursday on the additional shopping center proposed for the south side of Sanatoga’s interchange on U.S. Route 422.
• Ca-Ching! Goes Lower Pottsgrove
  To do almost anything in the township, you need a permit. To get a permit, you’ll pay a fee. Fees add up to thousands of dollars annually in supplemental revenue.
• Feb. 6 Is ‘Wear Red Day’
  A hospital promotion aims to make women aware of heart disease risks. The color is the key.
• Hold ‘Em Or Fold ‘Em Tuesday
  Senior citizen poker-players can buy in and practice their skills in a card game not for the faint-hearted.
• Diamond Program Offers Car Discounts
  A Lower Pottsgrove credit union provides incentives to buyers of new GM or Chrysler cars.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports for Jan. 23, 2009
  Who’s playing what, when, and where in the Pottsgrove School District.

Thursday, Jan. 22

• Industrial Plant Begins Repair
  A work crew was on site Thursday at Valtech Corp. in Lower Pottsgrove to repair a hole in its building, reportedly caused by an explosion and fire.
• Surprise! Township Board Cancels Meeting
  A Lower Pottsgrove Township hearing on sex offender residency restrictions, scheduled tonight, won’t be held. Commissioners won’t meet again until Feb. 2. No explanation offered.
• Stuff To Do This Weekend
  Model trains in Phoenixville (comin’ round the bend). Painting on glass in Schwenksville (what color is clear?). And smoking meat (yummy) at the Peter Wentz Farmstead.
• Entrepreneurs, You’re Not Alone
  Get business help during a SCORE workshop next week in Pottstown.
• Aldi Looks To New Stores
  It intends to open 75 new supermarkets this year, much like the one already operating in Lower Pottsgrove.
• PMSI Sets Diabetes Seminars
  The Lower Pottsgrove medical firm hopes to start patients off right, with educational programs, during the new year.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports for Jan. 22, 2009
  Who’s playing what, when, and where in the Pottsgrove School District.

Wednesday, Jan. 21

• More Local Homes On Sale Block
  In Lower Pottsgrove Township, 11 foreclosed homes are the subject of sheriff’s sales scheduled through next month.
• ‘Change Has Come To America’
  As his first official act, President Barack Obama proclaimed a National Day of Renewal and Reconcillation.
• Mid-Terms Delayed By Weather
  At Pottsgrove High School, tests were only put off, not canceled. Sorry ’bout that.
• Berean Schedules Wild Game Dinner
  If your taste buds are a bit adventurous, a Sanatoga church has announced its annual fund-raising treat.
• Dental Exams Scheduled At Ringing
  Parents can opt for a private dentist, but the school nurse must be notified.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports for Jan. 21, 2009
  Who’s playing what, when, and where in the Pottsgrove School District.

Tuesday, Jan. 20

• A Big Day! Inauguration, And Mid-Terms
  Pottsgrove High School students start the day off with the same high hopes of the nation’s new commander-in-chief: passing tests and making the grade.
• A Grim Reminder Of Obama’s Challenges
  Need to file an unemployment compensation claim in Pennsylvania. You can do it by phone or online, during expanded hours.
• Dent Votes To Renew Child Health Insurance
  If it passes the Senate like it did the House, Lower Pottsgrove’s congressman says, a federal law would authorize $35 billion in health insurance coverage for children in low-income families.
• Chamber Mixer Features Artists
  TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce members gather to shake hands, exchange ideas, and soak in a little cult’cha.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports for Jan. 20, 2009
  Who’s playing what, when, and where in the Pottsgrove School District.

Monday, Jan. 19

• Dome Rises At Sportsplex
  The glistening white bubble on Industrial Highway houses a synthetic turf field on which outdoor sports will be played indoors year-round, no matter what the weather.
• KnitOut Raises Thousands For Relay
  Organizers of Saturday’s fifth annual Pottstown KnitOut to benefit the fight against cancer say they raised thousands of dollars. See 66 photos in a Post gallery.
• World Series Fever Deja Vu
  The glittering 2008 World Series Trophy, now the proud possession of the Phillies baseball team, goes on display Thursday only a short drive from Sanatoga.
• Next Month With The Homeschoolers
  Teaching children at home takes hard work and lots of preparation. The people who do it gather soon to swap ideas and help each other.
• Literacy Training Scheduled Saturday
  Help someone learn to read ‘The Post,’ or anything else, for that matter. Training is scheduled in Sanatoga.
• Swing Saturday In Sunnybrook
  Swing dancing returns once more to the Sanatoga ballroom that helped make it popular.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports For Jan. 19, 2009
  Who’s playing what, where, and when today in the Pottsgrove School District.
• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of highest prices paid for homes in Lower Pottsgrove and surrounding municipalities.

Sunday, Jan. 18

• ‘The Post’ Week In Review
  For Jan. 11-17, 2009.

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Recycle it.

SANATOGA PA – Monday (Jan. 26, 2009) is the last day this year for Christmas tree recycling.

Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township strongly encourages its residents to ensure their trees are recycled. Trees should be placed at curbside Monday for  pick-up in a collection separate from regular refuse.

If, by Tuesday, your tree is not picked up by the recycling crew, notify a township staff member at the municipal building, 610-323-0436.

Photo by Miguel Saavedra

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LIMERICK PA – Members of the Pottsgrove High School Falcons‘ football team will be honored for their championship play and sportsmanship during the Football PAC 10-Championship Banquet to be held Feb. 8 (2009; Sunday) at 2:30 p.m. at The Lakeside Inn, 594 W. Ridge Pike.

The public is welcome to attend. Tickets cost $25 per person. For more information or to buy tickets, e-mail JointheFrenzy@aol.com.

• This event has been added to The Post’s February calendar.

SANATOGA PA – Impersonator Jesse Garron brings Elvis Presley to life Saturday (Jan. 31, 2009) at 8 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd. Garon-as-Elvis will sing, dance and offer a memorable show. Tickets cost $20 in advance, and $25 at the door. For more information, call 484-624-5186 or visit the ballroom’s website.

• This event has been added to The Post’s January calendar.

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• Coed Varsity Indoor Track at Kutztown University, 9 a.m.
• Girls JV Basketball at Allentown Central Catholic, 1:00 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Basketball at Allentown Central Catholic, 2:30 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Wrestling at Spring-Ford HS, 6 p.m.

Provided by HighSchoolSports.net

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Thursday night in Limerick at the Sanatoga Springs hearing.

LIMERICK PA – Vicki Hernandez remembers – and doesn’t want to see repeated – the nightmare of more than a year ago, when cars clogged a narrow portion of Lightcap Road as their drivers steered toward discounts at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets. Don’t get her wrong: Hernandez welcomes the retailers, even new ones coming to the proposed Sanatoga Springs complex. She just hopes their traffic isn’t continually passing her home’s front steps.

Which, it turns out, might have more to do with GPS devices than highway design.

Hernandez was the only member of the public to comment Thursday (Jan. 22, 2009) at a hearing held by the township Board of Supervisors on conditional use of 60 acres at Lightcap and Evergreen Roads. If approved, the property is destined to become Sanatoga Springs. Before a packed house at the township municipal building, 646 W. Ridge Pike, the board accepted testimony from Hernandez and proponents, and said it would make a decision in 45 days.

A court stenographer was on hand to create an official transcript of the hearing.

Representatives of Sanatoga Springs developer O’Neill Properties Group spoke at length and answered board members’ questions. The township’s traffic engineer offered suggestions on automobile routing and signaling, which prompted Hernandez to speak. Other than that, the hearing was notable both for its silence in the presence of several dozen people, and for the fact that national wholesaler Costco was confirmed as anchor tenant for the development’s first phase.

Among those in the audience were Lower Pottsgrove Commissioner Anthony Doyle, and former Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners‘ President Tom Troutman.

O’Neill proposes to build Sanatoga Springs on the southeast side of the U.S. Route 422 interchange at Sanatoga, immediately east of the outlets. Bordered by 422 and Lightcap and Evergreen Roads, it would include Costco in a store of 148,000 square feet; four smaller store or restaurant sites of between 10,000 and 17,000 square feet each, and a bank of 3,500 square feet. Surrounding parking lots would accommodate several hundred cars.

The plans presented Tuesday constitute only an opening stage of the project, closest to 422 on about a third of its total acreage. Second and third phases, which were displayed but not discussed during the hearing, involve a second shopping area of a smaller anchor tenant and adjacent stores, and a residential area of several three-story multiple-unit buildings, respectively. Separate hearings will be required for those phases, township Solicitor Joseph McGrory noted.

The outlets next door opened on 78 acres in November 2007. Traffic to them has, at times, slowed to a crawl on 422 and feeder roads like Lightcap. Hernandez didn’t oppose the retail businesses that attract shoppers; they’re “good for the township” and its economy, she said. She worried, though, that the township wasn’t doing enough to re-direct drivers who rely on global positioning satellite (GPS) devices to reach the area by exiting 422 at Sanatoga.

It’s easier said than done, township Manager Daniel Kerr said. He’s checked with map-makers and others whose information is fed to in-car GPS units from satellites circling high above the equator in space. Their wizard-like technology can, and does, properly direct traffic east on 422 to Sanatoga, and then from the interchange to Lightcap, Kerr said, but only if software is updated on individual units. That’s a driver’s responsibility, he noted.

Most of the formal and highly structured hearing consisted of pleasant, and sometimes intentionally funny, exchanges between McGrory and O’Neill’s legal counsel.

Related:

• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

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If a parade costs $10, and a motorcade costs $10, is there a discount for a motorcade within the parade? Just wondering ...

SANATOGA PA – What’s it cost to do business, or almost anything else, within Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township? Eleven spell-binding pages will tell you.

By the way, they’re among the few things that are free.

The township’s 2009 schedule of “fees, deposits and escrows,” approved last month (Dec. 18, 2008) by its Board of Commissioners, is now available for download (at no charge) from the township website. The 11-page document – 12, if you count its blank back page – covers fees for a wide range of services from the police department, to code enforcement, to zoning approval, and more.

Included are prices the township charges those who want to:

• Hold a parade or motorcade ($10, ticker-tape not included);
• Sell products from house-to-house ($75 on foot, $100 in a car);
• Have a building plan reviewed ($1,500 if the building will cost more than $5 million to construct, less for cheaper structures);
• Get a permit to install a solar hot water heating system ($115 for commercial use, $45 for residential use);
• Obtain a copy of a police department accident report ($15 if the accident was reported to the state, $5 if not); or
• Make a photocopy of a single-page document (25 cents).

Over the period of a year, the accumulated fees shown in the rate schedule add up to tens of thousands of dollars in supplemental revenue in the township budget. Most of the described services are available at the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd.

A paper copy of the fee schedule, rather than one that’s downloaded, will likely cost $2.75 in photocopy fees … excluding that blank page.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Township 2009 budget):

• Library’s Funding On Its Way
• Township Budget Passed, Library Funding’s Back
• Budget Resolutions In The Spotlight
• Township Expects Givers’ Pinch
• Keep Library Funding, School Board Asks
• Trump Card In The Budget Discussion
• Commissioners: Damned If They Did, And …
• Township Budget Summary Online
• First Glance At Lower Pottsgrove’s Budget
• Make No Mistake, It’s Not Final
• A Difference In Openness
• Tax Rates On Township Agenda
• Board Proclaims No Tax Increase Intent
• 2009 Budget On Board’s Agenda

Photo from Clipart.com

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Doesn't have to be a dress, either.

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) intends to join thousands of Americans nationwide in observing “Wear Red Day” on Feb. 6 (2009; Friday) to promote local awareness about women’s risk of heart disease. PMMC employees, volunteers, and visitors are being encouraged to wear something red during the day, which has been observed annually since 2004 on the first Friday in February.

The hospital’s touch of red will be found among its cafeteria staff, who will wear red clothing and distribute free apples to anyone wearing red.  Its female patients will receive a red dress pin free on their meal trays, and free information about heart health will be available.

The day presents “a great opportunity to reach out to women in our community and alert them” about heart disease, says PMMC Community Health Specialist Pat Eltz, RN, MSN. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) reports only 20 percent of women identify heart disease as a significant health problem. Most fail to make a connection between its risk factors and their personal risk of developing heart disease, the institute says.

Photo by Cezar Perelles

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Deal, pardner.

POTTSTOWN PA – A Texas Hold’Em tournament for poker players will be the featured entertainment Tuesday (Jan. 27, 2009) at 1 p.m. in the Pottstown Area Seniors Center, 724 N. Adams St. Admission, in the form of a $10 buy-in fee, will be collected from participants. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 610-323-5009.

The Seniors Center receives financial support annually from Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township.

Photo by Todd Klassy

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