There Can Be Only One

Photo by Evan Brandt

Ray Lopez, right, was the unanimous choice of the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners who, Monday night, chose him to fill the seat vacated last month by Shawn Watson. Also applying, from left, were Charles Nippert, Justin Valentine, Bob Franciose and Scott Fulmer. 

It was quick and didn't surprise too many people.

Monday night, the Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioners unanimously chose Ray Lopez, a long-time municipal and emergency services official, as its newest member.

Lopez becomes the third non-elected member on the five member board, but is actually the only one who will not be on the ballot in November.

But you can read all about that here, in the article in today's Mercury.

The drawing outlining the Spring Valley Farm development.

Another big item on the agenda -- to be handled in a subsequent Mercury article -- was the preliminary approval granted for Spring Valley Farms.

It is a project that will located 178 homes on 144 acres off Bliem Road and was made possible by an overlay zoning changed undertaken last year, that attracted a lot of interest from residents of that area.

The primary idea behind the project is that much of the property will remain permanently protected open space in exchange for a higher number of homes clustered more closely together.

Township Solicitor Robert Brant said the project will receive final approval in phases.

The commissioners granted preliminary approval after removing a waiver regarding the placement of street trees.

Check out the Tweets from the meeting.

Lower Pottsgrove Interviews Five for Watson's Seat

Photo by Evan  Brandt

The five applicants to fill the vacant seat on the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners are, from left, Charles Nippert, Justin Valentine, Rovert Franciosse, B. Scott Fulmer and Ray Lopez.

It was a very public job interview.

The five men who expressed interest in being selected to fill the seat on the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Supervisors left vacant by the resignation of Shawn Watson began the evening standing in the hall outside the township meeting room.

One by one, they were asked inside where Board Vice Chairman Stephen Klotz asked them the same seven questions at an open public meeting.

Roughly, the seven questions were:
1) Why do you want to be a township commissioner?
2) What qualifications to you have to be a commissioner?
3) What are your long term goals with the township?
4) How long have you lived in Lower Pottsgrove?
5) Will your employer allow you to be an elected official?
6) Is there anything which would prevent you from serving as a township commissioner?
7) If you could change one thing about Lower Pottsgrove Township, what would it be?

Then the other commissioners would occasionally ask other questions.

The whole thing lasted about an hour and Klotz said the board will vote at Monday's meeting on their choice.

If there is a tie vote -- as is possible with only four commissioners currently on the board -- the fifth vote will be provided by the vacancy board, which is the board plus former Pottsgrove High School football stand-out Terrell Chestnut, who is currently away at college, providing the fifth vote, said Klotz.

Here are the Tweets from the interviews.

Lower Pottsgrove Running Short of Elected Officials

Mercury Photo by John Strickler

Shawn Watson resigned as a Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioner Tuesday night.

Shawn Watson's last-minute resignation last night from the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners creates a very unusual situation.

Between his resignation, that of James Kaiser earlier this year and Jonathan Spadt last year, the board
of commissioners now has only two of its five members who were actually selected by the voters.

Chairman Bruce Foltz and Vice Chairman Stephen Klotz, both of whom are on the ballot in November, are currently the township's only elected commissioners.

James Vlahos, who was appointed to fill Spadt's seat last year, is also on the ballot in November.

Retired West Pottsgrove police chief Earl Swavely, who was chosen to replace Kaiser in February, is on the ballot as well.

Of course, they are all fine and upstanding people, but its getting like elected commissioners in Lower Pottsgrove Township are becoming an endangered species.



Of course, the news of the night was Watson's resignation, which you can read about in full in The Mercury or by clicking here.

But there were a few other things of interest you might find in the Tweets below.

First of all, the township adopted a new animal ordinance which, among other things, will limit the number of cats and dogs you can have depending on how big your property is.

They also voted to guarantee a bond re-financing for the township's sewer authority that could save ratepayers up to $1.2 million next year.

And Fire Marshal Lew Babel said a dumpster fire at the now closed Sanatoga Thriftway is being investigated as "suspicious."

No Resignation in L. Pottsgrove, But a Call for One

The Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioners extracted themselves as much as possible from the Shawn Watson controversy Monday night by voted unanimously to call for his resignation.

They also pointed out they do not have the legal authority to remove him from office or to force him to resign.

For those who have been asleep for the past month, Watson is under fire for, among other things, his failure to pay more $55,000 in back taxes to Pottstown, Pottstown Schools, Pottsgrove Schools, Norristown, Montgomery County and, perhaps most concerning, Lower Pottsgrove Township itself.

During the July 23 meeting, the commissioners did not discuss the revelations -- reported at that point solely by The Mercury -- at all.

(Links to those stories and Monday's editorial calling on Watson to resign, are pasted among the Tweets below.)

But on Monday night, Commissioners Chairman Bruce Foltz began with an announcement and a motion calling on Watson to resign.

Here is the story I wrote for today's Mercury.

Here is video of Foltz's announcement and motion:


Under public questioning from Joe Zlomek of the Sanatoga Post, Foltz also revealed that he had called Watson that morning in an attempt to convince him to resign and to tell him what the commissioners intended to vote upon.

Foltz also said Watson indicated he has no plans to resign.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting: