SANATOGA PA – Money to fix many of the problems plaguing the deteriorated Rupert Road bridge in Lower Pottsgrove PA, according to township officials, is waiting in a Delaware bank to be tapped. When the funds might be released, however, and if they will be sufficient to cover all of the repair needs and associated costs, are still unknowns.
A car speeds across the Rupert Road bridge
News that the township Board of Commissioners voted Thursday (April 21, 2011) to sue a real estate developer that, it claims, is legally responsible to come through with $375,000 or more for the bridge’s repair, has since been the talk of Lower Pottsgrove’s east side. The Sanatoga Post report of the decision, which also was publicized Saturday (April 23) by The (Pottstown PA) Mercury, was viewed across both publications by more than a thousand readers.
“Attaboy, Lower,” cheered resident Ed Cox, who was among those commenting to The Post. “Those attorneys can be useful.” “That Rupert Road bridge has been a disaster for years,” commenter Wolfgang Bayngor added earlier.
Special counsel hired by the township was directed to file suit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas against DHLP LLC, and apparently related entities, that developed the residential housing community surrounding Raven’s Claw Golf Club in adjacent Limerick Township. The community in part fronts Rupert Road. Commissioners contend DHLP agreed to pay for the bridge’s repair during its land development process in Lower Pottsgrove.
That fix-up fund, or “financial security,” is part of a loan approved years earlier for DHLP by Wilmington Trust Bank in Delaware, Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway explained Thursday. “The money’s still there, or at least it’s never been drawn off the loan,” Holloway said, and DHLP representatives have twice offered up to $375,000 to address the bridge issue, he added.
The higher sum may no longer be enough, because of other costs accrued over the years, Holloway said. Township officials reported the suit was prompted by frustration of recent weeks, when DHLP stopped responding to their inquiries.
Although the bank loan was considered sufficient security by the township when its development agreement with DHLP was signed during 2004, subsequent agreements with other developers require similar security “in as liquid a form as we can get it,” Holloway said. Generally, that means developers now must furnish Lower Pottsgrove with a letter of credit, bonds or – best yet – a cash escrow that can be accessed more quickly.
The township lawsuit, if it proceeds, is sure to further delay repairs to the bridge, which is owned by Montgomery County. Meanwhile, Holloway hopes the board’s decision to pursue a legal remedy will bring the developer back to negotiations regarding the matter.
Related:
- Rupert Road Bridge Repair Funds ‘Wait’ In DE Bank
- Township Plans $375,000+ Suit To Fix Rupert Bridge
- Report: Six Bridges In Township ‘Structurally Deficient’
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners meeting of April 21):
- Rupert Road Bridge Repair Funds ‘Wait’ In DE Bank
- Spend That Money! Sunnybrook Funds Get Last OK
- Township Plans $375,000+ Suit To Fix Rupert Bridge
- Cooperation Agreement On Commissioners’ Agenda
Perhaps the County’s attorneys might be consulted as well, to get a united front position. Bargaining may be needed in as much as funds have been present but the time that’s elapsed has contributed to the bridge’s deterioration. Another consideration might be the flow rate of the creek, since the developments been put into place. All those roadways and surfaces drain, and how much is now channeled into the creek bed and under the bridge. Whereas a lot of that water entered the ground table before, much now is channeled to the creek. This rapid flow rate has severely eroded the bridge structure in the last few years.
Several ponds up along Rupert now do not exist (in fact homes sit on them) that once slowed and held water flow. What we have now is a mill race that flows rapidly in any rain.
Too much impervious coverage is a problem all over th county’s municipalities, Ed; planners tell us that all the time. You’re right, there’s no place for that water to go.
I never knew about the ponds along Rupert. Thanks for noting that!