The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – Helping youngsters to plan for their career, play in a band, and learn how to tell stories with video are among three of several projects sharing in $10,000 awarded in mini-grants by the Pottsgrove Eduction Foundation for cultural education and innovative teaching, Pottsgrove School District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis recently told the Board of School Directors.

Board members learned of the awards during their last public meeting (Sept. 28) in the administration building on Kauffman Road, but the list of grant winners was published Monday (Oct. 11, 2010) in the district’s “Pottsgrove Achiever” newsletter, according to spokeswoman Beth Trapani.

The foundation, created in 2000, is a non-profit organization that supports programs benefiting district students and residents.

District staff members who won mini-grants are:

• Sarah Stutzman, for “Visual Arts in a Digital World,” to integrate art and language arts in the art classroom;
• Kathy Williams, for “Band Instrument Recruitment,” an opportunity to supply used musical instruments to students who lack the resources to buy their own;
• Kristen Hyde, for “Music Performance, Composition, Assessment and More,” an opportunity for students to use technology to enhance and assess their musical performance, composition and improvisation skills;
• Christina Kleinfelter, for “Career and College Exploration for 8th Grade,” which provides  eighth graders a chance to visit colleges and technical schools as they begin planning high school schedules;
• Deb McIlvain, for “Movie Making at PGMS,” to teach production of professional quality digital movies and how to apply the skills in content classes; and
• Elaine Armstrong, for Pottsgrove’s Reading Olympics program, to provide materials and registration for students to compete in the county-wide Reading Olympics.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 28 meeting):

• Download a copy of minutes from the Sept. 28 meeting, approved Oct. 26
• Pottsgrove Foundation Announces Grant Awards
• Pottsgrove MS Retaining Wall Needs ‘Significant’ Repair
• Pottsgrove Considers ‘Impairing’ Teen Drivers, For Safety’s Sake
• Ringing Reimbursement On Pottsgrove School Agenda

Photo from Clipart.com

POTTSTOWN PA – Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School just got labeled, and that, according to district spokeswoman Beth Trapani, is an energizing event.

The Pottsgrove School District building for 700 students in kindergarten through 5th grade, at 1329 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, is just one of 26 schools across Pennsylvania that have earned an Energy Star building label from the U.S. Department of Energy, Trapani reported Tuesday (Oct. 5, 2010). The recognition is awarded for buildings that demonstrate superior energy efficiency, she said.

As the district’s newest school building, Lower Pottsgrove “had access to more energy efficient technology and systems, and could more quickly achieve the savings needed to earn the Energy Star designation,” according to Trapani. The district, which enrolled in the Energy Star program last year, is working to get similar energy savings from its older buildings too.

Heading up he effort is district Director of Facilities and Physical Plants Michael Katzenmoyer.

He says Pottsgrove hopes to reduce its total energy costs by more than 20 percent by June 2012, which would qualify it as an Energy Star leader among public educational institutions. That designation is based on a rating system that looks at how well schools use and conserve energy. So far, according to Katzenmoyer, the district has saved more than $200,000 in energy costs, mostly by adjusting heat and lighting systems.

When it enrolled in Energy Star, the district first looked at how it used heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, and adjusted their operations to occupied and unoccupied times during a school day. “No one had analyzed those systems for years to see if adjusting the times made sense,” Katzenmoyer said. Now, he noted, classroom temperature controls kick in at 8:30 a.m., rather than 6 a.m., saving 2-1/2 hours of power per unit daily.

The district has also been retrofitting lights; changing them to more energy-efficient systems. It also is training maintenance and custodial staff on its energy reduction policies. Pottsgrove even instituted a new energy management policies that govern, recycling plastic and glass, and conserving water.

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HARRISBURG PA – Area chambers of commerce apparently feel the status quo is good to go in the coming November general elections. The board of directors of their umbrella political group, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chambers’ Political Action Committee, on Wednesday (Oct. 6, 2010) endorsed incumbents for re-election to state and congressional offices.

Receiving endorsements locally were state Rep. Thomas Quigley (R), 160th District, and state Sen. John Rafferty (R), 44th District, both of whom represent Lower Pottsgrove, and Limerick (PA) townships and the borough of Pottstown. The committee also backed congressional Rep. Charles Dent (R), 15th District, which includes Lower Pottsgrove; and Rep. James Gerlach (R), 6th District, which includes Limerick, and Pottstown, Trappe and Collegeville boroughs.

In the race for governor, SEPAC favored current state Attorney General Thomas Corbett (R). For Pennsylvania’s U.S. senator, it supported Patrick Toomey (R).

The committee, which lists a Harrisburg location as its business address, consists of the Pottstown PA-based TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Delaware County and Main Line chambers. They were said to represent more than 5,000 members across four counties.

Endorsements were based on candidate’s positions on business issues, activity in the Chamber community and other feedback from SEPAC board members, board Chairman Ken Russell said.

Collectively, they “recognize the needs of businesses in Southeast PA and across the Commonwealth.  They understand what is required to improve the business climate in Pennsylvania, including the lowering of business taxes, regulatory reform, fiscal responsibility, tort reform and promoting sound business policies,” he added.

Photo from HistoryGeek.org

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SANATOGA PA – Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Fire Marshal Lew Babel offered his regrets Monday (Oct. 4, 2010) to the Board of Commissioners for failing to attend its first meeting of the month, but he was otherwise engaged. Investigating fires, after all, comes before reporting to township leaders on them.

While commissioners gathered in the municipal building at 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA – the meeting at which Babel usually gives his monthly report on behalf of the Sanatoga and Ringing Hill fire companies – he and firefighters alike were at the scene of a commercial barn blaze at the corner of Kepler and Buchert roads, just six-tenths of a mile west, according to township Secretary Michele Cappelletti.

Babel’s absence was excused; his written report, distributed by Cappelletti, was accepted.

During August 2010, the most recent month in which statistics for both companies were available (see the table at top), the township’s combined pool of firefighting volunteers put in a total of 435 man hours for the 31-day period, Babel wrote to the commissioners.

Both companies are continuing their visits during October to public and private schools to preach the values of fire safety and prevention in observance of National Fire Prevention Month.

Ringing Hill volunteers are bringing equipment and trucks to Pottsgrove School District buildings.

Visits to child day care facilities and private schools are being handled this year by Sanatoga volunteers. During this week alone, Sanatoga company members were scheduled to talk Monday at The Goddard School, East High Street; Tuesday (Oct. 5) at Learning Experience, Heritage Drive; today (Wednesday, Oct. 6) at the HeadStart program in Coventry Christian Academy, North Pleasant View Road; Thursday (Oct. 7) at Kindercare, Industrial Highway, and elsewhere; and Friday (Oct. 8) at Wee Care, East High Street.

In addition, members of both companies will be involved in public presentations scheduled for Thursday from 7-9 p.m. in the Suburbia Shopping Center, 86 Glocker Way, Pottstown; and Sunday (Oct. 10) from noon-4 p.m. at the Limerick Fire Company (Station 54), 390 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick PA.

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

• The Marshal? Sorry, He’s Kinda Busy Right Now …
• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Welcoming The Newest Of Lower Pottsgrove’s Finest
• Lower Pottsgrove Gives Gift Its Diesel Fuel Business
• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders

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SANATOGA PA – Authors of a study that may suggest tolling drivers on U.S. Route 422, and using that money to improve the highway and reduce its congestion, “are not making their case well enough in the court of public opinion,” says a former journalist who now serves on the Spring City PA borough council. He thinks local municipalities should do more to promote the plan.

In a letter reviewed Monday (Oct. 4, 2010), former newspaper reporter Michael Hays asked the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners to consider “being a proponent and active advocate of the benefits of this ‘user tax/fee’ or toll.” Commissioners accepted Hays’ letter under advisement and said they could give it further consideration, but did not comment or act on it.

One reason: only three of five board members – James Phillips, who acted as temporary chairman, Michael McGroarty and James Kaiser – were present at Monday’s meeting, the first of two scheduled for October. Both President Jonathan Spadt and Vice President Bruce Foltz were absent, and “the board probably should hear from everyone on this before commenting,” township Manager Rodney Hawthorne noted.

Commissioners have not yet taken a public stand on acceptance of land use principles and strategies contained in a Route 422 master plan being circulated by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, or on the value of the proposal to institute tolls, which officially is still being investigated.

Hays, who once reported for The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper and then worked with the hyper-local online news resource called “What’s The 422?,” left journalism last year when he was elected to the Spring City council. His Sept. 22 letter to Lower Pottsgrove‘s elected officials, he wrote, was offered “in an individual capacity” and not as a member of any other group or of the council.

“I ask you to consider joining with other officials along the (25-mile-long Route 422) corridor in a unique advocacy role,” Hays wrote to the commissioners. Besides promoting tolling, he asked the board to “keep an open mind about this concept” and be willing to sign an online petition to express “support for tolls under specific conditions” which were not described but on which Hays promised details later.

“Tolls are without question politically tenuous at this time,” Hays acknowledged. “Many residents (and) taxpayers are angry about government spending.” Solving “this infrastructure problem will not be easy,” he wrote, “but if left undone, our future is certain: more gridlock and pollution.”

Hays’ letter was made public on the same day that Philadelphia radio station KYW-AM aired reports that quoted county Assistant Planning Director Leo Bagley as saying the study looking at financing for 422 improvements could be completed by year’s end. If tolling was proposed and accepted, Bagley told the station, electronically collected fees might be implemented within three to five years.

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

• 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

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

• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Welcoming The Newest Of Lower Pottsgrove’s Finest
• Lower Pottsgrove Gives Gift Its Diesel Fuel Business
• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders

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SANATOGA PA – William R. Gift Co., a Boyertown fuel distributor, won Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s business Monday (Oct. 4, 2010) for its purchase of diesel fuel during 2011, the Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed, assuming legal documents for the fuel sale are approved by township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway.

Gift was the lowest acceptable bidder, at $2.505 per gallon, to supply the township with diesel fuel over the next 12 months at the municipal garage for its vehicles, and for use at two sewer pumping stations. Gift’s bid, and the responses of eight other suppliers to Lower Pottsgrove’s call for bidders, were opened earlier Monday. Of those, only Gift and three others quoted prices; the others declined to bid, according to Manager Rodney Hawthorne.

Related:

• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders
• The Most Important Boring News You’ll Read Today

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

• Lower Pottsgrove Gives Gift Its Diesel Fuel Business
• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders

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SANATOGA PA – Tracking the local expenditure of federal economic stimulus funds isn’t something that happens over a weekend, a week, or even a couple of months. The Sanatoga Post, which is a veteran member of the national ProPublica reporting network,  has been tracking stimulus grant spending and its effects for the past 15 months.

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Did The White House Meet Its Stimulus Goal? The White House says it met its goal of spending 70 percent of the $787 billion stimulus package, but final numbers aren’t in and five agencies have spent less than a quarter of their funds. Click the text link above to read Saturday’s (Oct. 1, 2010) story from ProPublica.

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The Post first began its coverage in July 2009, and is pleased to see other area media now helping to determine if the cost actually paid dividends. Below, in reverse chronological order (most recent at top), are more than 30 stimulus tracking stories we’ve already published:

• PennDOT Proclaims 422 Rehab Project Completed
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• 422 Concrete Patching Continues Through Today
• You May Want To Wait To Replace That Heater
• New State Budget Proposes Education Increase
• Future Of Transportation Goes Underground
• Without COLA, Dent Favors Payment
• Stimulus Spot Check: Summer Wave Of Projects Nears Crest
• Federal Stimulus in MontCo Worth $108 Per Person … So Far
• How Berks, Chester Counties Compare In Stimulus Spending
• 422 West Traffic Restrictions Start Monday
• Signs On Route 422 Mark Stimulus Funding
• Recovery Act Signs Cause A Stir
• Posts Join ProPublica Reporting Effort
• State Seeks Money For Storage Tanks
• Chamber Execs, Lawmakers Meet At Capitol
• Drive A Clunker? Trade It, Get A Credit
• Guide Rail Discussion Back On Track
• Secretary: Ed Fund Plan Not An Option
• Fairs Would Suffer Schools’ Plight
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• Stimulus Lowers District Deficit, Not Taxes
• Township Seeks Police Force Grant
• Seniors Get Extra Payment
• Poll: Economic Trust In Government Wanes
• County Gets Energy Project Stimulus Cash
• Help Welcomed As Home Sales Keep Falling
• No TV Converter Box? No Problem
• Stimulus Can Be A Local Money Pump
• Dent Says Recovery Bill Needs Work
• Second Chance For A Tax Rebate

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POTTSTOWN PA – An online poll being used to measure public sentiment about highway traffic congestion in Montgomery County PA and across the Delaware Valley, and to gather opinions on funding sources to pay for relieving that congestion, is being conducted by the Harrisburg PA-based Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce President Timothy Phelps announced Wednesday (Sept. 29, 2010).

Phelps, in a widely distributed e-mail, invited chamber members “as well as employees, family and friends” to take the web poll hosted at SurveyMonkey.com. It asks for anonymous answers to questions about which area highways are considered most or least congested, which highways are most or least important to area businesses, what improvements should be made to relieve congestion, and how they should be paid for.

• Take the online survey here.

The institute, described by Phelps as a non-profit educational foundation, is conducting the survey on behalf of the TriCounty, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia chambers of commerce, in cooperation with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association, and the CEO Council For Growth.

“The survey is very short and your response is important,” Phelps wrote. “We encourage you to pass the survey link on to your associates,” he told e-mail recipients.

The chamber’s involvement stems from its interest in “regional transportation and road improvements issues, since they impact all aspects of our business development,” he added.

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

• 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

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POTTSTOWN PA – Licensed drivers who are students in the Pottsgrove School District may have no real idea what it feels like to be behind a steering wheel and impaired by alcohol or drugs. The newest member of the Board of School Directors thinks it’s time they found out … safely, rather than tragically.

Acting on a suggestion made to him by a district resident, director David Faulkner asked the board Tuesday (Sept. 28, 2010) to consider bringing “The Safety Bug” to a Pottsgrove school parking lot sometime in the near future. The modified Volkswagen Beetle automobile, developed by the Pennsylvania Driving Under The Influence Association, mimics the perils of impaired driving under controlled conditions.

It’s the car, not the driver, that’s drunk, according to the association. A supervisor who accompanies each driver sets the vehicle to behave unpredictably, creating “an unsettling episode for the teen in the driver’s seat who gains a first-hand glimpse of what it feels like to drive under the influence,” its promotional material said.

Faulkner’s fellow board members liked what they heard. In the district that, during the past 12 months, has openly grieved over the automobile accident-related deaths of several students, such an education could have long-lasting impact, they said.

The program, which includes the vehicle and staff time for set-up and supervision, costs $1,000 per day. Board President Michael Neiffer, for one, was undeterred by the cost. “A couple of thousand to educate our students this way? That’s a no-brainer,” he said.

For proper operation, The Safety Bug program requires a flat, paved parking lot of a specific size without obstructions. District Director of Facilities and Physical Plants Michael Katzenmoyer said the parking lot behind Pottsgrove Middle School, North Hanover Street, Potstown PA, probably best fit that description. The program, if held, could be conducted on a weekend to maximize attendance, directors speculated.

The program needs a prime sponsor too, and director April Kontostathis suggested the Pottsgrove High School’s SNAP Academy could fill that role. The student-run, teacher-mentored organization helps teens combat chemical dependency, tobacco use and a variety of other issues, and might be perfectly suited to promote the program, she said.

Despite their enthusiasm, board members made no decisions on scheduling the program. District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis said he would first discuss it with SNAP Academy representatives.

Faulkner joined the board in May (2010) to fill the unexpired term of director Robert Lindgren. Lindgren resigned to serve with U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 28 meeting):

• Pottsgrove Considers ‘Impairing’ Teen Drivers, For Safety’s Sake
• Ringing Reimbursement On Pottsgrove School Agenda

Photo from padui.org

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HARRISBURG PA – A state law that so far this year has robbed Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township coffers of about $15,000 in unrealized income actually seems to be doing what it’s supposed to: reducing the number of complaints about home improvement contractors working in Pennsylvania.

Complaints to the state regarding unfinished or shoddy projects done by unscrupulous contractors “have dipped considerably” this year, thanks to the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act passed in 2009, the Harrisburg Patriot-News newspaper reported Monday (Sept. 27, 2010).

The law requires all contractors doing $5,000 or more per year in home improvements to register with the state Attorney General’s office at a cost of $50 bi-annually. It also demands that contractors use written contracts and give customers information about their right to cancel a contract, projects’ start-dates and end-dates, total cost, scope of work and materials involved. It limits up-front payments,too.

The law’s results have been dramatic. “In 2009 there were 3,057 complaints about contractors,” Patriot-News reporter Matthew Kemeny wrote — “the highest in three years, state records showed. This year, there have only been 1,402 complaints to date, according to the data.”

With more than 71,000 people registered, Kemeny added, the state also has made about $3.5 million from the legislation.

On the other hand, it’s taken a toll on revenues in municipalities like Lower Pottsgrove, which for years operated a township-wide contractor registration system. Finance Director Michele Christman told the Board of Commissioners in July (2010) that the township, which earned $21,000 from registrations during 2009, by this mid-year had brought in only $5,100.

That’s one of several issues commissioners must resolve as they continue to work on assembling the township’s 2011 budget. The board’s budget committee meetings, which are open to the public, are next scheduled for Oct. 5 and 20, both at 4:30 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

In the Harrisburg area, contractors cited by Kemeny praised the law as an effective tool in weeding out shoddy contractors. Others said they view it as just another tax on small businesses.

“Violations of any of the requirements can trigger a civil lawsuit by the Attorney General’s office, with fines and penalties of up to $1,000 per violation (up to $3,000 for violations involving a senior citizen). The state has filed charges against 27 contractors since the law was put in place,” the newspaper reported.

Related:

• Is Lower Pottsgrove’s Loss The State Consumers’ Gain?
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork

Photo from Clipart.com

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