Schuylkill Trail Bridge Helped by State Grant

Cyclists cross Route 724 at the Schuylkill River Trail intersection in Monocacy during Ride for the River in September.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Schuylkill River Greenways 

Schuylkill River Greenways NHA has been awarded a PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources grant totaling $516,501 for the construction of a Schuylkill River Trail pedestrian bridge over Route 724.

The bridge will be located in Union Township near Monocacy Station. Funding will provide for ADA access, landscaping, project sign and other related site improvements.

Schuylkill River Greenways (formerly Schuylkill River Heritage Area) hopes to begin construction in 2019. The bridge is expected to take one year to build.

The total project cost has been estimated at about $1 million. The DCNR grant will pay for construction expenses, according to Schuylkill River Greenways Trail Manager Robert Folwell. 

An additional $325,636 has been secured from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to cover design, inspection, engineering and administrative costs associated with the project, as well as a portion of construction expenses. Schuylkill River Greenways will be applying to additional private and grant funding sources to make up the approximate $150,000 shortfall.

Preliminary design work for the project is already underway, and the final design phase will begin early next year, with the hopes of going out to bid in fall 2018 so that construction can begin the following spring, Folwell said.

A pedestrian bridge is needed at that location in order to ensure a safe crossing for trail users.

“This is a high traffic area along Route 724 where cars are traveling at a high rate of speed with poor sight distances, and trail users must negotiate a steep hill on either side,” said Folwell. “

The crossing is located in Monocacy along the Thun Section of the Schuylkill River Trail, and is part of the 20-mile Pottstown to Reading stretch.

Currently, trail users must descend a steep slope in order to cross Route 724 and ascend another slope on the opposite road bank. The slope was created by a former railroad bridge that was removed before that section of the Schuylkill River Trail was built along an old railroad bed.

Schuylkill River Greenways installed visible warning signs at the intersection last year. Those signs were paid for through Safe Crossing funds raised through the sale of Sly Fox Brewery’s SRT Ale.

The Schuylkill River Trail is a multi-use trail that, when complete, will run an estimated 130 miles along the entire length of the river. There are currently more than sixty miles complete, including a section of over 30 miles stretching from Philadelphia to Phoenixville. That section will connect with the Pottstown to Reading section in the next several years.

The Schuylkill River Greenways NHA manages over 30 miles of the Schuylkill River Trail in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, and works with partners to expand and improve the entire trail. Learn more at www.schuylkillriver.org.

Public Hearing on Regional Trail Plan Set for Aug. 2

A look at the possible trail connections throughout the greater Pottstown region as under consideration in the master trail plan that will be the subject of a public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. in Pottstown Borough Hall

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee

Local residents, stakeholders, recreation enthusiasts and all others are urged to attend the public meeting to share their opinions on a planning study that examined non-motorized transportation options connecting parks, neighborhoods and business hubs to the Schuylkill River Trail. 

The purpose of this study is to consolidate municipal and county planning efforts into a unified regional trail plan addressing major obstacles to providing equitable transportation alternatives, opportunities for healthy lifestyles and economic vitality. 

The results of this study will help guide communities in determining the most feasible locations for these trails, outline a concise implementation plan to integrate local trail networks and provide a marketing vehicle to obtain implementation grants. 

The first public meeting was March 29, 2016. 

The final study outlines a plan for expanding existing public trail systems via four primary trail corridors anticipated to travel through portions of Pottstown Borough, West Pottsgrove Township, Upper Pottsgrove Township, Douglass Township (Berks County), Lower Pottsgrove Township, Douglass Township (Montgomery County), New Hanover Township, North Coventry Township and East Coventry Township.

The public meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday Aug. 2, 2017 in Pottstown Borough Hall, Council Chambers Room, 100 East High Stree. The meeting will begin with a presentation of the primary trail alignments before opening for Q&A from those in attendance.

Funding for this study was made possible by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) and the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. DVRPC is leading the planning study with assistance from the Pottstown Area Regional Recreation Coordinator.

For additional information please contact Michael Lane at PARRCoordinator@gmail.com or 484-945-0200

 ***

An attempt was scheduled Wednesday night for the recreation committee to make a pitch about this study and other regional efforts to the area's elected state officials, state representatives Tom Quigley, Tim Hennessey and Marcy Toepel.

None of them showed up, although Quigley did send a representative from his office. Evidently, they were recalled to Harrisburg to work on the unfinished state budget.

No doubt we will see the results of their efforts in tomorrow's headlines.

Ahem.

Anyway, here are the Tweets of what they would have learned if they had attended the meeting put together specifically for their benefit and, ultimately, the benefit of their constituents.

Grant to Improve Colebrookdale RR Station, Car

A volunteer prepares a historic brick for placement in the walksways being installed at the Colebrookdale Railroad's station in Boyertown.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Colebrookdale Railroad

The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust announced it has received a $10, 750 grant to support its passenger car restoration and Boyertown Station area improvements.

The scenic railroad runs between downtown Boyertown and Memorial Park in Pottstown.

The grant comes from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation, in support of the Schuylkill Highlands Mini-Grant Program administered jointly by Natural Lands and the Schuylkill River Heritage Association.

The award will match other funding to continue work on the creation of an ADA-compatible railcar and to create walkways in the Boyertown rail yard using century-old paving brick.

Both projects will forward the Trust's mission of being one of the only recreational and tourist railroads in the nation to embrace, rather than merely accommodate, persons with disabilities. 

"The challenges inherent to making a century-and-a-half old railroad accessible to persons with mobility issues is technically challenging and financially overwhelming,” said Nathaniel Guest, Executive Director of the Trust. "The Mini-Grant’s support is an honor, a major help, and truly remarkable, as funding for ADA projects is sadly otherwise almost non-existent,” he said.

"The Mini-Grant program has helped dozens of projects in the Schuylkill Highlands region open up the beauty and culture of the region to a larger population, said Carol DeWolf of Natural Lands. 

"We are proud to lead partners like the Trust in making a real and measurable impact economically and in the quality of life of people in the Schuylkill Highlands and look forward to even better things to come in the future," said Tim Fenchel of the Schuylkill River Heritage Association.

The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust has a mission to develop the best tourist railroad of the 1900-1920 era and drive economic development in the Tri-County Area. Tickets for adventures into the railroad's Secret Valley can be found at www.colebrookdalerailroad.com.

Honoring 44 Years of Service (And MUCH More)

Photos by Evan Brandt

Pottstown Police Corporal Charles McClincy, in blue, is presented with awards and thanks for his remarkable 44 years of service to the department during a ceremony Wednesday night.

When Rick Drumheller started on the police force 28 years ago, the man who showed him the ropes was Charlie W. McClincy Jr., by then already a 16-year veteran of the force.

Corporal McClincly receives his retirement badge and a

congratulatory handshake from Chief Rick Drumheller.

When Drumheller, now the chief, faced borough council Wednesday night on the occasion of McClincy's retirement, he cracked a joke about how much gas cost per gallon in 1973 when McClincy first started.

But when Drumheller faced the man he had spent his entire career beside, it was his voice that
cracked and his composure that trembled as he faced McClincy and presented him with his retirement badge.

For the first time I've ever seen at a retirement ceremony, the Pottstown Police Honor Guard were on hand to show McClincy the respect that 44 years of service earns. He is the longest-serving tenured employee in the entire department.

A man of few words, McClincy approached the ceremony he had hoped to avoid with a mere salute and "Corporal McClincy reporting sir."

And when he took to the microphone, he said merely that "it has been my honor to serve my community."

McClincy receives a clock from the police union

presented by Officer Chris Zahorchak.

Mayor Sharon Thomas presented McClincy with a "Trailblazer's Award," accommodated to citizens "who have made significant strides or firsts."

As you might expect, 44 years of service provided the opportunity for McClincy to wear a lot of hats. For 26 years he was chairman of the Police Pension Board and for 15 years, the head of the negotiating committee for the Pottstown Police Officers Association for 15 years.

"We applaud his constancy and dedication as a man of family and community," said Thomas.

He also received a commendation and honorable discharge from the police department as well "for 44 years of honest and faithful service."

And the thanks and congratulations just kept coming ans Officer Chris Zahorchak then came to the front of the room to present McClincy with a commemorative mantle clock as thanks from the Pottstown Police Officers Association.

* * *

So that would be blog post enough for most of us (the author included), but Wednesday night was a busy night.

We learned, for example, that when the sewer pumping station was put into Memorial Park in 1990, it violated a deed restriction going back to the 1960s when the park was created with federal funds. It has just taken the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources until now to notice.

Further, the construction of a stop for the Colebrookdale Railroad was also deemed by DCNR to be a transportation use and thus a further loss of recreation land. Failure to resolve the situation could result in a ban on Pottstown receiving any more state grant money for Memorial Park, or any other borough parks.

And given that earlier in the evening, Regional Recreation Coordinator Michael Lane had outlined

Existing conditions at Pollock Park.

improvements for the splash park area that depend on such a grant, it could present a real problem.

But as Assistant Borough Manager Justin Keller explained, Memorial Park's loss is Pollock Park's potential gain. The government allows the dedication of new recreation space to be offered up as a make-good on the intrusion on Memorial Park's recreational potential.

Currently, the borough is in the process of meeting with residents about improvements being planned for Pollock Park and so an offer from the BASF Corporation for a parcel at 860 Cross St., right across from Pollock Park, was particularly timely.

Keller said in the course of the Pollock Park planning they learned the basketball courts there are always in use and more are needed. The property across Cross Street, a formal industrial site where an environmental analysis and recommendation for impermeable cover, is just the right size for two more courts and some parking.

There are still some T's to cross and some I's to dot, but officials are hopeful.

* * *

There was also a lively discussion about eliminating the political wards in Pottstown.

The matter was first raised last month by Councilman Dennis Arms, who generously credited a 2015 post in the The Digital Notebook for the idea.

Borough Manager Mark Flanders asked for direction and, after some back and forth, council agreed that Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. should look into the legality of the matter.

He will find out how (and if) wards can be eliminated, what role, if any, the voters should play in the process and also if, as suggested by Councilman Joseph Kirkland, two at-large council members could be added, bringing council's size to nine.

* * *

Satisfied yet?

Don't be, because there's more.

Remember those plans for park improvements I mentioned above? Well they also include plans for a trail along Manatawny Creek that starts in Memorial Park and, significantly, would follow the creek and make its way under the Route 100 bridge over the creek.

Scene of the accident that killed Donald Purnell.

"Trails are nice, but why is this significant?" you ask. Well, dear reader, it could provide for an alternative, and safer pedestrian crossing of Route 100.

As you may recall, it was just last month that 24-year-old Donald Purnell was killed in a hit-and-run accident while crossing Route 100 while trying to get to his job at Wendy's.

PennDOT and the borough have already made some temporary improvements at the intersection and more are planned, but the trail could provide a safe alternative for those pedestrians who don't want to stake their lives on drivers' obeying traffic signals.

* * *

"Please! No more!" you say?

Well, suck it up because there's still more and it's more trail news to boot.

Keller reports that construction will soon begin on a Schuylkill River Trail extension from Armand Hammer Boulevard to Riverfront Park along Industrial Highway.

For those who don't know, the trail will cross the Schuylkill from Chester County back to Pottstown on the new Route 422 bridge now under construction. And, for the first time, it will allow trail users to head downstream from Pottstown.

Currently, the trail extends upstream toward Reading from Riverfront Park, but there was no way to head toward Philadelphia.

* * *

Nope, still more.

Lenhart also took the opportunity of last night's meeting to brief borough council on efforts to market Pottstown's TREC district, which stands for Tourism and Recreation.

This includes Memorial Park, the Carousel at Pottstown, the Colebrookdale Railroad, Manatawny Green mini-golf, Pottsgrove Manor, the afore-mentioned Schuylkill River Trail and the River of Revolutions exhibit at the Greenway building in Memorial Park as well as the art galleries at Montogmery County Community college's North Hall.

A brochure that highlights these attraction has been produced.

He also pointed to the establishment of a new community activity calendar, "Pottstown Familes," hosted and operated by the Pottstown School District aimed at ensuring people know about all the opportunities in the region.

It includes not only Pottstown, but six of the eight surrounding municipalities that are part of the regional planning group.

* * *

OK, I'm done, I swear.

Those not yet exhausted can check out the Tweets and videos below.