Morrisville Schizophrenia

Once again, Morrisville gets the opportunity to star as its own worst enemy. The headline for the story in the BCCT today is Residents split over Gateway Center.

We're always split. I'm not condemning partisanship--Biblically, sharpening steel upon steel is recommended because it provides a keener edge, and so it is with ideas. The more the ideas are worked upon by more and more people, the better the ideas can be.

However, we here in Morrisville have the uncanny ability to use this sharpening capacity for cross-purposes. Instead of buckling down to the admittedly hard work of making things happen, we're left with the same type of petty sibling bickering that used to have my father threatening to pull the car over.

Time and time again, we see "residents split" in the headline, whether it be for the late new school, Gateway, or whatever dispute du jour. I find it fascinating how the same people who bemoaned the high taxes that accompanied the new school and contributed to its demise, are the same people who do not want the new development to lower those same taxes.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to move to such a contentious little town, where anything new is greeted with derisive scorn and no one is a longtime resident until they've been here for over five decades? Imagine the sign at the foot of the Calhoun Street bridge--"Welcome to Morrisville. Now get out."

Sorry Mr. Mayor--your explanation notwithstanding, the Borough Council has a large share of the ignominy factor here for the nearly complete inaction and lack of support for a major new business initiative. After two years, this new building should be soliciting new tenants, not requesting approval actions. The fig leaf of legality aside, egos and hubris on the part of borough leaders have delayed this process. The sliver of land that is needed from Williamson Park doesn't destroy anything but the goose latrine area in the former leaf dump. The toll bridge commission sliver of land is ready to be acquired, but only if the borough council signals a go-ahead. Stop this squandering of this opportunity and settle this once and for all.

Residents split over Gateway Center

Disagreement continues over early plans for the Morrisville Gateway Center.

Some residents say the borough needs the extra tax base the proposed commercial office building at the corner of Bridge Street and Delmorr Avenue could bring to the borough.

Others say there are places better suited for the building, which calls for the purchase or lease of two acres of unused land at the southern end of Williamson Park.

“Please don't infringe on the little bit of green space that we have,” resident Herbert Brookes told the borough council Tuesday night.

Resident Sharon Hughes said there are other areas that wouldn't require using any park land.

“One of the best things Morrisville has is a park along the river,” she said.

The executive vice president of Penn Jersey Real Properties, the Morrisville-based developer that proposed the idea in May 2006, disagreed.

“There is no other place. This is the best location,” said Dan Jones, the executive vice president, who claimed that the building would be the “cornerstone to redevelopment in Morrisville.”

But there is a list of people who desperately want the Gateway Center, a proposed 50,000-square-foot building in its infant stages that Penn Jersey claims could bring between 400 and 600 jobs to the borough and revitalize the business district. Only sketches have been given to borough council and no formal plans have been submitted yet.

Resident Judy Miller said the new office complex could lower the tax burden on residents and add a boost for other businesses in the downtown district. She urged the council to enter into a non-binding agreement of sale with the developer.

“Taxpayers desperately need relief,” Gayle Haug said.

Council President Nancy Sherlock said the council would not make any decisions on the matter, but residents could expect the board to specifically address the matter “in the very near future.”

“Unfortunately, right now ... there's nothing council is legally allowed to discuss,” said Mayor Thomas Wisnosky. Officials have said they can't comment on the proposal because no preliminary plans have been submitted.

What's The Beef?

Seems like the Morrisville students are now part of the nationwide recall of tainted beef products.

However, the best part of the article are the four (at present) comments posted by readers.

Schools in Bucks part of beef recall

The state Agriculture Department identified six Bucks County school systems among 196 in Pennsylvania that have received recalled beef from a California packing plant.

The Pennsbury, Bensalem, Bristol Township, Morrisville and Quakertown Area public school districts and the Woods Schools in Langhorne received recalled products under the National School Lunch program, according to the state. Also on the list of nearby districts: Philadelphia, Abington and Lower Merion.

The state is urging officials at the schools to check their supplies and follow recall instructions if any of the meats are in storage. Agriculture officials noted Tuesday there is "very low risk to human health" in the recall of products from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packaging Co. of Chino, Calif. The company voluntarily recalled 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products on Sunday.

Information on the recall can be found at www.fsis.usda.gov on the Web.

February 19, 2008 10:15 PM
Comments To This Article:

* Fleura - How could this happen????
(02/19/2008 )
These are our children, our future, who have received this recalled product.

??Recalled as a precaution?? I know of no business that would choose to loose that much money as a precaution. THe typical response is - cross your fingers and hope that this goes away without incident - I am a teacher in one of the effected schools and saw many sick children over the past 2 weeks. Some classrooms were half empty.

?? Just a precaution?? Who are they kidding?

* David Evan - Thank free market economics without controls
(02/19/2008 )
Thank free market economics without controls for the state of the economy and the compromises on our safety and well being. Next time, think before you vote.

* - Fleura
(02/19/2008 )
Fleura, if you're really a teacher, I'm more frightened by your misuse of "effected" than the beef recall. It should be "affected". Sheesh.

* - Smitty
(02/19/2008 )
Fleura- "lose", not "loose". You ARE a teacher!