Morning Call – January 12, 2005

Quakertown Utility Rates, Quakertown & Richland Township Kiss and Make Up

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Have Quakertown and Richland Township finally kissed and made up? Maybe. Here’s a better question. Will Quakertown residents kiss and make up with the town council after it raised electric rates by 20 percent and its water and sewer rates by a whopping 104 percent? How will council president Raymond Fulmer and council members Donald Rosenberger and Daniel Williams fare if they seek reelection this year?

But first things first.

Quakertown and Richland Township have been sparring with each other since 1855; the date Quakertown became a borough. Municipal squabbles began when boroughs had the power to annex township land if a property owner requested services from a borough. Richland’s tax base shrank every time one of its residents decided to leave Richland for Quakertown. Quakertown’s residents had advantages over Richland…lower rates for electricity; the availability of water and sewer, plus a local full time police department, and public schools K through 12 (rather than one room schools).

The legislature changed the rules about a generation ago. So land grabbing via annexation is no longer permitted. But like the Civil War, some wounds don’t heal quickly. Looking back at history, Pennsylvania made a mistake by creating boroughs 150 years ago or so. Think how much better things would be today if one government existed (call it Richland or Quakertown) instead of three (Richland Township, Richlandtown and Quakertown).

But last week, Quakertown agreed to allow Richland to build a biking and walking trail on borough property. “In the past, there had been discussion about trading the biking-hiking easement for a zoning change to the Krupp Foundry site on Mill Street in Quakertown,” Steve Wartenberg wrote for the Call (Jan. 7). “The rezoning would allow an age-restricted housing development. Quakertown owns the property, but it is in both the borough and township.

“We’re not looking for a trade-off, we just want to be good neighbors,” borough Councilman Jim Roberts said at the meeting.

“If it’s right for Quakertown residents and the larger community, we’ll vote for it,” added Councilman Daniel Williams. “And the trails system is great.”

The stumbling block may be the word “something.”

“In the past, a sticking point has been Richland’s requirement of getting something in exchange for the zoning change- something it always requires for new developments,” the Call’s report continued.

“We believe in intermunicipal cooperation, and we want to see the site put to good use,” Richland’s Chairman Rick Orloff said in the Call’s article. “But given the nature of the zoning change and the impact, we must get something.

“This “something”, Orloff said, “can come from the borough or the developer that eventually buys the property.” Isn’t it time for Richland to forget “something” and permit the zoning change with no strings attached?

And speaking about kissing and making up, how will Quakertown residents react to the water, sewer, and electric rates, which have gone through the roof? I asked Fulmer whether he would seek reelection? “At present, I plan to seek reelection,” he replied. “I’m on the mend,” he added in reference to his bout with cancer. “I managed through the cancer quite well.

“It’s simple arithmetic,” Fulmer added as he spoke about the increased utility rates. “I hope that most of the public understands it. It’s something we didn’t want to do, but had to do.”

My bet is that voters will grumble but say OK.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith