The Sanatoga Post

LIMERICK PA – A now comatose Limerick PA mother of newborn twins, Kristi Morrisroe Hertzog, is being supported by dozens of friends and family members who have labeled themselves as “Team Kristi” while she slowly recovers in a Philadelphia hospital from viral infection complications. The good news is, she’s exhibiting gradual improvement in heart function, despite having earlier suffered cardiac arrest.

• Read the story, written by Reporter Gary Puleo and published today (March 4, 2011) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, here.

Photo from Clipart.com

SANATOGA PA – Representatives of Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships are continuing to talk informally, and met as recently as late last month (December 2010), to discuss planning and other issues surrounding the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, a local couple learned Thursday (Jan. 20, 2011) from the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners.

Traffic on U.S. Route 422, near South Park Road, as seen during May 2010.

Bill and Aimee Marie Herbert of South Park Road, Pottstown, were attending their first commissioners’ meeting since moving into Lower Pottsgrove several months ago, they said, and asked about progress at the interchange. There’s been some, township Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott told them, and added she expects there will be more in coming months.

“We’re still working on a lot of issues,” Elliott said. “It’s certainly slowed down” as a result of the economy, she said, “but we’ve still got a lot of meetings to go. You’ll probably see more happen later this year.”

The townships jointly signed cooperative planning agreements during May 2009 in an effort to coordinate land development and use, zoning, landscaping, traffic patterns and other controls likely to affect the hundreds of acres of vacant land circling the interchange. The area including its busy on- and off-ramps is divided by the townships’ common border.

Similar attempts at cooperation failed in the past, and even created some animosity. Changes in both municipal leadership and attitudes, however, earned the townships an honor last October (2010), as the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick with its annual award for regional planning.

Currently, Elliott noted, much of their work consists of research and documentation. Officials in both townships are still compiling facts and figures that probably will find a home in future grant requests, appeals to congressmen and senators, and promotional materials.

Both are relying on a common consultant, Simone Collins of Norristown PA, for interchange planning and mapping. Both also have hired the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. to help market interchange properties.

Open space on the south side of 422, stretching from South Park Road east to Evergreen Road and beyond, may someday become one of Lower Pottsgrove’s more highly developed areas, commissioners’ President Jonathan Spadt acknowledged in talking with the Herberts. “There probably will be a lot of growing pains for you,” Spadt admitted.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Jan. 20):

• Townships Make Progress, Albeit Slow, In 422 Plans
• Lower Pottsgrove, Lamar Negotiating Over Sign Request
• Township Approves 12-Year Comcast Franchise Deal
• Potential Conflict Causes Township Solicitor To Opt Out
• All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight

PHILADELPHIA PA – Pennoni Associates of Philadelphia, the engineering, design and consulting firm whose representatives serve as engineers for Limerick (PA) Township, has bought the professional engineering and land surveying firm Patton Harris Rust and Associates (PHRA) of Chantilly VA, it announced earlier this month (January 2011).

More than 170 PHRA staff members in its seven offices will join Pennoni’s other employees to broaden its operations in Maryland and Virginia. PHRA was established in 1952 and has a variety of clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. Its professional employees include telecommunications and utility engineers, surveyors, planners, landscape architects, and environmental specialists.

Pennoni “is both pleased and honored to welcome PHRA into our firm,” aid company founder and Chairman C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni. The acquired company, he added, “has an excellent professional reputation of providing quality engineering services with honesty and integrity for over 60 years, while providing a very welcoming place to work.”

Exelon's Limerick Generating Station, as seen at night.

LIMERICK PA – Linfield Sports Park, a 17-1/2-acre Limerick (PA) Township recreational facility with a softball field, sports pavilion and multipurpose field will be upgraded later this year by adding more softball fields, and multi-purpose fields for lacrosse and soccer. Its pavilion will also be upgraded.

“We are looking forward to the upgrades that will come in 2011, so that additional teams will be able to use our fields, and families and organizations can use the pavilions,” the township’s former Board of Supervisors Chairman Kenneth W. Sperring Jr. said.

The park was purchased earlier this year with the help of a $150,000 contribution from Exelon Nuclear. Exelon’s “Limerick Generating Station (LGS) contribution to the township has helped us greatly over the past few years to upgrade our recreational facilities for the good of all of our residents,” Sperring added.

Other Exelon contributions have also been used to refurbish Manderach Memorial Playground, and support the township’s summer concert series and Limerick Community Day. Funds have also been given to the Linfield and Limerick Fire companies, and helped pay for the expansion of the Limerick Township Police Department building.

It’s important “to everyone at Limerick Generating Station that we are a good neighbor, and are able to partner with Limerick Township to provide excellent recreational facilities for area residents,” said Bill Maguire, the LGS site vice president. Many LGS employees “live in this community and are able to benefit from the facilities that Limerick Township provides, making this area a great place to live, work and raise a family,” Maguire said.

Photo from Google Images

Michael Agneta

SANATOGA PA – With avid fly fisherman Michael Agneta, there’s family and fishing … and sometimes not much in between. Oh, except that pesky thing called a job, which often gets in the way of the fun stuff but – if truth be told – makes the fun stuff possible.

Agneta, a Limerick (PA) Township resident, took a break from work Wednesday to attend his daughter’s in-school Halloween observance. Later in the day, he made a short jaunt over to Lower Pottsgrove’s Sanatoga Park to try his had at fly fishing for bass and other warm water species in the stream below the stone dam that creates the park lake. He caught something on nearly every other cast, he reports, although maybe the fish he hooked weren’t quite what he might have hoped for.

• Read Agneta’s post, “Afternoon of Pre-School & Woolly Buggers,” at his blog, Troutrageous.com.

Related:

• The Blizzard Locally, As Seen On YouTube
  

LIMERICK PA – Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships will be presented next week with the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce‘s annual award for regional planning, in acknowledgment of their combined efforts to manage commercial growth at the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, the organization announced Monday (Oct. 11, 2010) in an e-mail to its members.

The Sanatoga interchange at U.S. Route 422.

The award presentation will be one of several made during the chamber’s yearly Economic Development Luncheon, to be held Oct. 20 (2010; Wednesday) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the new Copperfield Inn at Lakeside, Ridge Pike, Limerick. Tickets for the event are still available.

Billed as “one of the Chamber’s largest networking events of (its) program year,” the luncheon represents the chamber’s chance to look back at local business accomplishments of the past 12 months, and to do some forecasting for its members about what lies ahead.

Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick municipal officials, working with Montgomery County and state agencies, have signed cooperative planning agreements and pledged to work together to solve common problems with land use, traffic management, and controlled growth at the interchange, parts of which lie in each township at their common border. They also hired the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. to market and attract business to the area.

Also scheduled to receive awards during the program are Pope John Paul II High School in Royersford PA, for economic development; the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation,for economic impact; state Sen. John Rafferty, who represents both townships and Pottstown borough, as Legislator of the Year; and Cabot Supermetals in Boyertown PA, for environmental impact.

“Transition to a Competitive Energy Market” will be the focus of the luncheon keynote presentation made by Denis O’Brien, executive vice president of Exelon Corp., and president and chief executive officer of PECO. O’Brien has more than 25 years of utility experience in engineering, operations, strategic planning and executive management.  PECO is Pennsylvania ’s largest electric and natural gas utility.

Tickets for the luncheon can be purchased by calling 610-326-5158. Its sponsors include First Niagara, Windstream Communications Inc., Montgomery County Community College, O’Donnell Weiss & Mattei P.C., and Maillie Falconiero & Co. LLP.

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Sugared temptation greeted customers Thursday at the new Java's Brewin' location inside the lobby of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center.

POTTSTOWN PA – Java’s Brewin’, the coffee shop franchise that was launched during May 2007 at 296 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick PA, by owner Bob Baretta, has poured a second cup – so to speak – and opened a new location in the lobby of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC).

Customers took advantage of opening discounts.

The hospital Java’s Brewin annex officially began business Thursday (Jan. 28, 2010), by selling coffee and other beverages, muffins, crumb cakes, brownies and cookies to a long line of employes and visitors, PMMC public relations representative Helen Guardiani reported. A hospital announcement characterized the new shop as a “business partnership” and “joint venture” with Baretta, but did not elaborate.

“We invested time in early 2009 to find the right local business partner for this endeavor. Java’s Brewin is a great family-owned company and we’re pleased with the quality of their product as well as their service,” hospital Chief Executive Office John Kirby said. “This is a win-win for all involved.”

Java’s Brewin’ kicked off its grand opening by offering a free mug with gift card purchases, and free beverage refills next week for its first 200 customers. When the weather improves, Kirby added, the hospital plans to set up tables and chairs outside its doors so customers can enjoy beverages and food in bistro style.

Barretta’s daughter Julie will operate the hospital shop Mondays through Fridays from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weekend hours “may be a consideration in the future,” according to the hospital. So is an expansion of the menu; sandwich wraps and salads made fresh daily in the Royersford shop will soon be offered at the hospital as well.

It’s likely Kirby’s been a Java’s Brewin’ customer for awhile. The hospital notes that Barretta’s Limerick Shop is located near PMMC’s Limerick Family Care physicians offices.

A sign announced the new joint venture.

Photos from PMMC

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They'll tune in here.

LIMERICK PA – A meeting of the Lehigh Valley Diamond Star Motors (LVDSM) Tuners, an automobile club that features Mitsubishi Eclipses, Eagle Talons, and Plymouth Lasers manufactured between 1990 and 1999, will be held April 5 (2009; Sunday) at 2 p.m. at the Sonic Drive-In Restaurant, 37 W. Ridge Pike, the club has announced.

DSM cars are relatively easy to modify for big performance with basic bolt-on parts, their owners say. The club’s goal is to promote  modifying of DSM cars for increased performance and (legal) racing. It caters to the performance enthusiast by sharing information and ideas regarding modifications, parts, and performance results.

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LIMERICK PA – Raven’s Claw Golf Club, just east of Sanatoga at 3159 Ridge Pike, is currently recruiting golfers to fill its 9-hole shotgun golf league, scheduled to be held Wednesday nights beginning May 6 at 5:30 p.m.

The format is team match play, using the better ball of partners: two players from each team play each week. Wins and total points are recorded. Total points are used as a tie breaker at the end of the year, if needed. Scoring is based on Match Play with one point per hole, and a maximum of five holes won during the match.

All league players receive a discount on 9-hole greens fees for the entire golf season. The league will end with a banquet dinner. A $30 league fee will be charged. For more information or to sign up, call 610-495-4710, Ext. 2.

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