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03/16/2004: "Borough Council Appoints New Solicitor and Engineer"

Monday evening Perkasie Borough Council voted unanimously to select Ann Thornburg Weiss (photo at right) and Kate Harper, of Timoney Knox, LLP, as new Borough solicitors, replacing Mike Kracht, of Weber, Kracht & Chellew, who had submitted his resignation in December 2003. The new firm is located in Fort Washington, PA (I hope we're not paying time and mileage for travel!), and will be paid $100/hour for their services. The previous solicitor was paid $105/hour. Changing solicitors is no bargain for the Borough, however, as the new solicitor will have much to learn and it will be at Perkasie taxpayers' expense. Council didn't offer any explanation as to why a local firm more familiar with the borough wasn't selected. Council also voted to transfer all Borough-related files to the new solicitor, even for developments and legal matters near completion with the previous solicitor -- another move that could prove very wasteful of the taxpayers' dollars. They gave the new solicitor the option to involve the previous solicitor if she feels it would be advantageous to the Borough; seems kind of like letting the fox in the henhouse, but hopefully she'll at least get off to a good start with the Borough's best interests in mind.

In a much more controversial move, Council ... (continued; click the "more.." link below to read the rest of the story)

rehired the engineering firm of Boucher & James, Inc., headquartered in Doylestown, also with offices in Quakertown and Stroudsburg, to represent the Borough. Boucher & James is quite familiar with Perkasie -- they used to be the Borough engineer -- but were released by the previous Council because of a number of issues, including questions about costs and billing. What's especially disappointing about this move, though, is Council's complete disregard for their own Perkasie Planning Commission's recommendation, which had voted unanimously to urge Council to retain Schoor DePalma, the current engineering firm. Councilman Rich Hendricks pleaded with Council to consider the Planning Commission's recommendation (the Planning Commission deals much more closely with the engineers than does Council), but Council refused to even discuss it, making one wonder how much discussion is going on behind closed doors. The motion to change engineering firms carried 8-1, with Hendricks the only dissenting vote. Last meeting Council stepped all over the Park & Rec Board, this week the Planning Commission ... why even bother having these volunteers, most of whom volunteer a significant amount of time to serve the Borough and work very hard, if you're going to continually ignore their advice?!

As a final slam at the current engineer, Council President Lee Metzger and Vice President Eadie Burke voted not to accept the current engineer's monthly report to Council because a particular project wasn't referred to by the name they wanted -- the St. Andrew's division -- a name they found confusing (there are two St. Andrews churches in Perkasie), despite the correct address being included in the report eliminating any possibility of confusion. Metzger was apparently surprised that Council didn't go along with his wishes to reject the report, and claimed not to be able to distinguish the voice vote which the audience (and the Borough Manager) clearly heard to be 7-2 in favor of accepting the report. So Metzger called for a roll call vote, and Councilman McGonigal used the opportunity to change his vote making the final vote 6-3 in favor of accepting the report. Kudos to the majority of Council for standing up to the Council president on such a petty issue. But then Council again voted, at the urging of Councilman Hettel, to transfer all files immediately to the new engineering firm, again despite the fact that some projects are near completion and it would have been much more cost effective to allow Schoor DePalma to complete them for the Borough.

Council passed their final version of the new skate park rules (I'll post those here later). Metzger attempted to have Council set a date as a goal for getting the park open, but Council refused to go along with him and would not set a date. The game here is delay, delay, delay. There is no reason the skate park can't be opened in a few days -- very little work is left to be done. But Council is excusing their delays wanting the landscaping outside the park to be completed before opening the skate park itself. The kids couldn't care less whether or not the landscaping is done yet, but it's a convenient excuse for this new Council to delay the opening as long as they can. Only a continued flood of complaints to Councilmembers is likely to change that.

After refusing a local firm the opportunity to do business at the park (see commentary on the last meeting), Council agreed to contract with an outside company to provide vending services at the park. Coke will be the official supplier, refunding a commission of 35% on all sales to the Borough. Nice Vending, who currently provides the vending services at Menlo Pool, and would have offered both Coke and Pepsi along with almost certainly much better service, was declined because their commission rate was smaller. In addition to soda, one machine will offer healthier selections including fruit juices.

The Perkasie Fire Company asked for and received Council's blessing to hold their annual fundraising carnival at the Owls in August.

Council discussed briefly a request coming from the Pennridge Senior Center to guarantee mortgage payments for their new building obligating the Borough for up to $405,000 over 30 years. I'm strongly in favor of a new Senior Center for the Pennridge area, but have major problems with the way they've gone about trying to raise funds, and the ownership of the new building. I'll have more to say on that in a future commentary.