The Sanatoga Post

One of the abandoned homes at Frick's Locks.

LIMERICK PA – Several of the oldest buildings in Chester County, the homes of Frick’s Locks village, will be stabilized, rehabilitated and protected under an agreement recently reached between East Coventry (PA) Township and Exelon Nuclear, which operates the Limerick Generating Station (LGS), according to an announcement issued last week (Feb. 15, 2011) by Exelon spokesman Joseph Szafran.

Exelon said it will spend close to $2.5 million to repair historic structures within the village, and plans to donate land and buildings with an estimated value of $1 million to East Coventry. The township Board of Supervisors approved the agreement, but not unanimously.

In addition, a portion of Frick’s Locks will be leased to East Coventry with an option to later accept the leased parcel as a donation. Exelon and the township plan to open the village for periodic tours and public access.

The partnership was guided by a local steering committee that included representatives from the township, its historical commission, the county, the state historic preservation agency, Schuylkill River Heritage Area, Exelon, and the office of state Senator Andy Dinniman. “This is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when private industry and public officials work together to preserve and improve our community,” Dinniman said.

Frick’s Locks was founded more than 250 years ago. During the 19th century, it was a key stop along both the Schuylkill Canal and Pennsylvania Railroad. Several structures in the village date from the 1850s. In 2003, the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The village is “a wonderful local historical and cultural resource,” said LGS Site Vice President Bill Maguire.

Photo by Beth Studt

SANATOGA PA – Auditor-suggested changes to a Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township law that governs its pension plan for police officers are likely to be approved March 7 (2011; Monday) when the Board of Commissioners gathers for its first meeting of next month at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

An advertisement about the revisions appears today (Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, the township’s publication of record for legal notices.

Language deletions and revisions in the law also are reflected in an accompanying memorandum of understanding between the township and the police officers’ collective bargaining unit, Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway said. They acknowledge the state, and not the township, is now liable for payment of the officers’ killed-in-service benefit. They also recognize the effect of changes in federal Social Security law on officers’ disability payments.

Some direct costs for Lower Pottsgrove’s plan will be reduced as a result, and others will shift elsewhere, commissioners noted. An outside audit revealed the need to ensure the local law mirrored legal changes made in Pennsylvania and nationally. Commissioners unanimously and without comment approved the memorandum during their Feb. 7 meeting.

The March meeting is open to the public. When the commissioners’ agenda for it is ready, it should be available for download from the township website, here.

Photo from Google Images

ACHIEVING SUCCESS ONE WORD AT A TIME – After a weather-related postponement of several days, eager participants (above) in a spelling bee at Coventry Christian Schools‘ 699 N. Pleasant View Rd., Sanatoga PA, campus gathered Tuesday evening (Feb. 22, 2011) to spell their way into local history books. The schools’ eighth grade students have been active in spelling bees for about 15 years, and during 2003 Coventry was represented at the national level by one speller who defeated 35 competitors to finish 84th in the country.

Although bees seem to have “fallen out of vogue” at other schools, Coventry Superintendent Mark Niehls said they constitute a valuable and “classical approach to teaching.” Proper spelling is increasingly important, he noted, as the growth of technology – particularly the use of mobile texting – adversely affects writing skills.

It’s unlikely that problem plagues any of Tuesday’s contestants, each of whom performed admirably, the pleased superintendent reported. Winning the bee (above) was Kaylie Niehls. She’s the cousin of second-place finisher Jeremiah Niehls (below), who reacted as his chance for victory this year escaped.

Announcing words for the students was Scott Minor; judging the bee were Clare Price, Shelley Baumgarten, and Jane Geeze. Winner Kaylie received a $20 gift certificate at the book store of her choice.

Photographed and reported for The Post by Aimee M. Herbert, Aimee Marie Photography

SATURDAY BLAZE QUICKLY CONTAINED – A leak Saturday (Feb. 19, 2011) in a hot water heater at Sanatoga Center (above), the Genesis Healthcare-owned skilled nursing facility on Evergreen Road, Pottstown PA, sparked a shortage in an electrical box that resulted in a small fire, according to Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Fire Marshal Lew Babel. The minor blaze was quickly contained, no one was injured, and no evacuation was necessary, he said.

Photos for The Post by Aimee M. Herbert, Aimee Marie Photography

POTTSTOWN PA – An all-you-can-eat breakfast fund-raiser to benefit local charities supported by Pottstown Elks Club 814 will be held Sunday (Feb. 27, 2011) from 8-11 a.m. at the club, 61 High St., Pottstown PA. Tickets will be available at the door, and cost $9 for adults and $4 for children. The event is open to the public.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

For more information, call 610-326-3258.

Photo from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – The renowned Pine Forge Academy Choir will offer what is being called an “inspirational musical presentation” during a Black History Month concert scheduled for Feb. 25 (2011; Friday) beginning at 8 p.m. in the Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 High St., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Tickets are available now on line, here, at a cost of $17 for adults, $15 for students and senior citizens age 65 and older, and $13 for children age 12 and younger. Tickets also may be available at the door.

Image from Tri-PAC

SANATOGA PA – Pretend you’re the world’s best negotiator. Assume you can broker any deal, tackle any problem, fix any finagle. Given your background and expertise, what would you ask for in a new contract between Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and a municipal trash collector, and what would you be willing to trade to get it?

Besides lower costs, that is; the township Board of Commissioners is already hinting they seem unlikely.

The question is real, not imaginary, and commissioners hope residents prove willing to provide answers within the next few weeks. Lower Pottsgrove intends to circulate a survey, enclosed in its March (2011) semi-annual bills for waste hauling, that asks property owners to suggest how they might “tweak” trash services as the township prepares to negotiate a new garbage collection contract, according to Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott.

Its current five-year agreement with hauler J.P. Mascaro and Sons of Norristown PA expires this year.

Garbage collection is a sore spot beneath the fur of the township political dog. No one wants to pay for throwing stuff away, but that effort consumes a significant portion – more than $836,000 and almost 8 percent – of the $5.3 million 2011 budget. Every one wants extra for what they already pay, too, Elliott said: pick-up of more trash cans and removal of all yard waste, as well as hauling away items like household appliances and unwanted furniture.

“We’re looking for suggestions before we seek bids on the trash contract,” Elliott told the Board of Commissioners during its Feb. 17 meeting. “We know there are concerns out there. We’d like to know how widespread they are, and we hope to pull out and examine areas of dissatisfaction,” she said.

Board members are no strangers to public grumpiness about garbage. They’ve been plenty trashed over the trash before.

During several meetings and elsewhere last year commissioners heard from residents unhappy about the cost per garbage bag discarded, particularly among families who try to recycle as much as possible. They were verbally pummeled by those peeved about how garbage cans are cracked, dented or mauled by uncaring collection workers; and from others fuming over inconsistencies in the collection of recyclable materials.

The surveys “potentially could be a very helpful tool,” board President Jonathan Spadt said. If bill-payers return them in the same envelopes as their checks, gathering opinions will cost little as well, he noted.

Elliott and the commissioners briefly discussed the possibility of putting the survey online as well, but that idea has yet to be developed.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 17 meeting):

• Lower Pottsgrove Seeks Suggestions In A Trash Survey
• Township Prepares For Bids On Building Fix-It List
• Watch Your Speedometer! Sanatoga Street Slows 5 Mph
• Township OKs Restaurant Liquor License For Chummy’s
• Township’s Reduced Bond Sale Rates High S&P Praise
• Lower Pottsgrove A Likely Co-Signer For Sewer Loans

Photo from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – The opening of school buildings in the Pottsgrove School District was delayed by two hours Tuesday morning (Feb. 22, 2011) due to weather and road conditions, the district announced by e-mail at 5:25 a.m.

There was reported to be between 2 and 4 inches of snow on the ground in some places.

For students in most grades, the two-hour delay simply pushes back their regular schedules. However, for the district’s morning Kindergarten classes, it means school will start at 11 a.m. and be dismissed at 12:45 p.m. Afternoon Kindergarten classes will start at 1:45 p.m. and be dismissed at 3:45 p.m., according to the district website.

Glenn Miller's memory lives on at Sunnybrook.

SANATOGA PA – The world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra returns March 18 (2011; Friday) to Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA, for two special shows at 1 and 8 p.m., respectively. Tickets for both are available now by calling its box office, 484-624-5186.

In 1942, before he left for Europe and World War II, Sunnybrook was among band leader Miller’s last stops. The ballroom was filled by 7,380 people who attended his show. People came from across the nation to say farewell.

Today, its storied past with Miller remains a part of the ballroom’s aura. The band leader’s signature, and the signatures of many of his band members and performers, are found on the Sunnybrook “Wall of Fame” backstage at the facility.

Miller’s orchestra, presenting the sound he made memorable, will be featured during the 1 p.m. matinee dinner dance, and with a dance concert at 8 p.m. Tickets for the afternoon dinner and show cost $64 per person; and for the 8 p.m. concert, $30 per person in advance and $38 at the door. Table reservations and group discount rates are being offered. Tickets can be ordered online, here.

Sunnybrook Ballroom

SANATOGA PA – Members of Brig. Gen. Elmer S. Friedberg American Legion Post 244, which for years has held a Sanatoga mailing address but met at a Stowe location, are coming “home.”

The post, which serves U.S. armed forces veterans primarily in Lower, Upper and West Pottsgrove, will officially begin meeting Thursday (Feb. 24, 2011) – and every fourth Thursday of the month thereafter except during July, August, November and December – at 7:30 p.m. in the Poolside Room of Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA, post Adjutant Billy Worrell announced Sunday.

Because the post had no building of its own it formerly held meetings in St. Gabriel Lodge, at the corner of Jefferson Street and Grosstown Road in Stowe. Headed by Cmdr. Ed Clark, the post has about 175 members, many of whom are active.

Among topics likely to be discussed during the group’s first Sunnybrook meeting are members’ involvement in a Mardi Gras dinner to benefit homeless veterans, scheduled to be held March 3 (2011) at Daddy Mims’ Creole restaurant in Phoenixville PA; and a World War II and Vietnam War Exhibition scheduled for Sunday (Feb. 27) in the National Guard Armory in Plymouth Meeting PA, sponsored by Valley Forge Chapter 349 of the Vietnam Veterans of America.