Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Some Heat Over North End Fire Co. Boiler Request



The subject which got the most attention of borough council Monday night was the question of the North End fire Company's new boiler.

Last week, Assistant Chief Dave Saylor appeared before council and said that with little warning, the fire house's boiler had gone the way of all metal holding water.

He asked council for help and said the cost could be as much as $40,000.

Last night council voted, begrudingly, by a 4-3 margin to provide up to $40,000.

Voting in favor were Vice President Sheryl Miller and Council members Ryan Procsal, Dennis Arms and Rita Paez.

But the agreement to do so had some conditions, including consulting a certified financial planner.

That went to the heart of concerns expressed by Council President Dan Weand, who wanted to give a smaller cash gift up front and have the rest come out of the fire company's annual allotment from the borough fire tax.

He stressed that North End must become "sustainable," financially and otherwise.

Miller countered that the company was making progress and "saddling them with more debt is not going to help."

We'll have more detail in an upcoming Mercury article.

In the meantime, here is Mayor Sharon Thomas's monthly report, recorded and embedded here for your convenient viewing:



And, without further ado, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

1 comment:

  1. Fretz will foreclose which will bring down housing values for the entire town. An out of state landlord will come in and do the minimum and rent the houses out. This is exactly what happened in Reading and these landlords from NY and Maryland are sniffing around Pottstown. I am in no way saying give Fretz a tax break or even work with him but you need to realize the consequences if you don't work with him. All comments I read no one has thought of the consequences of not coming up with a solution to this situation. It would be nice for the Mercury to address this issue in the long term ramifications to the town. Find an unbias investor who can provide you with facts

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