Township moves forward with building on protected land
Despite public opposition, construction entrance built, engineering study posted
Despite a lawsuit and protests by residents, the township is moving fullspeed ahead with its plans to build a $5.5 million municipal complex on a farm purchased to be protected open space.
Township crews recently build a “construction entrance” at the site of the former Smola farm on Evans Road between Farmington Avenue and West Moyer Road.
The stone entrance was built, said Township Manager Michelle Reddick, to reduce the amount of mud that gets tracked onto the road by vehicles preparing the site for the construction of the complex planned to house the highway and police departments as well as the administrative offices.
Reddick said since a township crew was used, the cost was under the $5,000 spending threshold over which she needs the approval of the board of commissioners.
However, the entrance was built because it was requested by a commissioner, or two — she just can’t remember which one.
There was no vote of the full board of commissioners to undertake the construction of the entrance. It was decided, she said, at a staff meeting regarding the municipal complex project.
“It was two or three weeks ago and I can’t remember who was there,” Reddick said. “Sometimes Trace (Slinkerd, township commissioners chairman) comes to those meetings, sometimes it’s Don (Read, a commissioner) and sometimes it’s Hank (Llewellyn, a commissioner).”
Rarely included in these meetings are the other two township commissioners, Cathy Paretti and Dave Waldt.
“Yes, you may assume that myself and Dave Waldt were not included in this ‘board request.’ Since resolution 749 was voted on we are not consulted on any decisions being made,” Paretti, who resigned as vice president last month because she said Slinkerd is exercising “artificial power,” wrote in response to a Mercury query.
“This is because Section 6 of the resolution gives all decision-making powers to the president. It was one of the two reasons we voted no,” Paretti wrote.
The resolution to which she referred was adopted in August.
It not only named the site and architecture firm but the last clause “authorizes the president of the board or a person duly appointed by the president of the board, to make decisions and to execute documents related to the construction and completion of the township municipal building as may be required during the design and completion of the same. The president of the board may request further board approval of such items he or she feels better suited for board-level decisions or at the recommendation of the township solicitor.”
An environmental study of the site was performed by CMC Engineering, according to a post on the township’s website.
According to CMC, “the municipal complex is well suited for the Smola tract considering the minimal impact to the overall site, the possibilities of expanding the use of the land to include a municipal recreation complex that expands trail connections, provides additional public recreation/programming opportunities while preserving/ encouraging natural open space areas that promote plant/wildlife biodiversity.”
CMC reports that “the municipal complex (administrative/police offices, public works facility and associated paving) comprises a total of 1.2 acres of impervious surface area or 3 percent of the total Smola tract.” The total acreage of the site is 35.2 acres.
However, CMC is also suggesting further development of the site for recreational purposes, according to the posting.
According to CMC, the site “is a suitable location from an engineering, architectural, and environmental perspective to build a municipal complex that not only includes the police, administrative and public works facilities but expands upon the recreation needs of the community. The Board of Commissioners should consider developing the remainder of the Smola tract for public recreation use and ecological preservation, creating a municipal complex that also includes the following amenities:
• Development of the Tri-County Upper West Trail segment through the property, allowing trail users and municipal residents to walk/hike between the Perkiomen Trail and the Schuylkill River while also being able to walk to community meetings/events that would occur at the municipal site.
• Offer recreation amenities and programs that were found to be lacking within the community, as identified in the 2020 Municipal Open Space Plan. Some amenities and/or programs, listed in the Open Space Plan, may be better suited for a municipal complex/ recreation facility where support facilities (parking, restrooms, meeting rooms) are easily accessible. (That same open space plan listed the Smola property as “Public Permanently Protected Land.”)
• Develop wetland, drainage channel and riparian buffers throughout the property, contributing to the health of the Manatawny and Sprogels Run watersheds. Both watersheds not only contribute to the water quality of the Schuylkill River but provide habitat for plant/animal species bio-diversity.
• Minimize lawn maintenance and allow meadows/ forested areas to naturalize the remainder of the complex property. Naturalized land areas further increase plant/animal species biodiversity within the Upper Pottsgrove area, unlike the monoculture of the existing soybean farm (contains little to no wildlife/plant diversity value).”
This apparent progress on the project continues while, at the same time, a lawsuit designed to stop this kind of work also progresses.
Last month, Montgomery County Senior Judge Bernard Moore denied the request made on Jan. 30 by lawyer and former state representative Kate Harper on behalf of her clients Matthew Murray and Nathaniel Guest for an emergency injunction to stop the work and spending of any taxpayer money until the question of whether the township has the right to develop on protected open space is determined by the court.
But despite the failure of the injunction, the lawsuit itself continues to make its way through the court.
On March 3, the township filed its official 14-page response to the lawsuit by Murray and Guest, in which it refuted, point by point, the allegations made in the original complaint.
Murray has established a GoFundMe account to raise money for legal expenses. As of Wednesday night, it had raised nearly $9,500 toward a $20,000 goal. Those not online can mail a check made out to Matt Murray to Save Smola Farm, PO Box 362 Gilbertsville Pa 19525.
The work on the municipal complex is also moving forward despite the objections of residents who have attended the last two public meetings.
At the Jan. 17 meeting, a standing-room-only crowd, carrying signs, spoke out at length about the township’s plans, arguing that not only had money raised by a voter-approved earned income tax hike for the protection of open space been used to finance the purchase of the property, but the original owner had only sold it under assurances from township officials that it would never be developed.
A similar scene unfolded at the Feb. 21 meeting when all seats in the meeting room were filled at that meeting and roughly 20 more people stood in the hall as nearly every speaker urged against the township’s current plans.”
The most recent scheduled meeting on March 20 was canceled due to water damage causing mold in the township offices. The next scheduled commissioners’ meeting is Wednesday, March 29, at 11 a.m.