Borough working to ease burden
Tax deadline delayed; parking fees lifted
POTTSTOWN » As the ever-increasing restrictions of coronavirus close out another week, borough and business leaders are taking steps to ease burdens on residents where they can.
They include suspending water shut-offs, extending property tax deadlines and lifting fees for parking.
“Borough hall remains closed to the public for the health and safety of not only the public, but for the employees working in the borough and to be in compliance with Governor Wolf’s stay-athome-declaration,” according to information released Friday by the borough.
The administration and each department throughout the borough is staffed during normal business hours and can be reached either by phone or by email. Contacts are listed at — www.pottstown.org — on the borough’s website.
On Monday, Borough Manager Justin Keller announced the borough will suspend any water shutoffs until May 1, when the situation will be re-evaluated.
Friday, the borough issued a list of other actions being taken to ease the burden on residents, including extending the property tax deadline to May 31, although council must still approve this step at its April meeting.
(Given restrictions on gathering of large groups, that meeting is likely to occur on the Internet in some fashion, as North Coventry Supervisors did March 23.)
Assuming council approves the tax deadline extension, borough officials indicated “payments are being accepted over the phone (610-970-6530), through the website, or drop box located in the police department entrance.”
Mail, drop box payments and paperwork received in borough hall will be quarantined for a period of three days; “however, payments and paperwork will be marked received on the day it is deposited into the drop box or received through the mail,” according to the borough announcement.
Here are some other measures the borough has taken or is assisting:
Free parking in the downtown and municipal lots until further noticePottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART) passengers need only show photo identification and Medicare card to ride the buses for free or half-fare, as eligible.Ricketts Community Center, located at 658 Beech St., is distributing children’s take-out breakfast and lunch kits Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.Parks, walking and biking trials remain open with requirement that six-feet of social distancing between individuals be maintained, as recommended by health officials.However, some recreational facilities such as playgrounds and the picnic pavilion have been closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.Extensive daily cleaning and disinfecting is being conducted in borough hall and borough buildings.
The borough enacted an emergency declaration on March 18, and renewed it a week later.
The primary purpose of the declaration was to release officials from bidding requirements when spending public money, as well as to make Pottstown eligible for whatever emergency funds are provided by the state and federal governments to recoup costs related to the emergency.
Residents are also reminded that no matter what the label says, the disinfecting wipes being used in greater number to kill the coronavirus on surfaces are not flushable and will clog a home’s plumbing, and the wider sewer system.
Throw them in the trash instead.
The business closures order by Gov. Wolf have put a burden on the many new restaurants that have opened in the borough in the past year.
Peggy Lee-Clark, the executive director of PAID, the borough’s economic development efforts, now sends daily emails and holds a daily 3 p.m. conference call to provide updated, accurate, and crucial federal and state guidelines to Pottstown’s business community.
Information on what businesses remain open and what services they continue to offer can also be found on PAID’s website: https://ipickpottstown.com/2020/03/17/ covid-19-pottstown-business-updates/
Business information is also available by email info@paidinc.org or phone 610-326-2900.
“PAID is urging visitors and residents to continue the momentum of the downtown by supporting the restaurants and businesses that have made investments in Pottstown by ordering take-out meals, many of which can be provided as curbside pick-up, or buying gift cards for future use,” according to the borough release.
Despite the economic challenges, some local businesses, such as Little Italy, Uptown Flavors and Donut NV, have been providing free food to local school children usually fed through the school system.
The owners of The Alley on High Street are selling T-shirts urging people to wash their hands. The proceeds benefit the efforts of the Pottstown Cluster’s food pantry.