from the bcct:
Property taxes to increas $20
By: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE
The money from the tax hike will go toward paying off debt accrued by the municipal pool's owner.
It's final. Morrisville residents will pay $20 more in property taxes in 2011.
Despite objections by Mayor Rita Ledger and Councilman Todd Sanford at Monday night's council meeting, the extra money from property taxes will be used for debt - including liens - accrued by Morrisville Swimming Pool Inc., owner of the municipal swimming pool in Williamson Park.
Morrisville officials are trying to work out an agreement with the group that would transfer ownership of the closed pool to the borough for the debt payment.
The vote to approve next year's $5.9 million operating budget was 4-2. Sanford and Eileen Dreisbach voted against it. Voting in favor were council President Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta, Rhonda Davis and Fred Kerner. Missing were Victor Cicero and David Rivella.
Sanford argued that if the pool management did run up high debt and liens, the borough should use other accounts to pay for it rather than raising taxes. Ledger said she researched the possibility of liens on the pool and there aren't any.
But borough solicitor Sean Kilkenny insisted, "There is debt on this property." His firm researched the property, so did former solicitor James Downey of Begley, Carlin & Mandio, said Kilkenny.
According to Sherlock, the pool's debt is about $75,000 and the extra money from property taxes will help pay $58,898 of that total.
Property owners will be assessed taxes at a rate of 40.93 mills. That means someone with a home assessed at the borough average of $20,000 will pay about $818 in municipal property taxes next year.
The independently operated Morrisville Community Swimming Pool closed in 2008 after years of trying to stay afloat financially. The swim club board blamed the financial strain on declining membership and attendance as well as keeping up with new safety laws.
Though the borough wants to buy the closed pool, there's no official plan for their future, officials said.
Before the council decides on anything, it intends to offer the public a chance for input.
Sherlock said the pool is "blighted and is an eyesore" and Morrisville has to do something about it.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching the pool owners for comment Tuesday.
Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyBurbs.com
Follow Gema on Twitter at twitter.com/deadlineduarte.
December 15, 2010 02:11 AM
Showing posts with label Ledger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ledger. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Historical society wants tapes of meetings
Really? Are our officials really quivering over videotapes. This is a classic case of neither side giving in no matter how trivial the issue. Personally, we feel the tapes should be put in some sort of digital format and preserved. Whether of not the historical society has any business having control over them is a completely different matter. The paper has quoted a "Bill Mander". We believe this is actually Bill Minder.
Historic society seeks videotapes of meetings
By: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
morrisville
Morrisville residents would like borough officials to give old meeting tapes to the historical society instead of destroying them.
But that's unlikely to happen.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, would like to obtain videotapes of council meetings, some as old as 15 years. She argues that those tapes contain borough history. For instance, community awards have been given to local groups such as Little League and Eagle Scouts at council meetings, and those people might someday want a copy of those moments, she said.
Council President Nancy Sherlock on Friday said she wants the hundreds of videos kept in storage destroyed to preserve the "integrity of the tapes." She said council minutes are the official records and kept at borough hall for public viewing, so the tapes aren't needed.
Resident Bill Mander said the borough should consider giving the tapes to the historical society.
"If they don't want (them), then get rid of them," he said.
For now, the tapes will continue to be stored because the mayor refuses to sign the resolution approved earlier this month allowing the tape's disposal.
Mayor Rita Ledger on Friday said she won't sign it because she feels she has a conflict of interest. Ledger sits on the Historic Morrisville Society Board of Directors and has requested copies of 19 videotapes this past winter and summer and has yet to receive them.
If Ledger doesn't sign the resolution before the next council meeting, Sherlock said she will bring up the issue at the November meeting.
In the meantime, Hughes has volunteered to make copies for the public before the tapes are destroyed.
Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyBurbs.com.
October 24, 2010 02:30 AM
Historic society seeks videotapes of meetings
By: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
morrisville
Morrisville residents would like borough officials to give old meeting tapes to the historical society instead of destroying them.
But that's unlikely to happen.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, would like to obtain videotapes of council meetings, some as old as 15 years. She argues that those tapes contain borough history. For instance, community awards have been given to local groups such as Little League and Eagle Scouts at council meetings, and those people might someday want a copy of those moments, she said.
Council President Nancy Sherlock on Friday said she wants the hundreds of videos kept in storage destroyed to preserve the "integrity of the tapes." She said council minutes are the official records and kept at borough hall for public viewing, so the tapes aren't needed.
Resident Bill Mander said the borough should consider giving the tapes to the historical society.
"If they don't want (them), then get rid of them," he said.
For now, the tapes will continue to be stored because the mayor refuses to sign the resolution approved earlier this month allowing the tape's disposal.
Mayor Rita Ledger on Friday said she won't sign it because she feels she has a conflict of interest. Ledger sits on the Historic Morrisville Society Board of Directors and has requested copies of 19 videotapes this past winter and summer and has yet to receive them.
If Ledger doesn't sign the resolution before the next council meeting, Sherlock said she will bring up the issue at the November meeting.
In the meantime, Hughes has volunteered to make copies for the public before the tapes are destroyed.
Gema Maria Duarte can be reached at 215-949-4195 or gduarte@phillyBurbs.com.
October 24, 2010 02:30 AM
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Bucks Local News version
And now the Bucks Local News version
Victor Cicero abruptly resigns from Morrisville Council over issue of destroying meeting tapes
By Petra Chesner Schlatter
BucksLocalNews.com
MORRISVILLE -- Morrisville Borough Councilman Victor Cicero abruptly announced his resignation last night after council voted to table a motion to dispose of video recordings of public meetings, while also allowing Mayor Rita Ledger access to previously requested videos.
Immediately after the matter was tabled by a 4-3 vote, Cicero stood up and announced, "I'm resigning!"
Cicero, who had made the motion to destroy the tapes, said, "Good night. I don't know why I got involved. What are you afraid of? What a bunch of fools. I've never seen anything like this in my life."
When asked by phone Tuesday morning if he was indeed resigning, he would only say "I will not be at the next meeting."
Ledger said she had been asking for tapes from 2009 -- particularly November and December -- but hadn't been able to gain access to them despite several requests.
"I still haven't gotten any copies," she said at the meeting. "How can they be destroyed before copies have been given to somebody who has requested this twice?"
Borough Solicitor Todd Eisenberg said the recordings would be available to her before they are destroyed.
Eisenberg discussed the legality of disposing of recordings. He said the state publishes a document every couple of years, which outlines how borough records can be disposed of.
"One of the regulations is that video tapes of meetings can be disposed of after the minutes are approved unless the council finds there is a historical significance in keeping them," he said. "Most of the municipalities that I know destroy them after the minutes are approved."
Eisenberg said, "If a person, not just the mayor, wants them right away and we do not have the ability to make the copies we can send them out and have the copies made."
Ledger said those who request a copy should not have to pay if the borough sends the recordings out for a copy to be made.
Before his resignation, Cicero asked if the borough has the legal right to charge for a copy and Eisenberg said, "Absolutely."
Eisenberg said he would provide more information on the history of the disposal of recordings "so everyone will have a better feel. You have the right to get rid of these tapes. It's just an issue of, 'Do you want to?'"
Borough Council President Nancy Sherlock said prior administrations had conversations on this matter.
"There's no reason to have six, seven or eight boxes of all these tapes," she said.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, has been videotaping council meetings since she was told the borough's recording equipment was not working. She has volunteered to broadcast and record meetings for years.
"Why are you afraid? What is the word up there, we might be sued? Somebody's asking for tapes now and all of a sudden we have to have them destroyed? They've been sitting there for 14 years," said Hughes.
"They are a historic record of what this board has done...They are the history of this town. They are the history of this borough," she continued.
Hughes challenged the idea that Morrisville should be like other municipalities and destroy the recordings right away.
"Somebody wants records and other people up there don't want them to have them," she said, stressing that a decision should not be made quickly.
"It's not the right thing to do in my opinion," she said.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Mayor Ledger said she wanted the tapes for prosperity's sake.
"I'm the first woman mayor," she said. "I would like to keep the tapes of meetings that I preside over. It would be great for future generations of your family to see it ... and it is a way of making everyone accountable for their actions."
She would not offer comment on Cicero's resignation.
Sherlock said the issue would be discussed at council's Tuesday, Oct. 12 meeting.
"In Febuary 2009, council approved a motion declaring its intention to follow the schedule and procedures for disposition of records as set forth in the municipal records manual that that was approved on Dec. 16, 2008," Sherlock said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Since the resolution has been passed it is our duty to follow the guidelines ... We are not able to dispose of anything the commission deems historic or necessary to keep."
In other news, Ledger reported that she and former Mayor Lee Rockafellow met recently with the Bucks County Parks and Recreation Department about the future of the Morrisville Swimming Pool. They did a walkthrough of what was once a thriving facility, but is now a crippled community hub following a major flood. The community pool has been closed ever since.
Ledger said she will find out whether the county will work with the borough on getting the facility back in shape and open to the public.
The council also:
Awarded the 2010 Emergency Generator Bid to the low bidder, A.C. Scott Electric & Testing Co. for $80,000.
Appointed V.K. Macivana to the Morrisville Economic Development Authority.
Re-appointed John Eperjesi, Patricia Wilcox, Patricia Brofman and Lillian Piscopo for two-year terms to the Recreation Advisory Board.
Victor Cicero abruptly resigns from Morrisville Council over issue of destroying meeting tapes
By Petra Chesner Schlatter
BucksLocalNews.com
MORRISVILLE -- Morrisville Borough Councilman Victor Cicero abruptly announced his resignation last night after council voted to table a motion to dispose of video recordings of public meetings, while also allowing Mayor Rita Ledger access to previously requested videos.
Immediately after the matter was tabled by a 4-3 vote, Cicero stood up and announced, "I'm resigning!"
Cicero, who had made the motion to destroy the tapes, said, "Good night. I don't know why I got involved. What are you afraid of? What a bunch of fools. I've never seen anything like this in my life."
When asked by phone Tuesday morning if he was indeed resigning, he would only say "I will not be at the next meeting."
Ledger said she had been asking for tapes from 2009 -- particularly November and December -- but hadn't been able to gain access to them despite several requests.
"I still haven't gotten any copies," she said at the meeting. "How can they be destroyed before copies have been given to somebody who has requested this twice?"
Borough Solicitor Todd Eisenberg said the recordings would be available to her before they are destroyed.
Eisenberg discussed the legality of disposing of recordings. He said the state publishes a document every couple of years, which outlines how borough records can be disposed of.
"One of the regulations is that video tapes of meetings can be disposed of after the minutes are approved unless the council finds there is a historical significance in keeping them," he said. "Most of the municipalities that I know destroy them after the minutes are approved."
Eisenberg said, "If a person, not just the mayor, wants them right away and we do not have the ability to make the copies we can send them out and have the copies made."
Ledger said those who request a copy should not have to pay if the borough sends the recordings out for a copy to be made.
Before his resignation, Cicero asked if the borough has the legal right to charge for a copy and Eisenberg said, "Absolutely."
Eisenberg said he would provide more information on the history of the disposal of recordings "so everyone will have a better feel. You have the right to get rid of these tapes. It's just an issue of, 'Do you want to?'"
Borough Council President Nancy Sherlock said prior administrations had conversations on this matter.
"There's no reason to have six, seven or eight boxes of all these tapes," she said.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, has been videotaping council meetings since she was told the borough's recording equipment was not working. She has volunteered to broadcast and record meetings for years.
"Why are you afraid? What is the word up there, we might be sued? Somebody's asking for tapes now and all of a sudden we have to have them destroyed? They've been sitting there for 14 years," said Hughes.
"They are a historic record of what this board has done...They are the history of this town. They are the history of this borough," she continued.
Hughes challenged the idea that Morrisville should be like other municipalities and destroy the recordings right away.
"Somebody wants records and other people up there don't want them to have them," she said, stressing that a decision should not be made quickly.
"It's not the right thing to do in my opinion," she said.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Mayor Ledger said she wanted the tapes for prosperity's sake.
"I'm the first woman mayor," she said. "I would like to keep the tapes of meetings that I preside over. It would be great for future generations of your family to see it ... and it is a way of making everyone accountable for their actions."
She would not offer comment on Cicero's resignation.
Sherlock said the issue would be discussed at council's Tuesday, Oct. 12 meeting.
"In Febuary 2009, council approved a motion declaring its intention to follow the schedule and procedures for disposition of records as set forth in the municipal records manual that that was approved on Dec. 16, 2008," Sherlock said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Since the resolution has been passed it is our duty to follow the guidelines ... We are not able to dispose of anything the commission deems historic or necessary to keep."
In other news, Ledger reported that she and former Mayor Lee Rockafellow met recently with the Bucks County Parks and Recreation Department about the future of the Morrisville Swimming Pool. They did a walkthrough of what was once a thriving facility, but is now a crippled community hub following a major flood. The community pool has been closed ever since.
Ledger said she will find out whether the county will work with the borough on getting the facility back in shape and open to the public.
The council also:
Awarded the 2010 Emergency Generator Bid to the low bidder, A.C. Scott Electric & Testing Co. for $80,000.
Appointed V.K. Macivana to the Morrisville Economic Development Authority.
Re-appointed John Eperjesi, Patricia Wilcox, Patricia Brofman and Lillian Piscopo for two-year terms to the Recreation Advisory Board.
Councilman: 'Nothing is official' after resignation
It's a shame that this is what make the papers. Did anything else happen at the meeting or did they bicker over VHS tapes for a couple of hours and accomplish nothing else. We're sure there was other notable business that could have been covered by the BCCT reporter.
PhillyBurbs.com: Councilman: 'Nothing is official' after resignationBy: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville
As of Tuesday, Morrisville Councilman Victor Cicero officially was still on the council.
But late Monday night his status was questionable after he abruptly resigned and left a council meeting.
He didn't want to comment Tuesday afternoon, noting, "I haven't decided" and "nothing is official."
A frustrated Cicero left the council chambers after members voted 5-3 to table a discussion on the disposal of videotapes of old council meetings. Some council members had concerns about getting rid of the tapes, and the issue became a tit-for-tat among council members themselves and the public. That's when Cicero got frustrated and left.
Cicero, along with council President Nancy Sherlock and Councilman David Rivella, was in favor of getting rid of the tapes, some of which are as old as 15 years.
Two ordinances for tapes' disposal were up for discussion but not on the agenda because borough solicitor Todd Eisenberg provided the resolutions to the town the same day of the meeting, Sherlock said.
One resolution explained the reasons for the disposal and how the tapes would be discarded. The other resolution explained the process, Sherlock said.
Morrisville went from VHS tapes to DVD in June 2009, so Sherlock had suggested trashing the VHS tapes only and keeping the DVDs.
In February 2009 the council passed a resolution to follow the schedule of public information retention set by the state, so the resolutions were simply just following through with the 2009 resolution, Sherlock said Tuesday. The state schedule states that the meeting minutes are the official records.
"We don't need receipts from 1968," she said. "We have four or five boxes of tapes that are easy to get rid of. It's simply a procedure thing. The real records (of meetings) are the minutes, not the tapes. They are of no use to the administration."
Mayor Rita Ledger was particularly disturbed of the possibility of the tapes' destruction, saying Tuesday that she requested meeting recordings from November and December and hasn't been given the copies. Borough solicitor Todd Eisenberg assured Ledger she would get those recordings, which wouldn't be destroyed under the proposed resolution, Sherlock said.
To ease the concerned council members, Eisenberg will write a memo to the council explaining the process, Sherlock said.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, has been recording the meeting for years and suggested the possibility of donating the recordings to the local library or the historical society, Ledger said.
Hughes questioned the reasoning behind the sudden need to dispose of video tapes after years of being stored.
Sherlock assured Tuesday that disposing of the tapes has nothing to do with the public's request for copies of the recordings.
Since the issue was tabled, it will be discussed at the October council meeting.
September 22, 2010 02:10 AM
PhillyBurbs.com: Councilman: 'Nothing is official' after resignationBy: GEMA MARIA DUARTE
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville
As of Tuesday, Morrisville Councilman Victor Cicero officially was still on the council.
But late Monday night his status was questionable after he abruptly resigned and left a council meeting.
He didn't want to comment Tuesday afternoon, noting, "I haven't decided" and "nothing is official."
A frustrated Cicero left the council chambers after members voted 5-3 to table a discussion on the disposal of videotapes of old council meetings. Some council members had concerns about getting rid of the tapes, and the issue became a tit-for-tat among council members themselves and the public. That's when Cicero got frustrated and left.
Cicero, along with council President Nancy Sherlock and Councilman David Rivella, was in favor of getting rid of the tapes, some of which are as old as 15 years.
Two ordinances for tapes' disposal were up for discussion but not on the agenda because borough solicitor Todd Eisenberg provided the resolutions to the town the same day of the meeting, Sherlock said.
One resolution explained the reasons for the disposal and how the tapes would be discarded. The other resolution explained the process, Sherlock said.
Morrisville went from VHS tapes to DVD in June 2009, so Sherlock had suggested trashing the VHS tapes only and keeping the DVDs.
In February 2009 the council passed a resolution to follow the schedule of public information retention set by the state, so the resolutions were simply just following through with the 2009 resolution, Sherlock said Tuesday. The state schedule states that the meeting minutes are the official records.
"We don't need receipts from 1968," she said. "We have four or five boxes of tapes that are easy to get rid of. It's simply a procedure thing. The real records (of meetings) are the minutes, not the tapes. They are of no use to the administration."
Mayor Rita Ledger was particularly disturbed of the possibility of the tapes' destruction, saying Tuesday that she requested meeting recordings from November and December and hasn't been given the copies. Borough solicitor Todd Eisenberg assured Ledger she would get those recordings, which wouldn't be destroyed under the proposed resolution, Sherlock said.
To ease the concerned council members, Eisenberg will write a memo to the council explaining the process, Sherlock said.
Sharon Hughes, president of the Historic Morrisville Society, has been recording the meeting for years and suggested the possibility of donating the recordings to the local library or the historical society, Ledger said.
Hughes questioned the reasoning behind the sudden need to dispose of video tapes after years of being stored.
Sherlock assured Tuesday that disposing of the tapes has nothing to do with the public's request for copies of the recordings.
Since the issue was tabled, it will be discussed at the October council meeting.
September 22, 2010 02:10 AM
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Time for a public saging
From the bcct:
Time for a public saging
By: KATE FRATTI
Bucks County Courier Times
It's a little new-agey for a historic borough, but I propose a public saging of Morrisville. Couldn't hurt.
Huge bundles of the healing herb sage - saging practitioners call them smudge sticks - could be burned in a daylong spiritual cleansing ceremony aimed at ridding the old river town of its collective angst.
Could take mountains of dried herb to get the job done. Financially-pressed Morrisville's got a debilitating case of what ails it - pessimism, skepticism, paranoia, negativity and crippling doubt. It leads to a lot of bickering, nay-saying, finger pointing, second-guessing and conspiracy theorizing.
Sage! More sage!
Symptoms include an inability to celebrate even the good stuff. That includes large gifts of money, like the $400,000 grant just announced for improvement to the especially hard-pressed First Ward, made up of scattered blue-collar neighborhoods that literally are on the wrong side of the tracks and so separated from the borough proper.
The grant, $80,000 a year for five years, is courtesy of the Wachovia Regional Foundation. The amount won't pave the streets with gold, but it could be the impetus for some cleanup and improved safety. Maybe leverage other grants from other sources.
A strategic plan for the ward, paid for with a $100,000 planning grant, calls in part, for the creation of an information center where Ward One and Bridge Street residents could get be made aware of resources - financial counseling, training, jobs, transportation, stuff like that.
And so we're told this week that the first $80,000 will be administered out of a new First Ward community center at the Robert Morris apartment complex on Bridge Street. It's 900 square feet of free office space that'll be accessed from the street. A paid coordinator will plan programs and organize events like neighborhood cleanups in the First Ward and along Bridge Street.
This is where, if this column was an old record, the needle would jump, and then sail across the record with a grating scratch and ripping sound.
Robert Morris apartments? What? That's in Ward Two. No one told us there'd be a community center at Robert Morris!
Another symptom of what ails Morrisville is failure to communicate. While the Bucks County Housing Group welcomed so much resident input before it made the application to Wachovia, there's been little communication since, community organizers say. No one was invited to review the grant application, and a resident steering committee sure as heck never knew the housing group planned to put the center in its low-income apartment complex instead of the senior center or some vacant store front. What else don't we know, they wonder.
The committee learned about the Robert Morris location, members said, in a meeting days before the location and the grant were to be publicly announced at an event that was to include Wachovia reps and Congressman Pat Murphy.
At that same meeting residents were insulted to further learn the steering committee would be dissolved and a new resident advisory board formed.
Say what? After all the work we did?
Hard feelings have ensued. Some committee members planned to protest at the formal check presentation, which had been set for Feb. 1.
Then someone thought better of that. Protest $400,000? Really? Risk alienating Wachovia just to make a point? Mayor Rita Ledger called Nancy Samborsky, executive director of the housing group, to press for more meetings. Nancy, who is, by all accounts, a caring professional and a girl with her heart in the right place, called off the check presentation and celebration until she could meet again with residents to hear them out. And to explain why a center at Robert Morris will work for the First Ward.
At those meetings residents say they'll seek reassurance that the grant money - whose release they helped secure by participating in community meetings and conducting surveys and focus groups - will be used as they'd hoped. To strengthen the First Ward and not Bucks County Housing Group.
And so there will be more talks. Someone would do well to smudge the conference table before anyone utters a sound.
February 03, 2010 02:13 AM
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Beth M., 02-03-10, 2:59 pm Rate: 0 Report
Isn't it the 4th ward in Morrisville that needs the most help? They sure wouldn't have to scam by not having any apartment buildings to be able to qualify for the grant.
I just don't understand why anything in a town the size of Morrisville would be for one ward and not all wards. The Ivan House is an excellent resource/outrea ch center. Why would Morrisville need another one. Morrisville is less than 2 square miles total. Sounds like this first ward group had a chance to do something wonderful for the whole town but instead are playing the gimmy gimmy game. Just more of the same old stuff for Morrisville. Its a real shame. Maybe mom was wrong and people really do never change.
False Profit, 02-03-10, 3:22 pm Rate: 0 Report
In its adjective form, the on-line Merriam Webster dictionary defines "sage" as things like:
"wise through reflection and experience" and
"proceeding from or characterized by wisdom, prudence, and good judgment".
That's the problem. We haven't had enough sage people running things in Morrisville. Their ham-handed my-way-or-the-h ighway bungling, smackdowns, and poor communications have engendered mistrust and distrust, even of good things.
Essentially, we've reaped what we've sown. Hopefully, that's changing under the new council majority. The town just doubled down on the same old same old with the school board, though, unless some people have major changes in personality, outlook, and behavior.
Time for a public saging
By: KATE FRATTI
Bucks County Courier Times
It's a little new-agey for a historic borough, but I propose a public saging of Morrisville. Couldn't hurt.
Huge bundles of the healing herb sage - saging practitioners call them smudge sticks - could be burned in a daylong spiritual cleansing ceremony aimed at ridding the old river town of its collective angst.
Could take mountains of dried herb to get the job done. Financially-pressed Morrisville's got a debilitating case of what ails it - pessimism, skepticism, paranoia, negativity and crippling doubt. It leads to a lot of bickering, nay-saying, finger pointing, second-guessing and conspiracy theorizing.
Sage! More sage!
Symptoms include an inability to celebrate even the good stuff. That includes large gifts of money, like the $400,000 grant just announced for improvement to the especially hard-pressed First Ward, made up of scattered blue-collar neighborhoods that literally are on the wrong side of the tracks and so separated from the borough proper.
The grant, $80,000 a year for five years, is courtesy of the Wachovia Regional Foundation. The amount won't pave the streets with gold, but it could be the impetus for some cleanup and improved safety. Maybe leverage other grants from other sources.
A strategic plan for the ward, paid for with a $100,000 planning grant, calls in part, for the creation of an information center where Ward One and Bridge Street residents could get be made aware of resources - financial counseling, training, jobs, transportation, stuff like that.
And so we're told this week that the first $80,000 will be administered out of a new First Ward community center at the Robert Morris apartment complex on Bridge Street. It's 900 square feet of free office space that'll be accessed from the street. A paid coordinator will plan programs and organize events like neighborhood cleanups in the First Ward and along Bridge Street.
This is where, if this column was an old record, the needle would jump, and then sail across the record with a grating scratch and ripping sound.
Robert Morris apartments? What? That's in Ward Two. No one told us there'd be a community center at Robert Morris!
Another symptom of what ails Morrisville is failure to communicate. While the Bucks County Housing Group welcomed so much resident input before it made the application to Wachovia, there's been little communication since, community organizers say. No one was invited to review the grant application, and a resident steering committee sure as heck never knew the housing group planned to put the center in its low-income apartment complex instead of the senior center or some vacant store front. What else don't we know, they wonder.
The committee learned about the Robert Morris location, members said, in a meeting days before the location and the grant were to be publicly announced at an event that was to include Wachovia reps and Congressman Pat Murphy.
At that same meeting residents were insulted to further learn the steering committee would be dissolved and a new resident advisory board formed.
Say what? After all the work we did?
Hard feelings have ensued. Some committee members planned to protest at the formal check presentation, which had been set for Feb. 1.
Then someone thought better of that. Protest $400,000? Really? Risk alienating Wachovia just to make a point? Mayor Rita Ledger called Nancy Samborsky, executive director of the housing group, to press for more meetings. Nancy, who is, by all accounts, a caring professional and a girl with her heart in the right place, called off the check presentation and celebration until she could meet again with residents to hear them out. And to explain why a center at Robert Morris will work for the First Ward.
At those meetings residents say they'll seek reassurance that the grant money - whose release they helped secure by participating in community meetings and conducting surveys and focus groups - will be used as they'd hoped. To strengthen the First Ward and not Bucks County Housing Group.
And so there will be more talks. Someone would do well to smudge the conference table before anyone utters a sound.
February 03, 2010 02:13 AM
Submitting your vote... RATING: Rating: 1.0 of 5. 1 vote(s).
Click the rating bar to rate this item.
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Beth M., 02-03-10, 2:59 pm Rate: 0 Report
Isn't it the 4th ward in Morrisville that needs the most help? They sure wouldn't have to scam by not having any apartment buildings to be able to qualify for the grant.
I just don't understand why anything in a town the size of Morrisville would be for one ward and not all wards. The Ivan House is an excellent resource/outrea ch center. Why would Morrisville need another one. Morrisville is less than 2 square miles total. Sounds like this first ward group had a chance to do something wonderful for the whole town but instead are playing the gimmy gimmy game. Just more of the same old stuff for Morrisville. Its a real shame. Maybe mom was wrong and people really do never change.
False Profit, 02-03-10, 3:22 pm Rate: 0 Report
In its adjective form, the on-line Merriam Webster dictionary defines "sage" as things like:
"wise through reflection and experience" and
"proceeding from or characterized by wisdom, prudence, and good judgment".
That's the problem. We haven't had enough sage people running things in Morrisville. Their ham-handed my-way-or-the-h ighway bungling, smackdowns, and poor communications have engendered mistrust and distrust, even of good things.
Essentially, we've reaped what we've sown. Hopefully, that's changing under the new council majority. The town just doubled down on the same old same old with the school board, though, unless some people have major changes in personality, outlook, and behavior.
Monday, January 4, 2010
We have a new mayor.....
Ledger sworn in as Morrisville mayor.
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
More than two dozen supporters crammed into a Morrisville courtroom to witness the "historic" swearing-in ceremony.
Morrisville Councilwoman Rita Ledger on Sunday was sworn in as Mayor Rita Ledger, the first woman to have that title in the borough's history.
Inside District Judge Michael Burns' Morrisville courtroom, Ledger, a Democrat, was joined by more than two dozen supporters, friends and family members for a swearing-in ceremony Sunday night. But according to a provision in the Pennsylvania Borough Code, she actually becomes mayor today - the first Monday of the new year.
With her 25-year-old son Mark Ledger standing by her side, the former councilwoman placed her left hand on the Bible her son was holding and raised her right hand in the air while she said her oath of office.
"I look forward to serving the borough of Morrisville as the first woman mayor," Ledger told her supporters. "I realize I am a marked woman because I am the first woman mayor."
Ledger then reiterated her priorities, saying she wants to see redevelopment in the borough's downtown business district along Bridge Street and to "move Morrisville into the 21st century" by utilizing alternative energy sources and using more energy efficient vehicles.
Jane Burger, a Republican whose 17 years on council came to an end last week, called Sunday a "historic moment."
"This just shows the support that this community has for Rita Ledger, our mayor," she said.
After all, Ledger lost her party's nomination in the primary election in May to fellow Democrat Patricia A. Schell. But with dozens of write-in votes by Republican voters, Ledger appeared on the November ballot under the GOP ticket.
Ledger then bested Schell by more than 200 votes and will replace Thomas Wisnosky as mayor. Wisnosky served as mayor for eight years but didn't seek re-election last year.
Ledger served as a Ward 1 councilwoman for four years. Before that, she sat on the Morrisville Zoning Hearing Board. Like other Pennsylvania boroughs, Morrisville has a weak mayor's office. Among its duties, the mayor supervises the police department and can also administer oaths and affirmations, declare states of emergency, break tied votes among borough council and veto council legislation.
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
More than two dozen supporters crammed into a Morrisville courtroom to witness the "historic" swearing-in ceremony.
Morrisville Councilwoman Rita Ledger on Sunday was sworn in as Mayor Rita Ledger, the first woman to have that title in the borough's history.
Inside District Judge Michael Burns' Morrisville courtroom, Ledger, a Democrat, was joined by more than two dozen supporters, friends and family members for a swearing-in ceremony Sunday night. But according to a provision in the Pennsylvania Borough Code, she actually becomes mayor today - the first Monday of the new year.
With her 25-year-old son Mark Ledger standing by her side, the former councilwoman placed her left hand on the Bible her son was holding and raised her right hand in the air while she said her oath of office.
"I look forward to serving the borough of Morrisville as the first woman mayor," Ledger told her supporters. "I realize I am a marked woman because I am the first woman mayor."
Ledger then reiterated her priorities, saying she wants to see redevelopment in the borough's downtown business district along Bridge Street and to "move Morrisville into the 21st century" by utilizing alternative energy sources and using more energy efficient vehicles.
Jane Burger, a Republican whose 17 years on council came to an end last week, called Sunday a "historic moment."
"This just shows the support that this community has for Rita Ledger, our mayor," she said.
After all, Ledger lost her party's nomination in the primary election in May to fellow Democrat Patricia A. Schell. But with dozens of write-in votes by Republican voters, Ledger appeared on the November ballot under the GOP ticket.
Ledger then bested Schell by more than 200 votes and will replace Thomas Wisnosky as mayor. Wisnosky served as mayor for eight years but didn't seek re-election last year.
Ledger served as a Ward 1 councilwoman for four years. Before that, she sat on the Morrisville Zoning Hearing Board. Like other Pennsylvania boroughs, Morrisville has a weak mayor's office. Among its duties, the mayor supervises the police department and can also administer oaths and affirmations, declare states of emergency, break tied votes among borough council and veto council legislation.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Stay on trackers select Ed Bailey for council
It's official, they did the unthinkable, stay on trackers Worob,Ledger,Burger, and Dreisbach voted to put Ed Bailey on the Boro Council. Luckily this is only till the first Monday in January when the winner of the election will take over. This charade was actually on the local TV channel apparently as a live broadcast. Comcast CH 22. and Verizon CH 38. Rita Ledger made a buffoon out of herself, and when asked if she felt someone was disenfranchised by the selection process, she said yes, even though her "guy" got the spot.
Fom the bcct:
Bailey selected for council
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
A Republican council candidate was appointed to Morrisville Council on Monday to fill the unexpired term of Democrat Edward Albertson, who resigned from council last month because he moved out of the borough.
Ed Bailey, who is running against Democrat Rhonda Davis in next month's election, was appointed by council in a 4-3 vote by council members Rita Ledger, Jane Burger, Stephen Worob and Eileen Dreisbach.
Council members Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted for Morrisville Environmental Advisory Council member Deborah Colgan, who is not running for election this year.
Davis was the third nominee for the seat, but she did not get any votes Monday.
Quickly before an executive session at the end of the meeting, Rivella told the newspaper that he, Sherlock and Panzitta voted for Colgan because she was not running in this year's election, and that Colgan had said she would hold the seat until Nov. 4, then yield to whoever won the race between Bailey and Davis.
Solicitor James Downey told the council that if Colgan had won and stepped down on Nov. 4, officials would have to go through the whole process of filling the vacancy within 30 days again.
Bailey was sworn in and took his seat at the dais after the 4-3 vote. He will fill out Albertson's 3rd Ward council term, which expires at the end of this year.
Albertson was the second councilman to resign from that seat in a year. He was appointed by council to fill the seat of Republican George Bolos, who vacated the post in September 2008 because he also moved out of the borough.
Fom the bcct:
Bailey selected for council
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
A Republican council candidate was appointed to Morrisville Council on Monday to fill the unexpired term of Democrat Edward Albertson, who resigned from council last month because he moved out of the borough.
Ed Bailey, who is running against Democrat Rhonda Davis in next month's election, was appointed by council in a 4-3 vote by council members Rita Ledger, Jane Burger, Stephen Worob and Eileen Dreisbach.
Council members Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted for Morrisville Environmental Advisory Council member Deborah Colgan, who is not running for election this year.
Davis was the third nominee for the seat, but she did not get any votes Monday.
Quickly before an executive session at the end of the meeting, Rivella told the newspaper that he, Sherlock and Panzitta voted for Colgan because she was not running in this year's election, and that Colgan had said she would hold the seat until Nov. 4, then yield to whoever won the race between Bailey and Davis.
Solicitor James Downey told the council that if Colgan had won and stepped down on Nov. 4, officials would have to go through the whole process of filling the vacancy within 30 days again.
Bailey was sworn in and took his seat at the dais after the 4-3 vote. He will fill out Albertson's 3rd Ward council term, which expires at the end of this year.
Albertson was the second councilman to resign from that seat in a year. He was appointed by council to fill the seat of Republican George Bolos, who vacated the post in September 2008 because he also moved out of the borough.
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