Schools, borough join forces
Goal of plan is to make Pottstown a better place to live
POTTSTOWN » Borough council and the Pottstown School Board have adopted a sustainability plan more than three years in the making and which may be the only one in the state that applies to both a municipality and a school district.
That is made easier, obviously, because both entities share the same borders.
Jon Lesher, a planner with the Montgomery County Planning commission who has worked on the plan since its inception, told a joint meeting of both boards he believes it is the only one in Pennsylvania to also include a school district.
It looks at, and makes recommendations abut everything from efficient energy consumption, recycling, stormwater management.
The plan is available on online at both the borough and school district websites.
The plan has several goals and aims at making Pottstown a vibrant, economically and environmentally sustainable place to live, said Donna Fabry, an environmental planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission, which wrote plan in
consultation with several committees established to investigate and recommend particular aspects of the plan.
The plan also identifies potential funding sources to pay for the initiatives.
It is organized around three broad principles — infrastructure, education and “connected communities,” a principle which mirrors Montgomery County’s comprehensive plan, “Montco 2040: A Shared vision.”
That may be why Fabry said the sustainability plan puts Pottstown in a good position to access the $1.5 million grant pool the county has set aside to advance the goals of Montco 2040.
In the county plan, “connected communities” refers to increasing and improving trails natural areas and parks; supporting strong downtowns and community destinations like libraries; and encouraging partnerships among governments, schools, businesses and institutions.
In the sustainability plan, a “connected community” is one that respects equity for all who live, work and play in Pottstown, as well as “recognizing how diversity contributes to the identity of Pottstown as a whole.”
The sustainability plans goals include conserving, protecting and enhancing Pottstown’s environment, both built and natural.
Enhancing economic growth and revitalization opportunities and enhancing well-being by providing opportunities to make healthy choices are also among the sustainability plan’s goals.
Direct actions that can advance those goals include increases tree cover in the borough to decrease heat and carbon pollution, as well as to absorb stormwater; increase recycling volumes; increase access to community gardens and locally grown healthy food.
Progress on increasing tree cover was evidenced the same night the sustainability plan was adopted when a plan by the Rotary Club to celebrate its 100th anniversary by starting a tree farm at Pottstown High School with 100 trees was outlined.
Some sustainability goals have already been met or are underway.
They include the elementary school renovations which met LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards and retrofitting lights in the borough hall parking lot with energy efficient LEDs.
Others, such as replacing all street lights with LEDs have been considered, but then rejected by borough council as too costly.
In determining these goals and actions, the sustainability plans authors looked at a broad variety of data points; things like power usage and costs and borough and school facilities; the number of grocery stores in the borough and whether fresh food was available; smoking rates; obesity; stormwater run-off.
Categories for action were identified, which include energy and sustainable buildings; green infrastructure; health and nutrition; the local economy; environmental stewardship and education and outreach.
Specific actions that can be taken jointly or independently all fit into one of those categories and relate to the broader goals.
Fabry gave the boards three examples Monday night of the kinds of initiatives that the sustainability plan envisions.
One was the conversion of the long-vacant Fecera’s Funiture warehouse at Beech and Evans Street into affordable apartments and the new home of the ArtFusion 19464 studio and school.
The other two are at in the parking lot of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area headquarters in Riverfront Park — wind turbines which generate some of the building’s electricity and a parking lot with rain gardens and porous pavement designed to absorb stormwater instead of funneling it onto the borough’s waterways.
Much of the plan concludes with a broad list of suggested actions the borough and school district could take either separately or jointly; lists the benefits as well as helpfully identifying potential funding sources — grants in particular.
That was the reason given by Borough Councilman Dennis Arms for voting against the plan. He said while he applauds the goals, he worries that things paid for with grants then need to be maintained with money the borough does not have.
Arms and Councilwoman Rita Paez cast the only votes against implementing the plan. Paez offered no public rationale for her vote.