Council forgives $225K in back taxes, bills
POTTSTOWN » In an attempt to accommodate a developer interested in putting the former Pottstown Plating Works property back into productive use, Borough Council unanimously agreed Feb. 12 to forgive more than $225,000 in back taxes and water/sewer bills it had already given up hope of every receiving.
The tax forgiveness does not come without conditions.
The council must receive and approve a business plan for the redevelopment of the property before the back bills and taxes — dating back to 2008 — are officially forgiven, said council President Dan Weand.
Council’s action is the first of several that must occur for things to move forward with the property — located at the intersection of South Washington Street and Industrial Highway.
The property also owes more than $308,000 in back taxes to the Pottstown School District.
Interim borough manager Just Keller said he had been in contact with schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez.
There are other costs involved as well — fees and fines for the Montgomery County Tax Claim Borough and Portnoff Associates, the law firm which does borough collections for over-due water and sewer bills.
“Quite frankly we’re lucky to have a developer willing to take on these risks and expenses.” Justin Keller, Interim Borough Manager, Pottstown
These fees — which when added on to the original back school and borough taxes and
bills add another $210,000plus to the total liability —
cannot be waived by council or the school board.
All total, the property, which was the site of an environmental clean-up by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, carries a financial burden of more than $745,000 before one shovel goes into the ground.
There is also the potential liability of what lies under the ground.
In 2013, the DEP spend more than $500,000 removing dangerous chemicals and other threats from the site, but it is unclear whether any other further clean-up or environmental
assessment has been done there, said Keller.
The company, which performed electroplating, opened in 1950 and closed in 2009 just before going bankrupt, according to the DEP.
When the DEP inspected the site in 2009, it found a number of environmental issues that needed to be addressed and the company’s owners hied a contractor
to removed hazardous waste there.
However, work stopped in 2010 “due to lack of funding,” and when the DEP issued an order for the cleanup to continue in October 2011, no further action was taken, so the DEP stepped in to complete the job.
“Quite frankly we’re lucky to have a developer willing to take on these risks and expenses,” said
Keller, who noted that the developer was brought to the table through the efforts of Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of Pottstown Area Industrial Development inc., the borough’s economic development arm.
Although he would not release the name of the developer yet, Keller said there are plans to invest $2 million at the site.