The Sanatoga Post

The corner of Armand Hammer Boulevard and High Street in Pottstown

SANATOGA PA – “That’s the way you do it,” rock singer Mark Knopfler and the band Dire Straits crooned in 1986. “Get your money for nuthin’ and your chicks for free.”

Their pop song, “Money For Nothing,” was a big hit during the MTV and VH1 video music era. Now, 25 years later, it may be a golden oldie of sorts in the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township municipal building too.

• Watch a video of Dire Straits performing “Money For Nothing” in Switzerland during 1992, above, or see it at the YouTube user account of kmhjyellow.

Don’t misunderstand: there are no – repeat NO – chicks or other forms of animal life involved in a deal to which the Board of Commissioners agreed earlier this month (July 7, 2011). But board members think the township may have gotten a more than $20,000 gift, its own money for nothing, by simply saying “yes” to an offer from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

PennDOT is preparing for work to begin in 2012 on the reconstruction of bridges near, and a reconfiguration of roads at, the Armand Hammer Boulevard exit of U.S. Route 422 on Lower Pottsgrove’s southwest side. The agency needed ground the township owns – literally, a portion of the Armand Hammer roadway and right-of-way, Manager Rodney Hawthorne said – to rebuild one of the 422 ramps there. It offered to pay $20,900 for the parcel.

“Is that a fair price?,” Commissioner Michael McGroarty asked. “Don’t know,” Hawthorne replied. PennDOT surely has paperwork to document the value, he added.

“Are we using the property for anything?,” Commissioner James Kaiser chipped in. It’s a road now, Hawthorne said of the boulevard piece, and it’ll be a road later as well. “Then let’s take their money,” Kaiser said with a grin.

The board approved, unanimously.

You could almost hear a guitar faintly wailing in the background.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ July 7 meeting):

• Township Sells PennDOT Some Asphalt, Makes $20K
• Vacant Home Neighbors Worry About Property Values
• Township Holds Off On Police Radio Upgrade Decision
• The Post Providing Monthly Township Warrants Online
• NRC Staffers Stop By, Say ‘Hi’ To Commissioners
• Italian Restaurant Construction Could Start Within Weeks
• At Township DUI Check, They Got What They Paid For
• Police Radio Discussion Possible In Township’s Meeting

Montgomery County ranked third in the state with newly foreclosed properties in June

SANATOGA PA – With the rate of real property foreclosures still comparatively high across Pennsylvania, and with fewer homes selling locally in what experts agree is a soft real estate market, one Lower Pottsgrove resident wants to know what the township can do to ensure the exterior look of vacant homes won’t negatively affect property values in local neighborhoods.

Rivendell Lane home owner P.J. McGill told the Board of Commissioners this month about what he described as “abandoned” homes on his street and elsewhere in the Woodgate community on the township’s east side. “How are you handling them?” so they don’t become eyesores, he asked.

Township zoning codes require specific standards of yard and property maintenance, Manager Rodney Hawthorne noted, and are usually enforced by notice to or action against the owner. In the case of foreclosures, he added, that could be a bank or other lender rather than a home’s former occupants.

Other than ensuring compliance with laws already on township books, commissioners acknowledged during their July 7 meeting, there may be little else they can do. They asked Hawthorne to further research the matter, though.

Pennsylvania counties in the darkest red experienced the highest rate of foreclosures as a percentage of their total housing market last month

Pennsylvania does not rank among the hottest foreclosure states. As of June 2011, the latest month for which statistics were available, that dubious distinction fell to Nevada, Arizona and California, according to RealtyTrac, a national online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Within Pennsylvania, though, more than 30,200 homes – one for every 1,509 housing units – are currently in some stage of the foreclosure process, RealtyTrac reported. With more than 9,000 owner-occupied homes in Lower Pottsgrove, it could be estimated that six or more township homes are currently in foreclosure. There have been dozens of others within the past two years.

In the 19464 zip code, which includes Sanatoga, Pottstown and Stowe, RealtyTrac says 778 foreclosed homes are now up for sale. Montgomery County, it added, during June ranked third statewide among counties with homes newly in foreclosure.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ July 7 meeting):

• Vacant Home Neighbors Worry About Property Values
• Township Holds Off On Police Radio Upgrade Decision
• The Post Providing Monthly Township Warrants Online
• NRC Staffers Stop By, Say ‘Hi’ To Commissioners
• Italian Restaurant Construction Could Start Within Weeks
• At Township DUI Check, They Got What They Paid For
• Police Radio Discussion Possible In Township’s Meeting

Graphics from RealtyTrac.com

SANATOGA PA – Unlike nearby municipalities that have already stated a preference, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township has so far decided not to decide if it favors a complete overhaul of, an upgrade to, or a simple re-banding within Montgomery County’s police radio dispatch equipment.

The Board of Commissioners, during its only meeting this month, deferred offering an official opinion on work that if approved may cost the township $109,000 or more. The county wants an answer from the board by August, and with time on their side commissioners indicated they would think the matter over.

Manager Rodney Hawthorne and Police Chief Michael Shade have already aired their thoughts on the subject. They opt for an upgrade, in which the township would replace its officers’ antiquated handheld radios – 17 of them to start, at a cost of about $6,400 each (reduced from an earlier estimate of $7,000) – with newer, more powerful and efficient models.

“I think the upgrade’s the way to go,” Shade repeated during the board’s July 7 meeting. “It’s a step into the next generation of equipment. What we’ve got now is pretty outdated.”

The county has been ordered by the Federal Communications Commission to adjust how its police and emergency radio dispatch system operates. The change is primarily due to the unprecedented growth of cell phones and other mobile technology that uses much of the same bandwidth, or frequencies, the radios do.

Facing a federal deadline in April, the county chose the least expensive option of re-banding, or changing frequencies. Many police chiefs, including Shade, worry re-banding will create potential communication and safety hazards in the future.

Replacing the entire system, at a countywide cost of $120 million, is too pricey, elected leaders contend. Upgrading for about $50 million seems easier on taxpayers’ wallets, they claim, and addresses safety concerns too.

Even with an upgrade, though, some local governments have already announced they’re unwilling to afford the cost. Both Pottstown and Collegeville PA borough councils rejected the upgrade option in votes last week.

Board members are expected to see the radio item on their agendas again during August (2011) meetings. If they accept the upgrade, the county also wants to know if Lower Pottsgrove would choose to buy the handhelds or lease them over a 10-year period; commissioners earlier made it clear they considered leasing too expensive.

Related:

• Township Holds Off On Police Radio Upgrade Decision
• Police Radio Discussion Possible In Township’s Meeting
• Township Likely Faces Costs As Dispatch Radios Change

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ July 7 meeting):

• Township Holds Off On Police Radio Upgrade Decision
• The Post Providing Monthly Township Warrants Online
• NRC Staffers Stop By, Say ‘Hi’ To Commissioners
• Italian Restaurant Construction Could Start Within Weeks
• At Township DUI Check, They Got What They Paid For
• Police Radio Discussion Possible In Township’s Meeting

HARRISBURG PA – There was good news Monday (July 18, 2011), or – depending on your feelings for the subject – bad news, from the state’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission regarding the future of tolling on U.S. Route 422 between King of Prussia and Reading, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported.

The commission, charged by Gov. Tom Corbett to study the needs of and future financing for the state’s transportation and mass transit infrastructure, apparently will not recommend the tolling of any specific highways or state roads, its chairman and state Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch told The Independent.

However, Schoch added, commission members will suggest approval of “enabling legislation” for tolling decisions to be made later.

If someday accepted by the Legislature, a law that enables Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties (or others in similar circumstances) to establish tolling authorities would likely give those bodies the ability to collect and use toll money for dedicated purposes, such as transportation improvements in the Route 422 corridor.

The commission has been at work in recent months to better understand Pennsylvania’s transportation challenges. Its meetings included a presentation, made by county officials and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Authority, on a proposal to toll 422. Commissioners completed their work Monday and will submit a final report to the governor next week.

Schoch indicated the commission will recommend increasing taxes on wholesale fuel sales, which would raise prices for motorists at the gas pump; and increasing vehicle registration and drivers’ license fees. Overall, the commission’s recommendations are expected to increase transportation funding by $2.5 billion annually within five years, The Independent reported.

State Sen. John Rafferty, who represents Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown PA, and who serves as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, will review the report and wait to hear the governor’s position before taking action, his executive director, Nathan Spade, told The Independent.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Commission recommends higher vehicle and driver fees, gas tax increase” and published Monday by The Independent, here.

Separate from The Independent’s story, local municipal government managers and other officials were said to have met Monday night in Limerick for a discussion of the 422 proposal. The content of that meeting was not revealed to The Post.

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

• Report Expected To Suggest Law For Road Toll Authority
• I-95 A Big Problem; 422 A Solvable Problem (With Tolls)
• Even With Tolling, 422 Might Be Free (For A Few Miles)
• County Candidates Brown, Castor Oppose 422 Tolling
• Quigley, Other Reps Questioning 422 Tolls Proposal
• 422 Toll Proposal Wins Some PA Commission Backers
• Exec Highway Group To Hear Rt. 422 Tolling As ‘Model’
• 422 Questions Answered, For Your Viewing Pleasure
• In 422 Tolling, Planners Say, Studying Doesn’t Make It So
• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• 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

Photo from Google Images

Philadelphia architect Al Wulff described the building Monday to planning commissioners

SANATOGA PA – A substantially revised and smaller office building than one first seen by the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Planning Commission almost three years ago won commissioners’ amended site plan approval Monday (July 18, 2011) for its construction on a vacant three-acre parcel at 20 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA.

Planners liked the first proposal for a new facility to be occupied by Tri-County Urologic Associates, which they reviewed during September 2008, enough to approve it in January 2009. They said Monday they liked the new version even better.

Philadelphia architect Al Wulff of Wulff Architects Inc. said the physicians’ partnership had asked him to significantly re-design the initial plans. The proposed building is smaller; it now consists of only 15,178 square feet, rather than the original 26,000. It’s one story instead of two. The exterior includes more ornamental, eye-appealing elements to give it “almost an arts and crafts feeling,” Wulff said.

Tri-County Urologic, currently located at 2103 E. High St., Sanatoga, intends to build at the west end of the Heritage commercial and residential development in Sanatoga village, on the east side of Sunnybrook Road between CVS and Upside Endeavors.

Planners were pleased, and had few questions.

Related:

• Tri-County Urologic Offices Win Planners’ Approval
• Commissioners Schedule First Monthly Meeting
• Sunnybrook Offices Please Planners

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission meeting of July 18):

• Tri-County Urologic Offices Win Planners’ Approval
• Planning Commissioner Hiriak Resigns; Quorum Urged

Hiriak

SANATOGA PA – Nicholas F. Hiriak, an Overlook Drive, Pottstown PA, resident who has served as a member of the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission for many years, shook his colleagues’ hands and wished them well Monday (July 18, 2011), following the board’s regular monthly meeting. He has resigned from the position.

“It’s nothing but time constraints,” explained Hiriak, who currently serves as commission vice chairman. “There’s just a lot of other things going on.”

Hiriak works as finance director for Upper Merion (PA) Township. He was last appointed to the commission for a four-year term effective Jan. 1 (2011) by a Sept. 7, 2010, unanimous vote of the township Board of Commissioners.

The usually five-member planning commission hears details of and makes recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on land use and related proposals in the township. It regularly meets on the third Monday of each month in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

Planning Commission Chairman Frank Cebular noted that, with Hiriak’s departure, remaining board members needed to ensure their attendance at future meetings. Commissioner Anthony Cherico has been out of town in recent months on work assignments, Cebular said, and for the foreseeable future the board must operate with a three-member quorum that consists of himself and commissioners Ronald Dinnocenti and William Wolfgang.

Related:

• Hiriak Re-Appointed To Planning Commission

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Planning Commission meeting of July 18):

• Planning Commissioner Hiriak Resigns; Quorum Urged

SHINY, LOOKING LIKE NEW AND, UM, THE WRONG COLOR – After almost 20 years of winter snows and blazing summer sun, of fall winds and spring rains, and the occasional landscaper’s bump or two, Lower Pottsgrove had its weathered sign outside the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, repainted this month. But, no, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne concedes, its brown background wasn’t quite what he ordered. Hawthorne, whose maroon-colored love of Pottsgrove Falcon athletics can be found throughout his office, hoped the sign painter would use the same colors found on the original specimen (inset), including its brick-red background. He didn’t. The painter compensated the township for the mistake, and now that the sign’s luster is restored Hawthorne said he’ll let it be “for a couple of years at least.” The sign spruce-up is part of a building remodeling project budgeted by the Board of Commissioners this year. Other, smaller directional signs also must be re-painted; they’ll be red, Hawthorne promised.

Lower Pottsgrove's municipal building.

SANATOGA PA – The lack of a quorum will prevent the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners from gathering a second time this month. Its regularly scheduled meeting of Thursday (July 21, 2011) at 7 p.m. has been canceled, Manager Rodney Hawthorne said Monday night (July 18).

Three of the board’s five members are out of town, two for family matters and one for business, Hawthorne said. The board’s next meeting is set for Aug. 1 (Monday) at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

Recently part of the senior companion graduation ceremony were, at front from left, Frances Laws and Janice Thomas of Pottstown, Wayne Markham of Red Hill, and Pat Cusat of Harleysville; and at back, volunteer coordinator Anita Coffey, Lady Savage of Laverock, Carole Liepin of Telford, Shirley McGillicuddy of Harleysville, and program director Deb Keller

SANATOGA PA – Seven area residents – including two from Pottstown and two from Harleysville – each have completed 29 hours of orientation and training to become the latest volunteers in the senior companion program conducted by Family Services of Montgomery County, the non-profit agency announced Monday (July 18, 2011).

Among the graduates were Frances Laws and Janice Thomas, both of Pottstown; and Pat Cusat and Shirley McGillicuddy, both of Harleysville.

The program pairs of limited-income seniors with frail elderly individuals who may have difficulty completing everyday tasks. Companions offer one-on-one support by helping with mail, writing letters, playing cards, offering respite care, or talking and listening, all at no cost to the client. Companions are assigned to clients at community agencies and organizations, such as hospices and adult day services, as well as at individual homes.

Family Services operates an office on East High Street in Pottstown PA.

So far the program has 55 trained and active companions who serve more than 500 clients throughout the county. Collectively, they have contributed more 259,500 hours of volunteer service since the program’s launch in December 2003, Family Services’ Marketing Director Karen Konnick said.

Those interested in becoming a companion must be a Montgomery County resident age 55 or older, meet minimum income requirements, and enjoy working with other older adults. All volunteers receive a modest tax-free stipend for a minimum of 15 hours of service weekly, as well as paid holiday, sick and vacation leave, additional training, and transportation reimbursement.

For more information, call program director Deb Keller at 215-368-0985 Ext. 15, or send her an e-mail, here.

Photo from Family Services

It not only protects from the sun's rays; it collects them, too

POTTSTOWN PA – When most people think of electricity generated by solar power, they envision large rectangular panels of blue-colored, sunshine-absorbing silicone wafers mounted on a rooftop. Don’t let your imagination stop there, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township resident Larry Leamy suggests.

He wants you to think of solar umbrellas, too.

Leamy, of Foxtail Drive, Pottstown PA, operates Leamy Electric Inc., a provider and installer of alternative energy systems. His company sells and services mostly solar- and wind-powered generators for residential and commercial use. One of its newest installations at an area home, described in a video released Sunday (July 17, 2011), involves a series of four southern-facing panels mounted on poles more than six feet high.

It’s a solar system that generates up to 5 kilowatts of electricity, and looks like an angled canopy or umbrella. Its owner can walk beneath it, Leamy says, with his proudly “green” head held high.

“The customer wanted it up high, so that he could get under it, walk under it, and wouldn’t lose a lot of room in his yard, because the yard’s not that big,” Leamy explains. “We actually custom-made this racking system. It didn’t come like this from the factory,” he says.

• Watch the video, above, or see it at the YouTube user account of leamyelectricinc1.

Many alternative energy generators still qualify for certain state and federal programs that could rebate up to 30 percent of their cost, Leamy reports. Add that to potential earnings for owners who sell unused electricity their systems create to local utility companies like First Energy and PECO, and alternatives quickly look affordable, he claims.

Whether similar solar umbrella installation would be allowed within Lower Pottsgrove itself, and if so under what circumstances, could be answered in coming months. The Board of Commissioners, as recently as its May 2 (2011) meeting, said that township staff members are working on revisions to the municipal code that include alternative generation.

“Zoning code amendments to cover green energy are in the works,” board President Jonathan Spadt reported then. He did not say when they might be completed.

Related:

• Solar Roof, So Yesterday! Area Owner Thinks ‘Umbrella’
• Township Firefighters Ask Help With Solar Panel Hazards
• Solar, Wind Power Rules Urged in Lower Pottsgrove
• Alternative Energy Regulation On Its Way?

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of May 2):

• Solar Roof, So Yesterday! Area Owner Thinks ‘Umbrella’
• Township Responders To Train For LGS November Drill
• Is Your Street On This Year’s Township Paving List?
• Township Didn’t Know You’d Have Trash On Your Mind
• Township Likely Faces Costs As Dispatch Radios Change
• Former Commissioner Seeks Warrants On Township Web
• Blue-Light Special: Tax Refund Due For Sanatoga K-Mart
• Stop Sign May Be Answer For Pruss Hill Road Crashes

Photo from Leamy Electric Inc.