Gateway Post Mortems

Two items from the BCCT this morning

Closing the Gateway
Morrisville might have acted hastily.

Not much good comes of impatience. What grandmother hasn’t given that advice?

And so the developer of the proposed Morrisville Gateway Center has been given an early hook by borough council members. Impatiently, the developer asked for a show of support before investing in the nuts and bolts of a formal development plan. Instead, he was shown the door. Council members could come to regret their own impatience. Morrisville is in dire need of new businesses to share the tax load with overburdened homeowners. Additionally, the center was expected to bring 180 new jobs to the beleaguered borough. It could use them. What Morrisville doesn’t need is the message the chairman of the local economic development corporation said that council members sent: “Don’t come to Morrisville.”

They deny that. Members opposed to the center, much as like-minded citizens, fretting about the loss of borough-owned green space. Then there were the usual concerns about parking and traffic.

We’re not sure how Morrisville expects to re-energize its town center without attracting more traffic to local roads. Sounds like council members need to figure out where they want the borough to go and then agree on how to get there. No doubt there will be disagreements along the way, but there should be some consensus about destination.

As for the Gateway proposal, a show of interest might have moved the project forward without committing to anything. It just seems to us that it deserved a closer look.


Project would have been a gateway to more troubles

Morrisville Council members did the right thing when they saved a piece of land lying on the south end of Williamson Park from development into the so-called Gateway Center.

The borough has made several compromises over the years that proved to be detrimental to the existing neighborhood known as The Island within Williamson Park. The neighborhood is touted by many a proud old-timer for being a small riverside neighborhood where several generations of the same family can be found living on two narrow, sycamore-lined streets that were once surrounded by water.

Several of those community members were devastated when the Delaware River flooded. Many were on hand for the weeklong clean-up that exhausted borough workers as they pumped the trapped water around the clock from a land area that has been transformed into a virtual fish bowl; and residents along the length of the levee were devastated by standing water that simply could not recede along with the cresting waters of the Delaware.

Allowing more development would further interrupt the already insufficient land area needed for natural percolation, and subject the land area to even more water as runoff is diverted away from the busy roadways. Residents met with the mayor and council members to discuss the faulty drainage systems currently in place, and how to improve police coverage due to security issues that arose when residents lost power and were evacuated. They also talked about how unchangeable factors of land elevation and fluctuating river levels leave this neighborhood at risk regardless of changes and interventions that would divert flood water into other areas.

In subsequent years, flooding issues threatened the neighborhood again, and when river water began leeching through the earthen levee, borough workers and civil engineers were called in to assess and address the situation. Additionally, this entire area of land is officially designated as a flood plain, and all of the residents carrying a mortgage are required to obtain flood insurance.

I understand the developer proposed a green building, a roof that holds rainwater and special asphalt that allows the penetration of rainwater may be available, affordable and is successfully being used on other buildings. However, allowing development in a flood plain would have been a contradiction in itself, as the addition of fill material would push more flood water into homes that already exist on the island.

While environmental issues were my primary concern, they weren’t my only concern. No council member is a stranger to the traffic nightmare that occurs each workday as people migrate over the three bridges on their way to and from Trenton. As workers leave their offices and business during the afternoon rush hour, they sit in a long line of traffic making its way to Pennsylvania. Bridge Street is no exception.

On several occasions I have been approaching, or sitting in the lefthand turn lane at the top of Central Avenue when impatient drivers coming from New Jersey swing out into oncoming traffic hoping to bypass a few motorists making the afternoon crawl through Morrisville. Others squeeze between the through-traffic and curb, and push their way toward a right-turn lane that allows them to speed down Delmorr Avenue and bypass traffic by racing up Union Street, (past our police station) and down Pennsylvania Avenue.

As cars ride slowly down Bridge Street, they must proceed with caution to avoid being cut off by drivers hastily coming and going from cigarette wholesalers. If they are lucky, they might be able to sit through the light at our own town square. Here they can sit for a minute or two and enjoy our statue of Robert Morris, the historic Morrisville Bank, and a little hair salon called Hairgasm.

Were we really considering adding a burlesque house to our community gathering point? What message would that send? What do we hope to look like 10 or 15 years from now?

With so many empty, underused, and misused buildings, our community could not afford to add yet another complex. This one would have come at the cost of valuable, and limited open space, and also the peace of mind and security of residents on the flood plain. It would have forced even more traffic on to our small, fast-moving, and busy narrow roads.

I commend council members for taking a hometown stand for our small town community. This decision will help ensure that we maintain a high quality of life for all of our citizens.

Dina M. Tanzillo, Morrisville, is a special education teacher and longtime resident.

News From the Budget Meeting

Special education to be cut! Apparently the new Morrisville School Board slogan is "Bring out the Hellmann's and screw the kids!"

Let's hear from the people who SUPPORT the Emperor. How is this sitting with you?


Residents angered by proposals
Battling over budget
By MANASEE WAGH
STAFF WRITER

In an effort to further reduce costs for the upcoming school year, the Morrisville school board agreed 6-0 Wednesday night to consider trimming proposed increases in funding for special education and alternative and charter schools next year.

If the proposals are finalized, the expected increase for special education could be reduced by more than $91,000, or 40 percent. The anticipated increase in charter school funding would be cut by almost $59,000, or 40 percent. Likewise, alternative school funding would be cut by more than $114,000, or 54 percent of the expected increase.

In addition, the board will consider eliminating several positions.

The proposals did not sit well with the approximately 50 residents who attended Wednesday night’s meeting.

“These changes seem to directly impact our children,” said Ann Perry, a resident with children in the district.

On Tuesday, board President William Hellmann directed district Business Administrator Reba Dunford to incorporate the suggested changes into the board’s proposed 2008-09 school budget.

Hellmann’s proposals would reduce expenses by about $1.57 million, but would also reduce revenue by about $150,000 because of less money from taxes.

According to the proposals, the average property tax next year would be $3,371 on an average $18,000 property assessment. Without the changes Hellmann requested, taxes would be $3,416, still less than the average tax of $3,692 this year.

While the proposed changes would reduce the millage rate by 17.8 mills to a 2008-09 total of 187.3, the administration on Wednesday warned board members that this kind of reduction would make the following year’s taxes skyrocket.

District Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson advised the board against cutting the proposed increases.

The state requires that school districts fund whatever special education services are necessary for all special education students.

“We’d get sued if we didn’t pay for special education costs,” Dunford said.

According to Dunford, the Pennsylvania Department of Education would remove charter school tuition from the state subsidy that Morrisville would get next year, so the district has no choice about paying the tuition.

Other ways Hellmann wants to cut expenses is to eliminate staff positions, including the principal’s position from M. R. Reiter Elementary School. Principal Karen Huggins recently retired from the school. Getting rid of the position would save the district more than $128,000.

In a related move, the board also wants to eliminate a teacher position, which would save the district $68,200.

According to Dunford, the grant writer’s position would be dissolved as well, netting the district about another $72,000.

Johanny Manning, another resident with children in the district, wanted to know how one principal would take over the duties for two schools. She and about five other speakers expressed outrage about cutting special education and money for charter and alternative schools.

“How are we going to survive?” she asked. “What happens when we know we need the funding? Because we will.”

Hellmann had no response to the public comments.

At that, board member Joseph Kemp was incensed.

“Not to respond to these parents, these concerned citizens, is really disrespectful,” he told Hellmann. He went on, “These cuts will take money from those who need it most,” referring to the planned special education reductions.

The deadline for final changes to the budget is June 25. The board will have until then to tweak the plan.