Tom Curtin Leads Parkesburg's Economic Tax Relief

August 18^th, 2006, began the process of creating a new Parkesburg Ordinance to encourage economic development within the Borough. Tom Curtin met with Chester County Economic Development Agency, the Octorara School District and Governor Rendell’ special task force representatives to talk about what could be done to draw new economic development.

In talking about the tools available, one of the key requirement for any community to draw new development was to put in place tax incentives and one of the key methods in Pennsylvania was a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Abatement, or LERTA. Those present at the meeting encouraged each of the municipalities to consider LERTA as a 1) means to draw jobs to western Chester County and 2) reduce the school tax burden on home owners by building a new tax base.

The LERTA provides relief for increased property taxes a developer might pay over the current value of the property. For example, if a developer constructs a new building on a vacant lot, the increased taxes after completion can be abated 100% for five years, but the base level of taxes continues. At the end of the five years, taxes return at the then current level and continue on from that point. LERTA encourages projects which have the greatest long term value to Parkesburg, since the bigger the increase in valuation the bigger the abatement.

With the support of council and Parkesburg Planning Commission, a map of the included area and an ordinance authorizing LERTA was passed and approved by the Borough in less than three months after it began. Following Council's approval, Chester County three Commissioners and the Octorara School District also approved the LERTA ordinance.

Parkesburg was the first, and so far the only, community in Chester County to pass a LERTA ordinance. Council, led by Tom Curtin, is now working with development officials to plan the next step including marketing the plan to developers and encouraging them to take advantage of the incentives.

LERTA is a great first step. But just a first step. Since passing the LERTA ordimance earlier this year, Tom Curtin has been speaking this summer with residents on Main Street, Church street and First Avenue about a new economic revitalization project called “First and Main”. He’s compiling photographs, ownership data and identifying funding sources and speaking with the Parkesburg Business Association.

Where LERTA encourages new commercial construction, "First and Main" will focus on the hidden and not so hidden historical beauty of our community through residential and business façade improvement and business redevelopment program improving Parkesburg's “curb appeal”. The "First and Main" Project is about the four R;s researching and dealing with business inhibitors, removing blight, rehab and renewal of homes, businesses and infrastructure (streets, sidewalks and utilities) -and reinvigorating neighborhoods with community days, block parties and festivals.

Tom promises more to come this Fall on the "First and Main" program!

Minutes of the August 6th Regular Meeting of Parkesburg Borough Council

PARKESBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Regular Meeting

August 6, 2007– 7:00 p.m.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Kenneth Knickerbocker.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by all present.

Council members present were: Kenneth Knickerbocker, Thomas Curtin, Virginia Miller, Sheri Melton, and Willard Marsh. Also present were: Borough Manager, L. James Thomas, Secretary, Wendy A. Keegan and Borough Solicitor John S. Carnes. Council Members David Jones and Joseph Reilly and Mayor John Hagan were absent.

A motion to approve the agenda with the addition of Resolution No. 2007-32 was made by Thomas Curtin and seconded by Sheri Melton. All in favor.

A motion to approve the minutes July 16, 2007 Council Meeting was made by Sheri Melson and seconded by Willard Marsh. All in favor.

A Motion to approve the bills submitted was moved by Sheri Melton and seconded by Virginia Miller. All in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENTS (Agenda Items Only)

· Christopher Smith was present on behalf of the Parkesburg Fire Company. Mr. Smith requested from Council a date on which the old Borough Complex property will be transferred to the Fire Company. A meeting was scheduled with the Borough Council and Fire Company Directors on Monday, August 20^th at 6:00 p.m. in the Fire House.

SUBDIVISIONS/PLANNING COMMISSION

· Heritage Building Group—Crystal Springs - A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-30 – A Resolution for Plan Revision for New Land Development was made by Thomas Curtin and seconded by Willard Marsh. All in favor.

· Parkesburg Knoll Phase II-B – Mark Hargraves was present on behalf of Chetty Builders. They will be purchasing Phase II-B lots from Tropea Builders. A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-31 – A Resolution of the Council of the Borough of Parkesburg, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Approving Development of Phase II-B of Parkesburg Knoll by Chetty Builders, Inc. was made by Sheri Melton and seconded by Virginia Miller. All in favor. A motion to sign the Developer’s Agreement, Security Agreement and Cash Escrow Agreement was made by Willard Marsh and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

· Phillips Subdivision — A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-32 – A Resolution of the Council of the Borough of Parkesburg, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Approving Settlement of Local Agency Appeal, Approval of Subdivision Plans (As Part of Such Settlement) and Authorizing the Borough Manager and Other Borough Personnel as Well as Members of Borough Council to Execute the Plans and Appropriate Settlement Documents upon Approval of Same by the Borough Solicitor was made by Thomas Curtin and seconded by Virginia Miller. All in favor.

MANAGER’S REPORT—L. James Thomas

· Another meeting with representatives in the Octorara School District will be held in September or October;

· Lines have been painted on Second Avenue and in the business district on First Avenue;

· Weed removal has been done on West First Avenue and will continue on Main Street;

· Maintenance has been preformed on the tot lot in Minch Park;

· The Summer Park Program is going very well.

SOLICITOR’S REPORT—John S. Carnes, Jr., Esquire

A complete copy of the Solicitor’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Parks & Recreation—Joseph Reilly

No report.

Progress & Development—Thomas Curtin

Will be discussing how to bring business to Parkesburg. Looking at redevelopment of North Church Street.

Streets & Property—Thomas Curtin

Met with the Borough Engineer to discuss the progress of the stormwater grant. Will be discussing the 2008 paving plan. Still working on the solid waste ordinance.

Finance—David Jones

No report.

Police & Fire—Vacant

No report.

Library–Vacant

No report.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

· Rental Inspections – A motion to suspend enforcement of the current rental ordinance and direct the Borough Solicitor to prepare a new rental ordinance to address problem landlords and to leave the draft available for review by Borough Council and landlords before the next scheduled meeting was made by Thomas Curtin and seconded by Willard Marsh. All in favor.

NEW BUSINESS

No new business

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

· Betty Wilde was present on behalf of PABA. PABA will come up with guidelines for what the Borough should be looking for in rental units. PABA would like to coordinate a clean-up day with the Borough. Mrs. Wilde requested the Borough look into a business being conducted on Grape Alley.

· Lester Ely of West Street made several comments: He questioned the property at 538 W. First Avenue; the fence on South Culvert Street; Brandt Street paving; compact car parking and bicycles on the sidewalks are not being enforced; the Streets Department does not put the trash cans back where they found them; and questioned when the sewer debt will be over.

· Christopher Smith on behalf of the Fire Company thanked Council for the use of Minch Park for the Fair.

· Phillip Laus of Walnut Street commented on the problem of skateboards on the sidewalks.

· John Ford of Main Street thanked Mr. Thomas for solving his problem.

COUNCIL COMMENTS:

· Virginia Miller requested that people shop at the Parkesburg Potpourri

· Ken Knickerbocker commented on his Parkesburg Today blog page at parkesburgtoday.blogspot.com

ADJOURNMENT:

With there being no further business, a motion was made by Thomas Curtin and seconded by Willard Marsh to adjourn the meeting 8:25 p.m. All in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Wendy A. Keegan

Borough Secretary

Parkesburg Purchases the General Services Building

Written By David Jones, VP of Borough Council

Several years ago the Council of the Borough of Parkesburg realized they would soon be in need of a new home for the Police and the administrative operations of the Borough. A decision was made that these operations should remain on West First Avenue and a piece of vacant land was purchased for the purposes of building a new building. Subsequent to these actions by Borough Council, a private development group, Keystone Alliance, Inc., purchased what is known in town as the old “Johnstone” building. Their intent was to rehabilitate the building and create a state of the art business complex.

The first tenant to sign up for the new building complex was the District Court. This office was formerly located on West Main Street in the Borough. As the plans and the rehabilitation moved forward on the new building it became obvious to Borough Council that the new property would be ideal for the Police and Borough administrative office. Borough Council at the time realized this would be less expensive and time consuming than constructing a building on the land purchased. After a lengthy negotiation period with Keystone Alliance, Inc. a rental agreement was developed for the Police and Borough administration. This rental agreement included an option for the Borough to purchase the building at any time in the future.

The District Court moved into the new facility in late fall of 2006. The Police moved in shortly after this in November of 2006. Finally, the Borough administrative offices moved in in December 2006. In the beginning of 2007 the finance committee and property committee began to explore the financial feasibility of purchasing the new GSC building. It was determined by these two committees that a purchase of the building would not only be feasible, but also would lower costs significantly and allow the borough to accrue equity in the property over time.

The Borough Council unanimously approved moving forward with the purchase of the building in early 2007 and also to explore transfer of the old Borough Hall to the Parkesburg Fire Company after the completion of the purchase of the new building.

The negotiations were a very lengthy process and many outstanding issues had to be resolved to clear the way for purchase of the building. The vacant lot the Borough owned across the street from the new building was sold to assist in financing the purchase. Rent from the District Court is also expected to reduce costs by nearly 2 million dollars over the 20 year term of the purchase agreement.

The purchase of the new property was completed in July 2007 and is now the property of the Borough of Parkesburg.

Additional Pictures:

Landlords Speak Out, Ask Council to Rescind Rental Ordinance

Last Monday (7/30/07) evening four members of Borough Council and 18 landlords representing over 150 Parkesburg rental units met in Borough Hall to discuss the Borough’s recently enacted Rental Ordinance. The Ordinance, which was unanimously approved by council in October 2006, went into effect on January 1, 2007 and go into effect it did! Within a few months landlords were complaining loudly of frequent inspections, inconsistent feedback and added costs in an already slow market.

The meeting provided both council and members of the community a chance to air their concerns and frustrations and gave each a better understanding of the issues and challenges of each group.

Coming into the meeting the land lords listed the following concerns with the newly implemented rental ordinance:

1. No Grandfathering of recently inspected units. Units registered under the previous ordinance are given no consideration.

2. Preempting agencies are not listed; there is no way to know if units are exempt.

3. Tenant changes trigger re-inspection without any other cause. This could lead to several inspections a year per unit.

4. Conflicting info being given regarding complying, especially with GFI outlets and older two wire electrical systems and handrails.

5. Concerned that providing tenant names is a violation of tenant rights and opens owners to lawsuits.

6. Inspection is at the convenience of the Code Officer, only Thursdays, with no respect for owner’s work schedules.

7. Requiring owners to force tenants to allow inspection of their private residence without complaint or modification made to the unit.

8. Excessive power is granted to the Code Officer.

9. Double standard, rentals are to be inspected but not private residences.

10. The fees/inspections for common areas and rooming houses may be excessive, especially if required for each tenant change.

11. Do the fees reflect actual costs? If so, why does it cost Parkesburg more than West Chester to inspect?

Over the course of the two hour discussion each of these issues was discussed. The landlords expressed the frustration with the cost in time, effort and money of the inspections and how the costs were cutting into their already thin profit margins. Given the soft housing markets landlords have been unable to pass these costs on to renters in higher monthly rents. Attendees also expressed their opinion and thoughts on the other challenges facing Parkesburg including revitalizing the Main Street and First Avenue business districts, cleaning up the town and how to work together beyond this meeting.

At the end of the meeting Councilman David Jones took a poll of those in attendance asking if they wanted to see the ordinance changed or simply rescinded. As would be expected the landlords voted near unanimously to rescind the ordinance. Council agreed to consider their request.

A week later at the regularly scheduled Council Meeting President of Council Ken Knickerbocker announced all inspections and court cases resulting from enforcement of the ordinance had had been suspended to give the borough’s solicitor, a chance to revise the ordinance. Council hopes the revised ordinance will significantly reduce and possibly eliminate the impact the ordinance has on good landlords who keep their units neat, safe and orderly.

The first draft of the revised ordinance is expected to be available near the end of August. The revised ordinance will be brought to council as early as September for a vote after both council members and representative of the landlords have a chance to review and modify the ordinance to ensure it meets the stated objective.

Check back again in week or two for an update.

Notes:

1) Those in attendance at the meeting included Sharon Reinhart, Micky Reinhart, Rich Gorgo, John Skrabak, Jeff Hery, Lynn Rohr, Bob Keen, Dirk Hagan, Chuck Persch, Bob Connelly, Guy Jaquet, Bev Ely, Les Ely, Bob Cooke, Mel Keen, Chris Crockett. Representing the Borough government was Jim Thomas, Borough Manager, Ken Knickerbocker, David Jones, Tom Curtin and Willard Marsh from Council.

2) Thanks go to Mel Keen for providing some of the material in this posting and more importantly acting as an effective spokes person for the landlord group.

Minutes of July 16th Borough Council Meeting

PARKESBURG BOROUGH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
July 16, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Kenneth Knickerbocker. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by all present.

Council members present were: Kenneth Knickerbocker, Sheri Melton, David Jones, Joseph Reilly, Willard Marsh and Thomas Curtin. Also present were Mayor John Hagan, Borough Manager, L. James Thomas, Secretary, Wendy A. Keegan, Solicitor John Carnes, Police Chief, Brian Sheller and Zoning Officer Thomas Lowry. Council member Virginia Miller was absent.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: A motion to approve the agenda was made by Joseph Reilly and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion to approve the minutes of the July 2, 2007 Regular Meeting was moved by Willard Marsh and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

TREASURER’S REPORT—Wendy A. Keegan - A complete copy of the June, 2007 Treasurer’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall. A motion to accept the June, 2007 Treasurer’s Report was moved by David Jones and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

APPROVAL OF BILLS: A Motion to approve the bills submitted was moved by David Jones and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENTS (Agenda Items Only):
No public comments

PLANNING COMMISSION/SUBDIVISIONS:

• T.R. White – Davis Subdivision. John Jaros and Randy White were present. A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-29 – A Resolution of the Council of the Borough of Parkesburg, Chester County,Pennsylvania, Accepting T.R. White’s Application to Amend the Pending Final Land Development Plan to Exclude the Quarry Tract (Tax Parcel No. 8-4-78.2) Subject to Acceptance of the Conditions of Conditional Approval Dated June 13, 2005 over Which T. R. White Has Control was made by Sheri Melton and seconded by Thomas Curtin. All in favor.

• Mennonite Church – Nelson Nafsinger and Jeff Bodo were present on behalf of the Mennonite Church. A motion to approve the final land development plans with the conditions as outlined in the Borough Engineer’s letter of June 18, 2007 was made by David Jones andseconded by Joseph Reilly. All in favor.

• Dienno – Lot Line Change. Mr. Dienno granted an extension of sixty(60) days on his application.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

MANAGER’S REPORT—James Thomas Mr. Thomas reported that there are no grant monies available from the County for the revisions to the Zoning and Subdivision and Land Development Ordinances. Mr. Carnes has been given a list of the delinquent trash accounts. Street signs are being replaced and vegetation being trimmed.

POLICE CHIEF’S REPORT—Chief Brian Sheller - A complete copy of the Police Chief’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT—Thomas Curtin - A complete copy of the Public Works’ Report is on file in the Borough Hall.
ZONING OFFICER’S REPORT—Thomas Lowry - A complete copy of the Zoning Officer’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall.
FIRE CHIEF’S REPORT—Richard Klingler, II - No report.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORT—David Jones - No report.
TAX COLLECTOR’S REPORT—Berkheimer Associates - A complete copy of the June, 2007 Tax Collector’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall.
LIBRARY–-Vacant - No report
MAYOR’S REPORT—John P. Hagan, II - A complete copy of the Mayor’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall.
PABA—Betty Wilde -No report.
SOLICITOR’S REPORT—John S. Carnes, Jr., Esquire
• The financing is in place for the purchase of the Government Services Center.
• Phillips Subdivision – the Borough Engineer is reviewing the easement agreement
• Phase IIB of Parkesburg Knoll has been purchased and will be developed by Chetty Builders. A meeting with the builder, Borough Manager and Borough Engineer is scheduled.
- After research on the rental ordinance it has been determined that a search warrant can be used to force an inspection
• There is concern with a property adjacent to the Parkesburg Knoll construction

ENGINEER’S REPORT—Jeffrey Hunt. - A complete copy of the Engineer’s Report is on file in the Borough Hall. Mr. Jones stated that it has been one year since the Borough requested an extension on the stormwater grant and there has been no action taken. Mr. Jones found this totally unacceptable and believes the engineer should be replaced.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

• Housing Development Corporation – Milton Stevenson was present to

NEW BUSINESS

• A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-27 – A Resolution of the Council of
the Borough of Parkesburg, Chester County, Pennsylvania, to Support the
County of Chester’s Efforts in the Construction of the Public Safety Training
Facility in East Fallowfield Township was made by Sheri Melton and
seconded by Willard Marsh. All in favor.
• A motion to adopt Resolution No. 2007-28 – A Resolution of the Council of
the Borough of Parkesburg, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Authorizing the
Borough to Purchase the Government Services Center, 315 West First
Avenue and 100 South Gay Street (UPI No. 8-3-248 and 8-4-63.1) for Three
Million Sixty Two Thousand and Forty One Dollars ($3,062,041.00) Pursuant
to Terms Acceptable to the Borough Solicitor and to Authorize the Borough
Council President or Borough Manager to Undertake All Necessary Actions
Required at Settlement was made by David Jones and seconded by Joseph
Reilly. All in favor.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

• Beverly Ely of West Street asked what the Council can do about people
walking across the railroad tracks
• Greg Darlington of 421 N. Culvert Street complained about a sofa and
washing machine on the property at 401 N. Culvert Street
• Susan Ryan of Main Street asked Council whether a lien can be placed on
properties for overdue trash payments

COUNCIL COMMENTS:

• David Jones commended the police department for no sick time taken

ADJOURNMENT:

With there being no further business, a motion was made by David Jones and seconded by Thomas Curtin to adjourn the meeting 9:00 p.m. All in favor.

Respectfully submitted,
Wendy A. Keegan
Borough Secretary