The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – Unionized custodial and maintenance workers in the Pottsgrove School District, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Local 384 of Norristown PA, have reached tentative agreement with the district on terms of a three-year labor contract, the  Board of School Directors announced Tuesday (Sept. 22, 2009)

Directors unanimously voted to accept the deal, which covers about 30 employees and grants average wage increases of 2.75 percent in its first year, and 2.65 percent in its second and third years, respectively. Health care benefits and health insurance co-payment levels were changed to mirror those now received by Pottsgrove teachers, district Business Administrator David Nester said.

The contract also adds two new “head custodian” positions at Pottsgrove’s high and middle schools, which will be paid at a premium hourly rate, Nester added.

The contract has yet to be ratified by union members.

A vote on the agreement had not been scheduled as part of the board’s agenda Tuesday. Directors adjourned briefly at the start of their meeting in the district offices on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, for an executive session that President Michael Neiffer said would specifically involve “contract negotiations.” It lasted about 10 minutes.

The board’s approval came at the end of the meeting. Directors Jodi Adams and Philip Keogh were absent and did not vote.

The last contract between the district and the Teamsters ended June 30 (2009). It, too, was for three years.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors meeting of Sept. 22):

• McCarrick, Relocating, Resigns From School Board

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POTTSTOWN PA – Keith McCarrick of Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Township, who was first elected to the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors in 2003, resigned from office effective Tuesday night (Sept. 22, 2009) because he said he will be moving out of the district.

Meeting adjourned.

President Michael Neiffer recalled that McCarrick had worked on the board in several capacities over the years, and particularly during what Neiffer referred to as occasionally difficult times. He thanked McCarrick for his service and dedication to the district. Board members voted to accept his letter of resignation, with regret.

“It’s been enjoyable,” McCarrick said, after the meeting, of his terms as a director.

Board Solicitor Kyle Berman reminded remaining directors they would be required to fill McCarrick’s vacancy in 30 days. District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis said the administration would quickly advertise to seek potential replacement candidates for board appointment to complete the remainder of McCarrick’s current term of office.

Because of the immediacy of McCarrick’s resignation, Neiffer also named alternates to attend upcoming board meetings of the Western Center for Technical Studies, at which McCarrick and fellow director April Kontostathis serve as Pottsgrove’s representatives.

McCarrick often was the school board member who, after meetings of any duration, smiled and officially called for the end to a session. As Pottsgrove’s meeting came to a close Tuesday at about 9:30 p.m., Neiffer stretched his arm and pointed to McCarrick on his left, who for a final time grinned and announced, “Motion to adjourn!”

There was no objection, but McCarrick and several other directors milled around his corner of the conference table in the district offices on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, talking for several minutes afterward and shaking hands.

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SANATOGA PA – Most of its members miss the dinner hour when the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Planning Commission holds its monthly meeting, because the board convenes at 6:30 p.m. Rather than suffer the indignity of indigestion as some developer rambles on about his or her newest project, commissioners usually delay their meals until after their meeting ends.

A sign on the door said "Nobody's here."

Presumably, they all feasted well and on time Monday night (Sept. 21, 2009). The commission, which had been scheduled to meet at the township municipal buiding, 2199 Buchert Road, Pottstown PA, canceled its session.

No reason was given in a printed message about the meeting posted on the building’s front doors, although others this year were similarly abandoned because the board lacked any significant business to consider. Developments and new construction are, like so many other things, victims of the recession.

The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m., again in the municipal building.

Unless it too is canceled.

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Fame and fortune may be only your first sale away ... or not.

LOS ANGELES CA – OK, here’s the pitch. You’re a first-time home SELLER; that buying thing has been so-o-o-o done to death already. And you’re in the Philadelphia area (Sanatoga PA, Limerick PA, Pottstown PA all qualify. For all the world knows, maybe Reading PA does too). And you want to be on television in one of those prime-time reality shows.

Here’s your chance for 15 minutes – no, wait, make that a half-hour – of fame.

HGTV – the Scripps broadcasting network known for hits like “Designers Portfolio” and “Rate My Space” – is preparing to air a new program called “My First Sale,” and says it’s “looking for fun, high-energy people who are just starting the process of selling their first place” in the “Philadelphia metro area.”

“We’ll be there to capture all the trials and tribulations, stress and success of prepping for sale, pricing, negotiating, and ultimately selling a home for the first time,” the program’s creators, High Noon Entertainment, said in a news report carried Monday (Sept. 21, 2009) by Fwix.com.

Ideal candidates, according to High Noon’s Cindy Baggish, will be “motivated, financially candid people who want to share the experience and the purchase details” with HGTV and its audience. Singles, couples and families all are welcome to apply.

Home sellers who participate in the program will receive a DVD copy of the episode in which they appear, as will real estate agents involved in the deal-making. Taping is scheduled to begin this fall and will continue through Spring 2010.

Interested? Request an application from Baggish via e-mail, or call her at 303-712-3093.

Photo from the Calgary Real Estate Blog.com

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SANATOGA PA – It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s convenient. It’s even high-tech electronic wizardry of the future!

Who said paying a sewer bill couldn’t be fun?

The home page at the OfficialPayments.com website.

The Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Sewer Authority, which is responsible for operating public water and sewer services in the township, reports that its quarterly bills can now be paid online or by phone, either using popular credit cards, under a new arrangement with Official Payments Corp.

Official Payments describes itself as “a leading provider of electronic payment solutions” for the federal Internal Revenue Service, as well as states, municipalities, colleges and universities nationwide.

Township residents who want to pay their sewer bills online should point their Internet web browsers to http://www.officialpayments.com and, at its home page, select the “local payments” option and follow the resulting directions. Those who wish to pay by phone should call Official Payments at 1-800-272-9829 and, during processing, specify “Jurisdiction Code 4861.”

There is a cost to the convenience, the township notes on its website. A fee will be charged by, and paid directly to, Official Payments for using its service. Lower Pottsgrove reports it will not receive any portion of the fee.

Sewer bills can still be paid by mail, at P.O. Box 512525, Philadelphia PA, 19175-2525. That’s got a fee, too: the Postal Service bargain of 44 cents for a first-class stamp.

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They won't be visited by a bus from Lower Pottsgrove next month.

SANATOGA PA – The October 2009 bus trip didn’t fly, but hold out hope for a  November wine and dinner event.

American Girl Place in New York.

A motor coach trip that had been scheduled for next month to the American Girl Place toy doll retail store in New York City – and free time for excursions in the Big Apple by those who wanted to see something other than dolls – has been canceled by the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Parks and Recreation Department due to insufficient public participation, according to a notice on the township website.

The parks and recreation board announced in late August it would begin scheduling trips with its counterparts in adjacent Limerick and New Hanover (PA) townships to create efficiencies, reduce costs, and potentially generate higher ridership. That didn’t happen for American Girl, its first outing, perhaps because the joint program is still new.

The departments are now collectively planning for a November wine and dinner affair, tentatively hosted by Limerick’s Parks and Recreation Board, at the historic Smithville Inn in southern New Jersey. Details are expected to be announced soon. A trip to the Longwood Gardens‘ Christmas display is similarly set to be hosted by New Hanover Township in December.

If you’ve got a trip suggestion, or have questions about the townships-sponsored program, call Jennifer Corley in the Lower Pottsgrove municipal building, 2199 Buchert Road, Pottstown PA, at 610-323-0436 Ext. 207, or send her an e-mail.

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KING OF PRUSSIA PA – You call it mowing grass, cutting weeds and trimming branches. Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation calls it “vegetation maintenance.”

No matter how they’re described, the 422Improvements.com website on Monday (Sept. 21, 2009) said these and related PennDOT tasks likely will cause drivers to encounter intermittent lane restrictions on U.S. Route 422 – from U.S. Route 202 in King of Prussia PA west to PA Route 100 in Pottstown PA – between Wednesday and Friday (Sept. 23-25, 2009) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Also, drivers can anticipate these potential Route 422 interruptions:

• Nightly through Thursday (Sept. 24, 2009) from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., road re-paving on the eastbound and westbound lanes between U.S. Route 202 in King of Prussia and PA Route 23 in Valley Forge;
• Daily through Friday (Sept. 25, 2009), road reconstruction from 10 a.m. to 5 a.m. on the eastbound lane across Upper Providence and Limerick townships from the PA Route 29 interchange at Collegeville-Phoenixville to the Royersford interchange, with reductions from two lanes to one; and
• Daily through Friday (Sept. 25, 2009), road reconstruction from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the westbound lane across Limerick and Upper Providence townships from the Royersford interchange to the PA Route 29 interchange at Collegeville-Phoenixville, with reductions from two lanes to one.

422Improvements.com is a website of the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association, with offices in King of Prussia and Pottstown.

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Pottsgrove marchers perform on the field Saturday in Landisville PA, as alto sax soloist Andrew Koss plays Santana's "Black Magic Woman."

POTTSTOWN PA – The Pottsgrove High School Marching Band placed second Saturday (Sept. 19, 2009) among seven bands in its Independence Division, with a score of 69.25, during a Cavalcade of Bands-sanctioned marching band competition at Hempfield High School in Landisville PA, northwest of Lancaster.

Trophies awaited the winners.

Donegal High School in Mount Joy PA, only a few miles from where the competition was staged, took first place in the division with a score of 70.80. Others competitors were Bermudian Springs, 68.80, 3rd place; Lebanon Catholic, 65.60, 4th; York Catholic, 64.35, 5th; Halifax, 63.05, 6th; and Wissahickon, 62.60, 7th. See an official results tally for all divisions here.

Cavalcade lovers have reason to look ahead, too. “There are going to be two great local marching band shows soon,” Pottsgrove band booster Fred Remelius notes.

Boyertown High School conducts its 50th annual show next weekend (Sept. 26-27, 2009), and Owen J. Roberts High School has scheduled a show for Oct. 3 (2009). About 20 bands – including many from high schools in the Greater Pottstown area – are expected to perform at each, with more than 1,000 total musicians and a wide variety of show styles.

They’ll present about 5 hours of “really great, inexpensive family entertainment,” Remelius adds.

Photos by Fred Remelius

Editor’s Note: The Post thanks Fred Remelius for e-mailing the material used in this article. The Post welcomes reader contributions! Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

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They paid how much?

POTTSTOWN PA – The top price paid for a home within the township from July 6-10, 2009, was $348,311, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reports. The home is located at 8 Lee Dr.

A second home, at 1254 Oakdale Dr., sold for $185,000.

This week’s top reported prices were listed Sunday (Sept. 20, 2009) in “The Top 50,” the newspaper’s weekly review of highest prices paid for homes sold within the city of Philadelphia and townships in its surrounding counties.

By contrast, during the same period, the top home sales price in Pottstown PA Borough, immediately to the west was $164,900; Limerick PA Township, east, $558,706; New Hanover PA Township, northeast, $459,000; Upper Pottsgrove PA Township, west, $228,519; and in North Coventry PA Township, south, none listed.

Related:

• What They Sold For, July 6-10, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 29-July 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 22-26, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 15-19, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 8-12, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 1-5, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 25-29, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 18-22, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 11-15, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 4-8, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 27-May 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 20-24, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 13-17, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 2-12, 2009, was unavailable
• What They Sold For, March 30-April 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 19-27, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 18-20, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 5-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 26-March 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 18-25, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 4-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 19-27, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 10-18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 1-9, 2009
• What They Sold For, Dec. 22-31, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 26-Dec. 5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 18-24, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 10-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 20-27, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 13-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 6-10, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 29 -Oct. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 22-26, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 1-5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 25-29, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 18-22, 2008

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It takes tough firemen to barbecue tender chicken.

SANATOGA PA – Twice a year, members of the Sanatoga Fire Company get folks lickin’ their fingers as if they’d never eat again. Saturday (Sept. 19, 2009) was no different, as the company held its annual fall chicken barbecue fund-raiser for hundreds of paying guests at the fire hall, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown PA.

Although volunteers began serving at 3 p.m., preparations began early in the morning. Crews emptied the garages of trucks and equipment, and parked them behind the fire hall. Then some set up tables inside, while others established fire pits out back, filled them with bags of charcoal, and got them smouldering with a propane torch. Still others prepared chicken and sauce, then set the birds out for a slow, smoky, flavorful grilling as the tickets sold.

For the record, in addition to a half-chicken, the menu included baked potato, baked beans, cole slaw, roll, ice cream, and beverage.

The best way to get charcoal glowing? A propane torch.

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