Upper Pottsgrove Lines Up Against $2M Garage

Photos by Evan Brandt

Upper Pottsgrove residents line up to speak on the proposed new township highway garage and its $2 million cost. 

No doubt, there is strength in numbers.

And by the numbers, the dozen or so speakers from among the crowd of more than 75 Upper Pottsgrove Township residents who packed the middle school cafeteria Monday night outlined their opposition to a proposal to spend $2 million on a new solar-powered seven-bay highway garage that would take 25 years to pay off.

The crowd gathers for Monday night's meeting.

And, as the Tweets below show, it seemed to work.

Commissioner John Bealer, who is not running for reelection,  told the crowd that what they had said at last night's meeting had convinced him the township is not ready to move forward with the project.

Commissioner France Krazalkovich, whose term does not expire for two years and thus is not running for reelection next month, said he had been dubious about the project from the start and his concern about "scope creep" had come to pass.

Commissioner Martin Schreiber, who is running for reelection, wanted to vote on rejecting the bids that night, but it was decided the legal advertisement had not indicated that might happen, so it would be best not to.

Taylor and the rest of the board listen to a resident who says

Upper Pottsgrove does not need "a Taj Mahal" for its highway garage.

And Commissioner's President Elwood Taylor said that given that the people had spoken against the project, that he is looking for a number of them to meet as a committee and give the commissioner's a different option before the bids are rejected.

The township has already invested $80,000 in getting the project to this point and has already instituted a tax to pay for the project.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting: