Mulch Spreading, Firm Vetting and Open Gov't

Photo by Evan Brandt

MULCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING: Upper Pottsgrove Township= Manager Carol Lewis, left, and Commissioners chairman Trace Slinkerd, third from left, thank the entire Pottsgrove High School football Falcons for putting down all the mulch in all the township's parks this spring.

Nine months ago, the Upper Pottsgrove Township Commissioners rejected the bids for a new $2 million public works garage on Heather Place.

Instead, a committee of residents was formed to find a better solution.

That committee no longer exists.

NEW FIRE POLICE OFFICER: Bryan Floyd, right

takes the oath of office as Trace Slinkerd, left, swears

Floyd in as the township's newest fire police officer Monday.

Instead, the commissioners tasked the township planning commission with vetting firms that could provide a more comprehensive review of all the township's building needs.

The planners narrowed it down to two, KCBA Architects of Hatfield, which designed the renovations and expansion of Pottsgrove High School, and Alloy 5, an architecture firm out of Bethlehem.

Monday night, both firms made their best case to the township commissioners. Each firm will undertake the study for about $8,000, although the Bethlehem firm is about $1,200 less, said Commissioners chairman Trace Slinkerd.

Each has fairly extensive experience in municipal buildings and each said they would give an honest assessment without trying to talk the township into an expensive construction project.

Opinion on the planning commission was split, said Commissioner Elwood Taylor, and no clear preference was made evident by the commissioners Monday night.

Instead, said Slinkerd, the board will vote to select a firm to conduct the study next month.

State Sen. bob Mensch, standing, holds up a chart showing how much

of the state budget goes to education and human services during 

Monday night's Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners' meeting.

The board also voted unanimously to hire another police officer, replacing officer Steve Sigoda, who is retiring.

And State Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist., stopped by for a visit as he does about once a year, talked about the state budget, said the state is not growing because it's business taxes are too high, and fielded a few softball questions from friendly Republicans in the audience and on the board.

He said starting in 2019, the state will begin "performance-based budgeting," which means every line of the budget being audited. He told a Mercury reporter outside, because the reporter's question was not allowed in the meeting, that those audits will be public records available through the Right to Know law, and that the audits would include the legislature's accounts as well.

In another government transparency moment, Commissioner Martin Schreiber, who is also a volunteer fireman, complained that he was told he could not be present for a conference call between township officials, a consultant and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

The call was about the fire department study the commissioners voted to ask the state to conduct last month. Schreiber was told because Slinkerd and Vice President France Krazalkovich were already participating, his participation would constitute a quorum and thus violate the Open Meetings Law.

Schreiber countered that because Krazalkovich and fire officials on the call are all members of the township's fire committee, that a quorum of that group had convened without public notice.

Township Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. confirmed it was an apparent violation of the Open Meetings Law.

But as has been observed more than once at the past two meetings, Slinkerd merely ignored Schreiber's point and moved the meeting along.

Speaking of which, here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Picking a Study Partner