[0:41] [laughter]
[0:44] Good afternoon everybody.
[0:47] I would like to call the committee of
[0:49] the whole council meeting September 9th,
[0:52] 2026.
[0:57] Before we stand, earlier today,
[1:01] our burl said goodbye to Charlie Dickson
[1:05] who was a fixture in our community and a
[1:09] proud supporter of Pottstown.
[1:12] on behalf of Burough Council and Madame
[1:15] Mayor, our thoughts
[1:18] are with his family and all of us
[1:22] knew and and all of us that knew him.
[1:27] Please join me in a moment of silence
[1:30] followed by the pledge.
[1:54] Thank you.
[1:56] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
[1:59] United States of America and to the
[2:01] republic for which it stands, one nation
[2:04] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[2:08] justice for all.
[2:10] >> Thank you.
[2:22] Okay, I got infrastructure and
[2:25] transportation while I have you council.
[2:28] >> Yeah. Um, so there are no meetings for
[2:30] either one, but I did want to point out
[2:32] that part has been sharing some of their
[2:34] data on social media on Facebook from
[2:36] their community surveys and there's some
[2:38] really interesting information there
[2:39] that we as a as a body should begin
[2:43] considering. Um, but more more
[2:45] information forthcoming.
[2:47] >> Okay. Thank you. Um, ordinance review
[2:49] committee.
[2:51] Okay.
[2:54] » [snorts]
[2:55] >> economic development and business
[2:57] liaison paid executive director Peggy
[3:01] Lee Clark. And while you up there, do
[3:03] you mind doing land bank report, please?
[3:05] Not at all. Thank you. Thank you.
[3:08] Good evening, council president,
[3:10] counselors, madame mayor. I'd like to
[3:14] take a moment to thank Burough Council
[3:16] for its continued support of economic
[3:18] development in Pottstown over the years.
[3:21] One example has been council's support
[3:23] for the IPIC Pottstown banners, which
[3:26] have helped the business community
[3:28] present a unified and positive message
[3:30] about our burrow.
[3:33] The Pottstown Area Economic Development
[3:35] Board is aware of recent public
[3:37] discussion about alternative uses for
[3:40] the banner space.
[3:42] We understand burrow council retains
[3:45] responsibility for determining how the
[3:47] public space can best serve the
[3:49] community.
[3:51] The paid board therefore voted
[3:54] unanimously to authorize me to publicly
[3:57] communicate that while we sincerely
[4:00] appreciate council support, we would
[4:03] fully support repurposing the space
[4:05] should council determine that another
[4:07] use would be better meet Pottstown's
[4:10] current needs.
[4:12] There is no doubt that a strong common
[4:14] desire exists among residents,
[4:17] businesses, community organizations, and
[4:19] elected officials to continue to
[4:22] strengthen this town to reach its full
[4:24] potential.
[4:26] Paid is a committed community partner
[4:29] prepared to explore new and creative
[4:31] ways to promote Pottstown and its
[4:33] business community as part of that
[4:35] effort. Again, we thank Burl Council for
[4:39] its continued support and hope this
[4:41] position provides greater flexibility as
[4:43] council considers future possibilities
[4:46] for those polls.
[4:52] So, I just have two other things. Um, 30
[4:55] North Hover has had its permits issued
[4:59] and it is getting ready to frame. So
[5:03] they will be moving on with that
[5:05] residential project.
[5:07] Um Fedlancc is this Friday. 28% of those
[5:12] attendees are new attendees. They've
[5:14] never been before, which is great. 77%
[5:18] of people attending are from outside of
[5:20] the burrow. Of that 77%,
[5:23] 13% are 1946.
[5:27] Why do we care about these numbers? We
[5:28] care about these numbers because they
[5:31] support the business community and they
[5:34] are here to enjoy Pottstown in a
[5:38] positive light. So it is great way to
[5:41] market Pottstown and understand what we
[5:43] all know about how great this town is.
[5:47] And we had such an event this past
[5:49] weekend.
[5:51] So, uh, not only did downtown do very
[5:54] well, Sly Fox, record numbers, talked to
[5:57] the businesses when I was here on
[5:59] Saturday, there were record numbers of
[6:02] sales by our business community. And so,
[6:05] without further ado, I'd like to give
[6:08] Jamie or the mic.
[6:14] [applause]
[6:18] Thank you for that. And thank you to the
[6:20] town, the every department in the
[6:22] burough, public works, the Boy Scouts,
[6:25] every single person in town. Um, we knew
[6:28] it was going to be bigger. We knew it
[6:29] was going to be more popular. Pottstown
[6:31] is a name known now throughout the car
[6:34] community. And I brought the magazine
[6:36] that is on sale currently in
[6:37] supermarkets across Europe where you
[6:39] fold the front page out and it has a map
[6:41] of Pottstown in it as the trifold. So if
[6:44] anyone would like a copy, I'm
[6:45] >> That's nice. Yes, absolutely. [applause]
[6:51] I'm overwhelmed. Thank you. [laughter]
[6:54] Um, yeah, Friday was exceptional. We for
[6:56] the businesses our we worked with Bid
[6:59] and we really implemented a new traffic
[7:01] strategy to try and make it safer for
[7:03] there and easier to hang out with the
[7:04] businesses and it was unbelievable. Um,
[7:09] it did lead on to Saturday night where
[7:11] for about 2 hours there was a lot of
[7:12] noise after 10 p.m. Um, we are angry.
[7:15] Um, I denounce it. We have gone on
[7:18] social media. We have asked for people
[7:19] to report them. I have walked into
[7:21] police station myself and reported one
[7:23] car um who was not the type of car that
[7:27] is able to register, but we have their
[7:30] name. We have the evidence for them and
[7:32] we've submitted a report for that. So,
[7:34] we are
[7:36] I not to bring up something negative.
[7:38] This is something I really believe in.
[7:39] Um and so it's not acceptable. We don't
[7:42] want it. We haven't really had it before
[7:44] and we don't want to have it again and
[7:45] we know it's part and parcel. And not to
[7:48] make excuses, but if there's 20 people
[7:51] out of 20,000, whatever the number ends
[7:54] up being as a estimate, um it's still
[7:56] not okay. Um I live on the 800 block. I
[7:58] asked my neighbors the next morning, did you hear anything? And they said no,
[8:02] but I know we have residents right here.
[8:04] So, I am hopefully visibly upset about
[8:07] that. Um, and we've talked to the police
[8:10] already and debriefed about next year
[8:11] what we can do
[8:14] not only better cuz if you see the
[8:16] videos, we were out there, you see our
[8:18] yellow vest, etc. Um, moving on to
[8:20] Sunday. Oh my gosh, the town looked
[8:21] amazing. Um, it it was just phenomenal.
[8:25] Um, I love one quote from a resident,
[8:27] one of my neighbors. Normally, we we
[8:29] look down in Pstown when we walk.
[8:31] Sometimes we look for a crack in the
[8:32] sidewalk. We look for whatever might be
[8:35] there. um maybe we don't always make eye
[8:37] contact in the evening and for low show
[8:40] everyone looks up they look up proud
[8:42] they look up to meet people they look up
[8:44] at the architecture and that one really
[8:46] hits me so um yeah I heard our genttos
[8:50] sold out of pizza bases I have to go
[8:51] over in a moment and uh say thanks to
[8:53] them um but to everyone just just thank
[8:56] you to the town I I thank you for
[8:58] putting out the patience of the traffic
[9:00] and everything um it's greatly
[9:01] appreciated and to the library I think
[9:04] the number has come out with our donor
[9:07] match to about 13 and a half thousand to
[9:09] their campaign. Um [applause]
[9:16] » um they physically ran out of time
[9:19] because they [laughter] they couldn't
[9:20] print the license plate fast enough to
[9:22] get everyone done. So we're already kind
[9:23] of brainstorming what more can we do for
[9:25] that. Um North Coventry Fireh Hall with
[9:28] their fundraiser as well um they were
[9:30] turning people away. There was so many
[9:32] people trying to go in and they do it by
[9:34] selling food. you can buy your hot dogs
[9:36] kasa etc. Um I'm going to let us get on
[9:40] because this is a long meeting but
[9:41] really thank you to every single person
[9:43] in Pottstown. I think we doubled the
[9:45] population for the weekend and people
[9:47] went home around the world and have been
[9:49] sending such beautiful lovely messages.
[9:51] Um we have a lot of them saved but I I
[9:53] won't share them. And this the first
[9:56] time we've received an email from a
[9:58] local citizen other than saying thanks
[10:00] about the noise. And so to that one
[10:02] person, I genuinely thank them for
[10:03] taking the time to email. Um, and I I'm single out the one out of the
[10:08] thousand positive, but it's so important
[10:11] to us. Um, so yeah, we look forward to working with everyone again next year
[10:16] and and to every department. I can't
[10:17] list you all, but thank you.
[10:19] >> So,
[10:19] >> hey Jamie. [applause]
[10:22] Hey Jamie. Jamie. Jamie.
[10:25] >> Jamie. Sorry.
[10:27] >> Tremendous job. Question for you. What
[10:30] came up to me is is that would it be
[10:32] possible? You said you had a lot of
[10:34] registrants that you couldn't put in
[10:36] there because you had not enough space.
[10:39] Is there a possibility that we could
[10:41] possibly make this the world's largest,
[10:43] longest car show? Do we have the do we
[10:47] have the I know we have the space on
[10:49] High Street because they were at my
[10:51] house.
[10:52] >> Okay.
[10:53] >> So to to that we have not increased
[10:55] registration. Um it sells out very
[10:57] quickly. people know when it goes live.
[11:00] We have reached our limit of how many
[11:02] cars we can park in a few hours. And
[11:04] then all the infrastructure, if people
[11:06] don't know, that's why we implemented
[11:08] the one-way system because last year we
[11:10] set up magically overnight. People go to
[11:12] sleep at 8 or 10 p.m. 11:00 p.m. on
[11:15] Saturday and then we start setting up
[11:18] and it just wasn't safe. We had our
[11:20] first small minor accident with a
[11:22] forklift last year and we said, "Nope,
[11:24] daylight hours only. this isn't
[11:26] feasible.
[11:27] >> And so we submitted the plan and I I
[11:30] truly thank everyone. I think it worked
[11:32] really well.
[11:34] >> Um but we just don't have enough time to
[11:37] we're parking 8.3 cars per minute once
[11:41] the show opens in the morning and it's
[11:42] spread across seven blocks or so, but
[11:44] it's still it's a mammoth undertaking.
[11:46] So when we look to try and expand to
[11:48] allow more people to register and the
[11:50] registrations they sign a release an
[11:53] agreement with their we check their ID
[11:56] when they collect a registration we have
[11:57] their number plate we have their phone
[11:58] number their address and we say we will
[12:01] release it to the police so f or anyone
[12:03] we see fit except for commercial game um
[12:07] and not one of those people we've ever
[12:09] really caught acting up they might park
[12:11] in the wrong place we give them a phone
[12:12] call they come running but to that we
[12:15] would love do our our next issue is
[12:18] going to be how do we fund this many
[12:21] portaotties for 3 days. [laughter]
[12:23] Our portaotties were we went 50% higher
[12:27] but we didn't expect Friday night and so
[12:29] by Sunday we were cleaning we were doing
[12:32] the trash as fast as we possibly could
[12:35] and it's a wonderful problem. The
[12:36] businesses are selling takeouts. They're
[12:38] having a great time but so to that I
[12:42] like the registrations. It means they're
[12:44] registered with us. We keep track of
[12:46] them. They put in money. Otherwise, when
[12:48] you park outside, which we saw down to
[12:50] the 900 block this year on Sunday. Um,
[12:54] they don't put a penny in unless they
[12:56] put money into the businesses or buy a
[12:58] sticker or something, a t-shirt from us.
[13:01] Um, I also I would I don't want to take
[13:04] up too much time. I'm sorry. I would
[13:06] love to include the 400 blog.
[13:08] >> I really there's businesses there.
[13:10] There's a great Chinese. He saw a bump
[13:12] in business. I would love to to bring
[13:14] that block in and then we get into the
[13:16] library block and then we're into the
[13:18] beautiful 600 700 block which are some
[13:20] of the most pretty in town. It's it's
[13:22] just logistics. I don't know a way to
[13:25] increase. But if I can include more of
[13:26] the businesses and then that gives our
[13:28] attendees more opportunities to buy
[13:31] reasonably priced meals and sodas so
[13:33] they have a great time. Wonderful. I I
[13:36] just haven't
[13:38] >> tracked logistics but thank you for
[13:39] asking.
[13:40] >> Yeah. Well, I'll help if you want.
[13:42] [laughter] Okay,
[13:44] >> that's it. I think I think that's it for
[13:46] the questions for up here, I believe.
[13:48] Okay.
[13:50] >> Okay. Thank you all. So, thank you,
[13:51] Paul. Really? [applause]
[13:58] » I will leave those there. I'm being told
[13:59] to go back to work.
[14:00] >> No, I said go back to bed. [laughter]
[14:04] >> You haven't slept in days.
[14:08] >> Okay. Uh, economic development. That's
[14:10] the report.
[14:11] >> Okay. [laughter]
[14:13] >> Can we go on to land bank?
[14:14] >> Yes.
[14:15] >> Okay. Thank you. Uh so I wanted to give
[14:18] an example of um because again sometimes
[14:22] I slip and I go onto social media and I
[14:24] see the comments and then I feel like I
[14:27] have to re-educate people. Right?
[14:29] >> So land bank the two ways that land bank
[14:32] can get properties are donations
[14:35] or through buying a tax sale. And
[14:38] generally they are not purchased at the
[14:40] sheriff's sale. They are purchased at
[14:42] the judicial sale. By law, land banks
[14:46] have the ability to have a priority bid,
[14:50] which means all that requires is
[14:53] contacting the county and saying the
[14:55] land bank would like to exercise its
[14:58] priority bid and purchase
[15:01] X property.
[15:03] if those get pulled because those taxes
[15:07] get paid or they don't the county
[15:10] doesn't feel like they've served the
[15:12] individuals whether that be an
[15:14] individual or their heirs it can get
[15:17] pulled as was the case in 76 North Adams
[15:21] which is now stayed until December.
[15:26] Then there is the issue of federal
[15:29] leans. If there are federal leans on the
[15:32] property, the land bank will not pursue
[15:34] them because they are more difficult.
[15:36] So, it's not just about title issues as
[15:39] was sort of alluded to on social media.
[15:43] There are things that go into the
[15:45] decision making of the land bank's
[15:48] decision to purchase. And just to give
[15:50] you one final idea of what happens is in
[15:55] the sheriff's sale when Portnoff sends
[15:57] things to sheriff's sale, which is the
[16:00] school district and the burough's
[16:02] collection agency, when they get sent,
[16:06] there is no priority bid there, but the
[16:09] land bank has chosen to sign up for bid
[16:12] for assets, which allows them to bid
[16:14] with everybody else. They were prepared
[16:18] to do that on a property 379 Beach
[16:21] Street. It got pulled at the last
[16:24] minute. It may get continued in the
[16:27] future, but this is not unusual. Just to
[16:30] show you in throughout the county, there
[16:33] were 44
[16:35] that were postponed.
[16:37] Only eight went up for sale throughout
[16:39] the county. So, so it's not that Land
[16:42] Bank doesn't want to acquire properties.
[16:44] they are doing the best they can.
[16:47] Sometimes also the market is doing very
[16:50] well. So those properties are being
[16:52] bought by the private market and that is
[16:55] my report for land bank.
[16:57] >> Becky, I have a question. I came across
[17:00] a situation and I wanted to know if
[17:02] there was a policy that that the land
[17:04] bank has. Does the land bank uh exclude
[17:08] burough counselors or other elected
[17:10] officials like the school board members
[17:13] or their spouses from purchasing land
[17:16] bank houses, okay, at let's say putting
[17:19] 4% down and then getting the rest in a
[17:22] land bank mortgage and then turning
[17:25] around and flipping that eight months
[17:27] later for five times its value. Is there
[17:30] anything that prevents us from us here
[17:34] from profiting like that from landbank
[17:37] properties?
[17:39] And if there isn't, should there be one?
[17:41] >> So that that probably is the case um for
[17:46] in the policy. I don't know.
[17:50] Yeah,
[17:53] [clears throat]
[17:54] >> I [laughter]
[17:58] honestly cannot
[18:00] policy.
[18:02] >> Excuse me. Could you wait until the
[18:03] microphone works?
[18:05] Excellent.
[18:22] » The bet.
[18:24] >> Thank you. Sorry to make you wait.
[18:26] [clears throat]
[18:31] Thank you. Okay.
[18:34] Good.
[18:35] >> Okay.
[18:35] >> Thank you.
[18:36] >> So, I do not know where the policies and
[18:38] procedures that would be stated. It
[18:41] could be something that was looked into
[18:42] and I will certainly discuss it with the
[18:44] land bank and their solicitor. That's my
[18:47] answer. I don't know. What I do know is
[18:50] that there is a pre-application and
[18:53] there is an application that people
[18:56] identify themselves as who they are,
[19:00] right? It's not like you can hide behind
[19:02] an LLC, right?
[19:04] >> We are familiar with who the individuals
[19:06] are.
[19:07] >> Does that make sense?
[19:08] >> Right. So, but you think that that's a
[19:10] good practice or a bad practice? Does it
[19:12] look good for everyone? It doesn't look
[19:14] good.
[19:15] >> I would say it does not look good.
[19:17] >> Okay.
[19:17] >> I hope I said that in a nice way.
[19:20] >> Yes. Okay.
[19:23] Anybody else? Okay. Thank you.
[19:26] >> Thank you.
[19:28] >> Okay. Business Improvement District
[19:31] Council Manra and
[19:35] >> pass that off to Miss Danielle K.
[19:37] >> Okay. I was just about to introduce her.
[19:40] And Danielle Art District presentation.
[19:44] >> All right.
[19:46] >> So, a little more fun than uh land bank.
[19:49] Uh [clears throat] I'm going to give a
[19:51] quick update on the bid.
[19:53] >> Uh we're planning Stata Saturday. That's
[19:56] December 5th. Mark your calendars. It's
[19:58] going to be really fun. We're going to
[19:59] go a little bigger this year. We've got
[20:01] a whole committee that are now working
[20:02] on uh the events that are going to
[20:04] happen that day. Uh the Pottstown Film
[20:06] Festival, the bid is working with to
[20:09] promote and help get the word out. It is
[20:11] their fourth year and I just got word
[20:14] that we are going to have Kate Flanigan
[20:17] at this event. She's going to be a
[20:19] speaker and we're working on figuring
[20:22] out some of the logistics of showing a
[20:24] film that she's in uh that is releasing
[20:26] at the end of September.
[20:29] Uh we held our first small business
[20:31] workshop uh to help small businesses
[20:34] learn how to do their jobs better and
[20:36] the next one is on October 20th. I
[20:39] highly encourage small businesses to
[20:41] come and get this information. uh learn
[20:44] the things you don't know, the things
[20:46] that you you're not entirely certain
[20:49] about. Uh and that's what the point of
[20:51] that is. Wednesday, we just had our
[20:53] first kickoff for a networking group
[20:55] where we're bringing all businesses
[20:56] owner owners together to meet each
[20:59] other, talk, help support one another.
[21:01] If you sell insurance and this business
[21:04] sells coffee, you can work together. You
[21:06] buy coffee, you buy insurance, we get
[21:08] together and just talk as businesses. Uh
[21:12] we're also working on the parking lot at
[21:16] the clock tower on Charlotte and High
[21:18] Street with the Rotary to do some new
[21:20] plants. We're planting perennials. We
[21:23] did get some donations of bulbs from uh
[21:27] Colonial Gardens and Lowe's or Home
[21:30] Depot has committed to giving us some
[21:34] mulch and some hands to help. So, if you
[21:39] are interested in putting some bulbs in
[21:41] the ground, come join us. It'll be a fun
[21:43] day with Rotary. And that is on October
[21:48] 9th. I didn't put it down on my on my
[21:51] thing. 9th is [clears throat] going to
[21:52] be busy. Uh, so arts district. So, one
[21:58] of the things that I am working on for
[22:00] Main Street designation is that I have
[22:04] to come up with three projects that I
[22:06] want to do over five years. and where
[22:07] those funds might be allocated.
[22:11] One of those projects is the arts
[22:13] district and I really wanted to share it
[22:14] with you guys so that you get an idea of
[22:17] the stuff that I the transformation I
[22:19] want to see in this town. So,
[22:25] North Charlotte from high to beach right
[22:28] now is a dead section of our town. There
[22:32] are 10 empty storefronts that have some
[22:35] of been empty for 20 or more years.
[22:40] I want to turn it into this.
[22:43] I want to see art events. I want to have
[22:46] the road closed at Charlotte and have
[22:49] people come to buy art, see art,
[22:51] interact with art.
[22:56] But why now? Why is besides the main
[22:59] street planning and having that be a
[23:02] part of my plan, there are a lot of
[23:04] grant funds, a lot of state grant funds
[23:06] and a lot of other corporate funds to
[23:10] fund such a district.
[23:13] Also, our arts community has been
[23:16] growing by leaps and bounds. In the last
[23:18] just five years, we're seeing a huge
[23:21] jump.
[23:24] So the grants DCDE
[23:28] on top of designation, they have grants
[23:31] for arts specifically. They're earmarked
[23:33] for arts. The PA creative communities
[23:37] has an arts designation that we could
[23:39] pick up. There's LSA grants. There's uh
[23:43] creative and innovation impact grants.
[23:45] Some of these I could apply for tomorrow
[23:47] morning because now I've presented it to
[23:49] you guys.
[23:51] Then there's private sector grants.
[23:53] Walmart has a spark local spark local
[23:57] grant that is for small businesses that
[24:00] I could tie together and help people get
[24:03] started. There's a lot of PNC uh I could
[24:08] keep listing this but and this
[24:09] presentation would be only those grants.
[24:12] So there's a lot of opportunity for us
[24:15] to pour some funds into our arts
[24:18] community.
[24:21] Why Charlotte Street? Other than the
[24:24] fact that there's 10 empty businesses,
[24:28] there's also existing businesses. If
[24:31] you're not familiar with Beekeepers,
[24:33] they do a ton of art events. A ton.
[24:36] Right next door, you have Art Fusion
[24:38] that has been doing art stuff for 20
[24:41] years. Through thick and thin, they've
[24:44] been sticking it out. On the other end,
[24:48] we have Danny B. Funky. We really enjoy
[24:51] Danny B. Funky. We want to support that.
[24:54] We also have Charlotte Street Coffee,
[24:57] which is very artsy fartsy. Artists love
[25:00] to sit and talk over coffee. It is very
[25:02] poised as it stands today. The YW.CA is
[25:06] on board for this idea. They love it. It
[25:09] would be right in the heart of their
[25:11] home. New businesses. We have a new
[25:15] gallery coming in in between the record
[25:17] store and Charlotte Street Coffee that
[25:20] is Nexus Cafe or Nexus Gallery. And I
[25:24] I'm excited to see what they're planning
[25:26] to do. So there's and we also
[25:30] Mudslingers is putting in a pottery
[25:32] store in the old Lastic Building.
[25:36] They are going to be selling pottery.
[25:38] They're going to be selling pottery
[25:39] supplies and there are going to have art
[25:42] studios in the back. All of this was
[25:45] slated before I even thought of an arts
[25:48] district.
[25:52] So, our history, Steel River has been
[25:54] serving our community since 2008 with
[25:57] showing us the performing arts. We have
[26:00] High Street Music, which has been
[26:01] teaching us how to be musical.
[26:05] art fusion has been teaching us how to
[26:07] push our boundaries and try something
[26:08] that might be a little uncomfortable but
[26:10] oh so fun.
[26:12] >> And then we have PAG that has been
[26:14] around since 1960.
[26:16] They are an art community.
[26:20] This is our base. These are the people
[26:23] that went through the hard parts that
[26:26] really worked to get us here to define
[26:28] who we are as an art community.
[26:33] Today we've expanded without having any
[26:36] grant funds or allocating or saying yes,
[26:38] we want to see you here. Yes, we're
[26:40] inviting you here. All of these people
[26:43] are putting in the effort to show us
[26:46] that they're here for art.
[26:51] So, what's the benefits of an arts
[26:53] district?
[26:55] Way more foot traffic, having art
[26:58] events. People come in, they look at
[27:00] art, they're gonna want to eat. They're
[27:03] gonna want to have a drink after they're
[27:05] done. They're going to go, "Oh, there's
[27:07] a shoe store right here. I might want to
[27:08] get shoes." It just puts more bodies
[27:11] down in our town that need it.
[27:14] Business visibility. The businesses that
[27:16] are already there. There's a lot of
[27:19] Henry's Cafe. How many people outside of
[27:21] our community know Henry's Cafe even
[27:23] exists?
[27:26] But it will give him visibility.
[27:29] It gives local artists an opportunity to
[27:32] engage in our economic development.
[27:36] Youth involvement. Our schools are
[27:38] incredibly artsy. Pottstown High School.
[27:42] I Their artists are incredible.
[27:45] I I got the opportunity to judge the
[27:49] high school show that was at Montco in
[27:51] the this spring and oh my god it was way
[27:55] harder than I thought it was going to
[27:57] be. [laughter]
[27:58] Um and I and Hill School and we're just
[28:03] giving them a place to see that this is
[28:07] a value in a community.
[28:11] This is North Charlotte Street as it
[28:12] stands today and what it could be
[28:14] tomorrow.
[28:30] These are the two new businesses that I
[28:32] referred to
[28:35] year one. So, this is not a fast thing.
[28:38] This is a fiveyear plan. And even then,
[28:40] it's going to have to go beyond that.
[28:43] We're going to have to love and care for
[28:44] it. We need to form an advisory
[28:47] committee under the bid that states how
[28:51] we go forward with these grants. Which
[28:53] ones do we go after? Which ones we don't
[28:56] confirm the district name. It needs a
[28:58] name. There are cute little towns that
[29:00] have awesome arts districts and they
[29:02] have fun names, but what makes it
[29:03] Pottstown?
[29:06] We need to work with the property owners
[29:08] and we need to attract new businesses. I
[29:11] really want to pull from the areas
[29:14] around us that are currently getting
[29:16] priced out or they've done so well in
[29:19] their other homes that they're looking
[29:20] to have a second location.
[29:24] Year two, I want to start seeing artwalk
[29:26] events. I want to have Charlotte Street
[29:29] shut down where we go and have art
[29:31] walks. We bring in vendors, do popups on
[29:34] inside those shops, very much like the
[29:36] Low Show does.
[29:38] I'd like to get signage and facades
[29:42] grants so that we can have our new
[29:44] identity on that street and then digital
[29:48] marketing really pushing it out to
[29:51] Facebooks, the socials, web page.
[29:55] Year three to five storefronts start
[29:58] coming online. We are now doing regional
[30:01] marketing and we're having public
[30:04] installations
[30:06] and a large yearly event.
[30:13] With that said, I did didn't have a
[30:15] slide for this, but I wanted to add it
[30:17] and I think it's important to to talk
[30:19] about. Lancaster has what's called
[30:22] Gallery Row and they are one of the
[30:26] foremost places in this area to go to
[30:29] buy art.
[30:31] The artists that we have talked to make
[30:34] all of their money in a year at those
[30:37] events that Lancaster holds. It's
[30:40] prestigious. If you get accepted into
[30:42] one of these art shows that happen in
[30:44] Lancaster, it's prestige.
[30:47] and that I want Pottstown. When you say
[30:50] you got accepted into a Pottstown art
[30:52] show, it comes with prestige.
[30:58] So, how can you help? I need letters of
[31:00] support. I'm going to be coming maybe to
[31:03] you personally or I will be coming to
[31:05] you more publicly like this asking for
[31:08] support letters so that when I apply for
[31:10] grants the burrows on my side, the
[31:12] businesses are on my side, the artists
[31:14] are on my side and they want this.
[31:18] So that's how I would love for you guys
[31:21] to help and thank you so very much. Are
[31:25] there any questions?
[31:28] >> Yes.
[31:29] Is [clears throat] there any thought to
[31:31] putting steel river which is pretty much
[31:34] the definition of art other than
[31:39] >> so I've thought about it I thought about
[31:42] it a lot and I will tell you why I
[31:44] landed on where I landed one that
[31:48] section of high street doesn't need help
[31:50] right now and it does have its own
[31:52] entertainment identity there's
[31:55] entertainment spaces right next door to
[31:57] them.
[31:59] >> And number two, I want to shut down the
[32:02] arts district road. I don't want to shut
[32:04] down High Street.
[32:06] >> Okay. But you you do know who's the
[32:08] president of Steel River.
[32:09] >> I am very familiar. Okay. Yes. Yes.
[32:11] Okay. I Okay.
[32:13] >> There a lot of
[32:14] >> and I have spoken with him and and
[32:17] unless it's in there,
[32:19] >> I understand.
[32:19] >> He's not going to support it. And he
[32:23] told me that he I could say that. did
[32:24] talk with Steel River and they are on
[32:27] board with me. Uh Velva is with me on
[32:31] the choice of not including them because
[32:34] she does not want the road shut down.
[32:36] >> Velva's not going to help you get
[32:37] grants.
[32:38] >> I I understand that.
[32:39] >> Okay. Okay.
[32:40] >> And Joe, just think about it. And I
[32:43] invite Joe to give me a call so that we
[32:45] can talk about it.
[32:46] >> I will tell him that.
[32:48] >> Thank you. Okay.
[32:49] >> I have a state comment. Um,
[32:53] years ago I went to Lan Lancaster,
[32:56] however you say it. Um, and I went to an
[32:59] art event and I'm sure you probably
[33:01] heard of this before,
[33:02] >> but um, I thought it was really cool was
[33:06] the fact that the the businesses
[33:08] sponsored artist
[33:10] >> and they had maps.
[33:12] >> They gave people maps and you would go
[33:13] from business to business and see the
[33:15] artist work. Yes.
[33:16] >> It was really it's really good fun
[33:17] event.
[33:18] >> Yes. Um, have you ever done that before
[33:19] in Pakistan or or have we?
[33:21] >> Not to that degree.
[33:22] >> Okay.
[33:23] >> No, not not nearly as organized as that.
[33:26] Um, and I would love to start seeing
[33:28] that.
[33:28] >> Yeah. Yeah. That that was really fun. I
[33:30] enjoyed that.
[33:30] >> I love what Lancaster does. Absolutely.
[33:33] And it does well for the businesses and
[33:35] the artists.
[33:37] >> I love this idea. I think this is a
[33:39] great idea. I mean, I'm always sort of
[33:40] thinking about what makes Pottstown
[33:42] unique, and I think our arts footprint
[33:44] is what makes us unique, and the idea of shining a light on that is great. I
[33:48] was just thinking about when you were
[33:49] talking about the the popups. I mean,
[33:51] first, I would love to see some of those buildings. I mean, they could be
[33:55] pop-up shops that could support local
[33:57] artists or people trying out a business
[33:59] model or something like that. I love
[34:01] that idea. Yeah. And I was also thinking
[34:02] that in the recent streetscapes uh
[34:04] thing, they talked about using Penn
[34:06] Street as like um uh shut shutting it
[34:09] down and using it for like a local
[34:10] thing. I'm thinking how awesome would
[34:12] that be to do like an art show right
[34:14] then and there. I mean, I know it's kind
[34:16] of a little, you know, small and I think
[34:18] that's what I know, you know, to your to
[34:20] your artwork that you showed of of of
[34:22] Charlotte. I think that would be kind of
[34:24] a cool space to be able to shut it down
[34:27] pretty easily in terms of I mean I might
[34:29] be saying that and it may not actually
[34:30] be easy in terms of a logistics point of
[34:32] view but I was just thinking that that
[34:33] would be an opportunity for us to try to
[34:36] do some things [music] in the in that
[34:38] given area and not have to make a big
[34:40] impact. I mean I think you know when we
[34:42] do the um the the church walk every good
[34:45] Friday we're always walking down
[34:46] Charlotte Street and people are like
[34:48] this is the part of town that kind of
[34:50] bums us out. you know, you get on High
[34:52] Street and things are happening. There's
[34:54] all kinds of this shop and that shop.
[34:55] When you're walking down Charlotte, just does not jump out at you
[34:59] like it should, but there's so much
[35:00] great architecture and there's so many
[35:02] great storefronts and to I think to
[35:04] frame it around that lens is a really cool idea. You know, it's not
[35:09] that you're not opening it up to other
[35:10] businesses, but you're just saying like,
[35:12] look, let's if we can frame this with
[35:14] the idea of art in mind, then that
[35:16] allows us sort of hyperfocus on what's
[35:18] going on there. And then people are
[35:21] making that walk down Charlotte and
[35:22] they're going, "Oh, there's this place
[35:24] and there's a coffee shop down here and
[35:25] then I want to go check out this place
[35:26] and I want to go see what our fusions
[35:28] got going on." And that's that's that's
[35:30] a very exciting idea.
[35:33] >> Yeah, I think this is great, too. I
[35:34] mean, I this is one of the reasons I
[35:35] came to Potttown 20 years ago because a
[35:36] friend of mine had art center in
[35:37] Phoenixville and he wanted to kind of
[35:38] recreate it which was the former
[35:41] building. Actually met my wife at the
[35:42] one in Phoenixville. So, [laughter]
[35:44] >> you know, the recession threw a little
[35:46] curveball on it, but now we have hard
[35:48] fusions. It came to fruition eventually.
[35:50] So, that's great.
[35:52] >> I am thrilled about the pottery. Um, my
[35:56] sister's a professor. She teaches
[35:57] pottery at a local college uh in
[36:00] Maryland.
[36:00] >> Yeah.
[36:01] >> So, I am thrilled. I'm going to tell her
[36:03] >> come get a job.
[36:04] >> Yeah.
[36:04] >> Leave there. Come [laughter] here.
[36:09] » Anything else?
[36:11] >> Thank you so much for your time.
[36:12] >> Yes. Thank you. [applause]
[36:25] » Okay. I have library
[36:28] Joe. I'm gonna try to pronounce it this
[36:29] time. Boss,
[36:31] >> you do have a challenge because it is
[36:32] misspelled on the agenda.
[36:33] >> Okay. Well, then I'm not spell. Not
[36:36] [clears throat] the name. You think they
[36:37] [laughter] got the last noun?
[36:39] >> No, the last one. I thought I said
[36:41] that's not how you spell Joe, but okay.
[36:43] >> My name is Jaspa [laughter] apparently
[36:45] and I'm here to talk to you about the
[36:46] library.
[36:47] >> Yes, absolutely.
[36:48] >> A few mistakes today. [laughter]
[36:51] >> It's okay.
[36:52] So, um, this is not the
[36:56] format that I generally prefer because
[36:58] usually I prefer to bring, you know, a
[37:00] happy librarian to say the fun.
[37:02] >> Oh, that's why she's not here.
[37:04] >> And then I say the other part, um,
[37:08] >> which is, uh, you're not going to have
[37:09] these fun things because you're not
[37:11] funding the library. [laughter] Um, but
[37:13] I don't have a librarian here tonight.
[37:15] Uh, so I'm gonna say the nice stuff,
[37:17] >> okay?
[37:17] >> And the not so nice stuff.
[37:18] >> Okay. The first thing I need to say is
[37:21] thank Jamie our and the Low Show.
[37:23] $13,000 is is deeply impactful. It was a
[37:27] really positive atmosphere. I I know I
[37:29] saw you there. I was I was uh sweating
[37:32] making license plates when you came to
[37:34] say hi. So, it's it's all kind of a
[37:35] blur. I'm pretty sure you were you were
[37:38] working. You was hustling. Yeah. On
[37:40] Sunday, it was hot, too. It was a good
[37:42] day.
[37:42] >> You did a good job. Yeah. Both of you.
[37:44] >> The hardest job were the people waiting
[37:45] in line. I at least got to be under the
[37:47] tent.
[37:48] >> Yeah. Yeah.
[37:48] >> Um, so that was that was awesome. Um,
[37:50] our programming attendance is the
[37:52] highest it's ever been. Our circulation
[37:55] is the highest it's ever been.
[37:57] >> Uh, individual donors in Pottstown,
[38:00] that's the highest it's ever been. So,
[38:02] there's every indication is that the
[38:05] community is using and supports the
[38:08] library because all those indicators are
[38:10] the highest they've ever been. We are
[38:12] not funded in a way that indicates that
[38:15] we want to have a library. That's
[38:17] [clears throat] the harsh truth. So
[38:19] depending on how you measure the
[38:21] municipal contributions to the library,
[38:24] there's two ways to measure it.
[38:26] Depending on how you measure it, we are
[38:28] either the second worst funded library
[38:30] in the county or we're the worst funded
[38:33] library in the county. So if you measure
[38:35] the generous way, we're only the second
[38:37] worst. Um we have raised this issue I
[38:41] think many times. Um, the funding level
[38:44] has remained at the level that it's at
[38:46] while expenses go up every year,
[38:48] year-over-year.
[38:49] Um,
[38:51] so I'm not saying I obviously we're going to try and preserve the
[38:55] library as long as we can. And there are
[38:58] steps there are things that happen
[39:01] between where we are right now, we are
[39:03] here, and not having a library at all,
[39:06] which is here. There are there are in
[39:08] between steps. And so I want you guys
[39:10] because I don't want to hear a year from
[39:12] now, you didn't tell us this was going
[39:13] to happen. I'm telling you, I want you
[39:15] to know what those in between steps are.
[39:18] So number one, we look at the assets the
[39:20] library has. We own the building on High
[39:23] Street. It's a nice piece of real
[39:25] estate. Um it would go quickly probably
[39:28] if we wanted to sell it. We couldn't
[39:30] guarantee what would be there, but we
[39:32] could sell that, raise maybe a million
[39:34] dollars that we could put in an
[39:35] endowment and then secure a cheaper
[39:38] piece of property outside the burrow
[39:40] perhaps. So that's that's a step in
[39:43] between. We are here and we don't have a
[39:46] library. That's one potential step. Um
[39:50] there's there's other alternatives. We
[39:51] could restrict our hours. So maybe the
[39:53] library is only open three days a week.
[39:57] that could that could make the money we
[39:59] have coming in and funding work and you
[40:02] would still technically have a library.
[40:04] So that's another potential in between
[40:07] step between we are here and we don't
[40:10] have a library. Um there are others but
[40:15] they're they're probably even worse than
[40:16] those two. So, I just I I want us to
[40:19] keep in front of ourselves what the
[40:22] possibilities are. Um, if there's not an
[40:26] increase to municipal funding for the
[40:28] library, that's at least on par with
[40:31] what every other part of municipal
[40:34] government has had. Maybe, maybe not
[40:36] you. I'm just kidding.
[40:38] But there needs to be something's got to
[40:40] give or something's going to give in a
[40:41] different direction is is my
[40:43] communication to you because right now
[40:45] we are funding the library in a way that
[40:47] indicates contrary to all data usage,
[40:51] circulation, programming, individual
[40:53] contributions that indicates we do not
[40:56] want a library. And if we continue to
[40:59] fund it in that way, you may get
[41:01] something in between now and that or you
[41:05] may get that. That is that is the
[41:07] reality we are facing and that is what I
[41:09] want you to be aware of. That's not to
[41:11] say we're not going to keep trying. I
[41:13] was out there printing license plates.
[41:15] We're [clears throat] we're out there.
[41:16] We're asking for money. We're asking the
[41:19] state for money. We're asking donors for
[41:21] money. We're never going to stop trying.
[41:23] But we need to be aware of the potential
[41:26] reality. That's all. Do you have any
[41:28] questions?
[41:32] » No.
[41:33] >> Thank you.
[41:36] Yes. Yes. [applause] Thank you.
[41:42] » Okay.
[41:44] Potttown School District Council Ro.
[41:48] >> Yeah. So, I was unable to attend August
[41:50] 20th meeting, but I did watch the
[41:52] meeting afterwards on YouTube. Uh the
[41:54] board recognized high school teacher
[41:56] Mrs. Moore with the superintendent award
[41:58] for raising over $18,000 for childhood
[42:01] cancer research through Minithon. mini
[42:03] thawn. It was also announced that Edward
[42:07] Elementary's 57year-old air conditioning
[42:09] chiller had completely failed, requiring
[42:12] immediate temperature um mitigation and
[42:15] the upcoming replacement uh is projected
[42:17] to cost over a million dollars.
[42:21] >> Okay. Thank you.
[42:24] Now, I was told that our Madame Mayor is
[42:27] online. So,
[42:30] Madame Mayor,
[42:32] >> yes, I'm here. Hold on one second.
[42:34] >> Okay,
[42:35] >> you're here.
[42:36] >> Good evening, Madame President.
[42:38] >> Thank you. Good evening.
[42:40] >> Good evening, everyone. Uh Joe, I just
[42:43] want to say it's really great to see
[42:45] you. Welcome back.
[42:47] >> Um since last time, uh McGomery County
[42:50] Improvement District Authority presented
[42:51] a check to Steel River to help with
[42:54] building improvements, which was
[42:55] fantastic. Um, I had the privilege of
[42:58] attending the Bacon Brothers People in
[43:00] the World Tour tour at Souljles, which
[43:03] was fabulous. Please check Soulj's
[43:06] website for um any of their upcoming
[43:10] acts.
[43:12] They have a lot of great shows coming
[43:13] up. Um, I supported Veterans Community
[43:16] Day. Spectators Grill, one of the new
[43:19] restaurants, hosted our Rotary meeting.
[43:22] Um, check out their wings if you haven't
[43:24] already been there. Trita, I know you
[43:25] will like them. They make them well
[43:27] done. [laughter] And uh I want to thank
[43:30] Andy and Michael for presenting to the
[43:32] Rotary Club about our award-winning
[43:35] parks and recreation program.
[43:38] And I heard last weekend or this weekend
[43:41] was last weekend was fantastic. I want
[43:43] to thank Jamie our Red Horse and
[43:44] Partners and the Pottstown Police
[43:47] Department for a very successful
[43:48] weekend. I received an email from um a
[43:52] visitor Jennifer Capen um to the police
[43:55] department which I would actually like
[43:56] to read. Um she says, "I've been to the
[43:59] V B VW shows for the last 30 years in
[44:02] many towns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
[44:04] and Maryland, and I have never sent any
[44:06] emails to any police departments ever,
[44:08] but you deserve a huge thank you. I know
[44:11] this car show puts a lot of stress on
[44:13] Pottstown. I am so impressed by how the
[44:16] police really worked with the show and
[44:18] the spectators and not against it. I saw
[44:21] the police department solve problems
[44:24] with calmness and the police presence
[44:26] was there but not overbearing. It was
[44:29] truly refreshing and I hope we all
[44:32] returned your kindness with kindness.
[44:35] So, thank you Jennifer. That was very
[44:37] nice of you.
[44:39] All right, let's see upcoming events.
[44:42] Thursday, September 10th, uh, 6 to10 at
[44:45] Rivet is the last big band jazz
[44:47] orchestra.
[44:49] Um, if you're not going to FET or if you
[44:52] want to go to FET and then leave to go
[44:54] see the Trojans play their home game at
[44:56] Sun um, against Sun Valley, they are
[44:59] playing 7:00 p.m. on the 11th.
[45:02] Our uh, Pottstown Pet Fair is the 12th
[45:04] from 10 to 2. Also on the 12th from
[45:08] 10:30 to 11:30 is the Da Vinci Science
[45:12] Center program that will be held by the
[45:14] Children's Discovery Center
[45:18] >> at on September 12th at 11:00 a.m. at
[45:22] the library. Um there's children's story
[45:26] time and crafting with the Daughters of
[45:27] the American Revolution.
[45:30] The following Sunday the 13th from 10 to
[45:32] 3, go back to the library and buy some
[45:34] used books. Um they're having on their
[45:37] uh front porch book sale from 10 to
[45:39] three.
[45:41] And as you know um one of our residents
[45:43] Dan Kyota who is a waiting
[45:45] [clears throat] for a double lung
[45:46] transplant and uh created the die
[45:50] laughing uh nonprofit to support pen
[45:54] medicine uh lung transplant lung
[45:58] transplant candidates. He is having his
[46:02] oneyear on Friday, September 18th, 6:30
[46:05] to 11:30 at Rivet. Um his one-year die
[46:08] laughing fundraiser. So, please come out
[46:10] and support that. The following day,
[46:13] September 19th, is Ride for the River.
[46:16] Starts at Riverfront Park and they um
[46:19] need some volunteers if you're
[46:21] interested and riders, of course. I
[46:23] think there's a a
[46:26] 35k
[46:28] or 35 mile, a 10 mile, and a four mile,
[46:31] I think. Um, and you can do anyone you
[46:35] would like. September 19th, 9 to 12 is
[46:40] at the zucchini festival and races at
[46:41] Pottstown Farm.
[46:44] September 26th, 10 to 12, Pottstown
[46:47] Community Action is doing a cleanup from
[46:50] North Franklin um on North Franklin from
[46:54] East to Beach starting at 310 East High
[46:56] Street. Um and they will provide all the
[46:59] equipment. So just comment support.
[47:05] » Sorry, did you have a question?
[47:08] >> No, I don't. Go ahead.
[47:10] >> I have feedback. Sorry. That's okay. Um
[47:13] on the 26th 11 to1 is Veterans Community
[47:16] Day and um that will be at Veterans
[47:19] Island Memorial Park. Also on the 26th
[47:23] at the Rotary Pavilion from 10 to 12 is
[47:26] the Veterans Mini Standown where they
[47:29] have assistance and outreach to support
[47:31] um veterans. That is a monthly standown.
[47:34] The next event for that is on October
[47:37] 24th, same time, 10 to 12 at the Rotary
[47:40] Pavilion.
[47:42] And September 29th is the ribbon cutting
[47:44] for the Skookul River Trail at 100 p.m.
[47:47] I have a couple Save the Dates. You guys
[47:50] know October's crazy. Um October 3rd, 6
[47:54] p.m. Night at the Races at the Carousel.
[47:57] Uh supports our local youth and
[47:59] education programs for the Foundation
[48:01] for Pottstown Education.
[48:04] October 3rd, 9:30, 10:30 shotgun start
[48:08] is our third annual putt for parks mini
[48:10] golf tournament. Need a twosome or a
[48:12] foresome, please join. It's so much fun.
[48:15] Um, if anyone I think we should get some
[48:18] counselors on a team. Um, it's great to
[48:21] see everyone out there and uh,
[48:24] and I suck at golf, but I still play.
[48:27] [laughter]
[48:28] Um, the fifth is the 22nd annual Rotary
[48:33] Community Endowment Fund Golf Outing,
[48:35] which is our biggest fundraiser,
[48:36] Brookside Country Club. If you are a
[48:38] golfer, please, please, please sign up.
[48:41] Um, starts at 9:30. Shotgun is at 11:30.
[48:45] There's dinner and awards um, starting
[48:47] at 6.
[48:49] And October 8th from 5:30 to 8:30 is
[48:52] Beacon of Hopes Evening of Impact
[48:55] fundraiser at Sunny Brook Ballroom.
[48:59] The 9th from 11 to 2, Goodwill Fire
[49:01] Company is hosting a free child car seat
[49:04] check with certified technicians. Um,
[49:07] it's free practical injury prevention
[49:09] and it connects families with public
[49:11] health and safety professionals
[49:13] organized by the Montgomery County
[49:15] Health and Human Services Department and
[49:17] Safe Kids of Southeastern PA.
[49:22] And October 10th, 6 p.m., Tri County
[49:26] Active Adult Center turns 50.
[49:29] >> Um, so please join them um and celebrate
[49:32] at their Groovy Gala fundraiser. It's
[49:34] $150.
[49:37] It includes dinner, auctions, dancing,
[49:40] and fondue and wear 70s Groovy Gala
[49:43] gear.
[49:44] Um, Evan Hansen is coming up. Dear Evan
[49:47] Hans Hansen is coming up at Steel River
[49:49] October 9th uh through the 25th.
[49:52] We've got Spooky Golf coming up October
[49:55] 16th
[49:57] um 16th through the 18th, 23rd through
[50:00] the 25th and then the 30th uh 5:30 to 8.
[50:05] Honest October 17th, Edgewood Cemetery
[50:09] Cleanup also the 17th.
[50:12] And we just I'll stop there then we can
[50:16] that's enough. Save the dates. Um and I
[50:19] just have uh one announcement to
[50:21] everyone who celebrates Russashana. Just
[50:23] want to say leash tova tikativu
[50:29] which means may you be inscribed and
[50:31] sealed for a good year. So happy new
[50:33] year everyone.
[50:34] >> Thank you. And that concludes my report.
[50:37] >> Okay. Thank you, Stephanie.
[50:41] Manager's report, Mr. Keller.
[50:44] >> All right. Yes. Good evening, everyone.
[50:46] So, we've got a few important updates
[50:48] for for everyone to tonight. Uh,
[50:50] departments are currently working on
[50:52] their uh 2027 budget. So, we plan to
[50:56] present this uh to council in October
[50:59] for initial review uh and discussion. Um
[51:03] we started work on that on that back in the summer and we're now finally
[51:07] starting to bring that into into landing
[51:09] to take a first pass at it. Um if you
[51:12] recall back in January the burough
[51:14] received 35,000
[51:16] LSA grant for facility improvements to
[51:19] the Rickett Center. As the next step in
[51:22] the process, parks and recreation issued
[51:24] an RFP based on EPA guidelines for the
[51:27] Rickettts architectural design services
[51:29] and posted this to the burough website
[51:31] and the newspaper and uh we're very
[51:34] happy to report that we received 16 um
[51:37] proposals which is very a very
[51:39] encouraging response. Um now uh the RFP
[51:44] uh the firm selected by the RFP will be
[51:47] required to conduct several visioning
[51:49] sessions with uh the Rickettts
[51:51] leadership committee as well as as um
[51:54] some public sessions with the general
[51:56] community in general so that um we can
[51:58] get everybody's feedback to provide
[52:01] ideas that will help shape the final
[52:03] scope of work. So, the the final scope
[52:05] of work um there's a couple um more um
[52:08] basic maintenance things that we know
[52:10] we're going to do, but the final uh
[52:12] scope of work is is um a little bit
[52:14] malleable at this point because we have
[52:16] other grants in the works. So now it
[52:19] really comes the hard work of evaluating
[52:21] this many proposals. And we envision
[52:24] this process to consist of the staff
[52:25] committee initially to review and rank
[52:28] the proposals using objective rubric
[52:31] compliant with federal procurement
[52:32] standards. And then once the top
[52:34] qualifying firms are identified, we
[52:36] would plan to utilize the Rickettts
[52:39] leadership committee to conduct
[52:40] interviews of those shortlisted firms.
[52:43] So, uh, I just want to say we're still
[52:46] very early in the process. Um, and I
[52:49] know that we have, um, Trita and Mike
[52:51] Lenhard. Those are the ones that were
[52:53] appointed to the Ricketts, uh,
[52:55] leadership committee. However, if there
[52:58] are any other counselors or members of
[52:59] the community that would like to um, be
[53:02] involved and and be a part of the
[53:04] selection process, please let us know.
[53:06] Um our only requirement is is that if
[53:09] you would like to participate um those
[53:11] interested must be able to attend all
[53:13] the interview sessions. Otherwise um
[53:16] their vote may not be able to be um
[53:18] counted because they're not able to
[53:20] compare all proposals um fairly at that
[53:23] point. Um the to complete the selection
[53:27] process, the Rick Rickettts leadership
[53:29] committee would provide its
[53:30] recommendation to council for a design
[53:32] firm to hire and complete the grant
[53:34] funded work and council would have a
[53:36] final say regarding who to hire. Um we
[53:39] have other submitted grants for the
[53:41] Rickett Center center that are still
[53:43] pending. one with Montgomery County CDBG
[53:48] uh a DCED and GTRP in the amounts of
[53:52] 200,000 and $250,000 respectively. Um so
[53:56] we're again we're still very very early
[53:58] on. We haven't heard back from all the
[54:00] grants and it's not expected to really
[54:02] move forward with any of the engineering
[54:05] design work subject to the RFP until we
[54:08] get um an idea of all the funding that
[54:10] we have in hand so that we can then
[54:12] finalize that that that scope of work
[54:15] and start to work with the community for
[54:17] how we would envision that um to be
[54:20] improved in the future. So, um,
[54:22] definitely reach out, uh, if you would
[54:24] like more information. Um, and I'll be
[54:27] sure to keep everybody updated as we as
[54:29] we move forward. I'm also happy to
[54:31] announce that a $300,000 grant was rec
[54:34] recently awarded through the Department
[54:36] of Community and Economic Development.
[54:38] Um, this was thanks to the advocacy of
[54:40] Joe Sesi and this grant will go for
[54:43] police equipment, streetscapes and
[54:45] signage, and fire facility upgrades.
[54:48] Since we originally asked for 2.5
[54:50] million, uh we will have to figure out
[54:52] how to allocate the reduced amount once
[54:54] we get more details on the grant
[54:56] agreement and how exactly we can spend
[54:58] the money. We do know that it must be
[55:00] spent on capital purchases. So, at least
[55:02] initially, we're thinking of uh
[55:05] allocating the fund funding equally
[55:06] among the three main categories. So, um
[55:09] in the meantime, please let us know if
[55:12] there's any suggestions for priorities
[55:14] within those categories and we can plan
[55:15] accordingly.
[55:17] Um uh we were saddened here at the bird
[55:20] to hear the news regarding
[55:21] [clears throat] Charlie Dickinson's
[55:22] passing and um uh Charlie in addition to
[55:26] being a Pottstown fixture and a guy that
[55:29] um you know I could always rely on when
[55:31] I needed something done to just get it
[55:33] done and I wouldn't have to worry about
[55:34] it. Um he also owned Part Inc. um which
[55:38] the bureau contracts with to provide
[55:40] public bus transportation to the
[55:42] community through part. So Charlie had
[55:44] been dealing with health issues for some
[55:46] time and as a result succession planning
[55:48] was previously completed with his
[55:50] employees to ensure continuity of both
[55:53] the operations so that the appropriate
[55:55] plans are in place and we do not have to
[55:57] anticipate any interruption to the part
[55:59] service as a result of his um passing.
[56:02] So things will continue to operate as
[56:06] normal and on schedule um as they have
[56:09] before.
[56:11] As an update, um the Pottstown Beacon of
[56:14] Hope shelter project, um all burough
[56:17] permits have been processed and approved
[56:20] and the land development plans have been
[56:22] recorded. Licensing and inspections in
[56:24] the county conservation district held a
[56:26] pre-construction meeting with the
[56:27] contractors on September 2nd and we
[56:31] would expect them to be in a position to
[56:33] break ground shortly. Uh one last update
[56:36] regarding the water meter replacement
[56:38] program that's going on throughout the
[56:39] bureau. The bureau's contractor,
[56:41] Lenigan, is working towards contacting
[56:43] owners and installing an additional
[56:45] 1,500 meters. So, um, this is in
[56:48] addition to the 1,200 they've already
[56:50] installed. Um, under that previous
[56:53] round, Lanigan is still working through getting into properties
[56:57] to install about 300 meters that were
[56:59] not installed in the first round. Um,
[57:03] for the 300 left, um, we will soon start
[57:06] the process of shutting off water if
[57:08] property owners refuse to respond to
[57:10] requests to make an appointment. So, if
[57:12] you receive a letter from Lenigan, make
[57:14] sure that you follow up and and schedule your appointment so you don't
[57:18] end up on the water shut off list. Um,
[57:21] all this information can also be found
[57:22] on the bureau's website. Um, only those
[57:25] that are contacted by Lenigan um, need
[57:28] to uh, reply at this point. So, if you
[57:31] weren't if you didn't get a
[57:32] notification, um you're you're you're
[57:34] okay for now. And then at some point, uh
[57:37] we'll be coming to a neighborhood near
[57:39] you to replace meters. And that
[57:42] concludes my report.
[57:43] >> Okay. Thank you.
[57:46] Okay. The schedule amendment, Matt.
[57:49] >> Yes. Thank you, Madam President. As
[57:52] council [clears throat] will recall, uh,
[57:53] several months ago, they adopted an
[57:55] ordinance which amended the, uh, rental
[57:57] ordinance scheme to include the option
[58:00] for landlords to use a qualified
[58:02] third-party inspector. Uh, that program
[58:05] will go live in October. Uh, as part of
[58:09] that, you need to update your fee
[58:10] schedule to account for uh, the work
[58:12] that has to be done in association with
[58:14] that. As we talked about in the past,
[58:16] fees have to relate to the amount of
[58:18] work that's projected or actually done
[58:21] um related to the the service. Your
[58:24] current fee schedule uh for related to
[58:26] the inspections, there's a $10
[58:28] application fee. Uh and then there's a
[58:31] per unit inspection fee uh that's graded
[58:34] based on the number of units that are in
[58:35] the the building. Uh LNI is proposing
[58:38] adding to the fee schedule uh a flat fee
[58:41] of $65
[58:43] uh per uh inspection report and that's
[58:46] to cover the time for the processing of
[58:47] the application, the review of the the
[58:49] report uh and then the response that
[58:52] follows. Uh LNI is also proposing uh
[58:55] instituting a $15 penalty fee, a late
[58:58] fee uh for anyone who doesn't comply
[59:00] with the the uh timing requirements in
[59:02] the ordinance. Um, I believe the
[59:05] ordinance requires 60 days before your
[59:07] license is needed or due notifying uh
[59:09] and initiating the process for the third
[59:11] party inspection fee. Um, unless there's
[59:14] any questions or concerns, we list this
[59:16] on the consent calendar for Monday
[59:18] evening.
[59:19] >> Matt, a question. Is there a
[59:21] differentiation between a burrow
[59:23] inspector and a third party inspector?
[59:27] I mean meaning what I mean is is is that
[59:30] >> they have an option to either go through
[59:31] the burrow or they can get a third party
[59:35] inspector. Is the fee the same either
[59:37] one?
[59:38] >> No. The fee is higher to use the
[59:40] burrow's inspector because the inspector
[59:42] has to perform the actual task of doing
[59:44] the inspection. So while this proposes a
[59:47] lower fee for the third party inspector,
[59:49] the landlord is still going to have to
[59:50] pay for their own inspector. So we
[59:52] project that the overall cost is still
[59:53] going to be a little bit higher if you
[59:55] use a third party inspector. So there's
[59:57] incentive to hopefully use the burrows
[59:59] inspector, but again landlords will have
[1:00:01] that option.
[1:00:01] >> What would we rather prefer? Would we
[1:00:03] rather them do us or would we rather
[1:00:06] them have a third party? I mean what
[1:00:09] would be better for us
[1:00:13] from a workload thing from a inspection?
[1:00:18] What would be better? What would be
[1:00:19] better for the the developer or the
[1:00:22] owner? What would be better? Do we want
[1:00:24] to push someone? Do we want to
[1:00:26] incentivize someone to go into a third
[1:00:28] party or do we want them to use us
[1:00:33] because you could possibly
[1:00:38] make it so that you get what you want,
[1:00:40] which is maybe less stress on LNI by
[1:00:44] incentiving them to use a third party
[1:00:48] inspector. Is there any benefit to that
[1:00:51] or I don't know. I was just asking this
[1:00:52] question. Do we care? Yeah, I could
[1:00:55] answer from the lawyer's perspective. I
[1:00:56] don't know if Justin has anything from
[1:00:57] the administrative side, but again, you
[1:01:00] know, given the litigation, what we want
[1:01:01] is a fair option that landlords can
[1:01:04] choose either. So, at least in assessing
[1:01:07] this, we're looking at what the cost
[1:01:08] would be again to do the inspection
[1:01:10] versus just process it. Obviously, it's
[1:01:12] more time inensive for the inspector to
[1:01:14] go out and do it. Um, but again, I'm I'm
[1:01:17] most concerned about having fairly that
[1:01:20] option out there. Oh,
[1:01:21] >> okay. Yeah. I just didn't know if we
[1:01:22] wanted one over the other for which
[1:01:24] would be better for us as a burrow as a
[1:01:26] better for L and I. Okay. And I didn't
[1:01:28] know if we wanted to, you know, guide
[1:01:31] people into that,
[1:01:33] >> but no.
[1:01:34] >> Yeah. No, I mean really it's just to
[1:01:36] give people more more more choice and
[1:01:38] try to meet the spirit of um you know,
[1:01:41] some of the litigation that we're trying
[1:01:42] to work through regarding the the rental
[1:01:44] ordinance.
[1:01:45] >> Um and so if people want to use that
[1:01:47] option, they can. Um obviously there's
[1:01:49] pros and cons to it. Yes, we would save
[1:01:51] time if they used the the third party.
[1:01:54] Um we also would lose um revenue uh more
[1:01:58] than likely even though we have an
[1:02:00] application fee. Um we would lose
[1:02:02] revenue for the inspection that we would
[1:02:04] actually do. And then I think that you
[1:02:06] have to look at it from the standpoint
[1:02:07] of the the back and [clears throat]
[1:02:10] forth. Our inspectors know what what
[1:02:13] they're um looking for. the third party
[1:02:17] inspectors should know what they're
[1:02:18] looking for, but if they they don't,
[1:02:20] then that's where our administrative
[1:02:22] review comes in and we say, "Well, you didn't inspect this and you didn't
[1:02:25] expect inspect that." And then it
[1:02:27] becomes a little bit of an
[1:02:28] administrative thing going back and
[1:02:30] forth. So,
[1:02:31] >> okay,
[1:02:32] >> hopefully that helps to answer the
[1:02:34] question.
[1:02:35] >> Um,
[1:02:37] my my question is how did this come up
[1:02:40] come about? Did was there issues with
[1:02:42] scheduling? Was there issues with
[1:02:44] landlords having issues with our
[1:02:46] inspectors? I mean I mean how did this
[1:02:48] third party idea
[1:02:50] come into
[1:02:52] being? [clears throat]
[1:02:54] » This was our effort to sort of problem
[1:02:56] solve the ongoing litigation uh over
[1:02:59] Elani's need to use administrative
[1:03:00] search warrants uh to go into properties
[1:03:03] that are occupied by a tenant who
[1:03:05] refuses an inspection. And the basis of
[1:03:07] that litigation is concerned about you
[1:03:09] know the government going into someone's
[1:03:11] home where they live. So this provides
[1:03:13] them an option where the landlord hires
[1:03:15] someone completely independent of the
[1:03:16] bureau, a non-governmental inspector,
[1:03:19] you know, who can privately go in,
[1:03:21] confirm the health and safety of the
[1:03:23] unit and, you know, issue that to the
[1:03:26] bureau, you know, showing that a
[1:03:27] qualified professional has confirmed
[1:03:29] that the the unit is safe to live in.
[1:03:31] Okay.
[1:03:37] If there's no other questions or
[1:03:38] objections, I will list that Monday
[1:03:40] evening for the consent calendar.
[1:03:43] >> Okay. Thank you, Matt. Um, resolution
[1:03:46] 2027, uniform and nonuniform
[1:03:50] pensions plan [clears throat] minimum
[1:03:53] municipal obligation.
[1:03:56] >> Yes.
[1:03:58] >> Thank you, President Lindsay. Um, the
[1:04:00] pension MMO, just as a reminder to
[1:04:02] everyone, is the minimum annual
[1:04:04] contribution the bureau is legally
[1:04:06] required to make to its pension fund to
[1:04:09] keep the plan properly properly funded
[1:04:11] and meet future retirement obligations.
[1:04:14] So, the calculation is based on
[1:04:16] actuarial assumptions, payroll, pension
[1:04:18] costs, and any unfunded liability uh in
[1:04:22] the plan. um state pension aid uh that
[1:04:26] we get from the state may also offset a
[1:04:28] portion of the bureau's um actual cost,
[1:04:30] but we do have to pay this um upfront.
[1:04:33] And I will note that both pension boards
[1:04:36] elected a smoothing method about a year
[1:04:38] or so ago um which helps to present
[1:04:41] which helps to prevent large swings in
[1:04:43] the MMO from year to year. Um so while
[1:04:46] this year um we did see increases, they
[1:04:49] weren't um huge increases. So we're
[1:04:52] looking at for 2027 the MMO will be
[1:04:57] 2,171,516
[1:05:01] for the um uniformed or the police
[1:05:04] pension. That's an increase of $110,420.
[1:05:09] for the 2027 non-uniform pension that
[1:05:13] MMO is $1,79,311
[1:05:17] and that's a decrease of $25,51.
[1:05:22] Um so the total net um uh change is an
[1:05:26] increase of $85,269
[1:05:30] uh dollars which that'll have to be
[1:05:32] incorporated into our 2027 um budget
[1:05:36] numbers. So, um, we would ask for
[1:05:39] council's approval on those pension
[1:05:42] contributions and we suggest adding that
[1:05:44] to the consent agenda for Monday night.
[1:05:46] >> Okay. Thank you, Justin. And while I
[1:05:48] have you, um, resolution James Engles
[1:05:51] retirement.
[1:05:53] >> Yes, we have a retire retirement
[1:05:55] resolution for James Engel who served 10
[1:05:58] years in the public works garage. Um,
[1:06:00] and we'll be placing that on Monday
[1:06:02] night's uh, consent agenda for council
[1:06:05] approval. Okay. And while I still have
[1:06:07] you, um, Skoo River Trail directional
[1:06:11] signs.
[1:06:12] >> Yeah. So, exciting times here in
[1:06:14] Pottstown. A lot of, um, great things
[1:06:16] are happening. Uh, we finally now have
[1:06:19] the Skookulo River Trail connected 70
[1:06:22] miles all the way from Pottstown to
[1:06:25] Philadelphia. Um, I think uh Elaine
[1:06:29] Schaefer over at Skooker River Greenway,
[1:06:31] she put put out an awesome article that
[1:06:35] really promoted all the benefits that
[1:06:36] this will bring to town. Um, and so to
[1:06:39] try to um capture some of that a little
[1:06:42] bit better and now that we do have a
[1:06:44] full connection, they are asking for um
[1:06:48] SRT street signs. Um there's an attached
[1:06:51] plan that shows where they would go. Um
[1:06:54] what they are is the vertical
[1:06:55] rectangular signs that you see often see
[1:06:58] in the size of like a state uh state
[1:07:00] route marker sign. And these signs will
[1:07:03] be installed on existing signposts
[1:07:05] within the burrows right away. And
[1:07:06] therefore um we are requesting this for
[1:07:10] uh approval in the consent agenda on
[1:07:12] Monday night as well.
[1:07:15] >> Yeah, I've seen a lot more traffic along
[1:07:17] um Industrial Highway with the the bikes
[1:07:19] going like that. So, it's finally good
[1:07:21] to see people out there and use it.
[1:07:23] Works out well.
[1:07:24] >> Yes. And we do have um a ribbon cutting
[1:07:27] coming up. Does anybody remember the
[1:07:29] date? If not, I'll I'll try to get that.
[1:07:32] >> You don't.
[1:07:33] >> The 29th. Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah.
[1:07:35] So, September 29th, there's going to be
[1:07:37] a ribbon cutting with with the with the
[1:07:39] municipalities and and the county. And
[1:07:41] we'll get more info for council on that.
[1:07:44] And of course, the public is invited to
[1:07:46] attend as well.
[1:07:48] >> Okay. Thank you.
[1:07:50] Um, land development 24 Coolage Street,
[1:07:55] Coolage Commons. Matt.
[1:07:57] >> Yes. Thank you, Madam President. I
[1:07:59] provided a a briefing in advance by
[1:08:01] email. Uh, this is a project uh where
[1:08:04] the planning commission has rem
[1:08:05] recommended a preliminary land
[1:08:07] development approval. Uh, it's for
[1:08:09] property uh that is partially in the
[1:08:11] burrow and primarily in Upper Potts
[1:08:13] Grove. Uh the applicant, the developers
[1:08:16] attorney, Rich Almquist, and his team is
[1:08:18] here with us this evening to give you a
[1:08:19] presentation on it.
[1:08:20] >> Okay. And while I have you Oh, sorry.
[1:08:26] >> No, I'm sorry.
[1:08:28] >> Good evening, uh uh President Lindsay,
[1:08:31] um councilors, uh and Mayor Helnick or
[1:08:37] Henrik,
[1:08:38] apologize for that. Um
[1:08:41] it's been a long time since well several
[1:08:43] months since I've been here to see you
[1:08:45] folks and this time I'm here on a
[1:08:46] different project. I'm here representing
[1:08:48] uh the Koolage Commons project which is
[1:08:50] located uh in the northwestern end of
[1:08:54] the burrow uh along Wilson Street. Uh if
[1:08:57] you're familiar with the intersection of
[1:08:58] Wilson and Farmington um this is the
[1:09:01] stretch of Wilson that is the soapbox
[1:09:04] Derby uh hill. Um most of the property
[1:09:09] uh as was mentioned is located within
[1:09:11] Upper Potts Grove Township and in fact
[1:09:13] that's where the units the town houses
[1:09:15] that are proposed will be located. Uh
[1:09:18] the primary access for the development
[1:09:20] is uh coming off of um uh Wilson Street.
[1:09:24] Uh and as you see the plan there I think
[1:09:26] there's a cursor pointing at it right
[1:09:28] now. That's the main entrance to the
[1:09:30] development. Now some of you may have a
[1:09:32] question. What happens on soapbox derby
[1:09:35] day? Well, that entrance gets closed and
[1:09:38] there is an alternate ingress egress
[1:09:40] that is going to be coming off of the
[1:09:41] north side of the property on uh
[1:09:44] currently a paper street in Upper Pods
[1:09:47] Grove Township known as Koolage Avenue.
[1:09:50] Now, I refer to it as a paper street
[1:09:52] because it's never formally been
[1:09:53] developed or dedicated to Upper Potts
[1:09:56] Grove Township. Uh but it has been paved
[1:09:58] to provide access to some existing
[1:10:01] residences and dwellings that are along
[1:10:03] that stretch of the road. Now, if we
[1:10:05] were to go back 30 or 40 years, the
[1:10:07] question is who actually paved it? Could
[1:10:10] be some partnership arrangement between
[1:10:13] Upper Potsgrove and the residents, but
[1:10:15] overall it's not in the greatest
[1:10:17] condition. So, as you see on this plan,
[1:10:20] uh Upper Pottsgrove has asked us to
[1:10:22] improve that as a alternate egress uh
[1:10:27] for the property. Um it would be
[1:10:30] primarily an alternate egress. the
[1:10:32] principal ingress egress is off of
[1:10:34] Wilson Street and in fact that's most
[1:10:36] likely the way people will enter the
[1:10:38] development. Um occasionally I suspect
[1:10:41] that you would because it would be open
[1:10:43] full-time uh you would have some folks
[1:10:46] who may be heading north on Farmington
[1:10:48] Avenue would choose to leave that
[1:10:50] direction. Uh but primarily the in
[1:10:52] ingress and egress will be from Wilson
[1:10:54] Street. Uh as uh your planning
[1:10:57] commission has worked with us throughout
[1:10:58] the development process here. Uh one of
[1:11:01] the requests was well you know the
[1:11:03] houses are going to be located in Upper
[1:11:04] Pods Grove uh and the entrance is going
[1:11:06] to be within the burrow. Uh the request
[1:11:09] was made and we have agreed to provide
[1:11:11] sidewalk on the north side of Wilson
[1:11:13] Street running from the intersection
[1:11:15] with Farmington Avenue all the way up to
[1:11:18] the intersection with State Street. Uh
[1:11:20] this will provide walkability on the
[1:11:22] north side of Wilson Street. And I'm
[1:11:25] sure would be an added benefit during
[1:11:26] the soapbox derby for people to be able
[1:11:28] to walk up and down that side of the
[1:11:30] street as opposed to right now they just
[1:11:32] can walk on the cemetery side of the
[1:11:34] street. Um [clears throat] the review of
[1:11:37] your professionals has recommended to
[1:11:39] the planning commission to recommend
[1:11:42] approval subject to satisfaction of the
[1:11:44] conditions of their review letter. your
[1:11:46] traffic engineer uh has indicated that
[1:11:49] the ingress uh is is appropriate on
[1:11:52] Wilson Street and won't cause an adverse
[1:11:54] impact to the intersection at uh
[1:11:56] Farmington and Wilson. Um uh and um we
[1:12:01] have worked with the transportation
[1:12:03] department for uh the school district uh
[1:12:06] their preferences to uh provide access
[1:12:09] and the bus stop on the Wilson Street
[1:12:11] entrance. Um the fire chief has uh uh
[1:12:16] recommended the approval because we have
[1:12:19] provided the appropriate widths for
[1:12:21] turning movements for the largest
[1:12:22] apparatus. And while the homes would be
[1:12:24] located in Upper Pods, uh upper Potts
[1:12:27] Grove, uh Pottstown Burough's fire
[1:12:29] department does provide a fair amount of
[1:12:32] assistance to Upper Potts Grove. So
[1:12:34] their largest equipment would be coming
[1:12:35] from Pottstown. We've accommodated that.
[1:12:38] Uh the total number of homes, town
[1:12:40] houses is 64. Uh which is uh quite a bit
[1:12:44] less than the maximum density that would
[1:12:46] be permitted for the development. Um and
[1:12:49] uh we have responded to your engineers
[1:12:51] comments. Uh the most recent review
[1:12:54] letter we indicated the planning
[1:12:55] commission everything is a will comply.
[1:12:57] And so we are asking for you to consider
[1:13:00] at your council meeting uh grant of a
[1:13:02] conditional preliminary approval so that
[1:13:04] we can move on to the next step. submit
[1:13:07] the applications to the conservation
[1:13:09] district for review and approval to D
[1:13:11] for review and approval uh and move it
[1:13:14] to the next phase which would be the
[1:13:16] final plan. Uh it'll be before you again
[1:13:19] whether you want it or not. [laughter]
[1:13:22] I have with me tonight I have our
[1:13:24] engineer if you have any technical
[1:13:26] questions um and also Tom Flatty
[1:13:29] Flattley who is with Koolage Commons
[1:13:31] LLC.
[1:13:32] >> This was brought up in regional planning
[1:13:34] in July if I remember correctly. I
[1:13:36] believe that is correct.
[1:13:37] >> We were discussing and I guess most of
[1:13:39] the comments were just kind of concerned
[1:13:40] about mean there'd be a lot of
[1:13:41] development across the street of 100
[1:13:44] rather.
[1:13:45] >> Yeah. There one of the reasons for us uh looking at the level of improvements
[1:13:50] of Koolage Avenue is because there is
[1:13:52] another apartment development that is
[1:13:54] proposed potentially north of us.
[1:13:56] They're quite a bit behind us in the
[1:13:58] land development process and that
[1:14:00] apartment development uh would be
[1:14:03] located off of commerce. they would need
[1:14:06] an additional ingress egress to a public
[1:14:09] road because commerce is is not it would
[1:14:12] be that would be a oneway in and out
[1:14:13] which is not necessarily suitable for
[1:14:16] that size of a development.
[1:14:18] >> So we have been working with them uh to
[1:14:20] come up with you know a sharing of the
[1:14:23] costs ultimately it would be offered for
[1:14:25] dedication to uh upper pots township. Um
[1:14:29] and uh last evening we did receive
[1:14:32] conditional preliminary plan approval
[1:14:33] from Upper Potts Grove Township and they
[1:14:36] have granted our waivers. Many of the
[1:14:38] waivers are associated with the
[1:14:40] improvements on Kulage.
[1:14:43] » Uh can I ask a couple questions? So you
[1:14:45] you're talking about the sidewalk that
[1:14:47] will be along Wilson. Will there be a
[1:14:49] sidewalk uh that goes up Farmington?
[1:14:52] >> Uh no there will not. In fact uh those
[1:14:55] residences there there are residences.
[1:14:57] >> Oh there's houses there. Okay. Yeah.
[1:14:59] Okay. So, we wouldn't have any
[1:15:00] improvements along Farmington. In fact,
[1:15:02] I I think generally the both
[1:15:05] municipalities
[1:15:07] >> don't believe that that is an
[1:15:08] appropriate walking sign.
[1:15:09] >> Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
[1:15:10] Yeah.
[1:15:11] >> Yeah. Making safe there. Yeah, it's
[1:15:13] there. There is I believe there's
[1:15:15] sidewalk from um I can't remember if
[1:15:17] that's
[1:15:18] >> is that at There's this street here
[1:15:22] >> to Farmington. There is some sidewalk.
[1:15:24] [clears throat]
[1:15:24] >> Okay.
[1:15:25] >> But there's not very much on Farmington.
[1:15:27] And then the sidewalk would go all would
[1:15:29] they go all the way up the state or
[1:15:30] would it go as and then just sort of end
[1:15:32] at that corner or bear around or
[1:15:35] >> at that corner? You have existing ADA
[1:15:37] ramps at that intersection that kind of
[1:15:39] go
[1:15:39] >> I don't know where those ramps
[1:15:40] necessarily go to. I always laugh about
[1:15:42] those because they're they're like there
[1:15:44] and they're overgrown with weeds. But
[1:15:46] like um my my other question was you
[1:15:49] know I don't know it's really a
[1:15:51] question. I'm just thinking about that
[1:15:52] traffic on Wilson. I mean, I I drive
[1:15:55] that every single day, taking my kids to
[1:15:56] the high school, and that can get backed
[1:15:58] up up there. And I'm thinking now people
[1:16:00] are going to be going out of this
[1:16:02] development. That just seems there's it
[1:16:05] we're not I guess there's no there's no
[1:16:08] light, right? We're just talking about
[1:16:10] just a a left and a right that people
[1:16:12] would make out of there.
[1:16:13] >> Correct. There's no signal at the
[1:16:15] entrance to the development. And in
[1:16:17] fact, it wouldn't be appropriate,
[1:16:19] >> right? Because this other side is a
[1:16:20] cemetery,
[1:16:20] >> right? Well, well, no, because there's a
[1:16:22] signalized intersection at Farmington
[1:16:25] and Wilson and then another one at
[1:16:26] State. Okay.
[1:16:28] >> Now, we can talk about the issues at
[1:16:30] State and Route 100, but that is a a
[1:16:33] problem for Pendot to figure out. They
[1:16:35] created that's their own mess.
[1:16:37] >> I I just I guess I'm just thinking that
[1:16:39] like like you pointed out, we're we're getting we're sharing the the the brunt of the traffic, but we're not
[1:16:46] getting any of the benefit from the
[1:16:49] taxes, you know. So, I'm just thinking
[1:16:51] about the traffic that's going to flow
[1:16:53] onto that property and I watch people
[1:16:55] coming people shoot down Wilson like
[1:16:57] they're which is laughable because when
[1:17:00] they get down to Farmington there's that
[1:17:01] little dip that people take out their
[1:17:03] transmissions all the time. So, I I
[1:17:05] always figure those people who are
[1:17:06] shooting down Wilson don't know what the
[1:17:07] heck is at the end, you know? So, right.
[1:17:09] >> Um, but I'm just thinking of the traffic
[1:17:11] that's coming in out of there and that
[1:17:13] that's something that we're going to
[1:17:14] have to deal with, but we don't get a
[1:17:16] lot of benefits off of that. I mean, the
[1:17:18] sidewalk is a great idea. I I do love
[1:17:19] the idea of the sidewalk and I do love
[1:17:21] the idea of that property has been
[1:17:23] sitting there you know for a really long
[1:17:25] time and it's you know it's kind of an
[1:17:27] eyesore and it's cool to see it be used
[1:17:29] in this capacity. I just just trying to
[1:17:31] think of where the benefits are for us.
[1:17:32] >> Yeah,
[1:17:33] >> I did that too. In addition to the
[1:17:35] sidewalk being provided on the north
[1:17:37] side of Wilson Street, uh sewer is being
[1:17:40] provided by Pennsylvania American
[1:17:42] through the conveyance system uh by
[1:17:44] connection on coolage, but that revenue
[1:17:46] is going to be generated by Pottstown
[1:17:48] Burough Authority because they are the
[1:17:50] treatment facility for that sewage. This
[1:17:53] is also within the water uh service area
[1:17:56] for the Pottstown Burough Authority. So
[1:17:57] there will be revenue coming to the
[1:17:59] burrow from the water supply which is
[1:18:00] coming from the burough authority. Um
[1:18:03] the that is all being evaluated. We're
[1:18:05] working with the folks at both uh with
[1:18:08] the engineers for um authority and also
[1:18:11] Pennsylvania American.
[1:18:12] >> That's throughout the
[1:18:13] >> That's exciting to hear. That's awesome.
[1:18:15] Thank you.
[1:18:15] >> Yeah.
[1:18:20] » If there's no other questions, again,
[1:18:22] two final things to say on it. This is a
[1:18:24] little bit different than a typical
[1:18:27] Pottstown project. Um, under the
[1:18:29] municipality's planning code,
[1:18:30] technically a developer needs
[1:18:32] preliminary approval and then final
[1:18:34] approval. And preliminary approval is to
[1:18:36] the the basic concepts and layout of the
[1:18:38] project and then they come back for
[1:18:40] final approval uh for the the fine
[1:18:42] details of the project. Um, most often
[1:18:46] in recent history, developers are asking
[1:18:47] for preliminary final at the same time.
[1:18:49] This particular project, the developer
[1:18:51] is only asking for preliminary. So, as
[1:18:53] Rich said, at some point in the future,
[1:18:55] the final plan will come back to you for
[1:18:57] a second review and approval. Um, if
[1:19:00] there are no other questions, at least
[1:19:02] based on the recommendation of the
[1:19:03] planning commission, I'll prepare a
[1:19:05] resolution for your consideration and
[1:19:07] potential action for Monday night, uh,
[1:19:09] which would approve the project subject
[1:19:11] to certain conditions.
[1:19:14] >> Okay. Thank you.
[1:19:15] >> Thank you for your time.
[1:19:16] >> Thank you.
[1:19:19] » Okay. Land development. This is 79 North
[1:19:22] Handover Street and 148 Chestnut Street.
[1:19:26] Landscape.
[1:19:27] >> Yeah, correct. This is the property uh
[1:19:29] the former site of the raised Invictus
[1:19:31] Church. Uh the planning commission had
[1:19:33] taken action on this land development
[1:19:35] plan and had recommended uh preliminary
[1:19:38] and final approval as well as certain
[1:19:40] waiverss and that's why it was listed on
[1:19:42] this evening's agenda for presentation.
[1:19:44] Uh this afternoon, the developer asked
[1:19:46] if it could please be deferred till
[1:19:48] October. Uh there's some questions were
[1:19:50] raised as far as the the building
[1:19:52] material and the uh the design of the architecture and it's my
[1:19:56] understanding they return they intend to
[1:19:58] return to harb this month uh for further
[1:20:00] presentation and discussion about the facade. Um accordingly you know
[1:20:06] unless there's any objection you know
[1:20:08] we'll we'll table this until next month.
[1:20:10] >> Matt did we if I remember correctly did
[1:20:13] we not authorize a letter of support for
[1:20:15] his design?
[1:20:17] >> Correct. Okay. So, we did an order for
[1:20:19] support and that was based on brick.
[1:20:20] Correct.
[1:20:21] >> Correct.
[1:20:23] >> But then why did he come to the planning
[1:20:25] commissioner or to harb with brick
[1:20:29] veneer?
[1:20:34] » Yeah.
[1:20:34] >> And we do we have the ability to
[1:20:37] withdraw since he did not give what
[1:20:41] we agreed upon. We were all excited
[1:20:44] about it.
[1:20:47] Heck, even I was. I thought it was
[1:20:49] great.
[1:20:50] >> Lisa, what' you think?
[1:20:52] >> Yeah, for somebody that's been accused
[1:20:53] of taking things personal when it comes
[1:20:56] to said developer, um, I voted in favor
[1:20:59] of sending support, and I was very
[1:21:02] clear, as a matter of fact, for the last
[1:21:05] six years
[1:21:06] >> more
[1:21:08] that this developer does not do what he
[1:21:12] says. I hope you see it now. And I I'm
[1:21:17] going to read something at the end, but
[1:21:19] I question and I'd like explanations
[1:21:22] from everybody up here that voted the
[1:21:25] first time to support this project.
[1:21:30] There has been nothing honest about it.
[1:21:32] There's been nothing transparent about
[1:21:35] it. We were told today that it was
[1:21:38] tabled. One of how I found out about
[1:21:41] that before I saw an email was a
[1:21:43] community member.
[1:21:45] That's not transparent to me. I would
[1:21:48] like to know why our burrow manager and
[1:21:51] paid continuously support this developer
[1:21:54] when evidence has shown the opposite.
[1:21:59] He has not done what he said. So I agree
[1:22:02] with Andrew. If there is a way to
[1:22:04] withdraw
[1:22:06] support, that's what should be done. and
[1:22:08] the community should be asking
[1:22:10] questions. And why were we just notified
[1:22:13] today when that decision was made behind
[1:22:16] closed doors?
[1:22:21] Sure. Well, I think the two questions in
[1:22:23] terms of the letter of support that was
[1:22:24] related to the zoning hearing board
[1:22:26] proceedings uh and the variances that
[1:22:28] were requested. So, there's nothing to
[1:22:30] be withdrawn at that point. However,
[1:22:32] that has no bearing on the two issues
[1:22:35] that'll be in front of you will be a
[1:22:36] certificate of appropriateness through
[1:22:38] HARB uh as well as the the land
[1:22:40] development plans for the project. You
[1:22:42] look at those clean and fresh.
[1:22:44] >> So, we'll have like I said, they have
[1:22:47] time to do that because did everybody
[1:22:48] get an email from Mr. Hilton today?
[1:22:51] >> Spoke to him, too.
[1:22:52] >> So, did I
[1:22:54] >> Okay. Yes.
[1:22:55] >> Mr. Hilton basically said he's Mr. Lingo
[1:22:58] has submitted so many elevations
[1:22:59] rendering his plans that it's difficult
[1:23:01] to keep them all straight.
[1:23:04] Come on. I mean
[1:23:08] I I don't care for that kind of
[1:23:10] disrespect of our burrow and I don't
[1:23:13] know why we should accept it. So but
[1:23:17] this is tabled until we'll see what the
[1:23:19] next iteration of
[1:23:22] I'm going to do this but maybe I'll do
[1:23:24] that.
[1:23:28] So what is it just the brick veneer over
[1:23:31] full course veneer brick was the issue
[1:23:34] and also some of the use of the existing
[1:23:36] brick as well. I I don't see it would be
[1:23:39] economically feasible to reuse the
[1:23:40] entire all the brick for the church to I
[1:23:43] think that was supposed to be used for a
[1:23:45] um a memorial correct
[1:23:49] for the reclaiming the brick.
[1:23:51] >> Yeah. Again my I don't want to speak for
[1:23:53] the developer. So, I mean, the developer
[1:23:55] is still working through the final plans
[1:23:56] which will be presented to you next
[1:23:59] month. So, uh those details are
[1:24:02] >> okay
[1:24:02] >> under consideration.
[1:24:03] >> Sure, we'll figure it out.
[1:24:05] >> From what I understood,
[1:24:07] it was supposed to be brick. The
[1:24:09] memorial was something different to
[1:24:11] repurpose the bricks from the church.
[1:24:15] >> We did not agree to brick veneer.
[1:24:18] Correct.
[1:24:18] >> We agreed to brick.
[1:24:20] >> Brick. Correct.
[1:24:22] Mhm.
[1:24:23] >> I kind of agree. I mean, if if if
[1:24:25] >> correct
[1:24:26] >> if we if we approve something
[1:24:30] >> according to what he presented in front
[1:24:31] of us
[1:24:32] >> at the time
[1:24:33] >> and he went before ARB or whatever and and
[1:24:39] put put before them something different
[1:24:40] than we approved.
[1:24:43] >> That recommendation led her to squash.
[1:24:45] For I'm concerned
[1:24:47] is
[1:24:47] >> that's why we advised him to go back to
[1:24:49] hard before coming to council.
[1:24:53] He didn't want to do that. But
[1:24:55] >> when you say go back to Harb, what do
[1:24:57] you what do you mean go back to Harb and
[1:24:58] say I'm going to put the brick back?
[1:24:59] Because that's all he would have to do
[1:25:01] because that's we approved.
[1:25:03] >> Yeah, they need to explain to Harb what
[1:25:05] this change is that he's that he's
[1:25:07] proposing.
[1:25:10] >> Is that how I don't understand? It's
[1:25:12] just like an ongoing thing. Comes to
[1:25:14] [clears throat] council and he says,
[1:25:15] "Hey, I'm going to do this." And then he
[1:25:17] goes in front of the board that he's
[1:25:19] supposed to go for and says, "Oh, no.
[1:25:20] I'm not going to do this. I'm going to
[1:25:21] do that because it's too expensive or I
[1:25:24] don't feel like it or something
[1:25:25] happened.
[1:25:28] Is that how this works?
[1:25:30] Yes. No. Is that I don't get it. Is this
[1:25:33] I I don't understand. I don't understand
[1:25:36] how someone can do that.
[1:25:39] >> I I agree.
[1:25:40] >> Okay.
[1:25:40] >> I mean, those those are questions for
[1:25:42] the developer when he comes next month
[1:25:43] with his team to answer.
[1:25:45] >> I'm sure we'll ask.
[1:25:48] M
[1:25:48] >> we're discussing this because we
[1:25:50] received an email about it, not before
[1:25:52] next month.
[1:25:54] >> Council needs to have these discussions
[1:25:56] and the public deserves to know
[1:25:58] >> what is going on.
[1:25:59] >> I know, but we're talking about
[1:26:00] something that we can talk about in
[1:26:01] October. There's there's no we there's
[1:26:03] nothing we can move on right now. So,
[1:26:05] let's just table this and we're table.
[1:26:07] >> We'll see what he's going to do. But
[1:26:08] again, we have to keep in mind who we're
[1:26:11] dealing with.
[1:26:12] >> Oh, no. No. I get it. I
[1:26:13] >> What type of
[1:26:14] >> I supported I didn't support the first
[1:26:16] one.
[1:26:17] dealing with. I'm with you. I I just
[1:26:19] think that we're
[1:26:20] >> got other stuff to talk about and right
[1:26:22] now this this is being tabled to
[1:26:24] October. So, let's table it to October.
[1:26:26] >> We'll see what happens.
[1:26:27] >> It's called discussing it before we have
[1:26:29] to make a decision. It is important.
[1:26:33] It shouldn't be dismissed as well. It's
[1:26:35] table now, so we'll just talk about it
[1:26:37] next month. No, we start talking about
[1:26:39] it now and we let the public hear what
[1:26:41] we're talking about.
[1:26:46] with that. So,
[1:26:53] okay. I have ZHB application 4 through 6
[1:26:58] West 6 Street.
[1:27:00] >> Yes. This is an application to the
[1:27:02] zoning hearing board. It's my
[1:27:04] understanding that it will be advertised
[1:27:06] for Wednesday, September 23rd at 7 p.m.
[1:27:10] for a hearing. Uh the applicants, the
[1:27:12] owner of 46 West Sixth Street, uh the
[1:27:16] owner of the property uh installed
[1:27:18] fencing on the yard, including the front
[1:27:20] yard. Uh the zoning ordinance only
[1:27:22] permits, uh they did it without a
[1:27:25] permit. Uh the maximum height of the
[1:27:27] fence in a front yard can be 4 feet. Uh
[1:27:29] this fence is 6 feet along the entire
[1:27:31] property. Uh the property owner received
[1:27:34] notice of violation. Uh the application
[1:27:37] to the zoning hearing board only appeals
[1:27:39] the zoning officer's determination.
[1:27:41] They're not requesting a variance, which
[1:27:43] is typical. A variance is where they
[1:27:44] acknowledge that it's not permitted by
[1:27:46] the ordinance and they're going to
[1:27:48] present a hardship as to uh why they
[1:27:50] should per be permitted to operate
[1:27:52] outside of the zoning ordinance. An
[1:27:54] appeal of the zoning officer is
[1:27:55] essentially saying the zoning officer
[1:27:57] got it wrong. Uh I strongly disagree. I
[1:28:00] think the zoning this section of the
[1:28:01] ordinance is quite clear and the zoning
[1:28:02] officer got it correct. Uh we'll list it
[1:28:05] for you for Monday night for discussion
[1:28:07] as far as you you want to take a
[1:28:08] position or not. Um because it is an
[1:28:10] appeal solely of the zoning officer
[1:28:12] determination. I would recommend that
[1:28:14] you authorize my office to appear and
[1:28:16] defend the zoning officer. However, this
[1:28:19] one's rather straightforward. So you
[1:28:21] [clears throat] can discuss that Monday
[1:28:23] evening.
[1:28:23] >> I have a question. Mhm.
[1:28:25] >> Um it's not necessarily related to this
[1:28:28] instance, but we seem to get a lot of
[1:28:32] things that come through where things
[1:28:33] are done without a permit. And maybe
[1:28:36] there's not an answer for this right
[1:28:37] now, but is there a way we can make what
[1:28:42] needs permits more I know it's on the
[1:28:45] website, but more easily accessible, a
[1:28:48] list, something? because I find it hard
[1:28:50] to believe that a lot of these people
[1:28:53] just do it because they want to. I feel
[1:28:56] like at least some do it because they
[1:29:00] don't know they need a permit for
[1:29:01] certain things. So, the question doesn't
[1:29:03] need to be answered right now, but I'll ask it again as a followup. Um, is
[1:29:08] there something we can do to make this
[1:29:12] easier? I mean, I personally wouldn't
[1:29:14] know unless I went to the website what
[1:29:16] needs a permit or not,
[1:29:18] >> right? [clears throat]
[1:29:19] Yeah, that's something that we can
[1:29:21] definitely do. Um, we can put on the
[1:29:22] website. But one of the interesting
[1:29:24] things as we're piloting this um the
[1:29:26] polymorphic automated assistant, uh, it
[1:29:29] will, you can ask it, do I need a permit
[1:29:31] for this? It will review our zoning
[1:29:34] permit application and our building
[1:29:35] permit application and give you a pretty
[1:29:37] good idea that yes, you're building a
[1:29:39] fence, you will likely need a building
[1:29:41] permit or, you know, so or so on and so
[1:29:44] forth. So, um, we have a lot of data
[1:29:47] that we're collecting from that about
[1:29:49] the common questions that people are
[1:29:51] asking that could help build that web
[1:29:52] page as well.
[1:29:54] >> Where is that?
[1:29:55] >> So, that's if you call the um 60 uh 6511
[1:30:01] line, Alexexas line, you can go through
[1:30:05] the automated assistant.
[1:30:07] Do you think there would be anything um
[1:30:10] put on the website as far as AI where
[1:30:13] somebody could type in do I need a
[1:30:15] permit for such and
[1:30:16] >> that is the plan for the next step of
[1:30:18] the roll out. So there's going to be a
[1:30:19] chatbot that's going to be placed on the
[1:30:21] website. Um and we're getting closer to
[1:30:24] that as well. And essentially it'll work
[1:30:26] the same way that it works when people
[1:30:28] call in except it'll be a typed answer.
[1:30:30] >> Thank you.
[1:30:31] >> Yeah.
[1:30:34] » Okay. Thank you. We will list that under
[1:30:36] new business for Monday evening.
[1:30:38] >> Okay. Um, street closure request, Hearts
[1:30:42] of Humanity Harvest Festival, October
[1:30:45] 11, 2026.
[1:30:48] >> Uh, yeah. Would you like to say a few
[1:30:50] words?
[1:30:50] >> Oh, there you go. [laughter]
[1:30:52] >> Come on up.
[1:30:53] >> Okay. Yes. Good evening, Madame
[1:30:55] President, esteemed counselors, and uh
[1:30:59] madame mayor. Um I am very excited about
[1:31:02] our third annual harvest festival that
[1:31:05] you are considering for us um in
[1:31:08] October. We're adding [clears throat] to
[1:31:09] the October madness, but it's our third
[1:31:12] year, so I'm hoping that you will
[1:31:14] definitely approve it. Do you have any
[1:31:16] questions about it? We're going to have
[1:31:17] a ball and we want to roll out the red
[1:31:21] carpet for our counselors also, but
[1:31:23] mostly for our youth because we want our
[1:31:26] youth to be engaged, more engaged, more
[1:31:28] knowledgeable, educated about what goes
[1:31:31] on in Pottstown,
[1:31:33] okay? And let them know that they have a
[1:31:36] voice and hear you all and see you all,
[1:31:39] okay? Because we have elections coming
[1:31:40] up and we want them to know how
[1:31:42] important these elections are on a local
[1:31:45] level.
[1:31:46] and and beyond. Okay. So, I just wanted
[1:31:50] to get up here and say, you know, it's
[1:31:52] for our children and it's for our future generations.
[1:31:57] >> So, do you have any questions about our
[1:31:59] harvest festival?
[1:32:00] >> I do. Um, how are you advertising the
[1:32:05] harvest festival?
[1:32:06] >> So, I'm really chomping at the bit about
[1:32:09] advertising. I'm trying not to advertise
[1:32:12] because it hasn't been approved yet, but
[1:32:14] we do have um we did a canvas of the
[1:32:17] neighborhood and we do have like 75
[1:32:19] signatures. Um some of them not written
[1:32:22] on the paper, but we have lots of
[1:32:25] community members um engagement,
[1:32:28] interest. Um they're creating flyers,
[1:32:32] ideas, different things like that. Um,
[1:32:36] you know, just to have this this other
[1:32:38] uh engagement with the council is really
[1:32:42] exciting too because the kids get
[1:32:44] involved and they get to have like they get to have their own little I
[1:32:49] don't know [clears throat] uh uh speaker
[1:32:51] box or you know reporter box,
[1:32:54] >> you know,
[1:32:54] >> I just want to make sure people know
[1:32:56] about it and what you're offering there.
[1:33:00] >> Yeah. So once we do get approval, if we
[1:33:03] do get approval, um we're planning on um
[1:33:08] just taking the flyers around first of
[1:33:09] all to the people who signed up for it.
[1:33:11] Um secondly on Facebook, on Instagram,
[1:33:15] and um uh we don't have a LinkedIn page,
[1:33:19] but um just basically word of mouth to
[1:33:21] different organizations and asking our
[1:33:24] community members to just share with
[1:33:25] their families. And one other u way that
[1:33:28] we're going to advertise this time is to
[1:33:30] actually bring the arts
[1:33:33] >> into it so that um you know we can get
[1:33:36] our theater arts, our dance um uh
[1:33:39] department, our dance theater um our
[1:33:42] vocalists, our instrumentalists involved
[1:33:45] and that always is wonderful in
[1:33:47] spreading the word. Also,
[1:33:49] >> do you think um some of them might be
[1:33:51] willing to like when you have the flyers
[1:33:53] put them in the windows maybe? Well, uh
[1:33:55] I was told that there was some kind of
[1:33:57] ordinance that um did not allow uh you
[1:34:02] know advertisements to go in the windows
[1:34:04] of the door um of the businesses. So
[1:34:07] basically we have um in the past just
[1:34:10] put them on the tables uh of certain
[1:34:14] businesses and went to the churches you
[1:34:16] know and asked the pastors to you know
[1:34:19] do the announcements at church. So,
[1:34:22] could I ask for some clarification on
[1:34:24] that? Because I see advertisements for
[1:34:27] maybe I should call them advertisements,
[1:34:29] but flyers in businesses windows for all
[1:34:32] types of events.
[1:34:35] >> So, is there
[1:34:36] >> I I don't have an answer for you
[1:34:38] tonight. I'll back to you.
[1:34:40] >> Yeah. And let's talk about that because
[1:34:41] I I'd like an answer to that question.
[1:34:44] >> Okay. Sure. I just didn't I just wanted
[1:34:46] to comply.
[1:34:47] >> Yeah. And I want to make sure that
[1:34:49] you're not doing something you don't
[1:34:50] need to do.
[1:34:51] >> Mhm. Yeah. Um, this will be on Charlotte
[1:34:54] Street. So, um, we want to block off the
[1:34:57] block so that the children can just have
[1:34:59] a good time riding their bikes, doing
[1:35:02] kites and and frisbees and different
[1:35:04] things like that, immersing them in
[1:35:06] nature and allowing them to just explore
[1:35:09] agriculture and and the birds and the
[1:35:11] bees and trees. [laughter]
[1:35:13] >> So, thank you. Thank you so much.
[1:35:15] >> Yes. Thank you.
[1:35:18] » [applause]
[1:35:23] » Okay, we have um street closure request
[1:35:26] YWCA
[1:35:28] Tri County area annual um community
[1:35:32] block event October 24th, 2026. Justin,
[1:35:36] >> yes. So, this will be a closure of King
[1:35:39] Street between Charlotte and North Evans
[1:35:42] from 900 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
[1:35:46] >> Okay.
[1:35:48] And while I have you, you want to do the
[1:35:50] street closer for um Winraftoft School
[1:35:54] back to school?
[1:35:55] >> Thank you. This will be on September
[1:35:57] 18th on Rosedale Drive between Wilson
[1:36:00] and Malbury from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
[1:36:03] >> Okay. And while I still have you,
[1:36:05] alcohol request for Skooko River
[1:36:08] Greenways Riverfront Park.
[1:36:10] >> Yes. So the Skook River Greenways is
[1:36:12] requesting permission to allow the
[1:36:14] inclusion of alcohol at their new event,
[1:36:17] the Skookill Shuffle 5K and 10 mileer.
[1:36:20] Proceeds will be dedicated to the Skook
[1:36:22] River stewardship fund that will go
[1:36:24] towards ongoing maintenance of the
[1:36:25] trail. Consumption area will be limited
[1:36:28] to the natural amphitheater area and the
[1:36:29] tented area at the top of the
[1:36:30] amphitheater and monitors will be uh
[1:36:33] placed in the area to ensure that
[1:36:35] alcoholic beverages do not um travel
[1:36:37] beyond the confines of the designated
[1:36:39] areas. and um Scox Brewery will be there
[1:36:42] to um ensure the due diligence and uh
[1:36:46] check for proper IDs.
[1:36:48] >> Okay. Since you're talking about their
[1:36:50] alcohol, you might as well go down to
[1:36:52] number 20 for alcohol requests. P A R
[1:36:55] RC.
[1:36:56] >> Yes. So, Park would like to start
[1:36:58] another new tradition. Um, the Park
[1:37:00] Foundation would like to request
[1:37:02] permission to allow the consumption of
[1:37:04] alcoholic beverages at the Putt for
[1:37:06] Parks miniature golf tournament from
[1:37:08] 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with a rain date
[1:37:11] of October 4th, 2026. So, beverages will
[1:37:15] be served by ramp certified servers and
[1:37:18] limited to mimosas consisting of
[1:37:20] champagne and orange juice. Um, and
[1:37:23] these will be served to registered
[1:37:24] tournament participants ages 21 years
[1:37:26] and old older. The consumption area will
[1:37:29] be limited to the Manit County green um
[1:37:32] patio.
[1:37:34] And um just as a plug, the Puttford
[1:37:37] Parks Tournament is a family-friendly
[1:37:38] fundraising event, and we look forward
[1:37:40] to working uh closely with Manatoni
[1:37:42] Green to ensure a safe and successful
[1:37:45] event promoting outdoor recreation
[1:37:46] entertainment while supporting the park
[1:37:48] foundation.
[1:37:49] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Upcoming board
[1:37:52] vacancies. um construction coal board of
[1:37:57] appeals one three-year term to expire
[1:38:00] August 8th 20 26 Anthony Campbell
[1:38:06] seeking reappoint
[1:38:08] environmental advisory council two
[1:38:12] three-year terms to expire August 10th
[1:38:15] 2026
[1:38:17] we have Jim Durr seeking reappointment
[1:38:19] and Miles Bee seeking reappointment
[1:38:23] Next is comments from citizens present.
[1:38:27] >> All right. So, um before we get started
[1:38:29] uh with with this, I want to do
[1:38:31] something a little bit different and
[1:38:32] quickly provide an update on actions
[1:38:33] taken after last month's public
[1:38:35] comments. So, the first one that we had
[1:38:38] um that we were able to take action on
[1:38:39] was uh Rich Richkmer, 1050 South Street.
[1:38:43] Uh there was a concern with the street
[1:38:44] tree uh on a neighboring property
[1:38:47] regarding the safety of the tree as
[1:38:49] there was some splitting observed. So,
[1:38:52] um staff recommended that the property
[1:38:54] owner have an arborist look at the tree.
[1:38:56] Um and as as an update to, um some
[1:38:59] information we previously sent to
[1:39:00] council, the property owner provided
[1:39:03] public works with three estimates from
[1:39:04] arborists finding that the tree does not
[1:39:06] need to be cut down, but it can be
[1:39:08] trimmed and that and the trunk can be um
[1:39:11] banded to prevent the uh split from
[1:39:13] splitting any further. So, public works
[1:39:15] gave the property owner a permit to trim
[1:39:17] the tree and have it banded. Um, as a
[1:39:19] reminder per burough ordinance, street
[1:39:21] trees are the responsibility of the
[1:39:22] property owner. The bureau will become
[1:39:24] involved when there is a legitimate
[1:39:26] public safety concern. In this case,
[1:39:29] staff continued working um with the
[1:39:31] parties to reach a reason reasonable
[1:39:33] solution and costefficient solution
[1:39:35] based on the findings of multiple uh
[1:39:38] arborists. Next was Tracy Kitchen, 449
[1:39:42] Chestnut Street, regarding alley
[1:39:43] conditions, trash, and an abandoned
[1:39:44] trailer. Um, so public works has done
[1:39:47] one round of patching of the potholes in
[1:39:49] the alley and is preparing to do a
[1:39:51] second round soon that will provide for
[1:39:53] a smoother uh surface. Just as a note,
[1:39:56] this is an unordained private alley,
[1:39:58] meaning maintenance responsibility rests
[1:40:00] with the adjoining property owners
[1:40:01] rather than the burrow. Never
[1:40:03] nevertheless, when staff identifies a
[1:40:05] relatively straightforward and lowcost
[1:40:06] opportunity to improve conditions, we'll
[1:40:08] attempt to assist even though the
[1:40:10] burough is not no obligation to maintain
[1:40:12] the alley. Um the PD determined that a
[1:40:15] scrap trailer was on private property
[1:40:17] was at 115 North Washington Street. As a
[1:40:19] note, uh police can only require removal
[1:40:22] of the trailer if it's blocking passage
[1:40:24] of the alley blocking private property
[1:40:27] access is abandoned without proper
[1:40:28] paperwork. Um since it was on private
[1:40:31] property, LNI has issued a notice of
[1:40:32] violation regarding the trailer and is
[1:40:35] um following up accordingly on that one.
[1:40:38] uh a clean and lean issue was issued for
[1:40:40] the trash and these conditions seem to
[1:40:43] have improved somewhat, but we're still
[1:40:45] pursuing removal of additional bulk
[1:40:46] items that remain. And it should be
[1:40:48] noted that LNI has a history of recent
[1:40:50] enforcement activity associated with one
[1:40:53] with the conditions at 115 North
[1:40:55] Washington Street and we'll continue to
[1:40:57] follow up regularly. So, um, in both
[1:41:00] these cases, staff had already been
[1:41:02] actively addressing the concerns, uh,
[1:41:04] before they were raised at at the
[1:41:05] council meeting, and then we took
[1:41:07] additional steps afterward to pursue
[1:41:09] the, uh, resolution. So, we'll continue
[1:41:11] following up on the remaining
[1:41:13] enforcement items and then regularly
[1:41:15] check back on these areas as warrant.
[1:41:18] All right. Um, so, first up, we have,
[1:41:21] uh, Kaylee uh, Silver
[1:41:24] with Montgomery County.
[1:41:29] Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Okay.
[1:41:31] >> Yes.
[1:41:32] >> Great. Thank you so so much. Hi. Uh good
[1:41:35] evening. Thank you very much for letting
[1:41:36] me participate in public comment. I'm
[1:41:38] Kaylee Silver. As Justin mentioned, I
[1:41:40] oversee Montgomery Countyy's Office of
[1:41:42] Housing and Community Development and uh
[1:41:44] honestly just offering an impromptu and
[1:41:46] probably overdue on my part uh to come
[1:41:50] and talk to Burough Council, Burough
[1:41:52] staff, and thank you all as well as the
[1:41:54] residents of Pottstown and kind of
[1:41:55] provide a a quick update. uh regarding
[1:41:57] our partnership with you and the program
[1:42:00] at the former days in with our partners
[1:42:02] you and Opportunity House. Um you know
[1:42:05] addressing homelessness is really
[1:42:07] challenging work and we appreciate
[1:42:09] Pottstown's willingness to be a part of
[1:42:11] the solution. Um I also want to
[1:42:13] acknowledge very clearly that you know
[1:42:16] no single program is going to
[1:42:19] immediately or quickly solve you know
[1:42:22] homelessness in in any community or past
[1:42:24] town, right? the challenges around this
[1:42:25] are complex. Um, but I do want to
[1:42:28] highlight that while this program isn't
[1:42:30] the entire answer, I'm hopefully here to
[1:42:32] offer kind of that some some outcomes
[1:42:35] and some data and hope that it has in my
[1:42:37] belief made a really meaningful
[1:42:39] difference. So, uh, since the county
[1:42:41] partnered with the burrow and
[1:42:43] opportunity house in, I believe around
[1:42:45] April 2025, uh, the program has served
[1:42:48] 308, uh, Pottstownians and and people in
[1:42:51] Pottstown experiencing homelessness. um
[1:42:54] a little bit more about who the program
[1:42:55] is serving. Um well about half of those
[1:42:59] adults served entered uh this
[1:43:02] opportunity house program with three or
[1:43:04] more significant health conditions at at
[1:43:07] the same time. Right? So some really
[1:43:08] complex health stuff going on. Um about
[1:43:12] onethird were 55 or older uh in the
[1:43:15] program. Um and about a quarter of
[1:43:17] people who've been in the program have
[1:43:19] some sort of history or active thing
[1:43:20] around domestic violence. Right? So just
[1:43:23] offering that to highlight that the
[1:43:24] people um going through this program are
[1:43:27] not it's you know it's not simple.
[1:43:28] There's there's a lot of coordinated
[1:43:30] support needed um and a lot of you know
[1:43:32] case management support that they're
[1:43:34] receiving. Um and and that's what I
[1:43:37] think helps make this program special,
[1:43:39] right? Uh it's not just a place to stay.
[1:43:41] Uh Opportunity House and partners have
[1:43:43] really done a great job wrapping around
[1:43:45] a ton of services and support for people
[1:43:48] with some complex needs. Uh residents uh
[1:43:51] at the program have been connected to
[1:43:53] employment services, income supports,
[1:43:55] some health care supports, uh treatment
[1:43:57] supports, and um even veterinary
[1:43:59] services for those who have pets. Um
[1:44:01] we've had above national standards
[1:44:04] around participants like increasing or
[1:44:06] gaining income while in the program and
[1:44:09] about 20% of people have uh at this
[1:44:11] time. Um so while the program has served
[1:44:16] 308 people so far uh about 200 people
[1:44:20] have exited the program about uh um and
[1:44:23] then uh really about uh threearters of
[1:44:26] them have left towards uh really
[1:44:28] positive destinations house permanent
[1:44:31] housing treatment programs nursing home
[1:44:34] reunification with family and support
[1:44:36] services. So we're seeing some really
[1:44:38] positive exit outcomes too. Um but also
[1:44:40] acknowledging again still always work to
[1:44:42] do. Um one of the areas where we
[1:44:45] continue to face challenges uh across
[1:44:47] the county as well as with this program
[1:44:49] is the housing availability. Um so the
[1:44:52] average stay in the program is a is a
[1:44:54] little longer than we'd like which I
[1:44:56] think reflects that challenge. So the
[1:44:57] average stay in the program is nearly
[1:44:59] six months. Uh, and that's not because
[1:45:01] people aren't ready to move forward, but
[1:45:02] that's really because like affordable
[1:45:04] housing or treatment options or
[1:45:06] placement after this program remain
[1:45:09] limited throughout the region and
[1:45:10] throughout Montgomery County. Uh, that's
[1:45:12] not a specific challenge just to this
[1:45:14] program, but one we're seeing across the
[1:45:16] whole county. Um, but, you know, with
[1:45:18] these challenges, we are seeing uh
[1:45:20] progress. Uh I joined Opportunity House
[1:45:22] and their amazing staff and outreach
[1:45:24] workers in Pottstown last month um and
[1:45:27] walked around outside with uh to kind of
[1:45:30] talk with some people who continue to
[1:45:32] experience some unsheltered
[1:45:33] homelessness. Uh we do see a huge
[1:45:35] reduction in the number of people who
[1:45:37] are uh unsheltered. Uh when I went out
[1:45:40] last month with them, we countered about
[1:45:42] like 20 or 30 people who remain
[1:45:44] unsheltered. Uh, but what stood out to
[1:45:46] me was that the staff I was with knew
[1:45:48] every single one of them, actively
[1:45:50] engaging with them, connecting with them
[1:45:52] to services, and working to bring them
[1:45:54] back into shelter and housing and
[1:45:56] treatment opportunities when space and circumstance allow. So again,
[1:46:02] I just want to thank you all very very
[1:46:04] much for allowing me the time to to talk
[1:46:06] a little bit about the program. I'd be
[1:46:08] happy to take any questions or any data
[1:46:09] back that you'd like to hear more. Um
[1:46:12] it's helping hundreds of people,
[1:46:14] reducing the unsheltered homelessness,
[1:46:16] uh really creating some great pathways
[1:46:18] to stability and uh I do believe that
[1:46:21] again while no one thing can solve all
[1:46:23] the problems, I am really so grateful
[1:46:26] for the support of of Pottstown. Uh so
[1:46:29] thank you very much for this work and uh
[1:46:32] and I believe some some graduates of the
[1:46:33] program might be uh Pottstown residents
[1:46:35] and and uh talking a little bit more
[1:46:38] today too. So thank you very very much
[1:46:39] for your time.
[1:46:40] >> Great. And just as a note, um we do have
[1:46:42] a policy that we don't get back um to
[1:46:45] commenters at the meeting, but um
[1:46:47] certainly if council has any questions,
[1:46:50] um send them along to me. I'd be happy
[1:46:51] to get those out to Kaylee. All right.
[1:46:54] Next up, we have Deb Spence, please.
[1:47:00] » Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me?
[1:47:02] >> Yeah.
[1:47:02] >> Yes.
[1:47:04] >> Okay, great. Uh, Madame President, I I
[1:47:07] know this job is not easy and um I know
[1:47:10] most of what you deal with never makes
[1:47:12] it into a headline or Facebook post and
[1:47:16] I know the criticism shows up a lot
[1:47:18] faster than the thank yous, but I
[1:47:20] appreciate the work you're putting in,
[1:47:22] the work you're doing, and I want you to
[1:47:24] stay encouraged and I want you to keep
[1:47:26] going. And um, but next is a quick
[1:47:30] update on the Pottstown app. This is a
[1:47:33] free civic resource that level flat
[1:47:35] association runs for Ptown residents.
[1:47:38] The site is live and and residents are
[1:47:41] using it every week to find local
[1:47:42] events, jobs, burrows, services, and who
[1:47:45] represents them. And Lisa Bonnie, you
[1:47:48] can actually go on there pot.app and you
[1:47:51] can ask Pottstown is a tab right there
[1:47:53] on lefth hand side. What do you need to
[1:47:56] get a permit for? Do you need to get a
[1:47:57] permit for electrical work, for a fence?
[1:48:00] And it will tell you yes. and it'll
[1:48:02] point you to the website to get that
[1:48:04] permit started. So, you know, private
[1:48:07] sector is always more advanced than
[1:48:09] government, but we're we're here to
[1:48:11] support government in any way we can. It
[1:48:14] has the one calendar and every event
[1:48:17] that's happening in town. You don't have
[1:48:19] to hunt for it. You can go right there
[1:48:21] on the one calendar. And I'm asking
[1:48:24] everyone in this room or anyone
[1:48:26] watching, if you run an event, a
[1:48:28] meeting, a fundraiser, youth program, a
[1:48:31] harvest festival, cleanup, anything like
[1:48:33] that, submit it to the one calendar.app,
[1:48:36] it takes like two minutes to do it. And
[1:48:39] um you know, so all of the events you
[1:48:41] can you can send everyone to that app
[1:48:44] for, you know, quick answer. Um last
[1:48:47] thing I want to talk about, um you
[1:48:49] didn't give it in your update, Justin.
[1:48:51] that circle back to the chicken or
[1:48:53] ordinance and and right now chickens are
[1:48:56] not allowed in the burrow and and that
[1:48:59] is the rule on paper but in practice
[1:49:02] they are running around town um and and
[1:49:05] everybody knows it. You see them all
[1:49:07] over the place. So I would like to know
[1:49:10] if there can be an ordinance in place.
[1:49:12] Um, Nortown just updated theirs and they
[1:49:16] set a limit on hens, no roosters,
[1:49:18] setbacks from the property line,
[1:49:21] standards for the for the coupe and and
[1:49:24] for keeping it clean and and and I'm
[1:49:26] interested in it because I, you know, we
[1:49:29] are at war. We are country at war.
[1:49:32] Grocery stores could be shut down for a
[1:49:33] week or month. Um, we could we could
[1:49:35] lose power. You never know what's going
[1:49:37] to happen. And if we had, you know, some
[1:49:40] fresh eggs, some potential, you know,
[1:49:43] protein at some point, I I would
[1:49:45] appreciate it if it were legal to have
[1:49:47] those things um in the barrel so that
[1:49:50] not only we can, you know, have some
[1:49:53] food security, but also at the same
[1:49:55] time, you know, live a healthier and
[1:49:57] more sustainable life. Um so um anyway I
[1:50:02] think I am done with my comment and uh I do like um that Manasha is making
[1:50:09] those dots with the uh with the uh land
[1:50:13] bank. So I I I appreciate that. Um um
[1:50:15] thank you all. Have a good night.
[1:50:18] >> Thank you Deb. I appreciate you. Thank
[1:50:21] you.
[1:50:21] >> Thank you. Um Shauna, did you want to
[1:50:24] speak again? [clears throat]
[1:50:29] Hello. Yes. Um on behalf of Hearts of
[1:50:31] Humanity, we go to the Ricket Center to
[1:50:35] um manage the children's garden in the
[1:50:37] back. Um I know that there are hundreds
[1:50:39] of thousands of dollars earmarked for
[1:50:41] this and for that, but the children's
[1:50:44] garden is in the back
[1:50:46] >> and I take the alleyway to get to the
[1:50:49] children's garden. And one time my car
[1:50:52] ended up in a hole in the alleyway in
[1:50:54] the back. And these alleyways are just I
[1:50:59] don't know how they could be uh uh uh
[1:51:02] the responsibility of the homeowners or whatnot, but these alleyways are
[1:51:08] deplorable. They're also the gutters.
[1:51:11] with all the rain that we've
[1:51:13] had, we should be looking at that. All
[1:51:15] the trash ends up in the gutters and our
[1:51:18] place looks horrendous, you know, with
[1:51:22] people who are coming in and going to
[1:51:24] the low show and, you know, doing
[1:51:26] October Madness. We want a clean,
[1:51:30] safe, even the alleyways. You know, I
[1:51:33] remember when my daughter was going to
[1:51:34] school, I would tell her time and time
[1:51:36] again, don't take the alleyways. That
[1:51:39] was a very long time ago. Now 2026, my
[1:51:43] car ends up in a hole in the back of the
[1:51:45] Ricket Center. My question now is of
[1:51:49] those hundreds of thousands of dollars,
[1:51:52] is any of it earmarked for the alleyway
[1:51:55] behind the Ricket Center because there
[1:51:57] is an amazing amount of children that
[1:52:00] go, you know, back and forth in that
[1:52:02] alleyway. And I'd like to see some
[1:52:04] lights. I'd like to know that some of
[1:52:07] these dollars are being earmarked for
[1:52:10] our alleyways
[1:52:13] with the impact transportation u money
[1:52:16] that's coming in through that initiative
[1:52:18] live or play all this. Are our alleyways
[1:52:23] and our trash being addressed? Even the
[1:52:26] trash trucks don't work [music] anymore
[1:52:28] the way they're supposed to. And these
[1:52:30] poor guys are lifting up these huge
[1:52:32] heavy totes that we were made to get so
[1:52:36] that they can fit on the back of these
[1:52:38] trash trucks and electronically lift up
[1:52:41] these huge heavy the guys are lifting up
[1:52:45] these trash cans manually by hand. I
[1:52:48] just feel sorry for them. I try not to
[1:52:49] put as I mean I try not to generate as
[1:52:52] much trash on account of it
[1:52:55] >> because I mean it's just so sad the
[1:52:57] trash trucks don't even work anymore. So
[1:53:00] on behalf of Hearts of Humanity, on
[1:53:02] behalf of myself as a, you know, a
[1:53:05] property owner, taxpayer,
[1:53:08] could we earmark some of these funds for
[1:53:10] alleyways, trash,
[1:53:13] >> gutters?
[1:53:15] Thank you.
[1:53:16] >> Thank you. Next is Laura Johnson.
[1:53:20] [snorts]
[1:53:30] Hello, Laura Johnson. Um, normally I get
[1:53:33] up here and I say I'm not speaking on
[1:53:35] behalf of the school district. I'm just
[1:53:37] a private citizen. Tonight I'm going to
[1:53:38] start with some schoolboard related
[1:53:41] updates.
[1:53:42] >> Okay. Um, the first thing I wanted to
[1:53:44] let everybody know of, anybody in the
[1:53:46] audience, is that the school district
[1:53:48] recently um, reenacted a property tax
[1:53:52] and rent rebate tax credit on your
[1:53:56] property taxes. It is the same one that
[1:53:58] is done at the state level. Um where it
[1:54:00] is income qualifying and one other qual
[1:54:04] qualification that goes along with it to
[1:54:06] be either 65 years of age or older, be a
[1:54:10] widow or widowerower age 50 years 50
[1:54:13] years of age or older or be permanently
[1:54:16] disabled and 18 years of age and older.
[1:54:19] And it goes for renters and homeowners.
[1:54:21] So, if you qualify for the state
[1:54:24] property tax and rent rebate, you also
[1:54:26] qualify for the school district one. The
[1:54:29] school district one is 75% of the state
[1:54:31] one. So, if you get $1,000 back from the
[1:54:33] state, you'd get 750 back from the
[1:54:36] school district. So, this was something
[1:54:39] that we did in the last budget. It is an
[1:54:42] effort to try to
[1:54:44] particularly for our residents,
[1:54:46] homeowners or renters again who are on a
[1:54:50] fixed limited income to help alleviate
[1:54:53] some of the pressure. So that can be um
[1:54:56] if you're looking for that application,
[1:54:58] um you apply for the school district one
[1:55:00] after you've already gotten the state
[1:55:02] one because we just use their you know
[1:55:04] if you're okay with the state, you're
[1:55:06] okay with us. Um, if you Google school
[1:55:09] Pottstown School District rebate, it is
[1:55:11] the first thing that'll come up. You can
[1:55:13] also you'll find it on our website. Um,
[1:55:15] so I just wanted everybody to know about
[1:55:17] that because that is a not insignificant
[1:55:19] amount of money. Um, it's up to $1,000
[1:55:22] from the state and up to 750 from the
[1:55:25] school district. So, it can also be
[1:55:27] lower than that.
[1:55:29] Um, the other thing I wanted to flag on
[1:55:32] the school district side is that we're
[1:55:34] in the fall. It is um sports season. It
[1:55:37] is band season. And you can find um
[1:55:40] school sports schedules on the school
[1:55:43] district website. If you go to
[1:55:44] potstownschools.org and go to the
[1:55:46] activities tab, the Trojan sports
[1:55:49] schedule is right there. And while
[1:55:51] certainly everybody should go to FET
[1:55:53] this Friday night, if you're not for
[1:55:55] some reason, um and you want to do
[1:55:57] something else, there is a football game
[1:55:59] as Madame Mayor mentioned. Um, it is
[1:56:02] also middle school band music night
[1:56:04] along with is the marching band's first
[1:56:06] show. So anyway, lots of good stuff
[1:56:08] happening there. So now to take off the
[1:56:10] schoolboard hat and just put on the
[1:56:11] private citizen hat. I just also want to
[1:56:14] say that I love love love this idea of
[1:56:16] the arts district. Um, I think something
[1:56:18] like this would be another really good
[1:56:21] focal point um for our town to be known
[1:56:25] for a thing. It reminds me back to when
[1:56:27] we had the urban land institute study
[1:56:30] and one of the things it suggested was
[1:56:32] pick some focus areas where you're going
[1:56:34] to really lean in and I remember because
[1:56:37] education was mentioned and from the
[1:56:39] school side I was like yay. Um but arts
[1:56:42] is another one that can really it's
[1:56:44] positive for revitalization but not just
[1:56:48] like practically but culturally and
[1:56:50] community um the vibe basically. So,
[1:56:54] just wanted to throw that out there.
[1:56:56] >> Thank you.
[1:56:59] » All right. Next up, we have Heather
[1:57:00] Smith, please.
[1:57:04] >> Okay. Next up, we have Chelsea Hoth.
[1:57:12] » Sure. [laughter] My case, please.
[1:57:17] » Good evening, everybody. On behalf of
[1:57:19] Your Way Home tonight, I'm here to ask
[1:57:21] for your continued partnership in
[1:57:23] responding to the growing need for
[1:57:25] housing in Montgomery Countyy's
[1:57:26] communities. [clears throat] Your Way
[1:57:27] Home Montgomery County, if you didn't
[1:57:29] know, it's the county's unified and
[1:57:31] coordinated housing crisis response
[1:57:33] system for families and individuals
[1:57:35] experiencing homelessness or at imminent
[1:57:37] risk of homelessness.
[1:57:39] Federal policy changes through HUD's
[1:57:41] continuum continuum of care funding
[1:57:44] process is already being implemented.
[1:57:47] And these these reductions are creating
[1:57:49] new uncertainties for communities
[1:57:51] working to prevent and end homelessness.
[1:57:53] National housing and homelessness
[1:57:55] organizations have warned that these
[1:57:57] changes could place additional pressure
[1:57:59] on permanent housing programs and reduce
[1:58:01] the stability of funding that local
[1:58:04] systems rely upon. For Montgomery
[1:58:06] County, the message is clear. Federal
[1:58:08] resources alone will not be enough to
[1:58:10] meet the need. We will need local
[1:58:12] leadership, practical problem solving,
[1:58:14] and strong partnerships to expand
[1:58:16] housing options and ensure that people
[1:58:18] and families experiencing housing
[1:58:20] instability have a path to safe, stable
[1:58:23] homes. Pottstown Burough has played an
[1:58:25] essential role. We thank you for your
[1:58:27] willingness to partner with Montgomery
[1:58:28] County and Opport Opportunity House at
[1:58:30] the Days In. Since January of 2025, as
[1:58:34] Kaylee Silver mentioned, over 300 people
[1:58:36] have been served. Nearly all of them
[1:58:38] entered experiencing chronic
[1:58:40] homelessness and 94 have successfully
[1:58:42] transitioned into permanent housing.
[1:58:46] Local governments control many of the
[1:58:47] practical tools that shape whether
[1:58:49] housing can be created or preserved,
[1:58:51] including zoning, land use, permitting,
[1:58:53] and a host of other reasons I've talked
[1:58:54] to you about before. We also recognize
[1:58:57] that every municipality is different.
[1:58:58] The right opportunities in one community
[1:59:00] may look different from the right
[1:59:02] opportunities in another. Some
[1:59:04] municipalities may have publicly owned
[1:59:05] or underutilized land, while others may
[1:59:09] have redevelopment opportunities, zoning
[1:59:11] updates to consider, faith or
[1:59:13] institutional partners like vacant
[1:59:15] churches or local projects that could be
[1:59:18] adapted to meet community needs. So, I'm
[1:59:20] here tonight to just extend the offer
[1:59:22] from Your Way Home as their board
[1:59:24] chairperson to say if you ever would
[1:59:26] like an update from Your Way Home about
[1:59:28] the services we can offer, please reach
[1:59:30] out to me directly as as their chair.
[1:59:32] Um, we we welcome the opportunity to be
[1:59:35] a resource to Pottstown. We hope you
[1:59:37] will participate in a countywide
[1:59:38] conversation about how local governments
[1:59:40] can help ensure every county resident
[1:59:43] has access to safe and stable housing.
[1:59:45] We would also welcome the chance to talk
[1:59:47] with you about what we are already doing
[1:59:49] locally, what barriers you're seeing
[1:59:51] here in town, and where your way home
[1:59:53] can step in to help. Uh, this letter is
[1:59:55] also signed by our vice chair, Meg
[1:59:58] Sneed. Thank you for your time.
[2:00:00] >> Thank you.
[2:00:01] All right. Now we have
[2:00:02] Chelsea.
[2:00:06] » Are you speaking Chelsea or is the baby?
[2:00:08] >> Oh, he doesn't really talk.
[2:00:10] [clears throat]
[2:00:11] >> He's only five months old, so he doesn't
[2:00:13] speak. [laughter] My 5-year-old's in the
[2:00:15] corner sleeping.
[2:00:16] >> Um, my name's Chelsea. I'm grateful to
[2:00:18] be here. Um, I'm a graduate of the
[2:00:20] Opportunity House program. Uh, yes. In,
[2:00:24] uh, the spring of 2025, I found myself
[2:00:26] living in a car um, in my car and I was
[2:00:29] sleeping in the Walmart parking lot. I
[2:00:31] was um bouncing from like public parking
[2:00:34] lot to public parking lot in the middle
[2:00:36] of the night so I wouldn't get in
[2:00:37] trouble, right? Um it was probably one
[2:00:39] of the worst experiences of my life. Um
[2:00:42] it was right around when my dad passed
[2:00:43] away, so I really didn't have any
[2:00:45] support from family. Um and you know, it
[2:00:49] got to the point where my car got repoed
[2:00:51] and I was living in tents. Um, so that's
[2:00:54] when I reached out to Your Way Home and
[2:00:57] uh they were able to get me on the wait
[2:00:59] list for shelters in the county. I
[2:01:02] wanted to stay in Pottstown because I've
[2:01:03] lived in Pottstown for a really long
[2:01:05] time and um I'm like my support network
[2:01:10] I've built is here. So, and my son lived
[2:01:12] here so I wanted to stay in Pottstown.
[2:01:15] So, they were able to get me into the
[2:01:16] opportunity house. And when I was when I
[2:01:19] got there, I was welcomed. Um, the
[2:01:21] program really helped me in the sense
[2:01:24] that like I was really down on my luck.
[2:01:26] I was addicted to drugs. I didn't have
[2:01:30] anywhere to turn. I felt hopeless. I
[2:01:32] wasn't allowed to see my older son. And
[2:01:34] while I was there, I got to work on my
[2:01:37] mental health. I got to uh get
[2:01:39] employment. And I found out that I was
[2:01:42] pregnant. So, they were very supportive
[2:01:44] there as well. Um, and then I was able
[2:01:46] to get the support to get custody of my
[2:01:49] son back. Since leaving the Opportunity
[2:01:52] House in January, I've been in stable
[2:01:55] housing uh through Family Services of
[2:01:57] Montgomery County, and uh I've been able
[2:02:00] to get full custody of my 5-year-old.
[2:02:02] And I've utilized so many like resources
[2:02:05] and uh different opportunities that the
[2:02:07] county offers all because the
[2:02:10] Opportunity House showed them to me. I
[2:02:12] didn't know all of these things were out
[2:02:14] there until I went there and was able to
[2:02:17] swallow my pride and ask for help. They
[2:02:19] are a very welcoming like organization
[2:02:23] and they do really care about the people
[2:02:25] that are there. They all the staff knows
[2:02:29] every single resident. They like talk to
[2:02:31] you like you're a human being, not like
[2:02:33] a statistic. And it is it is very much a
[2:02:37] program that does a lot of really good
[2:02:39] work. Um, so that's all I really have to
[2:02:42] say. Thank you very much.
[2:02:43] >> Well, KUDOS TO YOU. YOU GO, GIRL.
[2:02:46] [applause]
[2:02:47] >> YES.
[2:02:51] » Love this.
[2:02:54] >> All right. Next up, we have Bob Brown.
[2:02:55] Please,
[2:02:58] >> that's a hard one.
[2:03:01] >> See what you got.
[2:03:03] >> Be a little um [laughter]
[2:03:06] just a a little food for thought. Okay.
[2:03:09] probably just about all of us the next
[2:03:13] time something significant comes up as
[2:03:16] far as the banners are concerned 300 or
[2:03:20] whatever we're not going to be here.
[2:03:24] >> So that's just you know a little food
[2:03:26] for thought. Okay. Um I was glad to see
[2:03:30] that the banner program is on the next
[2:03:33] agenda. So that you know kind of filled
[2:03:37] me up a little bit. Um,
[2:03:39] normally I come here and I guess most
[2:03:42] people think I'm the guy of gloom and
[2:03:44] doom, but I'm not today. Today is a good
[2:03:47] day and I just want to make sure that um
[2:03:52] these issues are addressed. That's my biggest thing.
[2:03:58] Thank you.
[2:03:59] >> You're welcome.
[2:04:00] >> Thank you. All right. Next up, we have
[2:04:02] Art Miller. Please
[2:04:05] >> ask.
[2:04:05] >> Art is passing.
[2:04:06] >> Next is Doug Slick, did you determine
[2:04:10] >> my time for
[2:04:11] >> Thank you. All right. Still
[2:04:15] >> that concludes public comment.
[2:04:18] >> Okay. Um,
[2:04:24] counselor's discussion, general
[2:04:26] discussion. I'm going start with
[2:04:29] Joe.
[2:04:30] >> I don't have anything.
[2:04:30] >> You don't have anything? Okay. How about
[2:04:32] you, Andrew?
[2:04:34] >> Couple things.
[2:04:34] >> Okay. first thing and Johnny Corson, I
[2:04:38] was at the U car show and uh they took
[2:04:42] me into a new candy store that's going
[2:04:45] to be opening. Okay.
[2:04:48] >> And that's a really cool thing. And so
[2:04:51] when that What's the name of that place,
[2:04:52] Peggy?
[2:04:55] >> Sweet treat.
[2:04:56] >> Society
[2:04:58] sweets.
[2:04:58] >> Is that societ?
[2:05:00] >> Yeah, that's going to be a really really
[2:05:03] great thing. And we're going to need
[2:05:05] lots of events in town that's going to
[2:05:07] be able to support that because it's one
[2:05:09] thing to put something in there. And
[2:05:11] there's another thing to have it leave.
[2:05:14] >> Say like Mrs. Pickles. Okay.
[2:05:17] >> Yeah. Gone. Um and so
[2:05:21] please, please, please, please, when
[2:05:22] that comes out,
[2:05:24] >> I mean, it's going to have all kind
[2:05:25] candy. Probably kind of like the
[2:05:26] peppermint stick in Boyertown. So, I
[2:05:29] think that's a a pretty uh cool thing.
[2:05:31] I'm very happy about that. Um, I just
[2:05:35] want to let everybody know on Monday
[2:05:38] night, given what I heard from Peggy,
[2:05:41] uh, with regard to the banners, I'm
[2:05:43] going to make a motion to, uh, take down
[2:05:46] 10 of those banners and put the next 10
[2:05:49] sequential
[2:05:51] applicants
[2:05:52] up.
[2:05:54] I do know the first one on the list
[2:05:57] is um Mark Gibson's mother, a
[2:06:01] 93-year-old
[2:06:02] woman who served in uh Korea. And from
[2:06:06] what I understand, she's the first
[2:06:07] African-American
[2:06:09] to from Pennsylvania to serve in the
[2:06:13] armed forces uh in war. I guess
[2:06:17] >> I'm going to make that motion. Okay.
[2:06:20] And we'll see what happens.
[2:06:23] And last thing I want to talk about is
[2:06:30] I think that and there is no place no
[2:06:34] place in this burrow for elected
[2:06:36] officials to be profitering. None. None
[2:06:40] whatsoever.
[2:06:42] They should not be taking part in in
[2:06:46] making in in getting houses and flipping
[2:06:50] them and making six figure profits. I
[2:06:53] think that disqualifies them as a public
[2:06:54] servant and they should not run for
[2:06:57] anything ever. That is not okay. I don't
[2:07:02] know what
[2:07:04] uh antenna they have to think that's
[2:07:06] okay, but it's wrong. It is wrong.
[2:07:10] Wrong.
[2:07:12] And there's no nice way to say that.
[2:07:16] I'm going to give Mr. Brandt, okay, the
[2:07:19] deeds and things that show that I don't
[2:07:21] know if we'll do anything with it
[2:07:23] because
[2:07:30] last
[2:07:32] >> we had a count hall, Lisa and I, and
[2:07:37] according to the signin sheet, a lot of
[2:07:40] people came. Okay, there were 73 people
[2:07:43] that signed up and another 20 that did
[2:07:46] not uh want to sign up. Unfortunately,
[2:07:48] for some reason, it was reported 40%
[2:07:50] less by Mr. Brandt who was there for all
[2:07:53] three hours. Don't know why. Perhaps
[2:07:56] counting wasn't his forte,
[2:07:59] but I don't appreciate minimizing it
[2:08:02] because
[2:08:04] >> no. [clears throat]
[2:08:07] [snorts] Okay. I don't want an answer.
[2:08:09] This isn't a dialogue. this is my time.
[2:08:13] So,
[2:08:14] we had a lot of people there, a lot of
[2:08:16] good conversations. We got to talk back
[2:08:18] and forth, okay? Which was rare,
[2:08:20] >> which is rare in this burrow. And we're
[2:08:24] going to have another one. We're going
[2:08:25] to try to do them quarterly, okay? And
[2:08:29] it would be nice if maybe the next time
[2:08:33] some of the other counselors, not more
[2:08:35] than four, and maybe some of the burrow
[2:08:38] people could come and listen to the
[2:08:42] people
[2:08:45] and not treat us
[2:08:47] like we have four eyes.
[2:08:52] So, we're going to have another one.
[2:08:55] It's great conversation. A lot of people
[2:08:56] came out and uh
[2:09:00] hopefully we'll we'll continue them
[2:09:02] because we're here for you guys, okay?
[2:09:05] We're here for you, not here for me.
[2:09:09] We're here for you and we want to hear
[2:09:11] you.
[2:09:17] » Okay.
[2:09:21] » Ray.
[2:09:22] >> Okay. So, I got a couple things to say.
[2:09:24] First, I want to apologize. I was in no
[2:09:26] way trying to doc dismiss you. I I
[2:09:30] apologize for that. I do believe in us
[2:09:32] having an open conversation about things
[2:09:34] and I I apologize. That was not cool in
[2:09:36] any way whatsoever. So, um I just want
[2:09:39] to put that out there. So, um the second
[2:09:41] thing I want to thank Jamie for a great
[2:09:44] uh low show. Um it's it's one of my
[2:09:47] favorite times in Pottown. I love seeing
[2:09:48] people come to town. The the car show
[2:09:50] people are such cool people. Um they're fun to mess with. I have a lot
[2:09:54] of fun messing with them. We sell water
[2:09:57] and pretzels and soda and energy drinks
[2:09:59] on behalf of the scouts and they're just
[2:10:01] a cool group of people and it's always
[2:10:04] fun for me to have youth engage such a
[2:10:07] great audience. Um and the uh the guys
[2:10:10] are always uh guys and gals I should say
[2:10:12] just you know uh they're always really
[2:10:15] engaging to the youth. So I really enjoy
[2:10:17] that. Um, I want to thank Mike and Andy
[2:10:19] from Parks and Wreck for having a great
[2:10:21] conversation. Um, there was a um, a
[2:10:23] recent adult soccer pickup program that
[2:10:25] was played over at Polloc Park. Um, I
[2:10:27] played three out of the four nights that
[2:10:29] we had things going on. Um, I was
[2:10:31] definitely the oldest guy in attendance.
[2:10:33] Uh, and probably the guy who that was
[2:10:35] the longest distance uh, from when they
[2:10:37] played soccer last to when they were
[2:10:39] playing soccer now. But, uh, it was
[2:10:41] still fun. Um, I think that, you know,
[2:10:43] Pollock Park and the soccer field and so
[2:10:46] having something like adult soccer is a
[2:10:48] great boon in our it's a great feather
[2:10:50] in our cap. You know, when you think
[2:10:52] about the idea of the art, you know,
[2:10:53] district and you think about the unique
[2:10:55] things that we have town downtown and we
[2:10:58] have great opportunities for people to
[2:10:59] buy houses and then there are these, you
[2:11:01] know, these really cool programs that
[2:11:03] happen. These are the things that
[2:11:04] attract people to our town and they're
[2:11:06] the people that attract really young
[2:11:07] people to our town that want to buy into
[2:11:09] our town. So I think that's a it's a
[2:11:11] great opportunity. I'm hoping that we
[2:11:13] can do something more with it uh in the
[2:11:15] future. Um but I definitely wanted to
[2:11:18] kind of uh shine a light on that. Um
[2:11:21] third thing or fourth thing I guess at
[2:11:23] this point uh so one of the things that
[2:11:25] when we when I joined the board, one of
[2:11:27] the things that we talked about was
[2:11:29] collaborate on what our vision of a
[2:11:31] board of the board is. uh what we sort
[2:11:33] of uh saw as like our hopes and dreams
[2:11:36] where we saw our commonalities uh where
[2:11:38] we saw maybe you know things that we saw
[2:11:41] to overlap. I I don't think that we have
[2:11:44] that yet and I do want to explore the
[2:11:47] idea of figuring out what our board is.
[2:11:49] I mean when I was on the school board I
[2:11:52] had always uh you know a vision to sort
[2:11:55] of call back on. Um, and I feel like we
[2:11:58] as a board don't kind of have that yet.
[2:12:00] And I would like to see that we would uh
[2:12:03] work on that idea in the spirit of what
[2:12:06] Andrew you were talking about in having
[2:12:08] conversation. And I do, you know, it's
[2:12:10] exciting that you guys had your town
[2:12:12] hall. It's great that you had a good
[2:12:13] turnout. Um, I heard there was a lot of
[2:12:15] great conversation there. I was unable
[2:12:16] to come. I had mentioned that I had
[2:12:18] emailed both you guys. I wasn't able to
[2:12:20] come because I was playing soccer that
[2:12:21] night. Um, in the spirit of that idea,
[2:12:24] what I want to propose, and I sent this
[2:12:26] to to Trita and Trinita looked over it
[2:12:29] and then it's something that's in front
[2:12:30] of Matthew now, is the idea of maybe us
[2:12:33] um having like a workshop at the end of
[2:12:35] like our voting meeting. So,
[2:12:36] historically speaking, our voting
[2:12:38] meeting tends to be last month was not
[2:12:40] the case, but uh it tends to be a little
[2:12:43] on the shorter side, right? It's looking
[2:12:44] like this uh Wednesday is or or Monday
[2:12:48] is not going to be the case either. But
[2:12:50] what I'm sort of proposing if we were to
[2:12:52] pick certain subjects in advance, we
[2:12:54] could have kind of like a workshop where
[2:12:56] we could talk about uh uh a topic,
[2:12:59] staying on topic, having a conversation,
[2:13:01] a back and forth, you know, riffing on
[2:13:03] each other idea, coming up with ideas in
[2:13:06] advance if there were stakeholders that
[2:13:08] we wanted to bring in or were interested
[2:13:09] in bringing in and we could have sort of
[2:13:11] like a like you were sort of talking
[2:13:13] like a town hall but really focusing on
[2:13:15] the idea of having a conversation about
[2:13:18] a given subject.
[2:13:19] uh at a board meeting to your point, we
[2:13:22] people need to see us deliberate and if
[2:13:24] we're not having uh conversations, then
[2:13:27] they don't know how we're deliberate,
[2:13:29] how our thought process is going. So, um
[2:13:31] I I would like to say that I did not
[2:13:34] come up with that idea of the workshop
[2:13:36] all on my own. I need to lay this at
[2:13:38] Mike Hayes, Laura Johnson, and David
[2:13:40] Charles feet. Uh they um helped me weigh
[2:13:43] in or they helped weigh in on the idea.
[2:13:45] So, it was not something that just came
[2:13:47] out of this brain. Uh there's other
[2:13:49] things that come out of the spring, but
[2:13:50] not that. So, all right.
[2:13:52] >> Okay. Um Ryan, I'm going to have you go
[2:13:56] next because Lisa want to take the last
[2:13:59] one next to last, I guess.
[2:14:01] >> Certainly comply. Of course, the low
[2:14:04] show was fantastic as usual. It's took
[2:14:06] me my son found a Lamborghini in the
[2:14:08] color that he liked. So, yeah. You know,
[2:14:11] it's, you know, it was really neat last
[2:14:14] year and then this year too. We usually
[2:14:16] we go into the alley, get a beer and sit
[2:14:18] there and then just really see all the,
[2:14:20] you know, what downtown is when
[2:14:22] something like that happens.
[2:14:24] >> I didn't hear anything negative comments
[2:14:26] at all or
[2:14:28] sorry Jamie had one incident, but uh
[2:14:31] thank our police department and looking
[2:14:33] forward to
[2:14:34] >> what he has come in the future.
[2:14:36] >> Absolutely.
[2:14:38] Lisa,
[2:14:39] >> I have a couple things. Okay. Um, first,
[2:14:42] I just want to address the banners. Um,
[2:14:45] I am glad to hear that Paid has offered
[2:14:49] to take down some of the IP pickstown
[2:14:51] banners and put up some of the veterans
[2:14:55] banners with people of color. Um, I have
[2:14:59] a hard time though accepting a
[2:15:02] three-page document from the burrow as I
[2:15:06] didn't read the entire three pages
[2:15:08] because to me it's it's a lot of excuse.
[2:15:13] Um, I don't know why this has taken so
[2:15:16] long. Um, I'm sure if that question was
[2:15:19] answered, it would be another bunch of
[2:15:22] excuses. To me, this doesn't need to be
[2:15:26] such a difficult issue and it did not
[2:15:28] need to drag on this long and I hope
[2:15:31] council will do something to speed this
[2:15:34] up.
[2:15:36] Okay. Um, I would like I guess this
[2:15:40] would be directed to our president and
[2:15:42] vice president to consider moving
[2:15:44] citizens comments up on Wednesday nights
[2:15:48] because I'm sure a lot of you that had
[2:15:49] something to say are tired and I'm sure
[2:15:52] some people have left because they
[2:15:54] couldn't sit and wait. Um, so I think we
[2:15:56] should consider that this is the
[2:15:59] people's meeting.
[2:16:01] And the last thing I want to address is
[2:16:02] kind of what we talked about already.
[2:16:04] Um, I just want to be clear that I have
[2:16:08] brought concerns as a resident and a
[2:16:12] council person about development
[2:16:14] decisions in Pottstown.
[2:16:18] Those concerns have been dismissed as
[2:16:20] they're personal.
[2:16:22] with a specific developer. I warned
[2:16:24] council about past developments, the
[2:16:26] material used, changing commitments, and
[2:16:29] what could happen if we continued
[2:16:30] granting zoning support, variances,
[2:16:32] waivers, and other accommodations.
[2:16:35] I expressed these concerns to every
[2:16:37] council member, but I was simply told I
[2:16:39] did not like him. My concerns have been
[2:16:42] based on experience. When the original
[2:16:45] church site design was denied,
[2:16:48] I was removed from a board in my
[2:16:50] development by the developer.
[2:16:53] And when he didn't get the outcome he
[2:16:54] wanted, he sought to remove two council
[2:16:57] members.
[2:17:00] My concerns have been based on
[2:17:03] experience.
[2:17:05] I want to know if council was aware of
[2:17:06] those two things that I just mentioned.
[2:17:09] Even after that, council was presented
[2:17:12] with a significantly better design. I
[2:17:15] voted to support that to zoning.
[2:17:19] I would like council to tell me again
[2:17:22] how that is personal and that wasn't the
[2:17:25] first project that I supported.
[2:17:32] Now, after I warned of all of this, we
[2:17:36] are back here dealing with changes,
[2:17:38] additional requests.
[2:17:40] Will the same behavior be displayed if
[2:17:43] we deny or don't support something?
[2:17:47] I have also questioned the continued
[2:17:49] support
[2:17:51] that the developer has received from our
[2:17:53] burrow manager and paid. I would like to
[2:17:56] understand
[2:17:58] why. Explain it to me why you
[2:18:01] continuously support this when you have
[2:18:04] evidence right in front of you that you
[2:18:07] have been told that for some reason I
[2:18:11] feel falls on deaf ears. So if you'd
[2:18:13] like to explain it to me, please I am
[2:18:16] all ears.
[2:18:19] There was two issues that were brought
[2:18:22] up. the church project um which was
[2:18:26] tabled to next month and I am still
[2:18:29] confused on how that happened right
[2:18:32] before this meeting.
[2:18:34] To me that's preventing the public from
[2:18:38] knowing things.
[2:18:41] Second, we are asked to approve waiverss
[2:18:44] on a separate project. Why? Why are we
[2:18:48] being asked this? What justifies
[2:18:50] continued relief? What has this
[2:18:53] developer done to give council
[2:18:54] confidence in granting more
[2:18:57] accommodations
[2:18:58] than what the original votes were based
[2:19:00] on?
[2:19:01] I've asked these questions before
[2:19:03] original before original support was
[2:19:05] given. My concerns were again dismissed.
[2:19:08] Many of the things I warned are now
[2:19:10] happening. So, I'm asking again, what is
[2:19:13] the basis for your votes and your
[2:19:15] support?
[2:19:18] My position is based on more than six
[2:19:21] years of experience. What I've observed,
[2:19:24] what has occurred where I live, and the
[2:19:26] evidence before us. Council can vote and
[2:19:30] move on, but the residents live with the
[2:19:32] construction, materials, and
[2:19:34] consequences of those decisions every
[2:19:36] day.
[2:19:37] This is not about personality. It's
[2:19:39] about accountability, transparency,
[2:19:42] credibility, standards, and whether
[2:19:44] commitments made to the bureau actually
[2:19:46] mean anything.
[2:19:48] I'm asking council to stop dismissing
[2:19:51] the messenger and examine the evidence.
[2:19:54] Residents deserve to know not only what
[2:19:56] decisions we make, but why. Pottstown
[2:20:00] deserves accountability and better than
[2:20:02] what we are giving.
[2:20:04] That's all.
[2:20:12] Well, I guess it's it's me now.
[2:20:14] [laughter] I messed up when I skipped
[2:20:17] over and got a little
[2:20:18] >> Sorry, that was my fault.
[2:20:19] >> That's okay. That's okay. I was like,
[2:20:20] "Wait a minute. Why I feel like I Okay.
[2:20:23] Um I just want to say uh Red Horse and
[2:20:27] Low Show did a fabulous job uh with the
[2:20:31] car show. It was packed and it was cars
[2:20:34] lined up. It was amazing. All the
[2:20:38] storefronts was looking beautiful. It
[2:20:40] was it was great. And um so that Sunday
[2:20:44] I went to go try to get I wanted to get
[2:20:46] um me one of the license plates and
[2:20:49] contribute to the library. And I went up
[2:20:52] there and I walked around and I said,
[2:20:54] "Oh, you know, it was a little line. I'm
[2:20:56] thinking it's maybe 10 people." It was
[2:20:59] not it. I don't I couldn't even count. I
[2:21:01] was
[2:21:02] I wasn't upset. I was emotionally
[2:21:06] happy that all these people was here for
[2:21:11] our library like now and they probably
[2:21:14] wasn't like majority but that line was
[2:21:16] long. So I'm going to take it that they
[2:21:18] was doing that for the library. I'm
[2:21:19] going I'm going to bless it that way. So
[2:21:22] I was I was so emotional. I said I kept
[2:21:25] and then every I'm standing there trying
[2:21:27] to record trying to do a video and
[2:21:29] people was like like kind of move me out
[2:21:31] the way because they like trying to get
[2:21:33] in the line. Um but it was so heartfelt
[2:21:37] and then I seen
[2:21:39] you there and I was like oh my he was
[2:21:42] working he [laughter]
[2:21:44] he was working he was doing his job. I
[2:21:46] was like look at I took pictures and
[2:21:48] stuff and I posted but um that made me
[2:21:50] feel good. That's that's pot right
[2:21:52] there. That right there, that's
[2:21:55] Pottstown. Okay. The cars was lined up.
[2:21:57] They was running the engines and stuff
[2:21:59] like that. It was It was It was nice.
[2:22:01] That was the Potts Town that I love
[2:22:04] right there. Um
[2:22:08] I'm I'm glad that the library got there
[2:22:10] got got some funding. So, that was good,
[2:22:12] too. Um the town hall meeting, I was
[2:22:14] there. I was at the town hall meeting
[2:22:16] and sat next to sat sat next to Dan um
[2:22:19] the burough council president, the last
[2:22:23] burough council president and his wife.
[2:22:24] So I they came to the meeting so I said
[2:22:26] we we sat near the back cuz I had to
[2:22:28] leave um and go to work cuz I had to be
[2:22:31] there early. So um but I was there and I
[2:22:34] caught up some some of the stuff and it
[2:22:36] was it was pretty good. I mean, you
[2:22:38] know, it was it was the you know, the
[2:22:40] sounding was a little off with the mic
[2:22:42] and everything, but other than that,
[2:22:44] they worked it out. Um,
[2:22:48] I think that's it for me cuz I'm going
[2:22:51] to go into
[2:22:56] the back to the agenda. Um, discussion
[2:22:59] and and potential action on the Heroes
[2:23:03] of Pottstown banner program.
[2:23:07] We'll deal with Oh, am I supposed to
[2:23:08] read that, too?
[2:23:09] >> Was that me? I couldn't remember. Oh,
[2:23:11] okay.
[2:23:12] >> Yeah, just that we're gonna talk about
[2:23:14] it.
[2:23:14] >> Okay. Okay. Okay.
[2:23:16] >> Okay. We will have a discussion and
[2:23:19] potential action on the Heroes of
[2:23:22] Pottstown banner program. We ask that
[2:23:25] everyone review the materials
[2:23:28] attached to the agenda and that's where
[2:23:31] it says a heroes banner program. Um,
[2:23:35] come with your thoughts for Monday's
[2:23:37] night's meeting and send them to us in
[2:23:40] advance.
[2:23:41] Actually, it's not us, not me. You going
[2:23:43] to send this to Justin or Zach?
[2:23:46] >> Yeah, you can send them to
[2:23:47] administration hottown.
[2:23:49] >> Yep. There you go.
[2:23:51] >> Okay.
[2:23:54] All right, counselors, everything is You
[2:23:57] have any questions about the last one?
[2:24:00] Okay. All right. I guess we're going to
[2:24:02] end this meeting
[2:24:04] at 9:24.
[2:24:08] 25. Okay. 9:25. Thank you. Drive safe.
[2:24:10] Be safe.