The Sanatoga Post

NO INJURIES, ONLY MINOR DAMAGE – Occasionally violent thunderstorms, heavy rains and sporadic winds made local driving an adventure during the just-ended Easter holiday weekend. Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township police responded Saturday (April 23, 2011) to the scene of yet another vehicle that wound up in a drainage ditch at the curve on the south side of North Pleasant View Road in front of the entrance to the former Saylor’s farm, between Donna Lane and North Sanatoga Road. Most drivers caught here travel a little too quickly down the hill south from Sanatoga Road, most often under wet or icy conditions, and fail to negotiate the curve. The young driver in Saturday’s incident (above) was startled but not injured. His car received relatively minor damage (corner bottom right), was quickly towed out of the ditch (corner bottom left). He was able to drive away.

SANATOGA PA – Frustrated by what it said have been years of unproductive negotiations, and then surprised in recent weeks when those talks appeared to end abruptly, the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday night (April 21, 2011) to sue a real estate developer for its failure to pay for repairs to the crumbling Rupert Road bridge.

The Rupert Road bridge in Lower Pottsgrove, on its border with Limerick township

Commissioners authorized their special counsel in the matter, the Furey & Baldassari P.C. law firm in Audubon, to file a lawsuit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas against developer DHLP LLC. It owns and markets a residential housing community surrounding the Raven’s Claw Golf Club, the west side of which fronts Rupert Road and which in part straddles the border between Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships. Homes there sell from roughly $350,000 to $450,000 each.

Its need for repair or replacment is evident at several portions of the structure

DHLP bought the community from an earlier developer about seven years ago, and with it assumed liability to pay for the bridge’s repair or replacement, according to township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway.

At stake for Lower Pottsgrove in the potential court battle is $375,000 or more it says it is owed by DHLP to fix the bridge. Beyond that, Holloway said, the township also plans to demand reimbursement for money spent since 2004 to make stop-gap repairs, as well as tens of thousands of dollars spent so far in attorneys’ fees and other costs.

Representatives of DHLP could not be contacted Thursday night for comment.

The Rupert Road bridge, built by the county in 1921, is one of six within the township identified late last month by a national transportation lobbying group as “structurally deficient.” Many area residents readily claim it is the worst of that lot, with cracked and scaling concrete walls and abutments, exposed and rusting steel reinforcements, and uneven pavement.

The bridge in recent years also has been subject to increasingly heavier traffic. It is crossed by residents of the decades-old Woodgate subdivision, located on Rupert Road’s west side; from the DHLP development, on its east side; and from drivers traveling Rupert from as far away as Boyertown to reach U.S. Route 422 at the Sanatoga interchange.

Holloway said the township has been “negotiating with DHLP for a number of years” over what it was due for the uncompleted bridge improvements that were part of land use plans approved in 2002 for the community’s original developer, Heritage Homes.

At various points in talks with DHLP after it bought the community from Heritage, Lower Pottsgrove received settlement offers of $300,000 and $375,000, respectively. They were declined, Holloway said, because neither was sufficient to finish the work. “The disrepair has been steadily increasing, while the price to fix it also has been rising,” board President Jonathan Spadt added.

Montgomery County still owns the bridge, which was built in 1921

Then, only weeks ago, DHLP went silent, Holloway charged. “Quite frankly, the conversation just stopped,” he said, between its lawyers and Furey & Baldassari, representing the township. “They (DHLP) have been non-responsive since,” Holloway claimed.

That prompted the recommendation to sue, which was discussed during a board executive session Thursday at 6:15 p.m. before the commissioners’ regular meeting began in the municipal building on Buchert Road.

The county owns the bridge, Holloway explained, but so far has chosen not to participate in the legal action. Instead, it will let Lower Pottsgrove proceed “for the county’s benefit,” he said. When filed, the suit likely will name other defendants as well, possibly including Heritage, which allegedly promised to draw plans for a new bridge but never delivered them.

Related:

• 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):

• Township Plans $375,000+ Suit To Fix Rupert Bridge
• Cooperation Agreement On Commissioners’ Agenda

Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, as seen from the north.

POTTSTOWN PA — Two young girls playing near a batting cage early Wednesday evening (April 20, 2011) during a baseball game at Pottsgrove High School on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, received a strong electric shock when they made contact with the cage, which had become energized by nearby live wires, officials confirmed to The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper.

Police did not name the girls, who were identified respectively as 7- and 8-year-old Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents. Both were taken by ambulance to local hospitals, but township Police Lt. Michael Foltz reported they did not seem to have suffered serious injuries.

• Read a story by reporter Brandie Kessler, titled “Two girls electrically shocked near Pottsgrove batting cage” and published Thursday (April 21) in The Mercury, here.
• Read a story published Wednesday (April 20) by WFMZ-TV, Channel 69 in Allentown PA, titled “Police: 2 Girls Jolted By Electricity On Field, Rushed To Hospital,” and watch an accompanying video, here.

Lower Pottsgrove's municipal building

SANATOGA PA – Cooperation, the ability to work together toward a common goal, could be celebrated tonight (Thursday, April 21, 2011) – or, at the least, acknowledged by a signature – during the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners meeting.

On its agenda is discussion and possible approval of a resolution “authorizing the execution of a cooperation agreement” between the township, the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority, and the Sunnybrook Foundation. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, and is open to the public.

A copy of the agenda, available since Wednesday afternoon, can be downloaded from the township website, here.

The township and the non-profit foundation have enjoyed significant success in recent years in reclaiming Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA,  as a facility for public use, refurbishing and refitting it to solve problems caused by age and neglect, and creating local excitement with a variety of regularly offered entertainment. They’ve also had disagreements, which is why county agencies and officials have occasionally been involved.

The Redevelopment Authority in part serves as an intermediary to pass grant funding on to local recipients and ensure it is used as intended. Although the agenda does not spell out specifics of the agreement, it likely will formalize relationships between the three with future projects in mind.

Also on the agenda, commissioners are scheduled to:

• Consider a request from their landscape architect, Simone Collins of Norristown PA, for additional payments regarding the creation of master plans for the township’s Gerald Richards and Pleasantview parks;
• Revisit vendor bids for cosmetic work to be done at the municipal building; and
• Re-think their previous opposition to a lighted message display signage being sought by National Penn Bank for its branch office at East High Street and South Sunnybrook Road.

POTTSTOWN PA – Lighted, digital billboards approved Tuesday (April 19, 2011) by the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Zoning Hearing Board, to be seen by drivers on U.S. Route 422, are expected to be colorful and eye-catching. What if, township resident and former commissioner Thomas Troutman wondered aloud, they were eye-popping too?

A controversial billboard for a Gucci perfume, which appeared last October in Los Angeles

Is there any guarantee the advertising signs will not show sexual or offensive content?, Troutman asked board members and representatives of owner Lamar Advertising of Penn LLC, during their hearing at the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown.

Two chances of that, Lamar Director of Real Estate Melissa Nye quickly replied: slim and much slimmer. Her company, she said, follows strict guidelines to prevent such displays. “I know my manager would never allow it,” she said.

“I’m sure that’s so now,” but companies, policies and managers change, Troutman contended. What will keep unappealing, or maybe overly appealing, images off those oversized, television-like screens in the future?, he asked.

Possibly nothing, hearing board attorney Robert Brant observed.

In fact, Brant added, imposing any such restriction would violate the First Amendment – the one that ensures the right of free speech – of the U.S. Constitution. “We can’t limit free speech,” Brant said of the board, whose members must deal only with applicable township laws.

The best Troutman might hope for, apparently, is that good taste will prevail.

Related:

• Sex Sells … But, He’s Hopeful, Not In Lower Pottsgrove
• Lamar Wins Township Approval For TV-Like Billboards
• Hearings Scheduled For National Penn’s Sanatoga Sign
• Lower Pottsgrove, Lamar Negotiating Over Sign Request
• All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight
• Anticipated Township Billboard Battle Gets A Reprieve
• Legal Fight Shapes Up Over Signs In Lower Pottsgrove
• Advertisers Propose Colorful, Electronic Sign In Township

Photo from Daily Billboard

SANATOGA PA – If you’ve got business to transact with Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township officials before the week ends, you’d better hurry. The week ends today (Thursday, April 21, 2011).

Today is the last day the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, will be open for business this week. The offices will be closed Friday (April 22) in observance of the Christian holiday of Good Friday, the township website announced. Normal business hours resume Monday (April 25) at 8 a.m., it added.

Montgomery County administrative offices in Norristown and elsewhere similarly will be closed.

Photo from Google Images

Get your Zumba on, like these folks, to benefit a charitable cause in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN PA – A charity Zumbathon, a marathon in the combination of dance and exercise known as Zumba that will raise funds to help people affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, will be held April 30 (Saturday; 2011) beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the Ballroom On High, 310 High St., Pottstown PA.

The event is being co-sponsored by Dr. Niraj Patel of the Chiropractic and Wellness Center, 1143 High St., Pottstown, and Zumba Fitness Inc. Tickets cost $20 in advance, and can be ordered by calling Remi at 203-559-8484 or Star at 215-920-4511; or bought for $25 at the door. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will be contributed to AmeriCares for its Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster Relief efforts.

Additionally, Patel’s office is offering a complimentary consultation, examination, computerized wellness scan, and a report of his findings (a $175 value) in exchange for a $25 donation to AmeriCares. Patel has pledged to match donations, up to a total of $1,000, for patients who accept his consultation offer between April 25 and May 5.

For more information, call 610-323-6858.

SANATOGA PA – A proposal for a four-story building of garden suite apartments to complete the Buchert Ridge Community at Buchert and Kepler roads received Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Zoning Hearing Board approval Tuesday night (April 19, 2011), but it came with a list of 12 conditions that regulate the height of some nearby buildings, the size of accompanying carports, and placement of landscaping items.

The hearing board did not rule on the height of the apartment building itself, because developer J. Wilmer Hallman of Hallman Retirement Communities, based in Sanatoga PA, earlier agreed it would not exceed township limits. What was considered its excessive height, when first presented, prompted objections in recent months from neighboring property owners.

One such owner, Matthew Cappelletti of 1215 Kepler Rd., Pottstown PA, was represented by legal counsel at earlier hearings. The board’s conclusions of law, to be distributed today (Wednesday, April 20), specifically found Cappelletti did not meet a “burden to prove to a high degree of probability” that he adjoining buildings would “substantially affect the health, safety and welfare of the community.”

The hearing board ruling could be appealed in civil courts.

The board’s several conditions limit the:

• Amount of impervious coverage (like asphalt and buildings) on the parcel;
• Coverage area of the apartments and service buildings;
• Size and placement of landscape buffers on Buchert Road and facing Kepler Road;
• Height of a pedestrian walkway between the apartments and nearby parking garage, the garage itself, adjacent carports an service buildings; and the
• Number and square footage of adjacent carports.

A audience significantly smaller than the crowd that turned out for earlier hearings was on hand to hear the board’s ruling. It was issued shortly after the 6 p.m. start of the board meeting in the township municipal building on Buchert Road.

Related (to Buchert Ridge Community):

• Hallman Apartments At Buchert Ridge Get Zoning OK
• Buchert Ridge Added Sewer Capacity Gets Board OK
• PART Buses Play A Part In Buchert Ridge Building Plans
• Surprise: Height No Longer Zoning Issue At Buchert Ridge
• Over Objections, Commissioners Endorse Buchert Apartments
• Two Expansions Considered On Lower Pottsgrove Agenda
• Accusations Fly At Planners’ Meeting Over Buchert Ridge
• Applications Withdrawn; Township Cancels Zoning Hearings
• Lower Pottsgrove Hearings Set For Apartments, Lighting
• Walk Through These Rooms Without Moving
• Commissioners Warm To Energy-Saving Apartments
• Commissioners Get An Early Start Tonight
• Meeting Moved Up For Buchert Ridge Presentation
• Buchert Ridge Unveiling Final Phase

The red circle on this Google satellite image shows the Porter Road location where Lamar Advertising's existing billboards will be swapped for newer, digital versions.

SANATOGA PA – Outdoor billboard company Lamar Advertising of Penn LLC will be allowed to erect lighted digital signs, which display advertising messages that change every 10 seconds, atop a Porter Road, Pottstown PA, support structure that’s been in place since 1999, the Lower Pottsgrove Township Zoning Hearing Board unanimously decided Tuesday night (April 19, 2011).

Hearing board acceptance of the Reading PA firm’s proposal ends months of promised legal fights and subsequent negotiations between Lamar and the township. The Board of Commissioners initially opposed, and then ultimately reached a deal on, Lamar’s use of the billboards that resemble giant flat-screen televisions and will face traffic on all four lanes of U.S. Route 422 near the Armand Hammer Boulevard interchange.

Township law limits the physical size of some advertising signs in certain zones, and makes few if any provisions for frequently changing messages. “What you’re telling us is that the technology has changed but the ordinance hasn’t … that the relief you want reflects the technology you’re using,” board attorney Robert Brant said. “That’s exactly right,” replied Lamar attorney James Lillis.

Lamar considers the Porter Road site, which currently supports a different and older set of billboards, “an important part of its inventory,” Lillis said. Their messages also change, and more frequently (every 5 seconds, but without internal lighting) than the new signs will. “But current market conditions demand a digital sign,” he noted.

The commissioners’ agreement with Lamar, reached in recent weeks and approved by the board during its April 4 meeting, limits the frequency of changes and the brightness of the lighting. It also gives the township opportunities to use the billboards for its own public announcements or emergency notifications.

Lamar had indicated it would challenge the legality of the township sign ordinance, first with the hearing board and later in civil courts if necessary, to ensure it could continue operating locally. Commission President Jonathan Spadt in January said the board was attempting to find a compromise with Lamar and avoid what could be a costly showdown.

Both sides “agreed to come to terms rather than fight a long legal battle,” Lillis, of the Kozloff Stout law firm in Wyomissing PA, said following the hearing board decision.

Related:

• Lamar Wins Township Approval For TV-Like Billboards
• Hearings Scheduled For National Penn’s Sanatoga Sign
• Lower Pottsgrove, Lamar Negotiating Over Sign Request
• All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight
• Anticipated Township Billboard Battle Gets A Reprieve
• Legal Fight Shapes Up Over Signs In Lower Pottsgrove
• Advertisers Propose Colorful, Electronic Sign In Township

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ April 4 meeting):

• Lamar Wins Township Approval For TV-Like Billboards
• Drug Take-Back Event Returns To Lower Pottsgrove
• Trout Rodeo Launches Six Weeks of Township Fun

Expect the fire house to be filled with lots of colorful choices

SANATOGA PA – The garage doors at the Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown PA, will open today (Wednesday, April 20) and remain so daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Saturday (April 23) for its annual sale of Easter flowers, candy, and baked goods.

The fund-raiser helps the company earn needed money to sustain its operations and train firefighters, and helps those headed to a holiday dinner bring something additional to the host’s table. The sale is open to the public. For more information, call 610-323-4885.