Fire Company Merger Defended

Photo by Evan Brandt

It was another packed house at last night's Pottstown Borough Council meeting.

The bulk of Wednesday night's borough council meeting was again devoted to the proposed merger of Pottstown's four companies which one of those companies, the Phillies, are contesting.

Perhaps the most significant new piece of information to come out of the meeting is that John Muir, the attorney aiding the consolidation committee, confirmed what The Mercury reported two weeks ago, that they will not be ready to begin operations on April 1.

Photo by Evan Brandt
James Thees, left, was sworn in as the borough's newest
fire policeman after Wednesday's meeting,
with Jim Smale and Ginny Takach presiding.

Another interesting tidbit was the question raised by Doug Breidenbach, the attorney hired by the Phillies, who wanted to know why North End Fire Company is expected to surrender its Prospect Street real estate to the new merged company, but Goodwill is not.

No answer was provided.

Other items of interest are a proposal to change the proposed rental ordinance amendment to do rental inspections every two years instead of every year.

Also, Montgomery County wanted to know if a new Keim Street Bridge is built, does the borough want to take over the old one to be used as a pedestrian bridge.

After some laughter and a few jokes, the short answer was "no."

To read about all this and more, as it happened, read the Tweets below. Remember to click the blue bar at the bottom to make sure you see it all.