Potpourri for the week of 8/30 - 9/5

It sure has been an interseting week! What shall this week bring? Just a reminder there is a football game on Fri Sept 4. Come out and show your pride for Morrisville.

Observations part 3

It has been some time that we can remember a school board meeting generating so many comments and responses! Thank you to all who keep the comments coming! There were a few more things that need mentioning that have not been brought up yet.

First, where are all of the supporters of Hellmann and Co. and the "stay on track" crew? After talking to those that were in attendance, the only supporters of the Hellmann regime in attendance were the Hughes sisters, and Ron Stout. To us it seems like there is not much support for them at all. Talking to folks around town, people are tired of the same folks running the show year after year. This goes for borough council as well as school board.

Hellmann and his band of cronys have done serious damage to our schools and our town. The cost of educating a child in Morrisville has gone up since they took control of the board. When the school board president says not to invest in Morrisville we have a serious problem. Hellmann has even been quoted as saying Morrisville is too small to have its own school district. http://savethemorrisvilleschool.blogspot.com/2009/02/independent-or-consolidated.html
He most recently stated at the 8/26 board meeting that "we are not obligated to provide kindergarten". Is kindergarten your next service to be cut Mr. Hellmann? It's really simple..Hellmann, Radosti, Mihok and their followers like Jack Buckman, Ron Stout and Brenda Worob are more interested in lowering taxes than educating our students. At least Bill Farrell makes somewhat rational votes. We are not quite ready to lump him in with the like of Hellmann, Radosti, and Mihok. Speaking of Buckman and Worob, they cannot deny that they voted with Hellmann over 90% of the time! And Mr. Buckman, can you share with everyone why you get a special payment plan for your overdue sewer and water bills? What is the interest rate? What is the expected payoff date?

Yes, we got off on a tangent, but the fact remains... under the current leadership of Bill Hellmann, we have not gone forward, we have gone back. We need people with a vision, and common sense to be on our school board. Do you honestly think Ron Stout has anything to offer the students, parents, and citizens of Morrisville? Didn't think so. Think about it... a school board consisting of Bill Hellmann, "Angry" Al Radosti, Marlys " I will never be responsible for anyone's children" Mihok, Brenda Worob, Jack Buckman,and Ron Stout? That is a scary thought. Please spread the word about what these people are doing to our school district, and to our town. Enough is enough...vote them out.

Observations Part 2

Question?? Why has there not been an article about the meeting on the online edition of the BCCT? Unless we missed it, which is possible, we have seen no reporting in the press about the meeting. Could it be that P.W. may have something to do with this? Could her idea of making Morrisville "look good" consist of misinformation that is reported( 21k per student), or no information at all given to the press. Surley there was a a reporter at the meeting. Where is the story. Of course if it appeared in the regular printed newspaper this theory gets thrown out. and our apologies to P.W. By the way could someone give her a map, so she knows where she is going in the schools.

Any observations from last nights meeting?

From what we've been told it seems like "Angry" Al Radosti was looking real angry last night. And Bill Hellman is continuing to talk of a finincial crisis that is ever looming. We did hear that Laurie Ruffing was approved for the permanent elemantary principal position. Congratulations Ms. Ruffing!! And probably the biggest news of the night was the board in a suprising vote actually did something right. The board voted 4-3 to hire a 4th kindergarten teacher. Only Hellman, Radosti, and Mihok voted against hiring a new teacher. Oh, and what's this we hear about a "new" book being donated to the board by Mr. Ronald Stout?

Changes coming for students

from the BCCT:


Changes coming for students

By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The new Morrisville Intermediate School for grades four through eight will be housed in Morrisville High School this year.
Students will enter a newly renovated Morrisville High School building this fall. The district began a $4 million renovation process this summer to install new ventilation systems, a boiler system, all new windows and some doors, an updated electrical system, asbestos removal and air conditioning in some common areas of the 50-year-old school.
Grandview Elementary School is next in line for renovations.
This year, Morrisville is redistricting its students, with grades four through eight - the new Morrisville Intermediate School - sharing the Morrisville High School building on West Palmer Street with grades nine to 12. Grades four to six will be housed in one section of the building, and grades seven and eight will get their own section as well. Grades nine to 12 also will get their own wing.
Grades pre-K to three will be taught in Grandview.
Morrisville serves more than 980 students in three schools. It employs about 130 people and runs on a roughly $18.5 million annual budget. For information, visit www.mv.org.
WHO'S WHO IN THE SCHOOLS
Superintendent: Dr. Elizabeth Hammond Yonson, 215-736-2681, ext. 5931
Special education coordinator: Tony Gesualdi, ext. 5926
Business administrator: Paul DeAngelo, ext. 5926
Director of facilities: Tim Lastichen, ext. 5924
Psychologist: Jenna Meshanko, ext. 5926
IT director: Joe Myat, jmyat@mv.org
Principals:
Morrisville Intermediate School/Morrisville High School (grades 6-12): William Ferrara, 215-736-2681

Grandview Elementary School/Morrisville Intermediate School (grades Pre-K-5): Laurie Ruffing, 215-736-5280
School board:
William Hellmann, Alfred A. Radosti, Joseph Kemp, William M. Farrell, John Buckman, Gloria Heater, Marlys Mihok, Robin M. Reithmeyer and Brenda Worob.
The board meets at 7 p.m. on the third and fourth Wednesdays of the month, except in July. A meeting is scheduled for tonight. Public work sessions and public board meetings are held in the LGI room of Morrisville High School. To reach the school board, visit www.mv.org and follow the links.
2009-10 School Calendar:
Sept. 8, first day for students
Sept. 28, Yom Kippur, no school
Oct. 26-Nov. 6, PSSA grade 12 retest
Nov. 3, staff in-service day, no school
Nov. 13, early dismissal
Nov. 24, early dismissal
Nov. 25- 27, Thanksgiving recess
Dec. 24-Jan. 3, winter recess
Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no school
Jan. 29, early dismissal
Feb. 12, staff in-service day, no school
Feb. 15, Presidents Day, no school
March 31, staff in-service day, no school
April 1-5, spring recess
April 12, early dismissal
April 12-16, PSSA reading and math days for grades 3 to 8 and 11
April 19-23, PSSA writing days for grades 5, 8 and 11
April 26-30, PSSA science days for grades 4, 8 and 11
May 18, staff in-service day, no school
May 31, Memorial Day, no school
June 15, last day of school, graduation (tentative)
Information provided by Morrisville School District

Football season is upon us

For all of you football fans out there. Below is a link to the football schedule for our Morrisville Bulldogs!! Best of luck this year guys!!

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/SPkrivDyUEe4O8t1Na05mg/morrisville-bulldogs/football/schedule.htm

Meeting reminder

Just a reminder of the school board meetings this week. First is the policy committee meeting which will start at 6:30pm in the G hall conference room of the ISHS. Following the policy committee meeting, the regular meeting will take place in the LGI room of the ISHS.

Pass along this info to other parents and neighbors. Remember an important election is coming up, and we need to show this board majority that we will not be bullied any longer. Morrisville deserves better.

from mv.org
Board of Ed
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Policy Comittee
All Committee meetings will be held in the G Hall Conference Room of the Morrisville Intermediate High School.

Site: HS G Hall Conference Room
Time: 6:30 pm

One-way traffic at Grandview Ave.

Just a reminder..


from mv.org

One-way traffic at Grandview Ave.
One-way traffic at Grandview (Northbound from Barnsley Ave. to Melvin Ave.) will begin again 8/21/09.

Board of Ed
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
The monthly school board meeting will be held in the LGI room located in the Intermediate High School at 7:30 p.m. in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Intermediate High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.

Site: HS LGI
Time: 7:30 pm

The Board makes a statement....

We would assume that the board as a whole is the author of the following leter to the BCCT since there is no single person with his/her name attached. It sounds alot like Bill Hellmann with some Marlys "I won't ever be reponsible for someone else's children" Mihok, and even some Sharon "The board is doing a great job..rah rah rah" Hughes qualities. We have several issues with what he/she or they wrote. First, put your name on the letter. If the paper made a mistake, it's on them, but if the ghostwriter cannot even put their name on a letter, what does that say about your credibility? The writer mentions all of the savings to the taxpayer, but forgets to mention that they are operating with 1 less school. Surley that is part of the savings. "We want the public to see what we are seeing - genuine progress and genuine pride in what is happening in Morrisville schools." Are you kidding?? This is a new one. Now they are borrowing/stealing lines from their opposition in the upcoming election. This board majority has NEVER asked for public input, and never cared to show what they were doing. You want to see what this board has done?....drive on over to M.R. Reiter , there you will see a shell of what used to be a school. Need to see more of what this board has done....drive on over to Grandview school...here you will find trailers parked on top of what used to be a playground for the students. Want to see more....Head on over to the Intermediate/High School, or whatever they are calling it these days on the first day of school. Here you are likely to find the most dangerous traffic snafu in town. Created by......The Morrisville School Board. Thank Guys! What else has the board done "well"? After all they want the public to know what they are doing...let's get it all out and clear the air!


from the BCCT:
On the road to financial stability and educational quality
Bucks County Courier Times
The Morrisville School District has completed, or is in the process of completing, three important matters. And so it is a good time to outline what we are doing to improve our financial footing and our facilities.

First, we have reduced our expensive debt load significantly; secondly, we are in the process of upgrading two school buildings that will be in excellent shape when completed; and lastly, streamlining our educational and business operations.

Morrisville is a small town with a very limited tax base, yet we have the highest school tax millage rate in Bucks County! Our small school district with a total enrollment of approximately 830 students (K-12) does not have the broader tax base of districts like Council Rock, Pennsbury or Neshaminy.

This is why it is incumbent upon our school board and the administration to do the best we can with what we have and improve efficiency wherever we can. This board's policy is to demand value for every tax dollar we spend and, unbelievably, some have criticized us for that.

For the most part, we are a school board with a philosophy that sees the school district "checking account" with a fresh eye and most of us try to treat it like our own household account. This is a basic, best business practice that does not conflict with providing a very good educational program.

Here are some of the facts: In January 2008, our board refunded early a substantial portion of expensive bonds we inherited and saved our residents more than $34 million, which amounts to thousands of dollars for each home in our borough. We are proud of that.

We also added more than a million dollars to the general fund balance through reduced debt service that was owed in April 2008. This money will be used for the education of our children instead of being paid out to "wealthy" bond investors.

In June 2008, we hired an outstanding special education manager (Anthony Gesualdi) who is in the process of making our special education department more efficient, while he is clearly mindful that services are not reduced for our special needs students.

We want the public to know that we, the Morrisville school board, decreased school taxes two years in a row with no cuts in educational quality, programs or athletics.

For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2009 and June 30, 2010, the board decreased school taxes.

For the new fiscal year, July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the board - in cooperation with a mostly new administration, decreased the annual, general operating budget by a total of approximately $1.5 million.

When was the last time this happened in Morrisville or anywhere else in the state of Pennsylvania? The answer is NEVER.

School superintendent Beth Yonson assured the public that "all the cuts will not change any of the programs we've been doing."

I don't want to criticize the previous board of education because the election is over, but the public should be aware that two years ago voters rejected a plan to build a new K-12 school building that would have resulted in a huge tax increase for each homeowner in a town struggling during this economic downturn. We have put aside any plan for a new school and concentrated on effective money management, responsible spending and renovation.

Among the decisions approved by the school board are improvements to school buildings that were sorely in need of maintenance and repair. For example, we are now performing substantial interior upgrades to the middle/senior high school, again, without raising taxes. The cost is an estimated $4 million and includes new boilers, new unit ventilators, electrical, HVAC upgrades and more. The changes are expected to be in place when the students arrive in September.

Also, another (approximate) $2.5 million will be spent on the Grandview Elementary School for new windows, boilers, electrical and plumbing upgrades and HVAC upgrades. The new windows for Grandview are energy efficient and will make the building warmer for our children in winter.

Eleven teachers accepted an early retirement incentive program offered this year. The teachers were replaced by other teachers who come to the district with fresh enthusiasm and excellent credentials. This is another plus for Morrisville.

I have written this letter to clarify misunderstandings and misinformation and to point out that tough decisions are being made every month as we try to strike a balance between our obligation to spend wisely and our obligation to provide quality education and a safe environment for our students. This balance and this goal is what we strive for month after month. We want the public to see what we are seeing - genuine progress and genuine pride in what is happening in Morrisville schools.

Potpourri for the week of 8/16 - 8/23

Your place to rant/rave about any topic!

NAACP vigil draws more than 100 people

from the BCCT:

NAACP vigil draws more than 100 people
Posted in News on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 10:25 pm by James McGinnis

NAACP Director John Jordan demanded an “end to plantation politics” in Bucks County Wednesday during a prayer vigil outside the Bristol Township municipal building.

The organization’s vigil drew more than 100 people, including many local Democratic leaders, who stood under a light rain to ask God for the strength to affect change in their community.

Jordan said the African American community would “graciously accept the apologies” of two local candidates who he accused of making racist statements. But he also pledged to form a race relations committee that will work for more inclusion or minorities in the governments of Lower Bucks.

The NAACP also encouraged those in attendance Wednesday to sign a petition and have David Marucci, a candidate Bristol Borough Council, removed from the ballot by the Bucks County Board of Elections.

Jordan said he would use “every legal technique” to have Marucci removed from the ballot. That could be difficult. County elections officials said they were not aware of any way in which a candidate could be removed from the ballot for alleged racist statements.

Marucci was charged by Bristol Borough police with harassment of Councilwoman Robyn Trunell. Trunell said Marucci used racial and sexual slurs. Marucci has declined comment on the allegations.


Lillian Frazier of Bristol Borough said she “didn’t like that face that was presented of my community” in the allegations. “It is as though a sleeping giant has awoken. It’s scary and sad to see something like this in my own community.”

Sarah Robinson of Bensalem said she believed America had overcome racism.

“I thought we had overcome this,” she said. “But when you hear about things like these incidents, you wonder: Just how far have we come, and how quickly can we fall back?”

The "town hell" pheonomenon

Morrisville gets a mention in this piece. Who is the Morrisville council member Mullane is referring to?

from the BCCT:

The 'town hell' phenomenon

By: JOHN MULLANE
Bucks County Courier Times
In the early 1990s, the Bristol Township school board planned to raise taxes, big.
Meetings became tumultuous and, when more than a thousand people jammed a high school auditorium to scream, jeer and boo the board, the cops were called.
These kinds of school board meetings went on for several weeks. Board members had their cars vandalized. Death threats were made.
I asked one of the members why the board didn't cancel the meetings or walk out.
"Be a wimp?" he said.
I thought of this when I saw how members of Congress, confronted by constituents upset over proposed national health care legislation, are canceling town halls because some meetings have turned into "town hells."
Federal legislators have been grilled and yelled at, insulted and threatened by voters who have been characterized in media accounts as malcontents stirring trouble to create embarrassing "YouTube" moments.
Perhaps some are. In Bucks County, I didn't see that at the two meetings held by Congressman Patrick Murphy. Attendees were locals concerned that the feds - who cannot run a used car trade-in program without screwing it up - may soon be running the health care industry.
At Murphy's events, there were heated exchanges - health care is an emotional issue - but nothing uncivil, really. Still, reports came in that town hall meetings in St. Louis and Tampa turned "violent." After watching videos of these events, all I saw was some arguing, pushing, shoving, chanting and maybe - maybe -someone threw a punch. Big deal.
To anyone who attends local town meetings, this is not unknown. As someone who spent many years covering local government, I have seen far worse. Guns, stalking, fist fights, tossed garbage, flattened tires and vandalism.
The general punditocracy seems to think that town hall meetings are to be conducted in the manner of oral arguments before the Supreme Court.
Maybe it comes from some dreamy Rockwellian vision of the common Joe standing to speak his mind at borough hall while neighbors sit, rapt. Right.
I departed from a Morrisville council meeting to find a councilman attempting to pummel a resident who had harassed him during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Morrisville also had one of its cops stationed at council meetings because one meeting-goer carried a concealed gun, and there were troubling rumors that other meeting-goers, fearing the gun carrier, also began bringing firearms to meetings.
Fighting? How about two Bristol councilmen in a showdown in the parking lot after a particularly stormy meeting?
Threats? How about the Bristol Township commissioner who found a dead fish on his front step with a rolled dollar bill tucked in its mouth. It was a cryptic message, the police chief told me, indicating the commissioner should vote the "right way" or he would "sleep with the fishes."
How about meeting weirdness?
? A man dressed as a Leni Lenape in moccasins and a long, feathered headdress protesting a trash incinerating plant in Falls;
? A woman who rose at public comment solely to insult the Bristol Township mayor's newly fitted toupee;
? A man who dropped frozen beavers on the floor in front of the Falls supervisors.
Democracy is messy. One needs the testicular fortitude to face the frenzy.
Not so our national leaders, who come off as delicate hot-house flowers, unable to take the heat, or a punch.
Across the country, they are canceling town hall meetings on health care. Some are replacing them with "telephone town hall." (You must sign up, and the legislator's staff hand-picks who gets to participate in a glorified conference call.)
How are our national leaders reacting to the "town hell" phenom?
Sen. Arlen Specter is out and about this week, facing the madding crowds.
But Sen. Bob Casey Jr. has no public appearances until Sept. 17, and has not announced his August schedule.
Meanwhile, Congressman Murphy has no plans for public discussion. Maybe in national politics, that makes you wise. In certain quarters of Bucks County politics, it makes you a wimp.

Potpourri for the week of 8/9 - 8/15

Just received our Morrisville Times paper

We just received our Morrisville Times Newspaper and in it on page 5 was an ad from the folks over at Morrisville Pride. Nice ad guys.

There was also an article about the board hiring a communications director. Missing from the article was the fact that no one was interviewed for the position, and resumes were only turned in the day before the meeting. Also missing was the fact that that she worked for board solicitor Mike Fitzpatrick.

Pennsylvania, A state of corruption

Here it is the section where you can put all commentary for Steve Worobs book. We have not had the opportunity to read it yet, but word around town is that Steve pretty much comes across as a big cry baby, and refuses to take responsibility for his actions. If anyone has read the book feel free to post your own review here. We have moved some of the comments from the book from other posts here also.

From Amazon.com:



1.0 out of 5 stars Diarrhea of Mad Man, August 1, 2009
By
Spider (PA, USA) - See all my reviewsA charitable 1 star. A sad compendium of a man's obsessive quest to root out what he sees as pervasive corruption in Pennsylvania education, justice, and politics. Many years in the making, yet poorly edited and grammatically mediocre. Despite scads of mentions of people, places, and things, it is not indexed, footnoted, or cross-referenced. Worob portrays himself as the pitiable victim of a massive conspiracy, yet doesn't present much real evidence other than junior league sloppy bookkeeping and management, loose affiliations, opinion, and flimsy guilt-by-association. He displays tremendous self-righteousness and disregard for others in his ruthless pursuit of vendetta. He comes across as guilty of many of the nasty actions and tactics of which he accuses others. Worob gets his day in court and blows it, losing a $120,000 lawsuit filed against him by a former Schools Superintendent for his multi-year stream of allegations against him. Unable to face his defeat (in which he represented himself in court), he blames his failure on everyone but himself. Ironically, he comes across like the school student who didn't study and then blames his F on the teacher. A cautionary tale of a self-proclaimed watchdog who goes too far, bites indiscriminately, and doesn't have enough sense to let go of the legs he's chomping on, many of which are connected to innocent people.

Killing the messenger.....

Our apologies for not getting this out sooner this a.m. The following is an opinion from today's BCCT. The writer is obviously a P.W. supporter. I'm sure P.W. is a nice lady, however her appointment is pure cronyism. She was hired to put a positive spin on what the "stay on track" folks have been doing. The only politics at play here are coming from the board majority that hired her. The resumes were only received a day before they hired her, and no one was interviewed for the job. Someone even volunteered to do it for free! P.W. is not going to tell the truth about the Morrisville schools. She will only put a spin on the news to make Hellmann and Co. look like shining stars. Something which everyone knows they are not.


from the BCCT:
Killing the messenger
By: GUY PETROZIELLO
Bucks County Courier Times
I have known Pat Wandling for many years, as a reporter for the Courier Times, radio talk show host, and former public information specialist for Bucks County and later Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick. When the detractors criticize her recent appointment as communications director for the Morrisville School District, they mention she worked for the former commissioner and former congressman as a bad thing. Have they gone mad?

What better reference can you have than someone who knows you for years and employed you?

I know Pat to be a person of integrity and insight. She is highly qualified and a real professional in her field, so I say the angry screams about her appointment are most likely coming from a not-so-hidden political agenda. The communications director or PR director in a school district works with the media and is a good news person, right? So what are the politicians, or whoever they are, afraid of? A communications director?

Are they worried the good news about Morrisville might get out? Are they worried Pat might do a good job for the school district? It seems to me, an outsider, that politics has reared its ugly head and they are trying to "kill" the messenger who is ready to tell the true story about the Morrisville schools.

Joe Turner

Levittown

More on the doggie park

Why is it that everything that comes before any board in this town is fought with a variety of excuses. The boro council can't get a dog park built without haggling over a silly issue like advertising signs. They should be less worried about doggie park signage, and more concerned with dilapedated buildings, poor roads, and a bad reputuation. Why are they so afraid of change?

from the BCCT:
A doggone good idea
By: GUY PETROZIELLO
Bucks County Courier Times
Commercial signs could help pay for a dog park.

Folks organizing a dog park in Morrisville came up with a pretty good way to pay for it: sell advertising signs to hang on the yet-to-be-erected fence. This isn't a novel idea; baseball leagues have been doing it for decades. In fact, baseball fields without commercial signs look kind of naked and unappealing.

But listening to the reaction of some Morrisville officials, you'd think the sign people were trying to ruin the town.

One councilman said the idea goes against "the spirit of open space," and that signs will start popping up willy-nilly all over the borough. An Environmental Advisory Board member said advertising doesn't belong in a public park. A county official offered that signs can "interfere with the scenic value you're trying to protect."

We think the critics are getting a little carried away. First of all, "fenced-in" land is hardly open space. And the "scenic value" of a dog park is quickly lost once the dogs are let in. Grass doesn't last long; neither do the shrubs.

Besides, advertising isn't evil - at least not honest advertising. What's more, this is a capitalist country and the dog park supporters are demonstrating the kind of free-market ingenuity and resourcefulness that we need now more than ever.

Questions of concern...yet to be determined

We received an email from a concerned parent regarding the upcoming school year asking us to post the following concerns.

1. Who will be the "intermediate school" principal(4th thru 8th grades)? Will it be Bill Ferrara, he just received a nice raise? Or wil it be Laurie Ruffing? But wait, she was only extended till 8/31/09 as acting elementary principal. So as it stands when school begins we do not have an elementary or intermediate school principal.

2. Regarding the 21st century grant clubs and activities. Will they be extended up to and including 8th grade? New for this year the PTO will be extended up to and including the 8th grade. Great foresight on their part(PTO). We sure wish the powers that be would think ahead like this.

3. Sports- Do we call them "middle school" sports or "intermediate school" sports? What grades are going to be included? Will it be 4th thru 8th grades, or will it remain as is at just 7th and 8th grades?

What questions do you have regarding the upcoming school year? Perhaps the board could address these issues prior to the first day of school.

And a reminder: The next school board agenda meeting is scheduled to be on 8/19, and the regular school board meeting is scheduled for 8/26. Both meetings start at 7:30 pm.

Dog park update

A few days ago someone was asking about the Morrisville dog park, and if it was still in the works to be built. Well, apparently it is but funds are a bit light. So the group wants to put sponsorship signs around the park. Stephen Worob, never at a loss for words has some interesting comments in the article.

From the BCCT:

Mixed reviews for fundraising idea
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times

The Friends of the Morrisville Dog Park group is putting together a "Morrisville is Going to the Dogs Cocktail Pawty" to raise money for the park.

Morrisville dog park organizers need cash.

And while efforts to raise the needed $15,000 to $20,000 are moving, they're sort of crawling - a few hundred dollars here, maybe a thousand there.

So how can organizers beef up their bank account to pay for a bark park on a plot of unused borough-owned open space preserved with county cash?

Ellen Stieve, who's heading the effort, said sponsorship signs similar, yet smaller, to those on baseball fences would certainly help. She proposes four sponsorship signs, which others are calling advertisements, to hang on the interior fence of the future 1-acre park at East Philadelphia and South Delmorr avenues.

Stieve hopes that each of the signs (perhaps in the shape of a bone) will produce up to $2,500 annually.

"It's a privately funded effort and we're looking for some different revenue streams," Stieve said. "Sponsorship is one of the ways we can raise money."

Borough council hasn't made a decision on the issue, but the proposal has received mixed reviews from officials and advisers and has sparked a debate on whether commercial signs should be allowed on tax-payer funded open space.

Some council members like Stephen Worob downright oppose the idea.

"This is evolving into something we didn't want to see," he said at a recent council meeting.

Likewise Councilman David Rivella said the idea goes against "the spirit of open space." While he originally said it's reasonable to allow the signs for one year just to raise startup cash, he opposes the idea the more he thinks about it.

"What's to stop everyone in the borough from saying, 'I want to sell a sign for what I want to do?' " said Rivella, who is calling on the council to hold a yes-or-no vote to see if it supports signs at the dog park.

Councilwoman Jane Burger supports the signs, saying the area isn't passive open space like the wooded 6-acre Graystone preserve on Crown Street, William Penn's starting point for buying land from the Indians in 1682. Rather, Burger said, the Delmorr property is active open space.

"Obviously, any signs have to be carefully planned and thought out and keep with the use of the property," Burger said in a recent phone interview. "I'm not convinced that it's going to turn into gaudy commercialism."

Burger also said Morrisville will have the final say in who can put their ads on the signs. Rivella, though, worries that that could lead to discrimination claims if the council begins regulating who can and can't advertise.

And as a borough resident notes, Morrisville already is involved in a federal First Amendment lawsuit for prohibiting a strip club at the Stockham Building at South Pennsylvania Avenue and East Bridge Street.

While Councilwoman Eileen Dreisbach said the majority of Morrisville's Recreation Board favors allowing the signs on the fence that will separate big and little dogs for a limited time, two members of the Morrisville Environmental Advisory Council, Bill Setzer and Deborah Colgan, have publicly urged the council to reject the proposal.

Colgan said that sponsorships should be built into the design of the park like it is at Robert Morris Plaza with something like sponsorship bricks. She also worries that the signs will commercialize land preserved for the public.

"I do not believe that advertising belongs in public parks," Colgan said. "We already paid for this land, why should we subject ourselves to advertising when we go to it? You don't see ads in parkland, and there's a good reason for it. Advertisements belong on private land."

Dreisbach said it would be ideal to have no signs, "but I know how difficult it is to raise money."

Kris Kern, Bucks County's open space coordinator, said: "On that property, there are no provisions limiting signs."

But in moving forward with Bucks' most recent round of open space cash, she said the county will look into limiting signs on preserved open space.

Signs, she said, can "interfere with the scenic value you're trying to protect."

Stieve argued that the signs would be "tastefully done" and would not be visually distracting. But whether or not borough council signs on to Stieve's proposal, the Friends of the Morrisville Dog Park will continue fundraising efforts. The nonprofit organization is putting together a "Morrisville is Going to the Dogs Cocktail Pawty," as well as selling T-shirts. For more information on those and other efforts, e-mail estieve@comcast.net.

Potpourri for the week of 8/2-8/8

This is your place to rant and/or rave about any topic of your choice!