UPPER POTTSGROVE–Please see below the response from the majority of the Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners regarding a letter attributed to Ms Harper, the attorney of the plaintiffs suing the Township. The Harper letter is attached below for reference. Please also see the link to the local newspaper that printed the commissioners’ response. Please see the article “Three Commissioners Defend Staff, Two Refuse” for more information at the home page of this site.
Statement Printed in the Mercury (May 26, 2024) in Response to the Harper Letter
We, Board of Commissioners of Upper Pottsgrove Township members Hank Llewellyn, Don Read, and Trace Slinkerd, write to correct a multitude of misstatements and false implications present in a guest column allegedly written by Ms. Kate Harper and published by the Mercury on April 9, 2024, regarding the construction of the new municipal building on the property which used to be known as Smola Farm.
In July of 2022, Upper Pottsgrove Township completed the sale of its sewer system for almost $14 million. We did that, in part, to enhance the long-term financial security of the Township. One of the long term projects about which we were most concerned was the Township municipal facilities. Anyone who has visited our Township Municipal Building must be aware that we were in need of modernization.
Keeping the promises we made when the system was sold, some portions of the proceeds from the sale were indeed put towards planning (and eventually building) a new Municipal Building. After careful analysis of the real estate available to the Township for this sort of progress, we opted to build on a small portion of the land located near Evans Rd. And, to be clear, there is not a farm on this land. This project will greatly improve the Township’s ability to serve its residents and will secure the Township’s future for years to come.
The letter written by Ms. Harper includes various false statements and gives various false impressions. The most blatant lie concerns a letter sent by Chief James Fisher. Chief Fisher did indeed write and send a letter to members of the community who continuously refused to abide by the rules of decorum for public participation in meetings of the Township Commissioners. But the letter did not- as Ms. Harper falsely claims- warn against speaking out in public meetings. Rather, the letter explicitly encouraged continued participation, and merely warned against continued violations of the reasonable rules of participation. Indeed, Chief Fisher wrote “We encourage you to participate in future meetings in a manner that fosters a positive and respectful environment for all involved.” He went on to say: “Your cooperation is vital to maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of our community’s democratic processes.”
Further, Ms. Harper’s letter contends that “acres of ground” was to be used to for the purpose of the municipal building. That statement is highly misleading, even if it might be true in only the most pedantic sense. To make the record abundantly clear, the new Municipal Building complex- including all parking and utilities in connection with it- will actually take up fewer than two acres. This represents a sliver of that parcel of land, and the overwhelming majority of that land will remain entirely undisturbed.
Ms. Harper’s letter also contends at various points that there is something unlawful about how we intend to use that land. There is no basis for that assertion, either. We have complied with the law through every step of the process, which is why we have prevailed every time we have been challenged in Court. We are confident the pending litigation will ultimately resolve in our favor, as well.
Despite Ms. Harper’s diatribe, and despite public statements made by Matt Murray, there is nothing untoward, unseemly, or dishonest going on here. Upper Pottsgrove Township is building a new Municipal Building, using money the Township already has, on land the Township already owned. The only dishonesty here is in the false statements made by Ms. Harper, and endorsed by Mr. Murray and Mr. Guest. While Ms. Harper, Mr. Murray and Mr. Guest are free to advocate their position against this progress for our Community, they are not free to make up lies to our Community to advance their position.
We look forward to helping secure our Township’s future by bringing to our residents all the benefits of a state-of-the-art Municipal Building. And we always welcome honest public commentary by anyone including Mr. Murray, and Mr. Guest, whether it supports the actions of the Board or opposes it. Such public commentary, when raised appropriately to allow all voices to be heard and when made without falsehood, is the very lifeblood of our system of self-governance. But when that commentary is made without regard for the truth and the rules of decorum, it can grind our system to halt.