Any updates?
UPDATE 1:45 P.M. Please check the comments. There's another uninformed rush to "do something", just because the Emperor has commanded it.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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Morrisville, in Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is a colonial era town in the midst of transition into the 21st century. Taxes, personalities, and development all combine in a sometimes explosive mix. Come on in and join the discussion Email: savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com
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20 comments:
Let me try to get this as accurately as possible (shout out to Kathy P :)
The purpose of the meeting was to meet with the four companies that responded to the RFP for new heat (boilers, burners, controls). There was apparently a first RFP which was then revised because it was not specific enough. The problem with the revision, IMHO, is that the responses (except for 1) were now specific to what we asked for, as opposed to letting the pros look at what we have and make recommendations.
The RFP was for all 3 schools but all vendors presented only for the HS and Grandview. Why? Because, Hellmann said, "I decided" that they should only quote for those two; Robin showed an appropriate amount of outrage at this. Marlys, on the other hand, wanted to make it clear that she was not a lackey, as dubbed by Robin, yet she showed no amount of outrage that Hellmann was making such decisions on her behalf, or for the Board. Additionally, Grandview was being spec'd to replace components (burners, controls) but not the complete boilers to save a few shekels (even though they need to be replaced). The RFP also did not include any new distribution (piping), which means that any cold-spots (or hot) in the buildings would remain that way after the new equipment is installed.
All vendors shared the notion that gas is more efficient, cleaner, easier to care for, but the up-front costs are somewhat more expensive than oil, but at current market rates gas would save about 40% over oil, and that gas would probably be their recommendation. They all agreed that the expected life of such equipment is about 20-25 years (ours is 50 years old!). If we convert from oil to gas we will also need to deal with (remove or seal up) the oil tanks, after determining their condition. Tim Lastichen confirmed there is also asbestos to deal with in the mechanical rooms.
The highlight for me was Wick Fisher White (yes, THAT Wick Fisher White). Instead of presenting their solution, he spent most of his 1/2 hour recommending that we not spend this money until a master plan is in place and we know the direction of the district. Reba asked, you mean a Feasibility Study? He said yes, that a feasibility study by an architect is what needs to be done. (Another of the vendors, Vitetta, also said, "it's always good to have a master plan.") Other notable things Dan from WFW said include, "it is quite often cheaper to build new than to renovate"; bringing boilers up to code will require a certain amount of fresh air per student per classroom and that he doesn't think the current infrastructure (in the HS) will support this; bringing a certain percentage (he wasn't sure how much but thought it was 25%, which sounds about right, if my memory serves me) of the building up to code would require everything to be brought up to code. (Can you say vindication?)
Lastly (ACTION ALERT), they expect this vote to happen at the meeting on 7/15 even though some of the board members had not yet received copies of the responses. The question you need to be asking yourself -- and the Board -- is why the rush? All of the vendors agreed this project from start to finish will take about 28 weeks. And since the actual construction (the last 6 weeks or so) should be done in the summer (read: it's not happening for this coming school year), then a decision should be made by approx December. So why the rush? Let's get a plan together, discuss it, and THEN take action. It does not have to be voted on in 5 days.
Vendors that bid:
The Davinci Group, Woodbury NJ
Wick Fisher White, Phila PA
Vitetta (multi-location in US)
HB Engineers, Allentown PA
This is extremely urgent! Why? because the board is poised to vote to make changes without proper studies of how those changes affect the whole system. For example, there is a REASON that fresh air is required- that is, the health and safety of our children. This board may be able to find someone just willing to take their directive, and that is very, very frightening. Think of what happened in the earthquakes in China - as a result of half-assed school construction. Let the potential contractors know that parents will hold accountable anyone involved in doing this work. Previous studies - much more thorough than this present board has ever conducted - showed that once such systems are opened up, there are numerous code issues to deal with. Don't let this board monkey with the environment your kids spend most of their time in. Don't let them make changes in any way other than through thorough,studied, careful action. If you haven't contacted the PDE, now is a good time to do so. Remind the Department of Education that they are constitutionally responsible for public education, while you are at it. If you are not worried about health and safety issues, there are economic reasons to be worried as well - lack of study will likely lead to unexpected costs, and there is no leeway in the budget for this. Bankrupting the district bodes educational disaster for our kids. Poorly planned and hastily, half repaired energy systems could be tragic.
During the justifiable outrage portion of the last night's entertainment, when confronted by his changing the RFP from what the board approved, the Emperor was heard to say, "If you get the votes for M.R.Reiter, you can fix that school."
Meaning:
a) he's already got the votes for his favorite engineering firm.
b) he doesn't care that he changed the RFP from what the board voted on.
c) The kids at Reiter can freeze and he wouldn't care.
Who needs reality television when reality is so much more entertaining?
My wise Momma (a M'ville Graduate,I might add) made a pretty good point today when I told her about last nights meeting....and I quote
"Will the children from Reiter be able to go to Mr. Hellman's house in the winter when there is not heat?" end quote.
Tsk Tsk Tsk Momma....she just doesn't UNDERSTAND!!!!!!
Once again, I'm torn. On the one hand, their heinous arrogance, incompetence, and hypocrisy are appalling.
On the other hand, I'm thinking the only ones that can stop these jokers are these jokers, and the only way these jokers are going to undo themselves is by really really screwing something up badly.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely don't want anyone to be injured or harmed, but maybe they should be allowed to bring these idiotic, half-baked plans to fruition.
It's really sad that I find myself hoping they'll do something idiotic or illegal enough to turn the tide of public opinion against them - or a tide of police officers and lawyers onto them.
I'll give them one thumb up for feigning an attempt. I mean, really, they could completely ignore the condition of the buildings. But two thumbs down for doing it half-baked.
We've been asking it (and not getting an answer) since last year's primaries -- what is "THE PLAN"?
Whether you agreed with it or not, liked it or hated it, thought it was a great idea or that it would submerge the eastern seaboard under a rising tide, at least the previous board was working toward a plan.
The answer, although never provided, is pretty clear. There is no plan, just poor, haphazard actions and reactions, the kind that some people say would get you fired in "the real world".
Were the bid amounts mentioned? What kind of costs are we talking about?
I really like that school board evaluation form that was shared. Is it feasible for that to be implemented in Mo'ville? I am especially concerned that this school board has not articulated a mission or a long term plan for the education of borough children.
Has anyone noticed that the save the schoolers have exerted a tremendous amount of time and money on plans for initiatives that 88% of the public did not want or could not afford. I know this sounds like beating a dead horse but my point is that this group has never accomplished anything beyond costly plans and substantially, they've accomplished nothing other than waste money. Is it irony, jealousy or just a good old disliking that this group is attacking the new board who for once are rising above the bureaucratic treadmill and actually beginning to get some things accomplished? Come on guys, give them some credit for finally getting beyond the planning stage.
Steve, you railed mercilessly about the "wasted money" for feasibility studies and how the old board "squandered" $2 million. Now, the new board is hearing from the professional engineers, even the one that the Emperor loves and fawns over, that a feasibility study needs to be done. A master plan to show the way forward. So we're back at the drawing board and having to "squander" more money for new feasibility studies.
I also don't hear you complaining about the $2.4 million that Hellmann squandered single handedly.
Just in case you were sleeping through the question when I asked it the first several times, here it is again: What have YOU done as a 4th ward council member to lower Morrisville taxes? Why should we listen to your marginally coherent ranting any longer?
For one and for all, publish the damned book and let us all bask in the aura of your righteousness.
Ok...I can honestly say I have never been a part of the "save the schoolers" prior to this new school board. SO that being said...I have asked many stop the school people what their plan is...if they want to STOP the school, what are they going to do FOR the school. We can no longer ignore that the schools need help!
The STOP THE SCHOOLERS have single handly convinced me otherwise!
AND Where are they past the planning stage??? Being sneaky and having ideas in your head does not make you getting past the planning stage. Please tell me, I'm opened minded enough to see both sides.
"...my point is that this group has never accomplished anything beyond costly plans and substantially, they've accomplished nothing other than waste money."
Here's the thing, it only became money wasted when it was stopped. Had the school been built it would have been money invested. It's like the stock market -- you only lose money if you sell below what you paid out.
Save the school asks what a council person has done to lower taxes? I have made it a point when we interview new candidates for various boards and committees to ask them, "what do you feel is the single biggest deterrent to Morrisville progressing forward towards the vision that we would love to see." Unanimously, every candidate who cares deeply for Morrisville answered that the problem is the low test scores and/or the high school taxes. Face it, the school district is way over priced and the results are terrible. The school district is bringing the entire town down and handcuffing borough council's ability towards positive progression. I suggest that you save the schoolers stop striving for something that is beyond fixing and start using your brilliance to figure out a way to force our lazy lawmakers to force a merger. Then see how desirable Morrisville will become.
Besides, I thought it was 92% of the public didn't want or couldn't afford the initiatives. No, wait, 94%. No, 96%. Reminds me of the fish I caught one time that was thiiis big. No, thiiiiiiiis big. No, wait, thiiiiiiiiiiiiis big!
The question has been posed and ignored several times. Perhaps Steve has no positive accomplishments to name.
For starters, you might not want to begin the conversation with "Hey lazyasses, ....".
But besides that, there are 50 state Senators and 203 state Representatives. Only 1 lazyass, er, Senator (McIlhinney - District 10) and 1 Representative (Galloway - District 140) represent Morrisville.
But McIlhinney also represents Bedminster Twp., Bridgeton Twp., Buckingham Twp., Chalfont Boro, Doylestown Boro, Doylestown Twp., Falls Twp., Haycock Twp, Hilltown Twp., Lower Makefield Twp., New Britain Boro, New Britain Twp., Newtown Boro, Newtown Twp., Perkasie Boro, Plumstead Twp., Sellersville Boro, Silverdale Boro, Solebury Twp., Telford Boro, Tinicum Twp., Tullyrown Boro, Upper Makefield Twp., West RockhillTwp., and Yardley Boro.
Galloway also represents Bristol Boro, Bristol Twp., Falls Twp., Middletown Twp., & Tullytown Boro.
Note that McIlhinney's constituency also includes all 4 municipalities that make up Pennsbury School District (Falls Twp., Lower Makefield Twp., Tullytown Boro, & Yardley Boro).
Galloway's constituency includes 2 of the 4 Pennsbury Municipalities (Falls Twp. and Tullytown Boro).
Here are some population figures (2000 census):
Falls Twp. = 34,865
Lower Makefield Twp. = 32,681
Tullytown Boro = 2,031
Yardley Boro = 2,498
Morrisville Boro = 10,023
TOTAL = 82,098
% of McIlhinney's Pennsbury + Morrisville constituency from Morrisville = 12.2%
% of Galloway's Pennsbury + Morrisville constituency from Morrisville = 21.4%
Assuming the portion of registered voters is pretty even in these municipalities (and forgetting about the other 251 state lawmakers - or even a majority of them - for a moment), what great incentive do McIlhinney and Galloway have to force a very unpopular merger between Morrisville and Pennsbury? When I say unpopular, I mean more in Pennsbury than Morrisville. But I also mean that quite a few people in Morrisville have done a lot to make it unpopular with Pennsbury ("Here take our kids, they stink!).
McIlhinney and Galloway were very involved and were advocates of a merger in the last go-round of talks. Given the numbers, you're right, there's no good (political) reason I can think of that they would want to pursue this but they did. And Pennsbury was not interested. Again. If Hellmann's Heroes want to take another crack at a merger, I would support that. While I like the small town feel, there will ALWAYS be an economy of scale problem here (unless, oh I dunno, boro council could get some kind of revitalization going).
Note, I said I would support a *merger* NOT farming out our kids to another district. There's a world of difference.
Thanks for the research, Jon.
What's the legislative mechanism for making such a merger happen? Just like the classic "I'm Just a Bill" Schoolhouse Rock episode, do either of these 2 guys have to sponsor a bill, somehow get a majority of their colleagues in both House (at least 102 out of 203) and Senate (at least 26 out of 50) to vote in favor of it, and then get the Gov. to sign it? Or is there a shorter route?
Either way, when do you need this done? Is this Thursday soon enough? I might be able to get it done by Wednesday, but I don't want to overcommit.
I just realized I shortchanged Steve of an accomplishment. Through his well-publicized antics, including unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, he, with help from many like-minded individuals, accomplished making a merger with Pennsbury much more unpopular than it had to be. Thanks!
"I have made it a point when we interview new candidates for various boards and committees to ask them, 'what do you feel is the single biggest deterrent to Morrisville progressing forward towards the vision that we would love to see.'"
I think it is very easy to overlook the point that the boro government and the school district government are two separate entities. There is a good reason for this. School government should be advocates of and working toward the betterment of public education for the students of the district. Boro government must, by neccessity, be interested in the "business" aspects of the town, i.e. taxes, the balance between industrial, commercial and resedential, the provision of communal services, the safety of it's populace. The two can be, but often are not, working toward a common goal. In Morrisville, it appears that the two are incompatible.
To ask a prosepective board or committee representative to comment on the school district is to over-reach the boundaries of the boro government. To have a councilman (no matter how entrenched in school politics) ask the question is a clear and ringing warning that council is minding someone elses business. Is it appropriate to vet a prospect on this question? If the candidate felt that the main question of Morrisville viability hung on the success of the district, why aren't they seeking to be on a school district board or committee?
Further, this question and answer, asked in the course of building boro government committees, sets up an adversarial situation between council and school board, ultimately engendering a power-struggle between the two.
I have always maintained that the main war in Morrisville is one of power between these two political entities. The politicos who drive the boro government would like nothing more than to see the end of their competition. The above comment and many of those that have spewed forth from Steve's mind and the keyboards of other council members is testament that this battle is still being waged.
The end will only come when either the two work together as one for the betterment of the town, or the weaker one is eliminated. Sadly, I would wager on the latter (and, to me, less desireable) outcome.
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