Joint Meeting Highlights Pottstown Progress

Pottstown Borough and School District highlighted working together by meeting together Monday night.

First, the school board had to hold their first meeting of the year, but even with a closed-door executive session, that only took about 30 minutes.

Then it was on to the joint meeting which, unlike most previous meetings, had most members of most boards there.

The nine-member school board was only missing two, and the seven-member borough council was only missing one.

The agenda included the long-discussed but never adopted borough sustainability plan -- three years in the making. In fact, they've been working on it so long, it even has its own logo.

But guess what folks, last night, it got adopted! By both boards! Progess!

The school board adopted it unanimously but borough council had two no votes, one from Dennis Arms and one from Rita Paez.

Arms said he worries about the grant-funded projects the plan envisions which then must be sustained, costing more tax money. Paez did not give a reason.

Then the group heard about a plan conceived of by former school board member Tom Hylton and taken up by the Pottstown Rotary Club, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

To do so, the group, which has 100 members, plans on planting 100 trees and they are going to do it in a tree nursery that will be established behind Pottstown High School.

After five years in the ground, they can be used in parks, as street trees or on school properties.

Interim Borough Manager Justin Keller outlined the borough's new land bank ordinance and made a pitch for the school board to sign an intermunicipal agreement through which school taxes and liens will be forgiven on properties going into the land bank.

The school board seemed inclined to agree, although the details still need to be worked out and a vote taken.

There was also an update from Keller about the Walk/Bike Pottstown project, expected to wrap up this spring.

And now, without further ado, here are the Tweets:

Sustainability, Bikeability and Investment

Tuesday night, the Pottstown School Board and Pottstown Borough Council had their third of four annual joint meetings.

Or, as is often sadly the case, some people from the school  board came to a meeting where there was barely a majority of borough council.

Four school board members showed up -- Polly Weand, Thomas Hylton, Katina Bearden and Ron Williams.

Five council members were there -- Dan Weand, Stephen Toroney, Sheryl Miller, Ryan Procsal and Carol Kulp.

Not sure entirely the point of having joint meetings if most of your board members are AWOL, I mean it was my son's 17th birthday and somehow I managed to be there.

But hey, they're elected officials, so why nit pick? It's not like they're the town's leaders or anything.

Maybe the absent members, who always seem to be the same people, knew they could can learn all they need to know from the Tweets below.

Sustainability, Cooperation and Renovation

Photo by Evan Brandt

Officials gather and chat in Lincoln Elementary School's newly

refurbished all-purpose room before the joint meeting.

Tuesday night, Pottstown Borough Council and the Pottstown School Board held a joint meeting at Lincoln Elementary School.

The meeting began with a tour of the newly renovated and expanded building.

This was followed by a short presentation by Erica Weekley, the assistant borough manager, on the upcoming Pottstown CARES Clean-Up.

This in turn was followed by a presentation by the two to numbers crunchers in the Pottstown, Borough Finance Director Janice Lee and School District Business Manager Linda Adams, who briefed both boards on ways the two entities are working together to save money for the taxpayers both entities served.

This was following by a very interesting presentation by a planner from the Montgomery County Planning Commission on the possibility of Pottstown adopting a "municipal sustainability plan;" a presentation that was well-received and which it seems both entities support and hope to implement.

Below, as usual, are the Tweets from the meeting.