Things May Get Very Corny in Douglass Township

Photos by Evan Brandt

Jeff Peiffer holds a flyer from one of his previous corn mazes with an Eagles theme. Peiffer and his family are hoping the township supervisors will support their application to open a new corn maze on the 70-acre Schlegel Farm on Schlegel Road. Supervisors expressed concern about too much traffic on the little used dirt road.

Jeff Peiffer and his daughter Rachel Trettin hoped the Douglass (Mont.) Township Supervisors would lend an ear to their proposal to establish a corn maze on the Schlegel Farm, but instead the supervisors may have detected the kernel of a problem.

The two were before the supervisors making their pitch for township support for their zoning application later this month. Peiffer is under contract to buy 70 acres of the 100-acre farm, which is permanently preserved farmland under a conservation easement.

The easement allows for agriculturally-related business enterprises such as the corn maze and pumpkin patch, but the zoning board permission is required, explained Peiffer's attorney, Ken Picardi.

Peiffer and family have experience, having operated them on Township Line Road outside Royersford and on Spiece Road, near Cedarvill Road, in East Coventry.

Peiffer and his daughter emphasized that the maze is family friendly, that all those under 16 must be

Rachel Trettin shows the flag that gets waved
when corn maze visitors want to be led out.

accompanied by an adult.

Trettin said the point of the family's corn mazes is to find 16 game pieces hidden in the maze.

She said each group carries a flag that is waved if anyone wants to be led out of the maze. They are spotted by a worker on a tower named "Pop," last name Corn.

The "corn cops," led by a Kernel, escort anyone who wants to leave out of the maze.

Resident Karen Lewandowski said she supports such activities as a way to keep farms financially viable, rather than the land going to a developer.

But while Peiffer mollified such likely concerns as keeping lights and sound low, that parking would be adequate and safely arranged, and that the mazes are not scary, there was one item which the supervisors weren't sure they could shuck. (sorry, couldn't resist).

To minimize impact on Schlegel Road, which is dirt and stone and often washes out in the rain, the family proposes bringing traffic in off Oberholtzer Rooad, so they are only on Schlegel Road for about four-tenths of a mile, said Trettin.

Using an Oberholtzer Road address on the website will mean 90 percent of those who come will use a GPS system and come in the right way said Peiffer.

The maze will also not be open in the rain, Peiffer said.

But the supervisors remained unconvinced given, as Chairman Alan Keiser noted, the plans Peiffer outlined could mean a total of 4,000 cars, plus buses, on Schlegel Road in a single season.

They will consider the matter as they have one more meeting before the zoning board meets. They can support the application, oppose it, or remain neutral as the decision is ultimately up to the independent zoning board.

Changes to Age-Restricted Zoning Approved

In other matters, the Board of Supervisors conducted a public hearing on a zoning change for the overlay district that permits age-restricted housing.

As The Mercury reported in print Monday morning, Township Manager Peter Hiryak said 50 acres of the proposed project is in Douglass Township and 20 acres in Colebrookdale Township.

Hiryak said the proposal is at 650 Englesville Road, near the intersection of Mill Street and Sweinhart Road which runs parallel to Route 100 near the Berks County line.

The ordinance requirements are a minimum residential use of 65 percent, non-residential minimum use of 15 percent with 20 percent open space.

One woman from the audience commented that the amenities the change will allow, a clubhouse with gym, a pool and other amenities, "sound like a country club. I see it happening all over, new developments are for wealthy and well-to-do, older residents who have lived here all their lives cannot afford places like this."

After the hearing, the supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the changes.

'Zern Tract' Building Schedule

The other significant matter undertaken Monday night was the adoption of a building schedule for the "Zern tract," the 236-acre townhouse project that has been in the works for years and was approved March 4.

Supervisor Josh Stouch reminded residents that the Zern Tract and Zern's are too very different

things.

The famed-but-now-defunct Zern's Market is not being redeveloped as a townhouse development, they are being built on the 285 acres behind the market.

Under the resolution the supervisors approved, would require phase one of 74 homes to begin by July 1; 80 more homes would have to be started by August of 2021; and the final 82 townhouses must begin construction by April, 2023.

Supervisor Anthony Kuklinski said the resolution is so the project does not drag on too long, and that the resolution contains "enforcement provisions" if the project lags or fails to meet those milestones.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Getting Really Corny Around Here

236 Townhome Project Nears Approval in Douglass

Photos by Evan Brandt

A copy of the final site plan for 236 townhouses the Douglass Township Supervisors will shortly vote on approving.

A long-discussed housing development located on 285 acres south of the former Zern's Market in Gilbertsville seems to be nearing the finish line.

Last night the township supervisors voted unanimously to authorize Township Solicitor Robert Brant to draw up a resolution giving final approval to the project.

Engineer Jason Smeland outlines the final plan for the Zern tract.

Known as “the Zern tract,” the Danny Jake Corp. has been proposing a development of one kind or another on the acreage between Jackson Road and Route 100 for six to eight years, said Township Manager Peter Hiryak.

It was more than a year ago that the supervisors granted the project preliminary site plan approval. At the time, it proposed 240 townhomes.

"It's been through some changes since then," said Jason Smeland, from the Chalfont firm of Lenape Valley Engineering, who presented the plan recommended by the township's planning agency to the supervisors Monday night.

Smeland said once final approval is received, construction could begin in the spring and will move forward in three phases, but may take several years to complete. "It depends on how well it sells," he said.

The project is a key part of a long-planned proposal to build another road in Douglass parallel to Route 100 and Jackson Road and this project will contribute $329,293.02 toward that project, as well as some land easements for the construction, Smeland said.

This map shows the Zern tract project on the top right and the 

much larger Gambone commercial project below it along 

Route 100. The "L" shaped road is the proposed Market Street.

That parallel road is called Market Street and will not be constructed until a much larger commercial development along Route 100 and owned by the Gambone development family comes to pass.

As proposed now, that project includes two four-story hotels of 100 rooms each; a 147,000 home improvement store, a 64,000 square-foot outpatient facility; another 100,000 square feet of retail and several smaller office buildings.

Hiryak, who said that project is "years away" from fruition, said the new Market Street will provide access to that project, as well as the Zern tract development, directly off Route 100.

He said in order to allow access to Route 100, complete with a traffic signal, PennDOT will require the Gambones to align Market Street with Bartman Avenue at the intersection with East Philadelphia Avenue, thus creating an  safer intersection and requiring the demolishing of Doc Watson's Irish Pub, which the Gambones own.

In a related note, Hiryak told the supervisors the owners of Long property along Jackson Road and Route 100 will speak to the township planning agency on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. about plans for preserving open space there. "It should be pretty interesting," he said.

Bridge Construction News

Construction on the Paper Mill Road bridge has been delayed by cold weather, Hiryak reporter to the supervisors Monday night.

Originally planned for completion on Jan. 15, Hiryak said it now looks like it may not be done until March or early April.

Now owned by the county, which is paying for the construction, when it is complete the township will take over ownership of that bridge.

The same is true for the Henry Road bridge, which is now in the design phase for repairs. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year.

A map of the Congo Road bridge detour as outlined by PennDOT.

Next year, into 2021, PennDOT will replace the Congo Road bridge over Middle Creek, just north of Middle Creek Road, said Hiryak.

When that happens, that portion of the road will be closed and a 2.3-mile detour along Middle Creek Road, Sassamansville Road and Linsenbeidler Road will be instituted, Hiryak said.

When that project is completed, ownership of the bridge will transfer from the state to the township, said Hiryak.

Hiryak said since he has no exact dates, he does not know how that will line up with some other road closures due this year and next in New Hanover.

Last March, New Hanover reviewed preliminary plans to replace a bridge on Swamp Pike and another on North Charlotte Street in 2019 and 2020 that will have both roads closed for up to 12 weeks while they are replaced by construction crews.
The first closure will be on Swamp Pike, where Montgomery County plans to replace a bridge over a small stream that’s located between New Hanover Square Road and Wagner Road

The second bridge project on the docket take North Charlotte Street, or Route 663 if you prefer, over a tributary on Minister Creek just north of the intersection with Swamp Pike.

A moment of silence was observed at the start

of Monday night's Douglass Supervisors meeting

to mark the passing of former supervisor Tim Turner.

The supervisors began last night's meeting by marking the passing of former Township Supervisor Timothy Turner and observing a moment of silence in his memory.

And with that, here are the Tweets, what few there were, from the meeting.

A Long Time Coming

Of Bridges, Municipal Garages and Basketball Nets

Who can blame Supervisors Chairman Anthony Kuklinski for making sure Monday's board of supervisors meeting was short and sweet?

Not only is he unopposed for his reelection bid today, but Monday was also his birthday; and he's a new grandfather, so he had lots of reason to get home quickly.

So it was a quick meeting. Evidently the construction of the new public works facility on Municipal Drive will be 95 percent complete by next week.

The county is going to take a look at replacing or repairing a small bridge on Gilbertsville Road, no decisions yet, according to engineer Josh Hagadorn.

Andrew Duncan reported that Montgomery County is also going to host a kind of emergency services summit on Dec. 8 where the looming shortage of paramedics will be discussed.

And then there are the basketball nets over the streets. When the leaf-collecting truck comes around, they will be in the way and can cause damage to the truck.

Duncan things a township ordinance is needed, but in the meantime, police will send out letters like they did last year to have the nets taken town.

Other than that, here are the Tweets.

A $1.2 Million Borrowing and Fire Hall in Flux

One of the nice things about those long summer nights, combined with Douglass supervisors meetings that rarely last more than an hour, is that you can run out after the meeting and get photos of some of the objects of discussion.

Bingo also continues to be held at the social hall on Route 73.

Chief among these last night was the fall-out from the closure of the Gilbertsville Fire Co. social hall, which came up during the solicitor's report.

The gist of it seems to be that games of chance operating at the social hall may have been a violation of the liquor license, and since the township was the de-facto property owner, that made the township liable for the violations.

The social hall was closed, except for charitable fund-raising events like Bike Night on Aug. 19 and the two-day craft show after Thanksgiving.

We'll have a little more on that in subsequent reports in The Mercury when we have a bit more information.

Also of interest was not only the pending expansion of Gilbertsville animal Hospital, which won preliminary support from the supervisors, but also a proposed use for the intersection of Route 100 and Jackson Road.

The property owners received a positive reception for their zoning variance requests from the supervisors in exchange for committing to working with them on the design of the building.

Proposed Mooney self-storage facility.

Chairman Anthony Kuklinski described the Wawa near that intersection as "rural, but not," and said "the township does not want any big yellow boxes."

Not the bury the lead or anything, but the supervisors also voted unanimously to borrow just under $1.2 to pay for the new township public works building now taking shape on Municipal drive.

The new public works building is taking shape.

Bob Dries, who is overseeing the construction, said the floor slab has been poured and walls are going up on the new facility.

He said the roof joists should be in position shortly and that some utilities have already been put in position.

The township broke ground on the new building on a rainy day in May and Dries said work is progressing quickly enough that "we should have everything under roof by winter."

That's about it for last night's meeting. Here are the Tweets.

A Douglass (Mont.) Blog Post About Nothing

Photo by Evan Brandt

State Rep. Marcy Toepel, R-147th Dist., addresses the Douglass (Mont.) Township Supervisors meeting Monday night, but she had nothing to report.

In a meeting reminiscent of the "Seinfeld" episode where George and Jerry pitch a TV show about nothing, the Douglass (Mont.) Supervisors had little to discuss Monday night.

State Rep. Marcy Toepel, R-147th Dist., was home from Harrisburg and stopped in, but what did she have to report?

Nothing.

Township Solicitor Bob Brant?

Nothing, (although one wag in the audience asked aloud how much that will cost us.)

Public Works Director Michael Heydt?

Nothing.

Boy was this going to be a short meeting, and it was.

There was something of consequence, however.

Josh Hagadorn, the engineer from Gilmore Assoc., announced that bids for the new public works building are out on the street.

The board rejected the first set of bids at the Feb. 21 meeting. The new bids will be opened on March 27.

The board also voted to hire Bob Dries, the part-time zoning and inspections supervisor to be the township's construction supervisor at a rate of $45 per hour.

Supervisors Chairman Anthony Kuklinski said the township has budget $900,000 for the project and "we will pay for it out of general funds and it will not cause a tax increase."

Dries said the project will take between four to five months to complete. It will be built at the same location as the current facility, 108 Municipal Dr., which will be demolished.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Douglass Supervisors Board Back to Full Strength

Photo by Evan Brandt

With the return of John Stasik, second from right, to the Douglass (Mont.) Board of Supervisors, replacing Fred Ziegler, the board of supervisors, Chairman Anthony Kuklinski, center, and Alan Keiser, is back up to full strength. They are flanked by Township Solicitor Robert Brant, left, and Township Manager Peter Hiryak.

There was no public swearing in ceremony for John Stasik.

A former township supervisor who wanted to waste no time in diving back into the business of the township, he got himself sworn in after being selected from among four applicants last month to replace Fred Ziegler.

Ziegler, as we all know, resigned as part of a plea agreement in his trial on theft and embezzlement charges.

Brian Steffie is congratulated by his wife after she

pinned the new badge of rank on his uniform.

So when the meeting began last night, there was a brief-but-hearty "Welcome Back John" and the board got right to work.

And the first thing they did was promote officer Brian Steffie to the rank of police
sergeant.

This of course explained the crowd.

One the happy event was over, the vast majority adjourned to the lobby of the township building and loudly congratulated the township's new police sergeant.

Janet Bauer, center, with her certificate of

appreciation flanked by Tony Kuklinski and

ESB Chairman Andrew Duncan, right.

The board also unanimously granted preliminary plan approval and several waivers for the long-discussed Zern tract, a development with 240 townhomes off Jackson Road.

Engineer Josh Hagadorn also reported that the bids for the new township highway maintenance building are in and he believes the method chosen to bid the project will "save the township a lot of money."

And the board also thanked Janet Bauer for her service on the Emergency Services Board.

And now, without any further ado, are the very Tweets and videos from the meeting.

New (Former) Supervisor, New Trash Hauler, and Congratulations Chief Templin on 25 Years Service

Photos by Evan Brandt

Douglass Police Chief Barry Templin, right, is congratulated

on 25 years of service to the township by Supervisors

Chairman Anthony Kuklinski

As you have no doubt already read in your print edition of The Mercury, former Douglass supervisor John Stasik Jr. was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Fred Ziegler's resignation last month.

I'll trust you to find that news in the newspaper (although a video of the vote can be found admid the Tweets below).

But that was not the only thing that happened last night.

Police Corporal Brian Steffie was promoted to the rank of sergeant and Chief Barry Templin was recognized for 25 years of service to the department.

A local boy who graduated from Boyertown Area Senior High School, Templin was congratulated by the entire department and his extended family, as well as the Board of Supervisors.

He said the people he works with "make my job really easy, although I suppose I shouldn't tell you that."

He added that the officers in the department are "the ones who go out and bust their buns every day" and make him look good.

Although they all looked pretty good in this rare photo of the all of Douglass's uniformed personnel:

Douglass (Mont.) township's uniformed personnel.

The other significant development last night was the awarding of a three-year trash collection contract to Keystone Disposal.

The low bidder among five -- which included Advanced Disposal, which had the most recent contract, A.J. Blozenski, J.P. Mascaro and Son and Waste Management -- the cost to the township per year is $278,333.33 for the service.

The three-year total is $835,000, $72,535 less than the next lowest bid of "907,535 from Advanced.

Advanced won the contract for disposal of the township's trash at its Western Berks Landfill with a low bid of $58.65 per ton.

Township Manager Peter Hiryak said the bids were about $30,000 lower than the last rounds of bids, which the township rejected in November.

He said the November bids were higher because "we made it too complicated." Simplifying the bids brought the price down, he said.

Douglass (Mont.) will continue to use the pay-per-bag system, in which users buy their trash bags from the township as their only disposal cost, ensuring they only pay for what they use.

The township will continue to operate its recycling and composting facility. The only change as a result of the new trash hauler, said recycling coordinator Andrew Duncan, is that recycling will be collected once a week, instead of once every two weeks as occurs now.

"I expect that will increase our recycling and reduce our trash tonnage," Duncan told the supervisors in recommending the Keystone bid, which they adopted unanimously.

We'll have a little more on that in an upcoming article in The Mercury.

In the meantime, here are the Tweets and video from last night:

Four Apply to Replace Ziegler on Douglass Board

Tuesday night's Board of Supervisor's meeting only took 16 minutes (a new record?) but some pretty important things happened from an official standpoint.

First of all, given that last month the board accepted the resignation of now-former supervisor Fred Ziegler as part of the former police chief's plea bargain concluding his trial on theft charges, there were only two of them to vote.

So any disagreement meant a tie vote.

But the two remaining supervisors, Anthony Kuklinski and Alan Keiser, agreed on everything, including the re-appointment of Kuklinski as chairman and Keiser as vice chairman.

They also agreed on the re-appointment of Peter Hiryak as township manager and Robert Brant as township solicitor, along with a number of other appointments.

But perhaps the most important item was the replacement of Ziegler.

By law, they have until Jan. 19 to make the selection, or the vacancy board takes the matter in hand.

However the board seems to have things under control.

So far four people have applied to replace Ziegler and they will be publicly interviewed, as is required by law, at a special meeting, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. at the township building.

The four who applied are Constable Josh Stouch; former supervisor John Stacik, whom Keiser ousted in 2015; Roger Updegrove, who has served on the township's recreation and Act 209 committees, and George Kirkwood.

Kuklinski said the board will consider any additional applicants interested up until the special meeting on Jan. 14.

The final vote on a replacement will take place at the Tuesday, Jan. 17 meeting.

The supervisors were asked if Stouch can hold two elected offices at the same time. Hiryak said that matter is currently "being researched."

I guess we'll have to wait to see how that shakes out.

In the meantime, here is a meager Twitter offering a very short meeting.

Traffic Talk and An Absent Supervisor/Defendant

Seriously? More traffic coming?

The frustration caused by the traffic -- and potential increase in traffic -- in the Boyertown/Gilbertsville area was front and center once again during Monday's Douglass (Mont.) Township Board of Supervisor's meeting.

But before we get to what was at the meeting, let us take a moment to mention what, or rather who, wasn't.

Monday was the first day of the theft trial by judge of Fred Ziegler, former police chief and current vice chairman of the board of supervisors.

This case having dragged on for more than two years, curiosity required coming to Monday night's meeting to see if he would.

He didn't.

Other than that, the subject that attracted the most interest was the last -- a move for a regional traffic study among the eight municipalities that comprise the Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Committee.

Regular readers of this blog will know the subject was covered pretty extensively in Friday's post, as well as two subsequent Mercury stories which have been posted on the web site, but have set to see any ink.

(Links to those and more are include in the Tweets below).

What Monday's discussion offered was an opportunity to hear what non-professionals think about the current traffic situation.

In short, they hate it.

The often-outspoken Alex Brumwell said "I didn't move here to be stuck in traffic all the time."

Another resident said that Hoffmansville Road has become a speedway during rush hour, and now even Middle Creek Road is suffering the same fate.

Supervisors Chairman Anthony Kuklinski said he hopes that not only will a regional traffic study get a handle on the big picture, but that hopefully it will help convince PnnDOT and even the state legislature that it is time to update how Pennsylvania deals with traffic costs.

And now here, without further ado, are last night's Tweets.

Douglass Settles Suits With Former Supervisor

A two-and-a-half year legal dispute between the township supervisors and a former supervisor is winding down.

Verdict? Nobody wins.

Except the lawyers. They always get paid.

Monday night, Anthony Sherr, a lawyer for the township's insurance carrier, outlined a settlement of the legal battle between Douglass and former supervisor Fred Thiel.

The supervisors sued Thiel in June of 2014, seeking nearly $37,000 in damages for the debacle of Mountain Mulch and Thiel's alleged granting of permission for the former composting operation to take debris from Superstorm Sandy.

The mulching operation and Thiel are both gone, but the lawsuits lingered.

Not one to take a challenge lying down, Thiel countersued later the same month, seeking $100,000 in damages and revealing that, former township solicitor Paul Bauer had forced him from office and tried to prevent him from ever running again.

Then, as happens with these things, there were depositions, hearings, motions, and before you know it, two years have passed, everyone is sick of it and no one but the lawyers have any money any more.

So what we know so far is that the township's insurance company will pay $18,000 of Thiel's legal fees and the township itself will pay its deductible of $2,500, said Township Manager Peter Hiryak.

Sherr also said that the settlement includes language indicating Thiel's suit was "without merit."

Although the supervisors voted unanimously for the settlement, it is not a public document until the settlement is "executed," said Township Solicitor Robert Brant.

So until that happens, we won't have any further details.

"When a settlement happens, often, not everyone is happy," said Brant. "But the supervisors are cognizant of spending the people's money and they have decided its in the best interests of the township," he said.

And now, here are the Tweets and videos from the rest of the meeting...

Buses, School Zone Speeding and Weed(s)

I won't lie, we are in the middle of the summer doldrums, and frankly, news can be hard to come by.

That said, there were a few items of note during Monday night's meeting of the board of supervisors, not the least of which was Supervisor Fred Ziegler's colorful expressions.

At one point in the meeting he agreed that weeds along East Philadelphia Avenue in Gilbertsville had grown so high, the former township police chief said "that I could probably grow marijuana and no one would notice."

He further suggested that parents upset about drivers speeding on Second Street while Junior High students are walking to school throw rocks at the speeding cars.

He also suggested parking a police car, with "a dummy" inside be parked in the vicinity to slow speeders.

Nevertheless, cooler heads prevailed and the police promised to look into what they could do.

Aside from complaints about weeds and speeding, no doubt the topic of the evening was the ever-so-slowly-unfolding plans for the one-again, off-again Quigley bus terminal.

For four years, Quigley Bus Service Inc. has struggled to meet conditions and deadlines set by the township for the development of a parcel bounded by Swamp Creek, Schlegel and Middle Creek roads.

That location is considered central to servicing the far-flung district that is 100 square miles.

In February, the board of supervisors voted unanimously to reject another of many extensions requests that have been made by the company since if first received zoning approval in 2012.

But, as township Solicitor Robert Brant explained, Quigley filed an appeal in court and the township and bus company are now trying to settle matters and agree on traffic statistics so the project can move forward without more involvement by the courts.

But several residents said the folks who live in that area are unlikely to welcome the construction and bus traffic the project will bring.

You can hear everything they have to say in the videos embedded below.

Two Municipal Meetings for the Price of One

When you follow the Digital Notebook blog, you get all kinds of municipal
coverage value for your payment of zero dollars.

And today is just that kind of day.

Not only do we bring you the doings of the Douglass (Mont.) Township Supervisors where very little of consequence happened, but we then doubled down and bring you much the same thing from Upper Pottsgrove Township's board of commissioners.

I arrived a bit late and the Douglass supervisors, minus Fred Ziegler who was home due to a reaction among his medications, were already up ro Chief Rick Smith's fire report.

But perhaps the most interesting item at the meeting was the complaints from some lively senior citizens about kids playing street hockey on Spruce Street.

It was much the same down Gilbertsville Road in Upper Pottsgrove.

Having arrived about an hour into the meeting, and about the most interesting thing the Digital Notebook team witnessed was some preliminary discussion about using solar power for the new highway garage

The commissioners also adopted a new peddler/solicitor ordinance that will now require veterans to obtain the license, but will not charge them the application fee once they have proven to the township staff's satisfaction that they are indeed veterans.

With that said, here are the Tweets:

22 Days That Shook Douglass (Mont.) Township

Photo by Evan Brandt

Some, but not all, of the first responders who were recognized Monday night before the Douglass (Mont.) Supervisors meeting  by State Rep. Marcy Toepel and township officials.

Did you ever have one of those days?

Those weeks?

Those months?

Wouldn't it be nice if someone recognized how hard you had been working and presented you with an official indication of that recognition?

Well Monday night, that's exactly what happened for first responders who faced a heck of a 22-day period during which they dealt with four major fires; three major accidents, including a vehicle hanging on a wire eight feet off the ground;  and two rescues.

It all started on March 6 with a garage fire where live ammunition kept going off while firefighters were trying to battle the blaze and came to a close on April 3 with a fire on a windy day at the Berks-Mont Camping Center.

"Folks don't understand how important it is to have volunteers and how integral to the community you guys are," said Supervisors Chairman Anthony Kuklinski. "Without volunteers, Douglass Township could not exist."

Toepel acknowledged that the citations she was handing out were "really just a piece of paper, but they represent a thank you from the House of Representatives and all the community members."

She added, "the term hero is used far too loosely, but today, you are heroes. The men and women in this room who go out every day to do fire and rescue calls; so behind this piece of paper is the everlasting gratitude to you for what you do every day, risking your life to save other lives and property."

Also thankful was Rick Smith, chief of Gilbertsville Fire & Rescue who gave particular thanks for the cooperation enjoyed among the neighboring departments and services.

"When the chips are down, we know who to call and the job gets done," said Smith.

Without further ado, here are the Tweets from the regular meeting which followed and lasted only 50 minutes.

More Solicitor Roulette, Now in Douglass (Mont.)

If you blinked, sneezed or snuck out to the little reporter's room Monday night, there's a good chance you would have missed the Douglass Township Supervisor's meeting.

Not only did they start a little early, unusual as that is, but by 7:15 p.m., which is often when they get around to starting, they were finished.

Notice, I am not complaining.

But don't mistake brevity for absence of news.

In that short span of time, the supervisors acted quickly to accept the long-rumored resignation of Township Solicitor Paul Bauer, and replaced him with the township's "conflict council," Robert Brant and Associates.

If all of that seems a little familiar, that's because that's exactly what happened in January in neighboring New Hanover Township, where Bauer resigned as solicitor and Brant -- who handles the township's Gibraltar Quarry litigation, stepped in temporarily.

But Brant's appointment in New Hanover it "interim," although the supervisors there are taking their time in choosing a replacement.

No such problem in Douglass, where Brant's appointment at the same rate as Bauer -- $135 per hour -- occurred with no discussion, closed-door or otherwise.

Traffic, Grants, Bus Depots and Open Space

Photo by Evan Brandt

Layout of the proposed 40-unit development of the 85-acre Donnelly tract, off Middle Creek Road and Congo Road in Douglass (Mont.) Township.

Traffic, developments that can generate traffic, bus depots that could generate traffic and grants to study and deal with traffic all were the primary topics of discussion at Monday night's Douglass (Mont.) Supervisors meeting.

Montgomery County planner Maggie Dobbs outlined a broad array of grants for which the township could apply, one of which could help improve Route 73, but not in terms of accommodating the increased traffic threatened from a giant, 208-acre, 760-home proposal in neighboring New Hanover.

A grant program administered  by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission could probably not be used to study the broader traffic impact of that proposal, as was being considered by the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee, of which both Douglass and New Hanover are members, she said.

It might possibly be used to fund at least part of the Act 209 traffic impact fee study the township is now undertaking.

And its too soon to know how much traffic a 44-lot development proposal on the 85-acre Donnelly tract off Middle Creek and Congo roads would develop, seeing as its not likely to be built before 2017, according to the developer.

What is known is that about 80 percent of the project will be dedicated open space, adjacent to the 40-acre Libor tract already owned by the township.

And it remains to be seen if any traffic will be generated by the proposed Quigley Bus Company depot off Schlegel and Middle Creek roads.

That's because the supervisors declined to act on a request to reconsider the denial they issued last month.

Read more in subsequent Mercury articles and from the Tweets and links below.

Building Bridges in Douglas (Montgomery), Literally and Figuratively

Photo by Evan Brandt

Justin Keller, recreational circuit rider for the Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Committee, left, asks the Douglass Township Supervisors if they would like help with grant writing or planning for the township's open spaces and parks development plans.

I had a choice between at least three township meetings last night -- Upper Pottsgrove, Lower Pottsgrove or Douglass (Mont.)

I chose Douglass because A) Township Manager Peter Hiryak was kind enough to e-mail me the agenda ahead of time; B) the agenda for Upper and Lower, as shown on their respective web sites both seemed equally non-consequential; and C) I had not been to Douglass since Anthony Kuklinski was named the chairman of the board of supervisors.

The meeting was over in a half hour, but there were updates on how Douglass handled the Winter Storm Jonas; what regional recreation planner Justin Keller can do for Douglass and what's going on with the County Line Road Bridge project.

Read the Tweets and be updated:

Douglass Police Contract Talks at an Impasse

As usual, Monday's meeting of the Douglass Township Supervisors was swift and productive.

Although not much time was spent on the subject, perhaps the most significant news to come out of the meeting is the fact that contract talks between the township and the police union are at a standstill.

Township Solicitor Paul Bauer delivered the news formally via his report Monday, but most likely it was discussed at length at an earlier executive session that Bauer announced at the beginning of the meeting.

He recommended, and the board agreed, to select Ryan Cassidy as the township's "partial arbitrator."

He said the police have chosen their own "partial arbitrator" and between the two, they will chose a third neutral arbitrator.

Bauer said the entire arbitration process will likely take four to six months and that the current contract, which expires at the end of the year, will remain in place until the arbitrators hammer out a new one.

Also on the agenda was progress on the process which will allow the township to revise the traffic impact fee it imposes on developers.

Here are the Tweets:

5,000 More Cars Coming to Route 73

Photo by Evan Brandt

This map shows the sprawling New Hanover Center proposal that stretches from the intersection of North Charlotte Street (Route 663) and Swamp Pike west to Township Line Road and the border with Douglass (Mont.) 

A massive development proposed in New Hanover that will take more than a decade to complete will have impacts outside the borders of the township, not the last of which is the addition of as many as 5,000 cars per day through Gilbertsville.

The potential traffic impact from New Hanover Center was the issue of primary concern Monday when the developers -- American Real Estate Development -- outlined the project for the Douglass (Mont.) Township Supervisors.

Supervisor Tony Kuklinski pressed the issue, resulting in the revelation that currently, Swamp Pike, which becomes Philadelphia Avenue in Gilbertsville, currently sees about 10,200 vehicle trips per day.

This project, which has already received preliminary approval from the New Hanover Board of Supervisors, calls for 760 housing units -- 509 of which will be townhomes; 124 of which will be single family homes, and 130 of which will be senior housing.

It also plans for about 200,000 square feet of retail space, including a new grocery store, which is seen as a primary generator of traffic.

"I am going to be able to walk to Spring City faster than I can drive there," said Kuklinski, who is the police chief in Spring City.

There is not much Douglass Supervisors can do given that the project is not in their township.

And there is not much traffic engineers can do given that Gilbertsville was developed with homes up to the sidewalk, so there is no room to widen Philadelphia Avenue.

The plans do call for improvements to the intersections with Gilbertsville Road, Township Line Road and North Charlotte Street.

Another impact, observed Henry Road resident Bernie Sell, is the impact on Boyertown area schools.

After Kuklinski noted to the developers that "Douglass doesn't get anything out of this, other than the traffic," Sell added "oh yes we do. We get to build new schools."

Here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Two Townships, Two Meetings, Little News

We started our evening in Gilbertsville, where the Douglass (Mont.) Supervisors met for a little less than an hour and conducted the business of the township with dispatch.

Supervisor Fred Ziegler, currently facing charges for a variety of crimes related to his position as a township supervisor, was not present.

The meeting proceeded apace and the big event of the evening, if there can be said to be one, was the apparent success of the township's Trout Rodeo on Saturday.

That done, I hustled myself down Gilbertsville Road to the Upper Pottsgrove firehouse, where the Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners were in the midst of wrapping up their meeting.

I sat in till the end, but I would be lying to to you if I told you there was big news in either of the meetings.

In other words, the Tweets tell it all.

Mulch Update and Drug Drop-Off

It was another briskly moving supervisors meeting Monday night as the three supervisors and stuff conducted the township's public business in just under an hour.

There were no major issues on the agenda, and no major issues came up, other than the ubiquitous Mountain Mulch.

Solicitor Paul Bauer reported the company, now nearly a month past their deadline to vacate the Sassamansville Road location, asked for permission to work "dusk till dawn" to remove the giant mulch piles that remain.

The township declined and has instead asked a Montgomery County judge to begin levying sanctions against the company for failing to live up to the terms of the agreement among the company, the township and the long-suffering neighbors.

Below, find the Tweets from the meeting, as they happened.