Sunday, August 27, 2006

Take the "A" Train

If you have recently taken a bus from the Lehigh Valley into NYC you know that often they are filled to capacity, and many times it is standing room only.

There is a movement underway to establish light rail passenger service from the Valley to NYC/NJ and possibly Philadelphia.

You can help with the cause greatly by signing this online petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/LVBO1/petition.html

Even if you don't travel to NYC, NJ or Philly very often, or ever, please consider this reason for signing. The Lehigh Valley still ranks in the top 20 WORST areas for air quality in America. If we can all help reduce commuter traffic along 22 and 78 there will be less emissions and cleaner air for you and I to breathe.

Please sign TODAY. There is NO cost or obligation.

Thanks!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Same battle, just a new name

Great editorial below by the Express Times.

The only thing that we respectfully disagree with the ET is the line about "the scene of a "last-stand" battle by the Board of Supervisors (BoS) and residents to preserve what is left of open land" as we are unsure as to whose side the BoS is on concerning this issue.

Based on past actions on other development issues, we are very suspiscious and concerned. Also to the best of our knowledge none of the Board members have publicly stated their position on this matter.

We hope that our fears are unfounded and we hope that this time the BoS stands with us, the people. With the exception of Supervisor Bonnie Nicholas, this would be a refreshing change for this board.

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Development could make tax bill equal to a king's ransom

Friday, August 25, 2006

forks proposals

There's a truism often heard in zoning meetings, PTA get-togethers and backyard barbeques about the nature of development in the suburbs: Builders tend to name their subdivisions after that which they eliminate from the landscape. Thus, we see treeless housing developments with the titles of Oak Knoll, Mountain View, Rolling Pastures, Birchwood Acres, etc.

In Forks Township -- the scene of a "last-stand" battle by the supervisors and residents to preserve what is left of open land -- four developers have requested a name change to consolidate their identity in a quest to build 3,000 to 4,000 homes in a farmland preservation district.

At Monday's zoning hearing, the developers' attorney said the four partners, KMRD LP, Bucks-Lehigh Land Co. LLC, Nic Zawarski & Sons Developers Inc. and Nic Zawarski & Sons Development Corp. would like to be known as just KMRD LP.

Usually, simplification is a good thing, but there's nothing simple about this zoning fight. It's going to be a long, protracted set of hearings, followed by a long legal battle, followed -- in the worst dreams of residents, anyway -- by an eventual compromise on soaring legal fees to allow much of the farmland preservation district to disappear under a crop of single homes, apartments, townhouses and mobile homes.

The reasons not to approve this development are evident: The loss of what's left of the township's agricultural community, more traffic, more sprawl. The most ominous note was sounded by Easton Area schools Superintendent Dennis Riker, who, in an op-ed column this week, laid out a potential school-budget deficit of $30 million -- the equivalent of 22 mills in property tax -- that could result from 5,000 new kids entering Easton schools.

Those kids would come from several developments, the proposed Kings Mill Mobile Home Park, Kings Mill Townhomes, Kings Mill Condos, etc.

What's in a name? Plenty. A fitting moniker for this mega-development would be "A King's Millage." That's what Easton area taxpayers will feel like they're paying in school taxes if these homes are allowed to sprout by the thousands in Forks.

Friday, August 25, 2006

"Upscale Grocery Store"?!?!?!?

Check out the article below that Sarah Mausolf wrote in today's Express-Times. Looks like once again the Township was sold a bill of goods about an "upscale grcoery store" coming into the Township, which of course the 3-D's (Supervisors Don Miller, David Hoff and David Howell) bought hook, line and sinker.

Well, maybe if Weiss Markets doesn't work out Aldi will take the space.

Way to go "3 to 2 get's it through" boys! Once again you did a super job.....NOT!

And to think, these same boys will soon be hiring the third town manager in five years. Better get the severance package ready now!
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FORKS TWP. | Developers submitted preliminary plans this week to the township for a supermarket at Sullivan Trail and Uhler Road.

Weis Markets is among three grocers that have expressed interest in the location, said Rose Randazzo, an attorney for Pittston, Pa., developer SamCar.

Randazzo said the developers hope to secure a tenant within 60 days at the earliest.

Plans show a 68,983-square-foot food market with an 8,600-square-foot expansion on about 9.2 acres in the southeast corner of the intersection. A parking lot includes 377 spaces. Gasoline pumps are also part of the plan.

The plan lists Weis Market Forks Inc. as the developer, but Randazzo said that's a mistake on the drawing.

"Weis is definitely someone who expressed an interest to us, but we also had several other grocers who expressed an interest as well," she said. "At this point, we don't have anyone committed to the project."

Planner Dean Turner said he expects to hear a presentation during the commission's September meeting. He said he's interested in how the developers will handle traffic.

"That's a very busy intersection, and it needs to be looked at very closely to figure out the best way to get traffic in all the directions it needs to go," he said.

In July, supervisors decided to allow supermarkets in the employment center zoning district where the project will stand.

Developers previously proposed a CVS drug store on the same property. The land is in the Sullivan Trail Business Park.

Reporter Sarah Mausolf can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at smausolf@express-times.com.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Zawarski Hearings-Part 1A

Short comments on this one as there really isn't much to say. The Zawarski people want to shove 3000+ "homes" (single family, duplex, trailer, etc.) in the Farmland Preservation District, which currently allows for approximately 200 homes. Zawarski's attorneys did a brilliant job Monday night of their obvious intentions of wearing out the current residents who, unanamiously oppose this change to the Farmland Preservation District. After many initial blunders, Zawarski is employing a reprensible yet smart strategy of trying to wear us all down. The Zawarski's don't care about us and are just interested in making HUGE profits. This is capitalism at it's best, and worst. Despite the feeling of hoplesness by many, we must continue to fight and never surrender.

Other miscellaneous stuff.

1) Despite what you may have heard, the Zoning change 298 ("Big Box/Grocery") issue isn't dead yet. Yes, as we expected Supervisors Don Miller, David Hoff and David Howell (aka, "3 to 2 get's it through") once again ignored the will of the people and passed the zoning change. This said, the fight isn't over yet. More details to follow soon.

2) Remember when the Board of Supervisors approved the liquor transfer license for the forthcoming bar ("Big Woody's) on Sullivan Trail, even though Supervisor Howell and some residents unearthed some very disturbing facts about this speakeasy's questionable history in their Allentown operations? And remember how Supervisor Hoff told us that there would be further public meetings to discuss things like Big Woody's hours of operation because at the time of the initial hearing they were slated to stay open till 2am? Does anyone find it odd that there is a "now hiring" banner on their front door yet we have heard nothing more about additional meetings? Actually, to be candid, we really don't find it odd ourselves. After all, this is Forks Township; developers, builders and business rule! Residents are just an inconvenient fact.

3) Anyone catch those large yellow Forks Township Community Days signs all over the township? We are wondering if they conform to the sign requirements that everyone else has to follow.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

We are getting dumber

After reading the Morning Call story below, we wonder how much "dumber" our leaders can get.

Forks Township, the biggest contributor to the growing student enrollment in the EASD keeps building homes at a time when our public schools can't keep pace.

The EASD keeps spending millions upon millions of dollars on turf fields and sports complexes at a time when the 3-R's have come to mean nothing.

  1. What ever happened to the idea of an education impact fee?
  2. Why do parents tolerate these test scores?
  3. What will happen when these kids graduate the EASD? In other words, what will they be prepared to do in the real world?
  4. When will we start holding our elected public servants (school board members and Forks Supervisors) responsible for the actions that directly affect the public in such a negative way?
  5. How can these elected officials look at the children in the eye and honestly say that they are doing the best that they can?
  6. Our school taxes keep going up yet education is not improving. Why is this?

Bottom line. If you are thinking about moving to this area and you have school age children, buyer beware and be prepared to pay for private or parochial school education if you want your children to have a fair chance in life to succeed.

Two Easton Area schools miss testing goals

Superintendent: District to work with state on plan for high school.
By Madeleine Mathias Of The Morning Call

While most schools in the Easton Area district met math and reading targets on state testing this year, the high school and one middle school failed to clear educational hurdles — with the high school landing in the second lowest category — and will require improvements.

The high school's rating fell from School Improvement II to Corrective Action I, while Easton Area Middle School dropped from ''warning'' to School Improvement I, Superintendent Dennis Riker told the Academics in Education Committee on Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores, given in Grades 3, 5, 8 and 11, are used to measure whether a school or district is achieving Adequate Yearly Progress as part of the No Child Left Behind law.

Riker said the district will work with the Pennsylvania Department of Education on an action plan for the high school. ''PDE has to review and approve a plan,'' Riker said. ''We will be working with them on any suggestions they make.''

A school falls in Corrective Action I when it fails to meet state targets for four years in a row. Because of that ranking, the district can get assistance on improving not only teaching, but also the curriculum and even on administration from the state.

''We are not off the hook,'' Riker said. ''Our children performed very well this year but obviously we know there are areas we have to work on, challenges that must be met.''

Unless the high school shows improvement with the specially planned program, this time next year it could drop to Corrective Action II, where the state could step in, order reconstitution, chartering or privatization.

Angela DiVietro, director of secondary education, said because the district made many changes last year in instruction, Shawnee Middle School in Forks Township moved from School Improvement II to Making Progress, a significant gain over the past year.

Overall, she said, the district's schools could have met the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements, but at the upper-level schools, four subgroups are assessed separately on their math and reading scores. Those subgroups are blacks, Hispanics, economically disadvantaged and special education.

The state set a threshold of 45 percent of students earning a proficient or above rating in the reading portion of the PSSA. In a computer presentation, Greg Shoemaker, director of elementary education, showed that for the high school subgroups, 35.8 percent of black students, 41.1 percent of Hispanics, 16.7 percent of students in special education and 36.7 percent of economically disadvantaged students met the proficiency rating.

DiVietro said the district will have to assess its programs and decide how they can be enhanced. She said the district has all the math courses, but instructors must learn to teach in concepts.

''We will look what we have, revamp and revise and also look at what could be needed in reading and math,'' she said.

Friday, August 04, 2006

3 to 2 wins again.......

On the surface it would appear to be a good idea for the Forks Township Board of Supervisors (BoS) to start the search for a new Township Manager as announced at last night’s BoS meeting. On the other hand-

  1. We have gone through two managers in the last five years and in both cases, we residents footed the bill for severance packages. The point being that perhaps we need a different, or adjunct group of people to conduct the interview process so we don’t get sacked again.
  2. Over 50% of the current job description for the town manager position is finance related. Not long ago the township hired a finance manager (James Farley) so clearly the current job description for township manager is no longer valid and should be re-written prior to anyone being hired.
  3. Based on the township’s skyrocketing (some would say out of control) growth, perhaps now is an opportune time to consider a form of government change such as a full-time publicly elected mayor who is directly accountable to the residents of Forks Township.
  4. Do we really need a township manager? Though we usually take conservative positions when it comes to spending, possibly an outside management consultant and noted expert should be engaged to study all levels of our current staffing and form of government to see what we need from a management perspective. Then again, being a bedroom community, we probably have a plethora of such talent who reside in the township and work for large firms elsewhere who would be willing to assist with this on a pro-bono basis.

Whatever the 3-D’s (Supervisors Don Miller, David Hoff and David Howell) decide, and make no mistake, its all up to them since they vote in a block, let’s hope that if they ignore these and other suggestions that they at least find a truly experienced, well qualified and non political patronage due individual to award this position to.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

A new battle begins

HELP PROTECT FORKS FARMLAND PRESERVATION DISTRICT

On Monday August 7th and 21st the Forks Township Zoning hearing Board will be meeting to solicit resident feedback on the challenge to the Farmland Preservation District. Zawarski and Sons Development Corp. is suing the residents and taxpayers of Forks Township so they can jam over 3,000 new homes in the Farmland Preservation District that was supposed to be kept as open space.

Please attend two important meetings August 7th and 21st and tell the developer that Forks residents will not be bullied.

  • This proposal will develop 1/3 of the ALL open space we have in Forks.
  • The plan will result in more traffic on our roads, and place a larger burden on our schools and township services.
  • The Farmland Preservation District is intended to protect the rural landscape of Forks. We can’t let developers destroy our quality of life.
“Zoning is one of the tools communities have to try to control their own destinies. Forks must stand its ground and demand compliance with its zoning. There's too much at stake to knuckle under to developers who don't have to live with the problems their mega-projects create.”
-Express Times Editorial July 3, 2006

Attend the Zoning Hearing Board and tell our leaders that they need to fight to keep the zoning!

AUGUST 7TH AND 21ST 7:30 PM

FORKS COMMUNITY CENTER, 500 ZUCKSVILLE ROAD
(located in the Forks Municipal Complex, 610-250-2260)