The Sanatoga Post

• Watch a video of The Mango Men, above, in concert. They’ll perform Sunday in Sanatoga Park; see the listing below.

SANATOGA PA – Activities for western Montgomery County residents (and anyone else!) from July 16-18, 2010, and beyond:

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Friday, July 16

Disc Jockey “Enchanted Midnight” will play recorded hits from the 1970s during an adult dance and mixer scheduled Friday from 8-11 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Sanatoga PA. The night’s activities include a best-dressed contest for a ’70′s Disco outfit. A $5 admission fee will be charged at the door. The doors open at 7:45 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 484-624-5186.

The Limerick Fire Company’s annual summer carnival continues nightly Friday from 6-11 p.m. and all day and much of the night Saturday at the fire hall on Ridge Pike, Limerick PA, with all proceeds benefiting the fire company. This carnival is targeted towards younger children. It includes a dunk tank with the company’s infamous Dallas Cowboys fan, willing to sit and heckle  Eagles fans. The fire company’s ladies auxiliary also will have a food tent set up for home cooking available for sale.

Saturday, July 17

The Perkiomen Valley Library will hold a summer used book sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Schwenksville PA. Best sellers, classics, non-fiction and more in hardcover are available for $1; videos and DVDs cost 50 cents; paperback books, 50 cents; and all children’s books cost 25 cents.

The Phoenixville Farmers Market, located beneath the Gay Street bridge, Phoenixville PA, now runs weekly on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November.  The market can be reached from Taylors Alley.

The Skippack Farmers Market, located on the south side of Route 73, just east of its intersection with Route 113, Skippack PA, now runs weekly on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through September.

Santa Claus will be at the Boyertown Farmers Market, sitting by the fireplace Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 100 S. Walnut St., Boyertown PA, and collecting food donations for the Boyertown Multi-Service. Everyone who stops by to make a donation or just to tell Santa what they want for Christmas will receive a coupon to be used at the market. The Salvation Army also will bring its Red Kettle campaign to the market. The market now runs weekly through Oct. 30, and is held rain or shine. It occupies the parking lot of The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, two blocks south of the intersection of Routes 562 and 73.

The Limerick Fire Company annual summer carnival in Limerick PA. See Friday’s listing.

Sunday, July 18

The Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Parks and Recreation Department continues its series of summer concerts Sunday at 6 p.m. with a show by The Mango Men at the Sanatoga Park band shell, 100 S. Sanatoga Rd., Pottstown PA. The concerts are sponsored by Exelon Nuclear. In case of inclement weather, the show will be automatically re-scheduled to Monday at 7 p.m. Weather cancellation notices will be posted Sundays after 4 p.m. at the township website.

The Pennsylvania Villagers Polka Band will be the featured performers Sunday at 6:30 p.m. during the Limerick (PA) Township Parks and Recreation Department summer “concert in the park” in Limerick Community Park, Swamp Pike and Ziegler Road, Limerick PA. The event is free and open to the public.

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SANATOGA PA – The Mango Men, a band inspired by singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffet, will headline this Sunday’s (July 18, 2010) edition of the summer concert series presented by the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Parks and Recreation Department, with sponsorship from Exelon Nuclear. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Sanatoga Park band shell, 100 S. Sanatoga Rd., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

You can party with these guys Sunday in Sanatoga, and sip lemonade too.

But wait!, there’s more …

Philadelphia radio station B101 will on hand with its mascot, Buzzbee, until about 6:30 p.m. to offer prizes and goodies for kids in attendance, according to township staff member Jen Corley. In addition, volunteers from Exelon’s Limerick Generating Station will set up an Alex’s Lemonade Stand for concert-goers, and also raise money for research of and treatments for childhood cancers.

Beyond The Mango Men, remaining show dates and their scheduled acts include:

• July 25, Barbone Street Jazz Band;
• Aug. 1, Flamin’ Dick and the Hot Rods;
• Aug. 8, Mesa; and
• Aug. 15, the Pottsgrove Community Band.

Exelon’s lemonade stand will return for the Aug. 1 show, Corley said.

In case of inclement weather, shows will be automatically re-scheduled to the following Monday at 7 p.m. Weather cancellation notices will be posted Sundays after 4 p.m. at the township website.

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SANATOGA PA – “Another shopping center? Another mall? Haven’t we got enough already?”

An artist's rendering of a portion of the Gateway At Sanatoga.

Those questions, occasionally posed by residents in townships and boroughs across western Montgomery County PA, haunt local municipal officials.

Elected representatives acknowledge that sprawl is eating up what many of their constituents cherish about where they live. They understand the potentially negative effects increased traffic and surrounding development may have on property values. They recognize fears over the loss of open space, quiet neighborhoods, and other quality-of-life factors.

Although community leaders often share similar concerns, they generally also know this: the surprising answer to “haven’t we got enough?” – at least from the perspective of developers and retailers – probably is “not yet.”

The cover for marketing materials distributed by O'Neill about the Gateway At Sanatoga project.

Statistics now being distributed by the O’Neill Properties Group, as it continues to seek tenants for its Gateway At Sanatoga shopping and residential complex, hint at why. We’re a target that’s just too appealing.

Developer O’Neill is marketing its project, on the southeast side of the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422 in Limerick PA, with a variety of promotional materials aimed at sellers of goods and services that it hopes will want to be part of Gateway. Here’s what it tells them about us:

• There’s plenty of consumers here. The “high-growth corridor in the suburban Philadelphia market” that envelopes 422 is packed with potential buyers of all stripes, O’Neill writes. The trading area from which it says Gateway tenants can expect to attract customers currently is home to 720,000 people, and more are on the way. Another 10,000 residential units are either under development or have been proposed within a 10-mile radius of the project. That includes 300 units O’Neill itself wants to build in Gateway, tentatively labeled as the “Lofts At Sanatoga apartment community.”

• We’ve got money to spend. Across Gateway’s primary trading area, consisting of about a dozen zip codes, O’Neill shows the annual income inside a majority of households there ranges from $65,000 to $100,000 or more. The number of $100,000-and-higher households rises substantially when including another 30 or so zip codes in Gateway’s total trading area, O’Neill maps demonstrate. The only places that don’t fit the most desirable demographic profile are Pottstown, Sanatoga, and Stowe – the 19464 zip code – where O’Neill shows the average household income amounts to between only $50,000 and $65,000.

• Success breeds success. The area boasts other nearby projects already completed. In the total trading area O’Neill maps pinpoint 19 neighborhood shopping centers, nine community shopping centers, one lifestyle shopping center, and one outlet center. Its implied message: we’re not the only one who thinks this is a good place for business.

• Build it, and they will come. About 5.4 million people live within a 60-minute drive from Gateway, an O’Neill headline proclaims. Perhaps more important to retailers is an appended note; it describes their average household income as $95,000.

• The bandwagon is rolling. Retailers hate to eat competitors’ dust, so O’Neill makes a point of telling them their competition may already be nearby. Gateway is being built next to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, which the developer says contains more than 150 stores and is fully leased. O’Neill describes the adjacent center, owned by the Simon Property Group, as that firm’s “most successful new outlet in the U.S.”

O’Neill thinks its statistics – its compiled, selective facts about us – make a compelling case for Gateway’s success. It’s hoping retail tenants will think so too.

Related (to the Gateway At Sanatoga project):

• What Gateway At Sanatoga Marketing Says About Us
• Before Demise, Limerick Homes Get Firefighters’ Farewell
• Ground Clearing Begins At Sanatoga “Gateway”
• Developer Sets New Costco Date: Spring 2011
• New Activity Stirs For Gateway At Sanatoga Project
• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• 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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SANATOGA PA – What was once just an inkling of animosity between directors of Sunnybrook Foundation, the non-profit group that owns the Sunnybrook Ballroom entertainment and conference facility at 50 Sanatoga Rd., Sanatoga PA, and the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners, last week seemed to verge on full-blown rift.

The Sunnybrook pool house, shown in a May photo, was razed earlier this month to make way for outside improvements. Relations between owner Sunnybrook Foundation and Lower Pottsgrove Township seem to have been leveled as well; animosity between the two has grown since last year.

Commissioners, during their July 6 (2010; Tuesday) meeting, used what may have been their strongest language yet to criticize what they see as Sunnybrook’s lack of cooperation with the township. They said the foundation, despite repeated requests, had failed to supply them with reports they want to review before offering an endorsement of a project due to receive a half-million dollars in state grant money.

“It’s just another example of how Sunnybrook is tying our hands,” Commissioner James Phillips said of the undelivered financial documents. “We haven’t gotten any letter about or description of this project, either,” township Manager Rodney Hawthorne added.

Some at Sunnybrook, on the other hand, privately say township representatives are simply frustrated because Montgomery County, and not Lower Pottsgrove, is likely to control the grant disbursement. They added that people responsible for delivering what the township wants are volunteers who also have families and full-time jobs, and who need time to comply.

Hawthorne said the township board, during a June 7 meeting with Sunnybrook, county and state officials, asked the foundation to supply copies of its most recent profit, loss and financial statements, as well as an explanation of its proposal to use $500,000 available in Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funds at the ballroom and its grounds.

A train carrying guests on its grounds is part of Sunnybrook's history.

The grant money, Sunnybrook Chairman and President Tom Sephakis told the media during April, is slated to be used for historic preservation purposes. The decades-old Sunnybrook complex was nationally known in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s for its presentation of big-name big bands and their accompanying singers, and is rich with musical history.

The June meeting, which was open to the public but was held at 4 p.m., was not attended by The Post.

A month has passed, Hawthorne said, and the township is still awaiting its information despite what he described as repeated conversations with or calls to Sunnybrook representatives. “That’s critical to do our due diligence,” Commissioner James Kaiser said of the missing paperwork.

Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway also reported that Sunnybrook’s deadline to file an application to claim the grant, already authorized by the state Legislature, is Aug. 5. The non-profit may be unable to receive the funds, Holloway claimed, unless the completed application includes the township recommendation and is filed when due.

“Well, the clock’s ticking. If the alarm goes off before Sunnybrook gets back to us, there’s not much we can do,” Commissioner Michael McGroarty replied.

It wasn’t always like this.

The relationship between Sunnybrook and the township was cordial and happy when the foundation took ownership of the facility during 2007. Lower Pottsgrove joined in celebrating when the ballroom officially re-opened 13 months later, and commissioners offered praise and congratulations as the venue held an increasing number of events and attracted bigger crowds. They also waived building and other fees normally incurred by businesses.

Things started deteriorating early last year, however.

Sunnybrook directors complained about alterations they claimed Assistant Township Manager Alyson Elliott made to their grant applications. Then the township returned to the county grant money it was given to help Sunnybrook buy new signage. Although the grant was later restored, the foundation said the back-and-forth process lengthened its wait for a new promotional sign by several months.

From its perspective, the township contends its requests of Sunnybrook have been reasonable; that it has been patient in waiting for them to be fulfilled; and that its actions are aimed at ensuring township taxpayers were protected from unnecessary costs.

Related:

• Commissioners Impatient For Sunnybrook Sign Application

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 6):

• Sunnybrook, Town Relationship Seems To Sour
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Cost of Fixing Parts Of 4 Streets? $46,000
• Before Demise, Limerick Homes Get Firefighters’ Farewell
• Final Words On Ringing Rocks: Okey-Dokey
• What Stinks? Unhappy Residents’ Uncollected Garbage
• Township Tax Collection Continues Up Over ’09
• Three Topics Cited In Township Exec Session
• Lower Pottsgrove Meeting Starts Early Tonight

Train photo from the Sunnybrook Foundation website

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SANATOGA PA – Recent jottings from a reporter’s notebook:

Learning How Inventors Do It

Forty would-be inventors between the ages of 6 and 12 gathered earlier this month (July 1, 2010) at Pottsgrove Middle School to participate in a summer camp that put their ingenuity and imaginations to work in solving problems. With the help of two teachers, three counselors and a director, the students experienced a week of science disguised as fun in what was called Camp Invention. Its  curriculum was designed by InventNow Kids, a non-profit organization.

In an "I Can Invent" session, children took apart a broken items like a VCR, DVD, radio, clock, or phone and used the pieces to create a new invention.

Some built structures relying only on marshmallows and toothpicks.

And while pretending their spacecraft had crashed on Planet ZAK, one class of students had to create shelters, clothing and find food. They also worked in teams to design a spaceship to so they could safely return to earth.

Rosemary Hoffman

Retired Pottsgrove Teacher Honored

Congratulations to former Pottsgrove School District teacher Rosemary Hoffman, now retired, who in mid-June was selected by the Soroptimist Club of Pottstown as its Soroptimist Of The Year.

The Soroptimist mission is to ensure that women and girls have equality, live in safe and healthy environments, have access to education, and learn leadership and practical skills. Hoffman was praised by her colleagues for her work in leading the group in fund-raising and other efforts to meet those goals.

Word is she was caught unawares by the award, too. Club officials keep their choice a closely guarded secret until the honor is presented.

Camp photos by Elaine Armstrong

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PHILADELPHIA PA – So, where does your retirement plan stand?

Some people persistently avoid that question, as though it was something to consider in the future. Sadly, they often fail to set aside enough money to fund a healthy and happy retirement. Others, who saved diligently over time, may have been hit hard by stock market declines during recent years, and found their savings declined sharply in value.

Yeah, retirement headaches can make you feel exactly like that.

In these uncertain economic times it may make sense to get a handle on the new realities of retirement, with tips offered by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

It’s Still Smart to Save

Even if your retirement portfolio took a beating in the stock market recently, don’t give up or stop saving.

You will need to pay for expenses in retirement, and it’s always smart to have more than Social Security to cover costs. If you were burned in the markets and are reluctant to dive in again, choose investments with less volatility and that are less likely to decline in value. If you’re uncertain about the best choices, speak to a trusted business adviser about your options. Don’t stop saving, though; you will regret it later.

Assess Your Situation

The news has highlighted people whose retirements have been affected by market volatility. Don’t automatically assume you’re in the same boat.

Make a careful analysis of your financial situation to see where you stand. Do you know if your retirement portfolio will still cover your income needs in retirement? The CPA profession’s “360 Degrees of Financial Literacy” program offers free resources to help you answer that question. The program’s website features tools that help you evaluate how much money you’ll need in retirement.

Once you understand a little more about your expenses down the road, you can make better savings and investment decisions today.

Consider Ways to Increase Your Nest Egg

At what age do you plan to retire? Obviously, the longer you work, the more money you’ll be able to set aside for your retirement account. By continuing on the job, you delay the point when you begin withdrawing from your retirement savings. That means there will be more waiting for you when you do quit working.

Your Social Security benefit also will be affected by your age at retirement. If you were born in 1954, your full retirement age for Social Security is 66. If you were eligible to receive a $1,000 monthly benefit by retiring at age 66, that benefit would be cut to $750 if you retired at age 62. Of course, you do begin receiving the benefits sooner, so the total you get will average out over time. Learn more on the Social Security Administration website.

Given these variables, the best plan is to consider your individual and family circumstances and review benefits you will receive at different ages before you make your decision.

Need Help? Consult A CPA

If you’re still having trouble calculating your retirement needs and creating a reasonable savings plan, a certified public accountant may be able to help. Ask one about all the financial questions facing you and your family.

Editor’s Note: This article was prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and reviewed and distributed by the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). To find a CPA in Lower Pottsgrove or Limerick (PA) townships, the borough of Pottstown, or elsewhere visit www.IneedaCPA.org.

Photo by Clipart.com

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SANATOGA PA – Disc Jockey “Enchanted Midnight” will play recorded hits from the 1970s during an adult dance and mixer scheduled Friday (July 16, 2010) from 8-11 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Sanatoga PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The night’s activities include a best-dressed contest for a ’70′s Disco outfit. A $5 admission fee will be charged at the door. The doors open at 7:45 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 484-624-5186.

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Familiar scene: traffic on Route 422 East snakes toward Trooper PA.

SANATOGA PA – An endorsement “of the principles and strategies of the U.S. 422 Corridor Master Plan,” which so far has generated heated public comment over whether drivers should pay a fee to use the four-lane highway that crosses Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, was tabled last week (July 6, 2010) by the township Board of Commissioners because its members were unsure if backing the plan meant they also supported tolling.

Questions about the intent of its proposed resolution were raised by The Post after the board’s endorsement motion was already made and seconded, but before a vote was taken.

“I don’t know whether we’re endorsing a toll,” board Vice President Bruce Foltz admitted. His colleagues agreed, and so the motion and second were withdrawn.

“We’re in no hurry to do this,” township Manager Rodney Hawthorne added. “Let’s table it and we’ll get more information,” he said, indicating the proposal may re-appear on the agenda of the board’s July 22 (2010; Thursday) meeting.

Cover of the 422 Master Plan Summary Report.

Conducting a “traffic / toll revenue study,” to determine if imposing vehicle usage fees on U.S. Route 422 could pay for its improvement and other mass transit enhancements, is labeled as a “technique for implementation” of the far-reaching master plan. The document was introduced last year by regional and Montgomery County officials as a way to help manage traffic gridlock and control suburban sprawl.

A revenue study has not yet been released. When the master plan was presented during public sessions, however, supporters made it clear that federal and state funding, if available at all, would be insufficient for the substantial transportation changes envisioned for the corridor that stretches from King of Prussia to Reading PA. Tolling 422, they acknowledged, seems a logical option to pursue.

Currently, 422 is a toll-free road. The notion of possibly having to pay in the future for what drivers now travel for free prompted plenty of opposing, and sometimes angry, public reaction at meetings, in the media, and at websites like 422corridor.com, which promotes tolling as potentially necessary.

The resolution considered by Lower Pottsgrove concludes that, with its endorsement, the municipality “will strive to implement” the master plan’s principles and strategies. The specificity of its language might cause some to conclude that – if imposing tolls on 422 drivers becomes a revenue strategy for implementation – it already won the support of Lower Pottsgrove commissioners even if none ever said as much.

Whether that interpretation is valid, and whether it is accompanied by any political risk,  are subjects that may be considered by commissioners before they vote.

The limited-access highway has played what is seen by many as the preeminent role in opening areas northwest of Philadelphia for commercial and residential development. Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships, among others, have grown considerably as a result.

So, too, have their traffic-related problems. On any weekday morning or afternoon, law enforcement officials can testify, 422 often becomes a long, vehicle-packed, slow-moving train of commuter agony.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Phoenixville Legislator Against ‘On-Off’ 422 Toll
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 6):

• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Cost of Fixing Parts Of 4 Streets? $46,000
• Before Demise, Limerick Homes Get Firefighters’ Farewell
• Final Words On Ringing Rocks: Okey-Dokey
• What Stinks? Unhappy Residents’ Uncollected Garbage
• Township Tax Collection Continues Up Over ’09
• Three Topics Cited In Township Exec Session
• Lower Pottsgrove Meeting Starts Early Tonight

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Hot top comes with widely variable hot costs.

SANATOGA PA – Asphalt, and the accompanying cost of putting it down so vehicles can drive over it, apparently isn’t cheap.

Five companies that bid last week for Lower Pottsgrove Township’s business to repair portions of four roads figured it could cost up to $75,000 or more to do the work. Township commissioners accepted the lowest bid, of about half as much, to complete summer re-paving projects.

Commissioners voted July 6 (2010; Tuesday) during the first of two monthly meetings in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, to award their paving contract to Drum Construction Co. of Telford PA at a cost of $45,960, subject to a review of the necessary legal documents by township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway. Reid Paving Contractors of Gilbertsville PA, which has won similar bidding in previous years, was the runner-up.

Board members openly expressed surprise at not only the cost of the work, but that the range of bids varied so widely … by as much as $29,700 between the highest and lowest bidders.

The board, during its June 17 meeting, agreed to re-pave a short list of township roads in greatest need of repair. It included portions of Pruss Hill Road, Rupert Road, Putter Lane, and White Pine Lane. There’s no guarantee all four will be fixed. “We’ll pave until the money allocated runs out,” Manager Rodney Hawthorne said then, “and then we stop.”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 6):

• Cost of Fixing Parts Of 4 Streets? $46,000
• Before Demise, Limerick Homes Get Firefighters’ Farewell
• Final Words On Ringing Rocks: Okey-Dokey
• What Stinks? Unhappy Residents’ Uncollected Garbage
• Township Tax Collection Continues Up Over ’09
• Three Topics Cited In Township Exec Session
• Lower Pottsgrove Meeting Starts Early Tonight

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