Countdown to April 29 to PERMANENTLY close M. R. Reiter. Ask the board to see the 6 point plan.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Bristol Borough tentative 4-year agreement

From the BCCT

Teachers union gets first look at tentative 4-year agreement
The Bristol Borough Education Association will decide next week if it wants to ratify the contract.
By JOAN HELLYER

Association members will receive annual pay raises ranging between 3 percent and 3.5 percent over the course of a fouryear contract, according to a source familiar with the tentative labor deal.

The higher salary costs will be offset in part by the employees’ increased contributions to their health care costs according to the agreement reached Tuesday, said the source, who asked not to be identified.

In addition, the bargaining unit also agreed to move to a less expensive health care plan, the source said. The added contributions and less expensive plan could save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, the source said.

Michael Girard, the union spokesman, and John Hill, the school board’s chief negotiator, declined Thursday to confirm any specifics of the agreement.

Both said they did not want to discuss the contract’s details until the BBEA and the school board ratify the deal.

If approved, the new agreement will replace the current pact that expires Sunday.

BBEA represents an estimated 90 teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, and school nurses.

Union members had their first look at the tentative agreement Thursday afternoon during a meeting at Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High School, Girard said.

They are scheduled to vote Sept. 2 on whether to ratify the deal, he said.

If the union approves the contract, the board will decide Sept. 4 whether it wants to ratify the labor agreement, Hill said.

Friday Night Football

The BCCT reminds us that the MHS Bulldogs football season opener is tonight at 7:00 P.M.

MORRISVILLE VS. FLEETWOOD
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Robert Morris Field, Morrisville Last year’s records: Morrisville, 3-9; Fleetwood, 1-9 What to watch: The Bulldogs are looking for contributions from sophomore QB Matt Cookson and junior RB Mike Jones. Fleetwood totaled 38 points in its final seven games in 2007. Prediction: The Bulldogs open with a big win. Morrisville, 28-6.

Meet the new principal

From the BCCT

New principal in Morrisville

Morrisville Middle/High School will have a new principal this year.

William Ferrara will step up from his position as assistant principal at the school, replacing Melanie Gehrens. She retired from the position earlier this summer.

The district has not chosen a new assistant principal at this time. Ferrara expects to take on the challenge of both principal and assistant principal duties, starting immediately, with a salary of $98,000.

He has been with the district since November 2006.

The district also has a new temporary director of pupil personnel, Anthony J. Gesualdi. He has 30 years of education experience from the Pennsbury School District, as well as two years at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22. Most recently he worked in the Bristol Borough School District as director of special education. He temporarily replaces Kimberly Myers, who retired from Morrisville.

“There’s a shortage of special education supervisors lately,” said Gesualdi, who is happy to fill in while the district continues advertising to fill the position permanently.

Retired M.R. Reiter Elementary School principal Karen Huggins will be filling in as substitute principal for both Reiter and Grandview Elementary Schools while Kate Taylor is out on medical leave.

District schools open Sept. 3.

Seniors Say: Lower My Assessment!

From the BCCT:

Reassessment group seeks funds
The seniors are suing Bucks County to force reassessment. The county has said reassessment would cost upwards of $10 million and take years.
By JENNA PORTNOY

A group of seniors suing Bucks County to force a countywide reassessment have officially put out the collection plate.

“I think the point needs to be made, this is not a pipe dream,” said Janis Shuter, one of 25 residents of the Village at Flowers Mill, a Middletown age-restricted community, who attended a meeting Thursday night. “This is not a hopeless cause, but one thing we need to accomplish this is money.”

Legal fees have already cost the Committee for Equitable Reassessment in Bucks County about $70,000 in donations from hundreds of homeowners.

According to a projection by their attorney, Denis Dunn, the group needs at least $51,580 more to see the case to fruition. The estimate grows by $6,670 if Dunn completes eight remaining depositions.

The suit, which was filed in 2004 and is still in the discovery phase, was spearheaded by residents Joan and Sy Goldstein. The couple has written endless letters pleading for cash from their neighbors, residents in Shady Brook, also in Middletown, and Heritage Creek in Warwick as well as other individuals who have pitched in to finance the litigation.

“Without the funds we can’t do anything,” said Sy Goldstein, who produced an inch-thick stack of bills.

The Goldsteins, like many of their neighbors, realized the disparity in assessments when they sold their Levittown home in 2001 and bought a newly constructed home. Since then, tax bills have skyrocketed from $5,000 to roughly $7,500.

The inequitable bills are especially painful considering how few township and borough services age-restricted developments use, said Jon Sherman, who has lived in Shady Brook with his wife Harriet for six years. They pay for private trash collection, street maintenance and lighting and don’t have children to stress the school system; they use only the public library and fire and police services.

“What we’re really fighting for is for everyone to pay their fair share,” he said.

The last countywide property reassessment was in 1972. That means the owners of older homes in neighborhoods where sale prices have skyrocketed pay taxes based on assessments set decades ago, when sale prices were far lower than they are today.

Those who live in newly constructed homes — such as the residents suing for a reassessment — often have higher assessments and bear much more of the tax burden than their neighbors.

The state has a formula to account for the difference over time, but many residents believe too many years have passed to make it relevant. Homes are reassessed only when newly built or renovated.

The three-member Board of Assessment Appeals hears appeals from residents who made changes, like adding a room or finishing the basement, and objected to their increased assessment. Members are appointed by county commissioners.

The county has eschewed reassessment due, in part, to the expense and time it would take to re-evaluate the county’s 230,000 taxable parcels.

Guy Matthews, formerly county solicitor and now an assistant solicitor, has said the process could cost upwards of $10 million and take years. The new assessments could then grow out of whack in a relatively short time, he said.

Donations can be sent to CERBC at 314 Starflower Lane in Langhorne PA 19047.

More Stockham Lawsuit Info

From buckslocalnews.com

Posted on Wed, Aug 27, 2008
Developer sues Morrisville over strip club rejection
By Petra Chesner Schlatter

Stockham Interests, LLC, the developer, which proposed a gentleman's club in Morrisville Borough, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, claiming their First Amendment Rights have been violated.

Damages are being sought by Stockham Interests in excess of $75,000.

An application for a variance by Stockham Interests was unanimously denied by the Morrisville Zoning Hearing Board in May.

The property in question is the historic Stockham Building. The tall structure is located across the street from a statue of Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution.

The Stockham Building is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in the old business section. Morrisville leaders have been leading a revitalization of the area in recent years.

Morrisville Borough Council Solicitor James Downey said this week in an interview, "It's a little out there. The lawsuit alleges that they are precluded from putting up a gentleman's club."

The lawsuit says Stock-ham Interests "violated their First Amendment rights with inappropriate restrictions on adult entertainments," Downey said.

"Under Pennsylvania Law, the applicant has to prove hardship," Downey said. "They didn't appeal to the Bucks County Common Pleas Court.

Downey noted, "There is a gentleman's club right down the street." Downey stressed that the lawsuit states Stockham Interests was precluded from operating an adult entertainment facility.

Morrisville Borough has referred the case to its insurance carrier, Integrated Management in Chester Springs, Pa. for defense. The insurance carrier has referred the defense to a law firm.

Downey said Stockham Interests came to the zoning board and followed a procedure.

"In place of filing the appropriate process and procedure to appeal the denial to the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, they filed a complaint in the U.S. Civil Court, claiming their civil rights were violated," said Downey.

Downey said the federal district court "moves pretty fast" and estimated a decision would be made in about six months.

"We all have rights, but we have a duty to respect the rights of others," Downey concluded. "But, they haven't done that."

Todd Colarusso, president of Stockham Interests, LLC of Princeton, N.J., said after the May meeting that he would appeal the decision in Bucks County Common Pleas Court. Instead, he went to the federal court.

Colarusso had threatened there will be a strip club as he stood outside on the steps of borough hall.

When the strip club variance application was denied by the Morrisville zoning board, residents said they were happy.

Residents, especially the clergy, voiced their opinion not to allow a burlesque-style theater with topless women in their town.

Colarusso had said during the hearing that he would drop his original application for a zoning variance to establish an adult club on the second floor of the building on the condition that the board allow a 1,000-square-foot hanging nylon sign for the west side of the building.

However, the board rejected that request. Colarusso said the sign would first be made available to tenants of the building, including a health club. He said the sign could be used by area businesses.

Pastor Gary Taylor of the 1st Baptist Church said he was concerned for the moral content of the sign and whether it could be controlled in the future.

Taylor said there would be adverse effects on the community because "Morrisville would be known for that particular establishment."

The applicant said he would not allow advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, condoms or abortion.