A steamy and hot day is projected for Tuesday but once the sun sets tomorrow evening a few agenda items on the August 11th Phoenixville Borough Council meeting are guaranteed to generate even more heat in the Council chambers.
Item IX on the agenda asks for the taxpayers of Phoenixville to fund $2,500 for two years for Phoenixville to be nominated a "Classic" town. $5 grand in total of tax dollars! When I heard this piece of news I immediately thought of the number of times I received an nomination to be named in the Who's What of Politics or Business people, or etc. If the nominated wants to proudly show uninterested parties their published name and information they have to buy a book. Why would anyone PAY to receive a title? And, pay for it with our tax monies??
Anyone can print up t-shirts or coffee mugs with the name Phoenixville or another logo for marketing or advertising for the town. As a matter of fact, why doesn't the CDC or the business association pay for this "Classic" town nomination if it's so important?
Wanton spending of taxpayer dollars seems to be the forte` of the majority of the current Council, and as we get ever closer to the November elections, you can be sure the voters will be looking for where to lay the blame when the 2010 budget is revealed. Just sayin'...
Item X is the continuation of the conditional use hearing for the St. Nicholas Brotherhood owned Holy Ghost Church property development by St. Peter's Housing Corporation and we should see a decision by Council members.
Personally, I'm hoping the principals involved will cut their financial and good-will losses at this stage and just give the project up, but that's not the way things are done in Phoenixville. I suspect Council will grant approval to the application with conditions and let the Court decide ownership of the Holy Ghost Church property before this controversial project moves anywhere. We can expect this to be tied up in costly Court battles for a very long time.
If there is any mercury in the Council chamber thermostat, the good people in attendance when Item XIII (unlucky number alert!) c., Consider Authorizing Advertising and Scheduling a Public Hearing for an Ordinance Authorizing the Borough of Phoenixville to Assign $100,000 as a Pledge of its General Fund to the Phoenixville Parking Authority comes up, they better duck, quick!
Where did THAT come from?
Not a Committee. Wasn't on any Committee agenda that I'm aware of, folks.
It's surprising how items such as scheduling and advertising for a hearing on a new ordinance appears on Council floor for a vote when it's never been publically discussed!
Is this a sloppy attempt to ram funding for the Parking Authority through the Council?
Item XIII, a "New Business" agenda item deserves it's very own individual thread.
Forget the bit about falling down the rabbit hole, Phoenixville may have just entered the twilight zone.
****
PHOENIXVILLE BOROUGH COUNCIL
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
7:00 PM
I.
Invocation/Pledge of Allegiance - Chair
II.
Roll Call – Borough Secretary
III.
Minutes of Previous Meetings: July 28, 2009
IV.
Public Participation – 30 minutes
V.
Appointments/Public Resolutions - Consider Adoption of Resolution for George Martynick
VI.
Presentations
VII.
Communications
VIII.
Council Participation
IX.
Resolutions: Consider Adoption of Resolution for Submitting the Borough of Phoenixville Nomination to the Delaware Valley Planning Commission its Nomination for Becoming a Classic Town and Authorizing the Financial Commitment of $2,500 per year for Two Years.
X.
Public Hearings
a.
Consider Conditional Use Application of St. Peters Place/St. Peters Housing Development Corporation to Construct a Senior Housing Project Upon Property Located Adjacent to the Holy Ghost Orthodox Church (55 Starr Street) – Continued from the July 28, 2009 Council Meeting
b.
Consider Conditional Use Application of John R. Williamson to Operate a Ballroom Commercial Dance School within the First Floor of the Building Located at 22 South Main Street
XI.
Reports of Committees, Boards, Commissions and Authorities
A.
Planning Commission
Phoenixville Middle School
1.
Consider a Motion to Grant Preliminary Plan Approval for the New Phoenixville Middle School Plans in Accordance with the Planning Commission Action Memo Dated July 15, 2009
B.
Regional Planning Commission
C.
Parking Authority
D.
Historical Architectural Review Board
E.
Council Action referred from Council Committees
XII. Public Participation (con’t)
I:\Customer BU\Phoenixville\081109CounciAgenda.doc 1
I:\Customer BU\Phoenixville\081109CounciAgenda.doc 2
XIII. Executive Session
XIV. New Business
a.
Consider Approval of the Land Lease Agreement with the Parking Authority
b.
Consider Approval of the Cooperation Agreement with the Parking Authority
c.
Consider Authorizing Advertising and Scheduling a Public Hearing for an Ordinance Authorizing the Borough of Phoenixville to Assign $100,000 as a Pledge of its General Fund to the Phoenixville Parking Authority
XV. Staff Reports
1. Manager’s Report
2. Code Enforcement Report
3. Public Works Director’s Report
4. Fire Chief’s Report
5. Finance Director’s Report
6. Mayor’s Report
Other Reports
1. CDC Report
2. Fire Liaison Report
XVI. Old Business
XVII. Adjournment
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3 comments:
With the back door politics, downtown bullying, gestapo-like school board, underhanded deals and continual wasting of taxpayer money, Phoenixville is a classic town all right!
I'm glad I don't live there.
hahahahahaaha
It is possible that Henry excused Barry from the July 28th council meeting in order to keep the workings of putting asside $100,000for the guarantee of the Parking Authority' loan quiet, and to protect Barry from having to take questions. Every meeting has the Parking Authority down as an agenda item and this deal to advertise to have a hearing to guarantee the $100,000 loan was obviously in prograss at the time of the last meeting and our Borough Council President and Borough Manager may have hid it from us and made a deal in the dark. HAS THE PARKING AUTHORITY SHOWN HOW IT WILL MAKE MONEY? Where's the business plan, where's the outrage that our Borough Manager and Council President are possibly hiding adgedas from the public view.
To my elected representatives -
I do not understand the hows and whys we want to pay $5000 to become
know as a 'Classic Town'. Is this just so we can have 'free' publicity
in the Delaware Valley news bulletins? The last time I looked at a map
Phoenixville was in the Schuylkill Valley.
And $100,000 for the Parking Authority? Hey, we gave it everything it
needed for $1 when Council made, in my estimation, the grave mistake of
creating it. Isn't it supposed to be self supporting?
And keep you mitts off anything to do with Holy Ghost until the suits
are settled and you know what entity you are dealing with. The Borough
doesn't need any more law suits because Council acted improperly.
This IS an election year. I know it won't affect Carlos, but other
Council members should take it into consideration. Do the taxpayers
want to see another large increase in taxes? I think not.
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