The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – The October 2011 warrants of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township – which provide details on where the municipality’s revenues came from during the 10th month of the year, and on what and with whom it spent money – were made available Saturday (Nov. 19, 2011) on the Resources Page of The Sanatoga Post.

The document was e-mailed Friday (Nov. 18) by township bookkeeper Michele Christman following the Board of Commissioners‘ meeting.

• Find all warrants archived by The Post as Adobe Acrobat documents, here. Most take about a minute or less to download over a high-speed (DSL, cable, or FIOS) Internet connection.

The October warrants were approved Thursday (Nov. 17) by the board during its second monthly meeting. Warrants are printed and can always be viewed for free at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, during regular office hours Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Post supplies these materials exactly as received from the township, and makes no guarantee expressed or implied that they are complete, accurate, or faithful reproductions of the actual documents. The Post has had no hand in their creation or submission. Before taking any action based on the contents of any documents offered here, The Post strongly suggests you consult with appropriate professionals for advice.

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

• October 2011 Lower Pottsgrove Warrants Now Online
• Township Tax Could Rise 12 Percent In Tentative Budget
• Township Says It Won’t Reconsider Rejected Trash Bids
• Buchert Ridge Reps Expected At Township Meeting

ONE FOR THE BOOKS – For the 11th consecutive year, Diamond Credit Union, with offices on Medical Drive in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, on Friday (Nov. 18, 2011) announced that every one of its 107 employees had participated in this year’s regional United Way fund-raising campaign. The event was marked with a cake by employees Kim Deery, left, and Deb Maskrey. Donations were made either through weekly payroll contributions or a one-time payment. Employee donations combined with Diamond’s corporate pledge totaled a record-breaking $30,130.36, it said. Diamond Credit Union is the 18th largest credit union in Pennsylvania.

POTTSTOWN PA – Students at Pottsgrove High School may have been exposed to shingles, a viral infection with symptoms ranging from mild itching to extreme and intense pain, that was diagnosed in a 10th-grader, Interim Principal Yolanda Williams said in a letter distributed Friday (Nov. 18, 2011) by e-mail and to be taken home to parents.

Shingles is a form of varicella, the same virus that causes chickenpox. People exposed to someone with shingles may contract chickenpox, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. “Although chickenpox is not usually a serious illness,” Williams wrote, it is contagious, “it can cause severe complications such as pneumonia,” and even a mild illness from the disease “can result in the loss of a week or more of class time for a child.”

In some cases, she wrote, its most extreme complications “can even result in death.”

The potential for exposure was reported Thursday (Nov. 17) by the high school to the Montgomery County (PA) Health Department, Williams added. She did not disclose how high school administrators became aware of the exposure, nor did she mention any school-based actions to minimize the possibility of contagion.

Williams’ letter asked parents to “help us protect” children by ensuring they are vaccinated against chickenpox. The vaccine “has proven that it can prevent chickenpox or serve to lessen (its) severity,” she wrote. She also asked that any child who develops chickenpox be kept from attending school until a rash and blisters that are symptomatic of the disease have dried out and crusted over.

SANATOGA PA – Unless something changes before year’s end, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township property owners will face rare circumstances during 2012: a real estate tax increase may be headed their way.

The Board of Commissioners on Thursday (Nov. 17, 2011), quickly and without discussion, approved the township’s tentative 2012 budget; said they would advertise its availability for public inspection as of Nov. 23 (Wednesday), and added they would similarly advertise accompanying tax-enabling ordinances and resolutions.

Curiously, they didn’t officially state the tentative budget’s total amount, but it is estimated at more than $6 million. That’s up from about $5.4 million during 2011.

They did, however, note that under it taxes are proposed to increase 12 percent, rising one-quarter of 1 mill and – in terms most bill-payers can understand – adding about $31 in taxes to what they said is considered the “typical” township home with an assessed value of $120,000. Last year’s township-only tax bill for such a home amounted to $235; in 2012 it would rise to $266.

If the increase stands, it would represent the first time in several years that commissioners raised taxes to cover expenses of Lower Pottsgrove’s general fund budget.

Moreover, they said after the vote, the tentative budget relies on an infusion of $537,000 from the township fund balance to help lower the tax hike. Once that money is transferred from its savings accounts, if ultimately approved, board members claimed they would still have $1.512 million – about 22 percent of budgeted expenses – remaining as a cushion against unforeseen costs.

“We cut where we could,” commissioner and Budget Committee member James Kaiser said. “We tried to be fair and accurate.” Fellow commissioner and committee member James Phillips noted the budget numbers legally could change by up to 10 percent before final adoption during December.

Copies of the budget, when released next week, will be available at the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove 2012 budget):

• Township Tax Could Rise 12 Percent In Tentative Budget
• Township Schedules Another Budget Meeting Oct. 27
• We’ll Gladly Pay You In 2012 For A Truck Ordered Now
• Open Budget Meetings, He Complains, Not That Open
• Township Committee Planning Two Budget Meetings
• Thanks To Survey Input, Township Preparing Trash Bids
• Pottstown Library Asks Township For Higher Funding

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

• Township Tax Could Rise 12 Percent In Tentative Budget
• Township Says It Won’t Reconsider Rejected Trash Bids
• Buchert Ridge Reps Expected At Township Meeting

SANATOGA PA – A plea by one of the area’s largest trash haulers to have the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners reconsider its rejection of all garbage collection contract bids opened earlier this month was itself rejected Thursday (Nov. 17, 2011) by a majority of board members, who said they were willing see what a new round of bidding brings.

J.P. Mascaro attorney William Fox

Officers of and the attorney for Norristown-based hauler J.P. Mascaro and Sons tried in vain to convince commissioners to not only look again at bids submitted by their company and two others, but also to award them the contract as lowest bidder. The board declined, in a 3-1 vote.

At issue is how much the township and its property owners will pay during the next three to five years to have their garbage, leaf waste and bulk items like used appliances picked up weekly. Mascaro has done the work for the past eight years; it and two other bidders, Waste Management and Republic Services, are vying for the same opportunity through at least through 2015.

Township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway claimed “material defects” were found in all three bids once they were opened, and on his advice commissioners voted Nov. 3 to dismiss them all. The board decision Thursday – commissioners Jonathan Spadt, Michael McGroarty and James Kaiser reaffirmed the rejection; James Phillips favored reconsideration; and Bruce Foltz was absent – allows it to wait for new bids expected Nov. 30.

Its vote followed a half-hour discussion by Mascaro attorney William Fox of the legal intricacies of bid rejection and acceptance. Fox’s two points:

• The board had the authority to reverse its rejection and accept a bid; and, he contended,
• Mascaro should be chosen as the lowest bidder because of its submitted price of $274 per household per year for one-day-a-week pickups.

Holloway generally agreed with Fox’s tutorial on applicable law, and congratulated him on his eloquence. What it didn’t change, Holloway added, were “several” problems with all three bid submissions that were severe enough, in his opinion, to recommend against acceptance.

The board also offered no comment on a request to defer any action on accepting trash bids until after newly elected commissioners were sworn into office. It came from former Commissioner Stephen Klotz, who again won election to the board and will be seated in January.

Related:

• Township Says It Won’t Reconsider Rejected Trash Bids
• Lower Pottsgrove Back To Drawing Board On Trash
• Township Bends To Give Garbage Bidders Choices
• Thanks To Survey Input, Township Preparing Trash Bids
• From Township Trash Survey, A Heap Of Interesting Ideas
• Township Didn’t Know You’d Have Trash On Your Mind
• Trash Talkin’: Township Wants Opinions On Messy Topic
• Lower Pottsgrove Seeks Suggestions In A Trash Survey

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

• Township Says It Won’t Reconsider Rejected Trash Bids
• Buchert Ridge Reps Expected At Township Meeting

SANATOGA PA – There’s no telling what’s officially scheduled for the meeting tonight (Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011) of the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners; the agenda available on its website hasn’t been updated since Oct. 24. Representatives of the Buchert Ridge senior housing community, however, say commissioners might expect them to pay a visit.

Site plan for the Buchert Ridge Community on Buchert Road

Buchert Ridge developer J. Wilmer “Wil” Hallman of Sanatoga and some residents there claimed Wednesday (Nov. 16) the township had not yet approved the request of his company, Hallman Retirement Neighborhoods, to renovate the interior of an existing building on the grounds at 2011 Buchert Rd. as a community center for the complex. They hope to question board members, they said, about the delay.

The meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, and is open to the public.

Commissioners may talk, too, about the state of the township’s 2012 budget, which also has been somewhat delayed, because bids submitted for Lower Pottsgrove’s trash collection contract have not yet been accepted or approved. Bids offered weeks ago by several contractors were deemed incomplete and rejected on the advice of Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway. New bids are expected to be opened Nov. 30 (Wednesday).

The budget must be in place by Dec. 31. While plenty of time remains to meet that deadline, commissioners have a track record of finalizing their spending plan well before year’s end.

It’s also possible commissioners could get word from Manager Rodney Hawthorne about any progress in reopening the Pruss Hill Road bridge to limited vehicular traffic. The bridge has been closed for two months due to safety concerns over its structural sufficiency, but is expected to be made passable with significant restrictions in the near future, Hawthorne has said.

If a board agenda is made public before the meeting, it usually can be found on the township website, here.

Related (to Buchert Ridge Community):

• Buchert Ridge Reps Expected At Township Meeting
• Planners Get Sneak Peek At Buchert Ridge Revisions
• 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

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

• Buchert Ridge Reps Expected At Township Meeting

POTTSTOWN PA – Donations of non-perishable food items are being accepted at Pottsgrove High School this week and through Nov. 24 as students there participate, as they have for several years, in an annual drive to benefit the Philabundance food distribution charity.

Pottsgrove has won honors in years past as among the schools collecting and bringing the greatest amount of food, measured in pounds, to be donated to Philabundance through Philadelphia radio station WMMR-FM 93.3 and its “Preston and Steve” morning show. “We are asking for your help,” students said to the public Monday (Nov. 14) in an e-mail circulated to Pottsgrove School District recipients.

Those interested in donating food items or cash should contact high school teachers John Shantz in Room 2A or Amber Biddle in Room 214.

POTTSTOWN PA – Discussions of redistricting in the Pottsgrove School District were anticipated to have kept more than 30 volunteers – parents, teachers, administrators and school board members – busy again Tuesday night (Nov. 15, 2011), as they were scheduled to review proposals to either re-align attendance boundaries for its three elementary schools, or to significantly change how the buildings are used in a new educational model.

Information released by the district so far on its website, here, seems to indicate members have an abundance of questions about creating two kindergarten-through-second grade elementary centers at the West Pottsgrove and Ringing Rocks buildings, and a third-through-fifth grade elementary center at Lower Pottsgrove.

• Read a district-supplied summary of the committee’s Oct. 18 meeting here.
• Read a summary of the Nov. 1 meeting here.
• See district-supplied slides here that offered answers to some questions posed Oct. 18 by members.
• A summary of Tuesday’s meeting has not yet been released.

The last meeting of the Elementary Redistricting Committee, as the group is called, is planned for Nov. 29 (Tuesday) at the district offices on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA. It is expected then to make a recommendation on either or both proposals, and send it along to the Board of School Directors for possible implementation during the 2012-2013 school year.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Discussions occur just as Pottsgrove completes and prepares to open its renovated and expanded building for Ringing Rocks on Kauffman Road. They also follow what Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis described as a somewhat tumultuous summer in which several West Pottsgrove classrooms were overflowing with student enrollments, while seats in Ringing Rocks looked like they would remain empty.

Those imbalances were eventually corrected. However, an abundance of unused space at Ringing, concerns over continued space limitations at West, the two-story layout of and available space at Lower (which formerly served as the district Middle School), and a desire to find more budget savings in increasingly tight economic times all play a part in examining redistricting options, Landis told directors.

District overall enrollment has been relatively stable during the past decade, committee members have been told, and is expected to remain constant for another 10 years. Whatever option is favored by the committee, or approved by the board, is likely to be in use through 2020 and beyond, according to the administration.

So far, because the committee is still at work and no recommendation issued, there has been no public outcry over how redrawing district boundaries or utilizing centers will affect families with elementary school children of varying ages. Also lacking is any reaction to the possible costs or savings of either.

Expect that to change once the committee presents its report, director Philip Keogh reminded his colleagues during an earlier school board meeting. “You haven’t seen wild yet,” Keogh, who has been through redistricting once before, said.

Related (to Pottsgrove School District redistricting):

• Pottsgrove Redistrict Discussions Quietly Move Ahead
• In Pottsgrove, Redistricting Study Work Gets Started
• Pottsgrove Sets Dates For Redistrict Committee Work
• As Expected, Interest A’Plenty In Pottsgrove Redistricting
• Landis Calls For Pottsgrove Redistricting Volunteers
• Touchy Pottsgrove Redistricting Now Being Considered

POTTSTOWN PA – Twenty supplemental positions and corresponding payments totaling $80,522 for sports coaches, their assistants, and other winter duty service providers in the Pottsgrove School District were approved last Tuesday, (Nov. 8, 2011) by the district Board of School Directors.

An asterisk by an individual’s name below designates those who are not district employees, the administration reported. For employees, amounts to be paid are in addition to their regular district salaries or wages. Individuals named more than once receive multiple payments for various assignments.

Commonly used abbreviations in the list are HS, designating high school; F, female; and M, male.

The lists – which describes the position being filled, the individual named to the position, and the compensation to be paid – include:

• Basketball, 7th M, Jim Algeo, $2,520;
• Basketball, Asst HS F, Joe Greene*, $4,536;
• Basketball, Asst HS F, Jill Ludy*, $4,536;
• Basketball, Asst HS M, Ken Ivory*, $4,338;
• Basketball, Asst HS M, James Coleman*, $4,149;
• Basketball, 8th F, Marilyn Eaton, $3,024;
• Basketball, 7th F, Gloria Fritz, $2,520;
• Basketball, 8th M, Bill Hawthorne, $3,024;
• Basketball, Head HS F, Mike Brendlinger*, $6,300;
• Basketball, Head HS M, Scott Palladino*, $6,300;
• Basketball, 9 F, Brett Mazzarele, $4,284;
• Basketball 9 M, Dave Ward*, $4,284;
• Swimming, Head Coach, Kevin Krause*, $3,942;
• Swimming, Asst. Coach, Mark Shuster, $3,528;
• Winter Track, Head HS, Frank Scaltrito, $4,536;
• Winter Track, Asst., Kevin Grimm*, $3,528;
• Wrestling, Asst HS M, James Swiggard*, $4,536;
• Wrestling, Asst HS M, Ryan Towson*, $3,753;
• Wrestling Head HS M, Jeff Madden, $6,300; and
• Drama Production, HS (split), Holli Artim, $584.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Nov. 8 meeting):

• Pottsgrove OKs Pay For 20 Winter Coaches, Advisers
• Four Special Service Providers OK’d For Pottsgrove
• Pottsgrove Plans Open House At New Ringing Rocks
• Pottsgrove Personnel Decisions Affect 26 Positions
• School Board OKs Students To Hershey, Germany
• Pottsgrove Schools Ended Year With $550,000 Surplus
• Pottsgrove Students Show Board Learning Tech Tools
• Pottsgrove Committees Look At Sports And Facilities

Photo from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – Four agreements for special education and other services that selected students attend from the Pottsgrove School District were approved last Tuesday (Nov. 8, 2011) and on Oct. 25 during two separate meetings of the district Board of School Directors.

Agreements were authorized with:

• Woods Services, for extended school year services during the past summer, at a cost of $58,342;
• Perkiomen Valley Academy, for the 2011-2012 school year, at a daily rate of $121.50 for a regular student and $131.85 for a special education student;
• New Life Family and Youth Services, for the 2011-2012 school year, at a daily rate of $132; and
• Lincoln Center Trans Ed Academy, for two students for the 2011-2012 school year, at a cost of $24,202 per student.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Nov. 8 meeting):

• Pottsgrove OKs Pay For 20 Winter Coaches, Advisers
• Four Special Service Providers OK’d For Pottsgrove
• Pottsgrove Plans Open House At New Ringing Rocks
• Pottsgrove Personnel Decisions Affect 26 Positions
• School Board OKs Students To Hershey, Germany
• Pottsgrove Schools Ended Year With $550,000 Surplus
• Pottsgrove Students Show Board Learning Tech Tools
• Pottsgrove Committees Look At Sports And Facilities

Photo from Google Images