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Lower Pottsgrove Manager Rodney Hawthorne shows off the latest historical gift to the township.

POTTSTOWN PA – A local real estate agent whose family has deep roots in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township has made the most recent contribution to the municipality’s historical archives.

David Prizer, who grew up living on Buchert Road and whose father, Stanley, was Lower Pottsgrove’s first building inspector and zoning codes enforcement officer, has donated two business ledgers formerly kept by his father to the township, Manager Rodney Hawthorne recently told the Board of Commissioners. Both list and detail transactions conducted by Stanley Prizer on behalf of the township in years between 1956 and 1970, Hawthorne said.

“What’s fascinating about these,” Hawthorne added, “is the ability to compare them to today. Back in 1956, to get a building permit for a new home cost only $5,” he said, pointing to the books’ pages as they lay open on the board’s conference room table for commissioners to examine. Today’s cost for new home permits and associated paperwork, according to Hawthorne, totals about $8,000.

Even the ledgers were inexpensive in the ’50s, the manager said, as he looked at a price sticker on the inside front cover. At the time, the bound book with lined pages cost less than $4.

Commissioners asked Hawthorne to author a letter of thanks to Prizer, expressing their appreciation for the gift. The ledgers will be kept in the township building for display, Hawthorne said.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ March 18 meeting):

• Notebook Worthy
• Township Hires Consultant To Find Interchange Business
• Zoning, Subdivision Laws On Township’s Agenda

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POTTSTOWN PA – Unusual.

That’s one way to describe Tuesday night’s (March 23, 2010) meeting of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors. Held at the district offices on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, the session was unusually filled with examples in economics, unusually book-ended by two executive sessions and, as a consequence, unusually lengthy.

State, national and local economies took center stage as board members discussed the proposed renovation and expansion of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, 1401 Kauffman Rd., and the potential need in coming years to replace aging mechanical systems at Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd.

Message sign outside Ringing Rocks Elementary School.

District Business Administrator David Nester, a certified public accountant who has monitored Pennsylvania Department of Education reimbursement trends for school construction over a period of years, grimly told directors the “state budget is broke. I’m not sure resources are there for another program” – such as improvements at the high school – “in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Nester’s flatly delivered statement suggests the department’s partial refunds to school districts for capital projects – known in Pottsgrove and elsewhere as PlanCon – might be dramatically reduced or even disappear in coming years. Local taxpayers alone, it hints, may be required to shoulder more or all of the bills for future building renovations.

Seconds of silence that followed as Nester’s comment sunk in provided an opening for director Robert Lindgren to characterize the economic turbulence as an “unprecedented time.” Lindgren pointed to what he claimed were even more distressing signs of trouble ahead:

• Estimates by Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders in the House and Senate that Pennsylvania’s 2010 fiscal year will end in June with a deficit of at least $550 million. Other estimates on the same shortfall range as high as $4 billion.
• An “exceedingly rare” event Monday (March 22), according to a fixed-income strategist, in which buyers of two-year debt sold by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to accept interest rates lower than those that will be paid by the federal government for U.S. Treasury debt of the same length. In effect, creditors indicated they trusted Buffett more to repay them than the government.
• The price of electricity, which is expected to rise dramatically in 2011 because rate caps imposed a decade ago by the state Legislature are ending. If, as proposed, the Ringing Rocks renovation makes far greater use of electricity than in years past, the district’s utility costs might skyrocket, Lindgren said.

All bolster his contention, Lindgren added, that the Ringing Rocks project needs to be scaled back in size and cost before construction begins.

It isn’t that simple, board member April Kontostathis countered. At this point in the process, she noted, “we either choose to go forward with Ringing Rocks as is, or not.” She got no argument from Lindgren. “Right now,” he responded, “it’s all just lines on paper and words on a computer. They can be changed.”

The exchange occurred about 2-1/2 hours into board discussions that actually began with an executive session which started before the directors’ regular 7:30 p.m. meeting. President Michael Neiffer announced the board had conducted an earlier, closed-to-the-public session to discuss “a real estate matter,” and that following the meeting it would hold a second closed session to “consider personnel issues.”

The public meeting ended at about 9:15 p.m., and the second session was reported by one participant to be longer than the first. That likely means board members didn’t go home until 10 p.m. or later, as much as four hours after they arrived.

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• Geothermal Now ‘Locked’ Into Ringing Re-Build
• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• Less Is More In School Project, Planners Learn
• Bids Sought For Ringing Project Asbestos Removal
• Ringing Relocation Decision Possible In Two Weeks
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pottsgrove Student Enrollment: Up? Yes. Down? Yes Again
• Green Discussion At Ringing Results In Red Faces
• Pottsgrove, Archdiocese Still Discussing Pius Lease
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Discussion Set For Tonight
• In The Ringing Rebuild, Whither Pius?
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Plan: Modulars At MS
• Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
• District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
• Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
• As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• District OKs Architect Negotiations
• Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
• Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
• Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
• Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
• Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
• No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
• Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
• Framing The Rocks Discussion
• Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
• District Invites Public For Study Results
• A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ March 23 meeting):

• Geothermal Now ‘Locked’ Into Ringing Re-Build
• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• School Board ‘Topic A’ Tonight? Bet On The Budget

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Pottsgrove student cast members perform this weekend in the musical "All Shook Up." See Friday's listings, below.

SANATOGA PA – Weekend activities for western Montgomery County residents (and anyone else!), March 26-28, 2010:

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Friday, March 26

A Lenten fish fry featuring a variety of seafood and other items – home-made crab cakes, fried fish sandwiches, Manhattan and New England clam chowders, french fries, coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese kids’ meals – will be held Friday (March 26, 2010) from 4-7 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic School, 40 Spring Mount Rd, Schwenksville PA. Dinners are dine-in or take-out. Beverages and desserts are also available. Entertainment includes music and raffle prizes.

The ninth annual Spaghetti Fest and Silent Auction fund-raiser to benefit the Spring-Ford Chamber Scholarship Fund will be held Friday (March 26, 2010) from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Spring-Ford 9th Grade Center, Royersford PA. Tickets, which will be available at the door, are $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors; children age 5 and younger will be admitted free.

A pasta dinner fund-raiser to support the music program of Owen J. Roberts High School and Middle School marching units will be held Friday (March 26, 2010) from 5-8 p.m. in Cedarville United Methodist Church, Laurelwood Road, Pottstown PA. The dinner will include homemade spaghetti and meatballs with salad, roll, dessert and beverage. Tickets are available in advance for $8 adults, and at the door for $10; children age 5 and under are admitted free.

The spring musical staged by students of Pottsgrove Middle School, “All Shook Up,” will be presented Friday and Saturday (March 26 and 27, 2010) nightly at 7:30 in the auditorium at the school, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA. The musical, based on William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night,” features songs only by Elvis Presley. It is directed by Tom Yenchick. Tickets are available at the door.

“The Elephant Man,” a play by Bernard Pomerance, will be presented nightly through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Black Box Studio Theater of the Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center at Ursinus College, Main Street, Collegeville PA. General admission tickets are $5; $2 for students and senior citizens. For more information or reservations, call the Kaleidoscope Box Office at 610-409-3795.

Saturday, March 27

“The Elephant Man,” a play, at 7:30 p.m. in Collegeville PA. See Friday’s listing.

“All Shook Up,” a musical, at 7:30 p.m. in Pottstown PA. See Friday’s listing.

Photo from Carole Bean, Pottsgrove Middle School

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Published as a public service by The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – If it decides to proceed with the expansion and renovation of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors learned Tuesday (March 23, 2010), the project’s more finely tuned $17.1 million cost will include a geothermal heating system that once was considered optional but now is an integral part of the proposal.

Ringing Rocks Elementary School's east facade.

At least one director, Robert Lindgren, again advocated Tuesday – as he has in months past – that the district scrap current plans for Ringing and undertake a far more modest project there priced at less than half the architect’s estimate. “There’s still time to reconsider this,” Lindgren contended. “We haven’t borrowed any money. We haven’t broken any ground.”

While there was no indication a majority of his colleagues agree, there was renewed discussion about the administration’s vision of needs at Ringing, the project’s cost in light of worries about the economy, and its overall role in a 2010-2011 district budget in which directors are still struggling to close a gap between recommended expenses and anticipated revenues.

During the course of its meeting, the board:

• Received a new report from Gilbert Architects of Lancaster PA that offered the most detailed information now available on specific costs involved in the Ringing expansion;
• Learned the geothermal system was locked into construction plans because of structural limitations in the existing building;
• Acknowledged that changing the heating system, or rethinking the entire project, would delay it for several months;
• Reached tentative consensus on a preferred method of financing the project if it moves ahead as currently planned; and
• Heard that environmental tests will be conducted this week at St. Pius X High School as the district pursues leasing that building as an option to house Ringing students during construction.

The refined total estimated cost of Ringing as designed now stands at $17,171,461, Gilbert Project Manager Rod Frey reported. The amount – several hundred thousand dollars less than the $17.84 million initially suggested – includes the geothermal equipment that is said to take advantage of constant underground temperatures to reduce heating and cooling costs.

Geothermal was considered necessary, district Facilities Director Michael Katzenmoyer said, in part due to space requirements for air handling duct work in older portions of the building. That disappointed director April Kontostathis who, since public meetings last year, had pushed for ensuring the system was only an alternative choice.

“This means that we’re into geothermal 100 percent at this point, I take it,” Kontostathis observed. Katzenmoyer agreed. “If we try to re-design it for natural gas now,” Lindgren later remarked, “we’ll never meet any of the deadlines” outlined for Ringing’s construction. “We’re set to go down this path,” he said, “or we don’t start building.”

Then Lindgren quietly argued for the latter.

“This is an unprecedented time. There’s a great degree of uncertainty going forward” in the economy, in the district’s future student population, and in projected savings from a new building’s technological efficiencies, Lindgren said. “I’d rather take a $7 million bet” on simply upgrading documented physical plant needs at Ringing, he added, “than a $17 million bet” on the project as presented.

“It’s unfortunate that all this stuff is coming together at this time,” board Treasurer Fred Remelius conceded. However, he proposed deferring any take-it-or-leave-it decision on a Ringing re-build until the board “gets a better picture of where this all fits” into next year’s budget. “We could have a new building,” Remelius said, “but we also have to know we’re going to have the teachers that go into it.”

Board President Michael Neiffer declined, for the time being, to take what he called a “straw poll” on board members’ sentiments about current plans for Ringing. Other parts of the budget must be presented, Neiffer said, before the board had a clear understanding of financial problems if faces next year.

Directors tentatively agreed, though, that if the district were to borrow money to finance any work at Ringing, they would opt for a method involving what Business Administrator David Nester called “wrap-around payments” with predictably reliable annual principal and interest costs.

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• Less Is More In School Project, Planners Learn
• Bids Sought For Ringing Project Asbestos Removal
• Ringing Relocation Decision Possible In Two Weeks
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pottsgrove Student Enrollment: Up? Yes. Down? Yes Again
• Green Discussion At Ringing Results In Red Faces
• Pottsgrove, Archdiocese Still Discussing Pius Lease
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Discussion Set For Tonight
• In The Ringing Rebuild, Whither Pius?
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Plan: Modulars At MS
• Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
• District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
• Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
• As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• District OKs Architect Negotiations
• Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
• Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
• Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
• Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
• Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
• No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
• Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
• Framing The Rocks Discussion
• Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
• District Invites Public For Study Results
• A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ March 23 meeting):

• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• School Board ‘Topic A’ Tonight? Bet On The Budget

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POTTSTOWN PA – The $17.1 million estimated cost of renovating and expanding the Pottsgrove School District‘s Ringing Rocks Elementary School, as now designed, includes these items outlined Tuesday (March 23, 2010) by district architects for the Board of School Directors during its meeting in the administration building, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA:

• Download a copy of the architect’s complete presentation here in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

These figures are presented as taken from documents distributed to the board. They exclude cents, and are shown as whole dollar amounts without rounding. Consequently, addition of the separate line items shown may not equal the “total estimated project cost” shown.

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• Less Is More In School Project, Planners Learn
• Bids Sought For Ringing Project Asbestos Removal
• Ringing Relocation Decision Possible In Two Weeks
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pottsgrove Student Enrollment: Up? Yes. Down? Yes Again
• Green Discussion At Ringing Results In Red Faces
• Pottsgrove, Archdiocese Still Discussing Pius Lease
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Discussion Set For Tonight
• In The Ringing Rebuild, Whither Pius?
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Plan: Modulars At MS
• Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
• District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
• Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
• As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• District OKs Architect Negotiations
• Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
• Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
• Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
• Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
• Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
• No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
• Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
• Framing The Rocks Discussion
• Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
• District Invites Public For Study Results
• A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ March 23 meeting):

• School Board ‘Topic A’ Tonight? Bet On The Budget

Source: Gilbert Architects, Lancaster PA; and Pottsgrove School District

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NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County (PA) emergency dispatchers directed police units, firefighters and emergency medical responders within the past 24 hours to a variety of incidents. A selective list of their activity appears below.

The entries are taken from publicly available feeds supplied by the county Department of Public Safety. Feed content has been edited by The Post for relevance to readers in Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick PA townships, the borough of Pottstown, and surrounding municipalities. It consequently is incomplete and is not intended to be comprehensive.

In most cases, the entries can be read as:

1. Type of service (EMS = emergency medical services, Traffic = police, Fire = firefighters);
2. Type of incident (vehicle accident, etc.)
3. Location of incident (usually by closest intersection or landmark, and the name of the municipality)
4. Date and time of the incident (YYYY-MM-DD) @ (“at”) (HH:MM:SS) in military time format.

Tuesday, March 23

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Swamp Pike & Sankey Rd; Limerick; 2010-03-24 @ 05:59:48;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Beech St & N Evans St; Pottstown; 2010-03-24 @ 04:45:41;

Traffic: Road Obstruction
W Moyer Rd & Rt100 Nb; Upper Pottsgrove; 2010-03-24 @ 04:21:15;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Old Schuylkill Rd & E Schuylkill Rd; Chester County; 2010-03-24 @ 03:14:53;

Fire: Electrical Fire Outside
Main St & Sacco Rd; Limerick; 2010-03-24 @ 00:54:40;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Country Club Rd & Joac Cir; Limerick; 2010-03-23 @ 23:44:29;

EMS: Altered Mental Status
Meadowview Ln & Egypt Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 21:56:36;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Center Ave & South St; Pottstown; 2010-03-23 @ 21:49:23;

EMS: Hemorrhaging
Washington St & S 3rd Ave; Royersford; 2010-03-23 @ 21:31:32;

EMS: Back Pains/injury
Lois Ln & Glenmar Dr; Chester County; 2010-03-23 @ 20:17:01;

EMS: Fall Victim
Jays Ln; New Hanover; 2010-03-23 @ 20:15:20;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
2nd Ave & Park Ave; Collegeville; 2010-03-23 @ 18:39:15;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Rt422 & S Trappe Rd Underpass; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 17:49:50;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
E Main St; Berks County; 2010-03-23 @ 17:40:05;

EMS: Seizures
Iron Bark Ct & Perkiomen Blvd; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 17:00:27;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
S Washington St & Industrial Hwy; Pottstown; 2010-03-23 @ 16:59:14;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
Main St; Red Hill; 2010-03-23 @ 16:26:28;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
Main St & E 11th St; Red Hill; 2010-03-23 @ 16:17:36;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
S 3rd Ave; Royersford; 2010-03-23 @ 16:00:40;

EMS: Subject In Pain
Evergreen Rd & W Lightcap Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-03-23 @ 15:54:44;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
S 3rd Ave & Walnut St; Royersford; 2010-03-23 @ 15:51:13;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
N Lewis Rd & 10th Ave; Limerick; 2010-03-23 @ 15:37:53;

Fire: Building Fire
Elisabeth Ln & Black Rock Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 15:33:59;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Green St; Green Lane; 2010-03-23 @ 12:44:23;

EMS: Lacerations
6th Ave & E Main St; Collegeville; 2010-03-23 @ 12:00:03;

EMS: Dizziness
Knoll Ln; Douglass; 2010-03-23 @ 11:56:20;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Laurelwood Rd & W Hoffecker Rd; Chester County; 2010-03-23 @ 11:54:38;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Somerset Dr & Twining Way; Skippack; 2010-03-23 @ 11:38:27;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Walnut St & Needle St; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 11:36:21;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Philadelphia Ave & Merkel Rd; Douglass; 2010-03-23 @ 11:30:11;

EMS: Seizures
Lightcap Rd & Evergreen Rd; Limerick; 2010-03-23 @ 10:53:43;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
Harley Rd; Chester County; 2010-03-23 @ 10:48:12;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Lakeview Ter & Seminary St; Pennsburg; 2010-03-23 @ 10:40:33;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Rt422 Byp & Armand Hammer Blvd Overpass; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-03-23 @ 09:51:18;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Swinehart Rd & Douglass St; Douglass; 2010-03-23 @ 08:55:35;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Main St & Pennapacker Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-03-23 @ 08:52:49;

EMS: Seizures
Fairview Cir & Hoffman Rd; Douglass; 2010-03-23 @ 08:40:19;

EMS: Fall Victim
High St & N Washington St; Pottstown; 2010-03-23 @ 08:27:10;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Jefferson St & Dotts St; East Greenville; 2010-03-23 @ 08:24:51;

Fire: Fire Investigation
Graterford Rd & Eileen Ln; Limerick; 2010-03-23 @ 08:19:30;

EMS: Seizures
Sanatoga Rd & Evergreen Rd; Limerick; 2010-03-23 @ 08:05:02.

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Published as a public service by The Sanatoga Post

Pottsgrove School District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis, standing, is flanked by school directors Fred Remelius, left, and Scott Fulmer.

POTTSTOWN PA – It’s all about the budget, and likely will be for weeks yet to come.

The Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors is scheduled to meet tonight (Tuesday, March 23, 2010) at the administration offices, 1301 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, and although its agenda was unavailable as of 6 a.m. today, it seems certain that the 2010-2011 district budget will again be a focus of conversation. The meeting is open to the public.

There’s an almost $2 million gap between the spending plan as it now appears and the amount the board collectively believes the district can raise in taxes and other revenues. Unfortunately, some directors say, that amount does not include personnel additions district Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis has said his administrative team will make before the budget is finalized.

Complicating matters is an impending board decision on where to house students from Ringing Rocks Elementary School while it is being renovated and expanded next year. Landis said during a board meeting earlier this month that he’d like to have directors make that selection soon.

Directors’ choices – between modular units and shared facilities at Pottsgrove Middle School on North Hanover Street, Pottstown, or leasing the St. Pius X High School building on North Keim Street, Pottstown – at last report varied in cost by several hundred thousand dollars. The budget currently includes the lower-priced modulars option.

District employees also are certain to be looking for more clues in the board’s thinking on compensation, following remarks made two weeks ago by President Michael Neiffer in which he suggested a year-long salary freeze to close the budget gap. The alternative, Neiffer said, was to eliminate jobs.

If and when an agenda becomes available, it usually is found here on the district website.

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