Discrimination in Phoenixville?

As I read Dennis Wright's excellent article on Phoenixville Borough Council's decision to return PASD's plans for a new middle school, I immediately drew parallels between this project and the controversial concept plan to close Second Avenue by the Phoenixville Library which has the same potential to destroy the quality of life in the surrounding area neighborhoods.

Council collectively told the school district to "go back to the drawing board". This is exactly the same statement and the same level of concern from Phoenixville Borough Council the neighborhoods near the library needed regarding the closure of Second Avenue.

Carlisle Avenue resident, Mimi Ballentine, among those who would be affected by the current PASD plan said during the meeting, "...the current plan is "life-changing for the neighbors."

"The neighbors were never consulted during the planning stages," Ballantine said. "We are concerned about the air flow, privacy, heat, light, noise, and traffic. The character of the neighborhood is at risk. There will be less open space and less play area. There will be increased traffic on Carlisle Avenue."

Opponents of the current library expansion plan made Council completely aware of the very same concerns.

Councilman Rich Kirkner and Mayor Leo Scoda, mentioned in the article, are consistent in their views on both projects, Kirkner apparently was the first to recommend a return to the drawing board, while the Mayor indicated "the new plan will only further neighbor's complaints about the traffic along City Line Avenue". And, further, "Your plan....it will impact that neighborhood like nothing else."

In a dramatically different position to his out-in-front support of the neighborhood invasive library plan, suddenly concerned Council member Carlos Ciruelos, said of the middle school that "..the current plan will impact the residential area for years to come."

"I want to bring up the strong nature of the building," Ciruelos said. "Everything is jam packed in one area. Everyone in that neighborhood is going to have to deal with it daily for 45 years plus. You are impacting this residential area. It is a shame that our current middle school has become obsolete."

Council President Henry Wagner, one of the members of Council who supports the library plan which includes the potentially dangerous change in traffic patterns in the Second Avenue neighborhoods showed his concern for the school neigbhors when he warned planners, "But, you are increasing traffic on a residential street."

The similarities between two projects has generated many of the same neighborhood concerns, and yet we have two different public positions by some Council members.

I ask, are we looking at an blatant and ugly act of discrimination?

You decide.

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Council sends (Phoenixville Area School District) planners back to drawing board

Sunday, August 16, 2009

By Dennis J. Wright

dwright@pottsmerc.com

PHOENIXVILLE — Plans for a new middle school built on the Phoenixville Area High School campus were presented to borough council last week, and neither neighbors nor council members were particularly pleased.

School officials were told to "go back to the drawing board" after council reviewed the plans and heard a presentation from a Carlisle Avenue resident.

Presenting the plans to council were Phoenixville School District Operations Director Ron Miller, along with Glenn Harris, owner, Renew Design Group; Damian Spahr of Reynolds Construction Management and Ron Kalyan, school district solicitor for projects.

The plans consist of building a new middle school behind the current high school along Carlisle Avenue. The school, which is slated to be three floors, would be book-ended by a gymnasium and auditorium.

The plan also includes a parking garage on school property at the corner of City Line Avenue and Carlisle. The garage is proposed to be two floors, with one floor being underground, for an additional 69 parking spots.

The current middle school has undergone several repairs in recent years, said Miller, and it has become a priority to be replaced with an up-to-date building.

Cost is approximately $2.5 million.

Prior to the planners' presentation, a resident from Carlisle Avenue, Mimi Ballantine, made her own presentation to council.

Via a Powerpoint presentation, Ballantine, a science teacher at the high school, told council that the current plan is "life-changing for the neighbors."

"The neighbors were never consulted during the planning stages," Ballantine said. "We are concerned about the air flow, privacy, heat, light, noise, and traffic. The character of the neighborhood is at risk. There will be less open space and less play area. There will be increased traffic on Carlisle Avenue."

During her presentation, Ballantine showed doctored photos of what the view from her house would look like with the proposed buildings.

Carlos Ciruelos (D-East) asked Ballantine if the school district or school board had seen her presentation, to which she replied, "No, you are the first to see this presentation."

She informed council that the neighbors found out about the school's plans on August 3, to which she passed out a letter to her neighbors shortly afterward.

Richard Mark Kirkner (D-North) thanked Ballantine for her presentation, "Thank you for a great presentation. You've given us a lot to think about."

So after the middle school planners presented their plans to council, it was council's turn to provide their thoughts on the plan.

Kirkner told the planners that it appears that the plan shows more vehicles entering the school property from City Line Avenue than Route 29.

"Until we're done with this, it is just a pretty picture," Kirkner said. "I see 500 cars going from a state highway into a residential street. No one will use the entrance on Route 29 unless you make it big and wide. None of this loopy loop stuff."

"Your plan is to minimize cost which I can respect," said Henry Wagner, council president. "But you are increasing traffic on a residential street."

Kirkner continued his thoughts, "Perhaps we should send you back to the drawing board. I've seen that lot and it's only full 66 percent when I go to an event there. I park on Gay Street or City Line Avenue. From a planning perspective, this is not a good way to go. There is a significant need for a traffic study.

"This doesn't wash as far as planning goes. You are bringing us a plan that has 69 extra parking spots. We have until August 25 to vote on this, and if we vote on this tonight, you might not like the outcome."

Mayor Leo Scoda said the new plan will only further neighbor's complaints about the traffic along City Line Avenue.

"A lot of us remember when the high school went through their renovation, and it was rough," Scoda said. "All of the lots exit off onto City Line Avenue. Your plan doesn't change that. it will impact that neighborhood like nothing else. Many people have complained to us about the street. We put speed bumps and signs up."

Scoda also noted on the plan that the district's administration building remains on site.

"You don't need an administration building there," he said. "You should move it to the old Schuylkill School instead. The administration building used to be at Barkley School, so it doesn't have to be where it is. The golf course would've made a great place for the middle school."

Ciruelos said that the current plan will impact the residential area for years to come.

"I want to bring up the strong nature of the building," Ciruelos said. "Everything is jam packed in one area. Everyone in that neighborhood is going to have to deal with it daily for 45 years plus. You are impacting this residential area. It is a shame that our current middle school has become obsolete."

After listening to council's response, Harris said, "We feel we created more ways to enter the campus instead of just City Line Avenue. It isn't like we are unwilling to move them."

Miller told council, "This has been a long process with plenty of discussions. We could've had modulars and demolish the current building. It's not an expense we don't want to put on the taxpayers. We want to make Route 29 as a focal entry point. We'd like to keep the administration building on the campus. We looked at putting it at the Schuylkill School but there are issues with that building."

Wagner reiterated to the middle school planners what they need to do prior to returning to council on Aug. 25.

"The key issues are parking and land use," he said. "You need to make better use of this space. I can tell you that parents want the shortest distance to the school."

In closing, Harris informed council, "I'm going to try to make the building as short as possible. I'm looking at every aspect of the building to make it compact. Coming out of here, moving the building isn't a part of the budget. But we know we have to look at closing the road and adjusting the parking."

In an interview on Thursday, Miller said that several feasibility studies had been done on the middle school, with the last one around March 2008.

"The middle school has been a need for quite some time," he said. "It got pushed back behind the Schuylkill School. When the Kimberton School fell through, we decided to focus on the middle school."

With options such as demolishing the school and bringing in modulars, Miller said it is more cost-effective to build another school on the property.

"It was cheaper to build a new building than to put up modulars," he said. "Planning began on this around a year ago. The middle school is a nice building, but we've put up roof after roof, and the plumbing is bad. Why gut it when we can build? Then we had to figure out where to put it."

Miller said that due to the constraints of the location of the new middle school, they decided to plan on three floors.

"We went with three floors because of the constraints of the location and space," he said. "We've had meetings with the neighbors. We had a meeting on Wednesday and it was a nice cordial meeting. We are going to try to do what we can. We want to work with them but we have to deal with our constraints."

By next week, Miller said that all of the planners will be getting back together for a new plan to present to council on Aug. 25.

"We will be meeting as a team to work this out," he said. "We don't want to affect programs. We want a good traffic flow and a better school. We are hoping to take advantage of the competitive market right now so we can get this out to bid. It would be a benefit to the taxpayers."

Once bids are solicited pending council's approval of the plans, Miller said that he is hoping to begin construction on the new middle school by summer 2010.




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