I have spent two mind numbing hours messaging Amazon customer service in third world countries.
You see someone sent me that book in the photo at the opening of the post. only as is the case with Amazon there was no gift message. So I was contacting them to find out who sent me the book so I could say thank you.
But Amazon’s “security protocols” won’t allow them to tell you who has your addresses and sent an unsolicited item, probably a gift but in today’s world, how do you know unless you know who sent it? And how are you supposed to know who sent it if they won’t tell you?
Supposedly they will contact who sent it and ask them to contact me. I am not, however, holding my breath.
Amazon’s customer service sucks. So does a security protocol which doesn’t make allowances as far as making people feel safe as far as being the recipient of a mystery package. How’s that for smart brevity?
To understand the present, look to the past. Then as residents become informed as to how to shape your future. Don’t ignore history, acknowledge and learn from it.
I am struck once again by how much people live life on social media. They live too much life on social media. Social media may help keep us all connected, but it’s not the real world.
And while social media keeps us connected, it’s not a justification for bad manners and lack of boundaries. And it’s the lack of boundaries that in part bothers me.
This week I had an extremely unpleasant experience with someone who is an employee of a service provider. They crossed professional boundaries that leaves me disturbed.
When I realized who they were and their comments were even leaving me uncomfortable, I quietly removed them from my page. I was actually trying to do them a favor. Not all employers like controversy. Especially in today’s hyper charged social media world. They started messaging. I quietly blocked that. Then they made the ultimate presumption and started messaging my private messenger rather combatively. That is a boundary that should not be crossed because then it is a professional breach of conduct since they work for a service provider I have a relationship with. I blocked them again but now I am left with a very bad taste in my mouth. They didn’t get that there are things in life that are just not appropriate.
Then we leap to the politics of it all. Should politicians respond to questions? Yes. But sometimes it is all about how you ask. One of the problems with social media is the lack of conversation. It can’t always be whomever gets all of the toys wins. And people seem to forget that all of their issues and things they champion personally, or not necessarily going to be yours. Or that you, as an individual might support them, but not so fervently for lack of a better description and that doesn’t make people bad, it just makes them different and we do have to allow for differences. Isn’t that what we fight for for real?
The lack of boundaries and decorum is something I feel is very much lacking in today’s world. And it has a place.
And in general people think we all should available to them 24/7/365. I am not. I have a life of my own and it’s off of social media. People don’t seem to realize that all of us have things to do and things going on in our lives. And that’s not necessarily bad or hysterically busy things, it’s just our life. And I find a lot, that sadly this isn’t respected by people because they expect you to respond to them immediately. A lot of people also simply don’t want to interact on social media.
It’s a big wide world out there and it really takes place off of Facebook and whichever social media platform you favor.
Go outside. Enjoy the world in real time interact with people face-to-face have an actual conversation. Live life in your own moments. Real moments. Not ones engineered with social media prompts.
Am I Miss Manners? No. But I think we all could use reminders now and again.
Church Farm School is a wonderful institution. And it gives deserving boys a chance at education and opportunity that might not necessarily find them. So it’s not your average silver spoon private school.
Because they are not your average silver spoon private school, they don’t always get the opportunity to do things a lot of high schoolers get to do, like go to prom. Prom is a right of passage and this year for the first time, they have been invited by a sister school to come to prom.
Prom wear is not int he average budget of a lot of these kids so when I saw a message posted on social media I knew I needed to pay it forward, because while there are tons of organizations to help girls get dressed for prom, they don’t exist for boys. Here’s the message:
Hi Malvern! Please delete if this is not permitted.
I work for Church Farm School, which is an all boys’ Boarding School grades 9-12 in Exton, PA. Our boys have pretty much never had a Prom before. This year we are excited to have been invited to our sister school’s Prom. So we have a group of juniors and seniors who are eager for the chance to attend. However, access to formalwear can be difficult for our student body. If anyone has suits or other formalwear that they would consider donating to our Clothes Closet or has coupons to formalwear stores/rentals, we would be so grateful for any assistance.
Chester County, like her neighboring counties used to be a farming seat. Acres and acres of fields as far as the eyes could see. Cows, horses, sheep. The landscape dotted with old barns and farmhouses. Sounds of fields, being plowed, or crops being brought in, and more.
Dairy farms were a big part of Chester County. Now all we have for the most part are memories of the farms that used to exist before development and before developers drove up land prices, making farmers unable to keep their land for future generations, like their fathers and grandfathers before them.
Now, for the most part, the memories we have are of those great dairy farms large and small are old glass milk bottles. I have little pint sized ones on my kitchen windowsill. I use them to root plants and hold flowers.
I really don’t think that government and politicians no matter what political persuasion really value farming anymore. Just like in Pennsylvania I don’t think they value the way we want our communities to look, as opposed to being stampeded and trampled by new development that feels like it arrives every minute of the day.
What once was hangs on in little memories like when you come across the little bottles. Here’s hoping people eventually wake up before all is lost. Yes, we do need some development, like it, or not for us to move forward. But there is simply too much of it. It has become a problem. It is destroying us.
Remember those fresh vegetables you love do not grow on the roof of Whole Foods in Exton, nor do cows and horses and sheep and goats and more graze there.
This morning was a day when I wanted to hand my adulting card back. Another one of the great ladies of my childhood is gone. No, not my mother, one of her friends, a family friend.
So I have some bad news. My mom died this morning. She loved 95 good, healthy years. And if she’s right about the afterlife, she is now with my dad. We have no arrangements about services, but when I know something…we will share the details.
Loss truly is the companion of aging. Shit. Some days you do just want to curse. This morning was one of them.
We can’t escape death, as it is literally part of the cycle of life. But there are those people who touched your life whom you just wish would go on. Or you just think will go on.
This lady was someone I knew from the time I was a little girl. She and her late husband were friends of my parents, neighbors at one time. Yes, another one of those fabulous ladies of my Society Hill childhood. We also went to the same church, Old St. Joseph’s on Willing’s Alley. One of the first things I remembered was being in church with this family. I remember our first holy communion because one of the daughters was in my communion class.
An eminently practical person, but never dull or preachy or stuffy. Always fun to be around and she made you want to be a better person. She loved you for who you were.
I think our parents met when my mother and she would take kids to the park nearby. My mother may have been pregnant with my sister. The park is known today as 3 Bears Park. Maybe it always was because of the bear sculpture we would climb on, but to me it was just the “park” or “Delancey Park.”. It had a sliding board that kept breaking because the sun would dry out whatever it was made of – fiberglass I think. But they had great swings and we the kids would pump higher and higher.
The lady had a wonderful husband. Big and tall with a wide smile and a laugh that made his eyes twinkle. Her daughters were so close in age to my sister and I. The oldest daughter and I were in the same grade. The youngest daughter was maybe a year or so behind us, my sister was the baby of this little girls bunch. There were two older brothers as well.
This morning when I got the news, it kind of felt like the world of today spun into a kaleidoscope of the past. From being a little enough girl that this lady kept a straight face when we kept putting my sister into the youngest daughter’s doll bed in her room. Or patience when the tiny turtle’s living area needed to be cleaned. And laughing her wonderful laugh when they finally figured out when her husband’s pride and joy imported Italian car smelled. (The Alpha had an Italian worker who had dropped a salami sandwich inside the door of the car when it was being assembled. Who knows why the worker did it but it was a great mystery of our childhood for a while trying to figure out why her husband’s car smelled to high heaven.) I also remember day trips in a big old station wagon big enough for kids and moms.
Their house was where I first learned peanut butter and jelly was an actual thing you could eat. That was offered one day when one of the kids she was feeding lunch to along with us didn’t want a tuna fish sandwich. I remember where their dining room table was next to the kitchen, and the walled garden out back. I remember there was no messing with the big brothers, even if they were fun. They seemed so big to little girls at that age.
The family moved a few times over the course of the lady’s husband’s career. Before Philadelphia I want to say they were in the Princeton, NJ area, which to a little girl with no frame of geographical reference seemed a million miles away. After Society Hill they moved to Bethesda, Maryland. I remember the road where they lived was Arrowood Road. And for some reason I remember they lived near two big deal golf clubs for that area, Burning Tree and Congressional. And to get to their house you went on this crazy windy road. The kind where the dips and turns could be felt in the stomachs of little girls – River Road. For me initially visiting there as a then still city kid, it was so magical to be in suburbia with big lawns, backyards and big trees. For a while a raccoon inhabited one of the trees in their back yard. Don’t ask me why I have never forgotten that, but I never have. Probably because the lady’s husband hated that raccoon.
When the family moved away, we would go to Maryland, they would come to visit us. Going to visit this family was the ultimate in fun. The lady always had things lined up for us to do. One year it was the King Tut exhibit at The National Gallery in Washington, DC. I remember waiting in a long, long line to go in. That was I believe around 1976. I also remember the summer my parents house sat the pink stucco house that no longer exists on Cheswold Lane in Haverford and the lady and the daughters came for a longer visit. That was one of my favorite summers and they were part of it. That was a couple of years before we moved to the Main Line but my parents were contemplating moving to suburbia.
The lady was incredibly bright. I seem to remember that she went to a 7 sisters school, and when my family moved to Haverford, an adult neighbor’s sister had been her roommate in college.
This lady was a tremendous cook. Kind of Julia Child-like meets Galloping Gourmet, truthfully. (And yes I am dating myself because many won’t remember the Galloping Gourmet.) A few years ago I got a hold of her Florentine cookies recipe from when we were kids. I also remember one New Year’s Eve when she and her husband and the girls were up at our house, she decided to make a chocolate roll to take as a dessert. Only our springer spaniel Abigail jumped up and ate a section of the sponge cake cooling on the stove. I remember cursing, yelling, and a quick recovery and she made the remains of the cake into a decadent trifle.
We often spent Thanksgiving with them, and they with us. I loved being in her kitchen at Thanksgiving. She would put us all to work, but I think in part, this is why I know how to make Thanksgiving dinner today. I remember one Thanksgiving they came with us to my aunt and uncle’s home in Chestnut Hill for an awkward family dinner gather of part of my father’s clan. The dining room was dark and cold. But it was much more fun with our friends with us. One Thanksgiving when they were with us, my parents made a reservation at The Greenhouse in Radnor. You all know it today as 333 Belrose. When you did Thanksgiving there, it was an entire dinner, including your own small turkey and tons of leftovers to take home, but no clean up.
I remember being at their house in Maryland when the news broke on 3 Mile Island. I was in the kitchen with the lady, one of the brothers had the TV on in the family room.
The family moved from Bethesda to Summit, NJ and then in a way they were closer. Either way, Bethesda or Summit, as I got older I was only an Amtrak ride away to visit them.
I loved their house in Summit, NJ. And Summit was just a nice town. I have more memories of the lady again in the kitchen which had a lot of natural light, and a garden you could see from the kitchen. These were the days before gargantuan kitchens in houses, and I loved the kitchens of my childhood which is probably why I don’t mind my smaller kitchen of today. Except I remember the kitchen in Summit, NJ had stools you could sit at.
Today as I have processed this loss, I will admit there have been a lot of tears, And memories popping into my head randomly and out of order. But this was one of the families of my childhood that we stayed so connected to. I remember the lady and her husband going to a black tie in Washington DC with my parents to some dinner to honor Jacques Cousteau. I remember one spooky neighbor of theirs in Bethesda when they had a cocktail party that everyone thought was with the CIA whether that was realistic or not.
But one of the things I remember most about this lady is she never treated you like a kid even when you were a child. She spoke to you, she saw you. And she never judged. She might not always tell you what you wanted to hear because she was straightforward and plain spoken. With four kids of her own and all of the kids in and out of the house, she could be like a very affectionate drill sergeant. I don’t remember her yelling per se, but I do remember her with a stern raised voice when something was going on that she wanted to stop, or if there was something we should be doing. But even when I was a child, I just liked to talk to her. I feel so lucky that I had these adults who were interesting and loving in my life growing up.
Since she and her husband had retired to a warmer climate, the visits turned into phone calls, letters, Christmas cards. And one last text message early into the new year this year. She was a New Year’s baby essentially. I saved the message to remind me to call her soon, and then life went on and today my world paused to take in a loss combined with being so lucky to have known such an awesome woman.
Fly with the angels, we know your memory will indeed be an eternal blessing. Selfishly, I will say my world got a little smaller today.
I do not even know where to go with this. So just throwing it all out there.
Does “Advaite” really mean “CRAZY”?
I will say this ALL ties to the Advaite kerfuffle. Don’t remember Advaite? The case of the missing COVID antibodies tests? The company based out of Malvern (East Whiteland Township)?
I am astounded at the layers upon layers to this whole thing around Advaite and the county, and many politicians as well?
Regular media, this ball is in your court. Don’t you think this needs a whopping dose of SUNSHINE?
Now there is the new layer of a former Chester county lawyer filing suit? And didn’t this all start with a Right to Know over Advaite?
Now this Advaite case is ongoing – just run the dockets. And also a couple of interesting emails out of the Right to Know makes you wonder about a county commissioner too?
So then the Daily Local had a gift on Valentine’s Day about a new court case:
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN | mrellahan@dailylocal.com | PUBLISHED: February 14, 2023 at 1:04 p.m. | UPDATED: February 14, 2023 at 1:54 p.m.
PHILEDELPHIA — A former “star” in the Chester County Solicitor’s Office claims that he was retaliated against by his immediate supervisor in the office — who is now a sitting Common Pleas Court judge — for complaining about being the target of racial bias by an private attorney he encountered while on county business.
Juan P. Sanchez, in a lawsuit charging violations of his federal civil rights and the state’s anti-discrimination law that was filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, said that Judge Nicole Forzato, who was county solicitor at the time he worked in that office in 2020 and 2021, illegally fired him after he said he wanted to take a stand regarding his interaction with the unnamed attorney, who he believed had treated him unprofessionally because of his race. Sanchez is Hispanic, of Puerto Rican descent.
But Forzato suggested that such an action would put the county “at risk,” the complaint alleges.
“Unfortunately for (Sanchez), Forzato … had no interest in addressing or understanding (his) concerns of racial bias and instead began retaliating against him,” the complaint, filed Jan. 17, states. “Forzato immediately unjustly criticized (his) performance, accused him of misconduct regarding months-old events, and issued him an unjustified written warning.
WC Daily local 2/14/23
Daily Local has a pay wall that totally blows, so:
Wake up media, you have stories unfolding requiring immediate attention. The same can be said for residents in two Chester County school districts and on Delaware County school district.
I actually have mixed emotions at this juncture about charter schools. When our son was in school, it was a God send due to bullying issues that were not being dealt with in public school as well as the fact we had serious issues when he was in an elementary school that was supposed to be one of the best and in some cases, there were NO books for subjects like history. We sent him to Renaissance Academy Charter School in Phoenixville. There were ups and downs as is the case with any school, but it was a good experience, and they placed a high percentage of kids in great schools. IT still is an academic alternative that I think is serving 20 or 21 school districts at this point.
But now I am starting to look at charter schools with different eyes. Because of the new kids coming to the table in 2023. Specifically in WCASD (West Chester Area School District) and RTSD (Radnor Township School District). And the one for RTSD will also involve TESD (Tredyffrin Easttown School District.)
I will start with WCASD because that is where a charter school that is kind of coming on a stealth basis. Valley Forge Classical Academy Charter School. They say they have non-profit status, only it’s a little hard to find anything, not even a website announcing who they are, their board of directors, etc. They do have a Facebook page and please note how they get their jollies, making it quite clear what they are about:
First up? A fundraiser has been established on Give Send GO:
Would you like to be part of a success story? Valley Forge Classical Academy Charter School in Exton, PA will be just that! We will provide a traditional classical liberal education for each and every child.
The liberal arts in particular and liberal education in general are the surest, most time-tested way to direct students toward a life that is truly free. Our rigorous K-12 curriculum is content-rich, balanced, and strong, with an emphasis upon the four core disciplines of math, science, literature, and history, and attention to music, art, physical education, and foreign languages. In addition, we believe that by training students in the moral, intellectual, and civic virtues we are equipping them to live well-ordered lives as human beings and as citizens.
Your donation will provide funds to ensure a successful application and start-up of our LICENSED HILLSDALE COLLEGE K12 school in the Exton, PA area. ALL DONATIONS GO DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE START UP COSTS OF THE SCHOOL. Attorney’s fees, administrative and marketing costs, website design, office rental, postage and other miscellaneous fees will be covered. All board members are VOLUNTEERS. We will open a K-8 program in the Fall of 2024 and add a grade level each year until we have our first graduating class, the Class of 2028.
For more information on the Hillsdale College K12 program, click on this link:
And now there is an open house on Saturday, January 28th, 2023 at 21 Hagerty Blvd in West Chester where all the Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism gather for meetings sometimes:
Come and meet members of the board and learn about a classical education. Valley Forge Classical Academy Charter School is slated to open in the Fall of 2024 for K-8 students. Each year we will add one year of our high school program and graduate our first class in 2030!
Seems lot o’ stuff happens at 21 Hagerty Blvd in West Chester in as far as certain political based gatherings? So this would be a charter school in WCASD BUT will it meet the requirements of public schools? This school tried before didn’t they? Or is this another proposed school with some of the same players?
Does West Whiteland know about this since they seem as if they are looking at property in West Whiteland? Get out the #popcorn because the Stepford Mommies for Totalitarianism will want this school and like their behavior in school districts will want the taxpayers paying for this too. I will say honestly, that the lady running the fundraiser? Has a lot of charter school experience, so she is sharp.
Now back to Radnor Township School District. And people in Tredyffrin Easttown School District need to pay attention because this is a charter school being proposed at Valley Forge Military Academy and College’s campus, which straddles a couple of municipalities and counties, doesn’t it? And who exactly recruited this school to Valley Forge’s campus? Was it in fact Valley Forge Military School and College which as we know got rejected on their own application prior to this one?
I first bought you the odd tale of Radnor and Pennsylvania Military Charter School at Valley Forge on December 15th, 2022:
Then the Philadelphia had a whopper of an article on Christmas Eve. My late father always said big news sneaks in on weekends and holidays and not enough people pay attention.
Supporters are trying again to open a military-themed charter school on the grounds of Valley Forge Military Academy and College, despite a denial from the Radnor school board last year.
Unlike the previous proposal — which was put forward by the military academy and which Radnor rejected as an apparent effort “to subsidize VFMA and make VFMA available to students through the use of public funds” — the latest application is being advanced by backers with no formal ties to the Main Line private school, including a recently retired Republican state senator and a former head of a charter school advocacy group. The chairman of the proposed charter’s board said it would be a “marriage made in heaven.”
In the latest proposal, Pennsylvania Military Charter School would still rent facilities from VFMA — paying $3 million a year, according to its application to Radnor, compared with $500,000 in the proposal rejected in May 2021…..The new charter application is supported by a charter school management company that started in Arizona and now runs schools in states including Florida, Nevada, and North Carolina.
The company, Charter One, initiated the latest application, said Joshua Johnson, the chair of the board for the proposed charter, which is now pending before the Radnor and Tredyffrin/Easttown school boards.
A retired U.S. Army Green Beret who now works for a leadership development firm, Johnson, who lives in Carlisle, said he was contacted by Charter One to serve on the board.
“We think there’s still a need … to have an alternative to a traditional school that’s based on military school principles, but doesn’t fall into that boarding school category,” Johnson said in an interview, adding that some parents “can’t necessarily afford the tuition Valley Forge charges.”
Unlike VFMA — which costs $39,000 for boarding students, and $24,000 for day students — the charter would be free to attend. Charter schools are publicly funded; in Pennsylvania, school districts pay charters based on the number of enrolled students and what the district spends per child.
Pennsylvania Military Charter says it would enroll 975 students from kindergarten through 12th grade — about four times as many students as are currently on the campus. The boys-only academy enrolls about 140 students in grades 7 through 12, while 80 more are enrolled at the military college, according to school officials….The charter’s $17 million budget includes $1 million for an educational service provider fee; that money would go to Charter One for professional services and operational supports, Johnson said.
According to the charter’s application, the fee would also cover an “aggressive” marketing plan to potential students, including paid social media advertisements and direct mail.
Among those who have also agreed to serve on the charter’s board are recently retired State Sen. Bob Mensch, a Republican who didn’t seek reelection, and Lenny McAllister, a senior fellow with the conservative Commonwealth Foundation who previously was CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools.
Following Johnson’s presentation to the Radnor board, the lone public comment came from a woman who questioned why the charter hadn’t included gender identity or sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy; whether gay or lesbian students would be welcome; and what plans the school had to avoid hazing and abuse. (In rejecting the previous charter proposal, the Radnor board had said VFMA failed to adequately address community concerns about abuse allegations at its school.)
“Respect for persons is absolutely one of the things we’re going to drive,” Johnson said. “But when it comes to gender identification, it will be our policy that the gender and name on the birth certificate is how they’re going to be addressed at our school.”
SO….has Tredyffrin Easttown School District (TESD) scheduled their hearing yet? Here is the entirety of the January 17th Radnor School Board Meeting:
Here are 3 smaller videos which pulls out some crucial public comment:
This all gives me pause. Essentially, I have to ask if these people wanting to start charter schools which all supposedly have Pennsylvania non profits but will really be run by entities in other states should even be allowed to open charter schools in Pennsylvania?
And of course, then you have to wonder how they will deal with what public schools are required to have and do have as far as the many complicated issues facing public schools? And will they be fair and equal and non discriminatory in all areas including sexual and gender identity? And why should people have to watch their tax dollars get siphoned off for schools started by people who have so many issues with public schools that haven’t been upheld by the courts over the past few years? Gender/sexual identity, books they don’t like, masking, vaccines, etc.? Why are taxpayers supposed to pay for their peculiarities?
Truly if you have time, watch and listen to the recent Radnor meeting. And remember that is not just a concern to residents in the Radnor Township School District service area in Radnor Township Delaware County but also in Tredyffrin Easttown School District in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships in Chester County. Interesting things include a website possibly intimating approval – https://www.military.academy/valley-forge when they are far, far from it. They do not seem to have a business plan but they have plans for a course of study called ethical hacking. And as this hearing goes on , the charter presenters seem to become well, combative and uneasy.
With both of these proposed charter schools there seem to be many troubling questions, sadly. Here’s hoping the media steps up and really digs in.
Again, in conclusion, I am not against charter schools in the least. But these two give me pause. Also is there really a need for their brand of charter?
Sorry folks, it has been a busy day. Received official word from East Whiteland regarding the data center of it all. After that I will share the article that prompted this:
In response to recent articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily Local News, where the Township was asked to provide comments and a status update regarding recent data center proposals, below is a statement from East Whiteland Township:
To date, no land development application has been received by the Township and there have been no revisions to the previously approved Zoning Hearing Board application to permit the data center usage at the properties located along the south side of Swedesford Road near the border with West Whiteland Township.
Also, it is important to note to our residents and businesses that the Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township has no interest in entertaining a proposal for a hydrogen power plant within our Township. We are aware of the zoning activities in our neighboring Township and will continue to monitor the situation.
Scott Lambert, Chair of East Whiteland Township Supervisors
A Chester County developer is planning to build a data center approaching the size of the retail space at King of Prussia Mall that could consume more power in one location than any other Peco customer.
Charles Lyddane said he hopes to begin construction this year on the two million-square-foot facility on 65 acres of a remediated Superfund sitehe owns in East Whiteland Township.
“This will be a major economic engine for Chester County and for Pennsylvania,” said Lyddane, whose company Green Fig Land LLC is partnering with Fifteen Forty Seven Critical Systems Realty of Matawan, N.J., to develop the East Whiteland site…..East Whiteland approved zoning variances that Lyddane requested for the project in 2021, and he plans to submit a land development plan to the township this spring. If the plan is approved, construction would begin within six to 12 months and be finished by the end of 2024.
Lyddane said strong demand for new data center capacity is expected to continue despite current economic uncertainties.
Nevertheless, he has “put on hold” a proposal to build a 100,000-square-foot data center along with a power-generating facility on 25 acres he owns in West Whiteland Township that are contiguous with his East Whiteland property.
“Our only plan at this time is to build two data center buildings … in East Whiteland Township,” Lyddane said Tuesday….But Loudoun County, Va., home of what’s widely regarded as the greatest concentration of data centers on the planet, last year approved guidelines to limit their growth. Andthe East and West Whiteland proposals have sparked concerns among environmentalists and some residents in northeastern Chester County, where rolling hills, winding roads, and quaint stone buildings belie the sometimes toxic legacy of mining, steelmaking, and other heavy industries that once dotted the landscape……Sometimes called server farms or carrier hotels, data centers are nothing new. But what’s proposed for East Whiteland would be significantly bigger than most….The proposed East Whiteland data center location once was home to a limestone mining and later, lithium ore-processing business called the Foote Mineral Co., which closed in 1991. A Superfund cleanup project there was substantially completed in 2010, although monitoring of several locations on the property is continuing…..In West Whiteland, nearly 250 people have joined a “Protect Exton Park from Power Plant/Data Center Hub” page on Facebook since it was established earlier in this month. The popular recreation area is close to where Lyddane has explored building a second data center and a power plant.
A 700-acre expanse of woodlands, ponds, and open space, Exton Park was established 30 years ago after local residents fought fiercely to prevent construction of a large housing development, said Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, the administrator of the Facebook page.
“The zoning amendment Charlie requested is very open-ended and would open the door to [development of] hyper-scaled data centers in West Whiteland,” said Marcille-Kerslake….As for the future of the West Whitelandproperty, which includes a storm-water management area that would serve the East Whiteland data center, the developer said: “We don’t have a plan yet. We’re not sure if we’re going to do anything there.”
EAST WHITELAND — A 2-million-square-foot data center, at a cost of approximately $6 billion, is planned for the 100-acre former Foote Mineral site. Seventy-five acres sit in East Whiteland and 25 acres are located in West Whiteland Township.
Fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty partnered with Green Fig Land to obtain East Whiteland zoning variance changes that would allow for two separate million-square-foot, two-story structures and microwave towers, near the intersection of Valley Creek Boulevard and Swedesford Road.
Charlie Lyddane, who works with partner Greg Walters, of Green Fig Land, said on Monday that he wants eventually to also build on the adjacent 25-acre property in West Whiteland Township.
The site abuts the heavily used Chester Valley Trail and Exton Park for what Lyddane said would be an “ancillary” use.
Data centers house equipment such as servers, and air conditioning and cooling equipment for storage of large amounts of data. Data centers run the systems that cell phones are connected to and it’s part of the internet. A data center is the building that houses all of that equipment.
Residents rallied to fight some of the uses after West Whiteland had set a January 25 date for a hearing on zoning changes in the existing office/lab district. Those changes would allow for the data center and a power generating facility to help run the data center. PECO has already agreed to supply a large amount of power. Lyddane said it was enough to fully run the East Whiteland facility as planned.
Lyddane pulled the request for a township hearing which was to appear on the agenda of the Jan. 25 meeting.
“There is no plan for a power plant,” Lyddane said, although a zoning ordinance change for such was requested. “There are a number of options for things to do there.
“We want to see what happens with the data centers. Nothing is definite. We don’t have a plan. We are looking at options.
“The only plan at this time is to build two data centers and that’s it. We are nearly through the approval process in East Whiteland.”
Lyddane also said that more than half of the 25-acre West Whiteland tract is being left as open space because it includes existing wetlands.
Any zoning changes would allow for additional data center construction on more than 100 nearby acres in the township that Lyddane said he doesn’t own and is not for sale. Lyddane said it would be possible to operate a green power plant at that location.
West Whiteland resident Ginny Kerslake is strongly opposed to the project that might include a power plant, as was requested and written with the new zoning variance language.
“Power plants, whether gas or hydrogen from methane, emit the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, and methane,” she said.” In addition to this, there are methane emissions all along the route from fracking to the power plants, and impacts to public health and safety, water resources and the environment. No matter how you try to greenwash it, gray or blue hydrogen is not sustainable energy. It’s a false climate solution being pushed by the fossil fuel industry.”
Data centers in New York, Oregon, Hawaii, Wyoming, Wisconsin and two in Illinois are operated by 1547 Critical Systems….. A $50 million cleanup of the Foote Mineral site is completed, according to Lyddane, who said he spent $2 million on sewer improvements and $500,000 for the cleanup of the township sewer treatment plant.
The proposed West Whiteland zoning changes also call for a 60-foot height limit rather than the current limit of 35 feet.
“We are looking for flexibility,” Lyddane said.
The developer said that each of the two floors might measure 20 feet high, with equipment on the roof. He said that the facility would create 50 permanent “very good paying jobs” onsite and about 3,000 jobs during the construction period.
West Whiteland Supervisor Brian Dunn talked about the zoning changes that might lead to a data center and power plant in the township.
“I’m always skeptical about amending zoning ordinances,” Dunn said. “I’ve found through my experience that whenever a zoning ordinance is amended it’s not always what was proposed.
“A lot of times it opens up a can of worms for something worse.”
West Whiteland Supervisor Rajesh Kumbhardare said he wants to see the facts while noting that the site sits far from residences.
“I don’t see any issue with the zoning changes,” he said. “There is no power plant on the books.
.Kerslake argued that the zoning changes suggested for the canceled Jan. 25 meeting clearly stated such.
“Let’s consult the experts,” Kumbhardare said. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse.”
West Whiteland Supervisor Theresa Santalucia preferred to not comment when reached by phone.
Libby Madarasz is running for the seat occupied by Santalucia on the West Whiteland board of supervisors.
“I’ve spent hours this past long weekend speaking with residents in their neighborhoods and out enjoying Exton Park and the Chester Valley Trail,” she said. “There was a resounding objection to these (proposed) changes in the zoning ordinances which would have such an impact to these treasured spaces.
“The prospect of a fracked gas/hydrogen power plant was especially offensive. I truly hope our township supervisors listen to the people and honor their duty to put the desires of the residents first.”
Kerslake: “The developer’s withdrawal of his zoning ordinance amendment is a victory for all those speaking up against this bad plan and a testament to the power of community. The requested change, oddly submitted without plans and impact assessments, was a trojan horse that would have opened the door for a fracked gas power plant in close proximity to neighborhoods and our treasured Exton Park and Chester Valley Trail.
So to West Whiteland Supervisor Raj Kumbhardare, is a bit of a puzzle here. Supervisor Raj should have more to say more than his evasiveness in The Daily Local News about carts and horse, right? Supervisor Raj as a day job is in database administration so is there anything in this for him? Not being mean but does he care about all of his constituency equally? After all this issue is bigger than computer and database type professionals being excited that the data center is coming, right? And then there is the wondering if he really understands the zoning and how zoning doesn’t exist in a little bubble or vacuum and these changes could potentially have far-reaching changes for the township he is supposed to serve equally to his best efforts so??? I am not saying he’s not a good guy I am asking reasonable questions. I am also wondering how is feeling about carts and horse right now?
And my favorite angry lame duck supervisor is mums the word on this? Why? Rather odd considering….she’s always so pithy, yes?
Anyway, East Whiteland is not being shy about how they seem to be feeling, do they?
Also do not forget this hopeful piece from September, 2022:
With the passage of new tax incentives for data centers in Pennsylvania, developers have announced plans for a hyperscale campus outside Philadelphia that could create 2 million square feet of data center space.
The project is a big bet that Pennsylvania can become a destination for cloud campuses for huge Internet companies. The incentives are also being welcomed by existing data center providers, primarily enterprise colocation and interconnection specialists.
Last year, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a package of data center incentives that includes a sales and use tax exemption for the purchase of computer equipment….
Last month data center operator fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty (1547) said it will partner with real estate developer Green Fig Land Company (GFLC), to acquire 100 acres of land in Chester County, Pa. to build a data center campus with 150 megawatts of capacity. The site plans call for a pair of two-story data centers, each sized at 1 million square feet of space.
“We at Green Fig have spent three years working with the legislature to enact a bill to eliminate the sales tax on data center equipment in Pennsylvania,” said Charles Lyddane, Managing Partner of GFLC. “With access to Tier 1 carriers like Arelion, Lumen, and Windstream, Pennsylvania is the ideal location for an additional data center cluster sitting between markets like NJ/NY and Ashburn.”…If the project succeeds, the Chester County site could be expanded with to support an additional 149 megawatts of power, and up to 5 million SF of space. Green Fig said it is also working on a dedicated, sustainable power generating facility on site.
Tonight class we re-learned a valuable lesson or two:
(1) Sometimes the peasants revolt.
(2) Carts and horses are funny things.
(3) Sometimes municipalities want the public to have actual clarity.
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
—Lao Tzu
In 2014 I started keeping a gratitude jar. I had read about it and it’s a simple concept: It’s a mason jar full of things you’re grateful for. There’s no hard or fast rule as to how often you put a little piece of paper in your jar, it’s just when you think about it.
It’s mindfulness I suppose.
What are you grateful for?
Thankful for?
Maybe changing your life for the better can indeed be as simple as starting with a deliberate change in outlook? Glass half empty? Are you sure? It might be half full on the way to overflowing. The gratitude jar is a private reminder to you.
Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. ~Henry Ward Beecher
The gratitude jar isn’t or shouldn’t be a prop so people can visit your home and say “Oh what a good person they are!”, it’s something for you. If you let it , what you write will teach you about yourself, others, your world. And it will help you to open up to the goodness that is possible. Learn how to cherish what is right there.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin
Sometimes when a bunch of negative things happen all in a row, it’s hard to stay positive. I find it hard to stay positive because I do not think by my very nature I am naturally positive. I have to work at it. It may sound silly, but I think my gratitude jar has helped.
I really feel positive for me has been learned behavior, and it’s something I have to relearn and reaffirm again and again. Hopefully, someday it will be second nature to me.
I am sure that some are reading this post and wondering if I am the same person who ripped a politician a new one in another post today. Yes I am. Speaking my truth takes many forms.
Having a gratitude jar is a simple reminder that life is not all bad or all difficult. Having a gratitude jar helps you focus on the things that are wonderful in your life. Even every day little things are wonderful.
Having a gratitude jar helps us reaffirm the many positives in our life. Life can be hard. I am not trying to be Pollyanna and say everything is always wonderful with fuzzy caterpillars that turn into magical butterflies. I am more of a realist than that.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
~ Thornton Wilder
Sometimes I look through what I put in my gratitude jar. My gratitude is pretty consistent.
Feeling grateful as a powerful emotion. Ours is a time where as hard as it is we also have to be grateful. Grateful that we are alive. Coronavirus and COVID-19 separated so many people from their friends and families the past few years. So have social issues and politics.
Life has been hard for so many the past few years. Often unnecessarily so. Sometimes human beings by their very nature make things more difficult than they have to be.
So now starts year 9 for my gratitude jar. I have all of my slips of paper. I am not re-reading everything and I am not emptying my jar like some people do.
Will 2023 be the year people try on a little more gratitude and mindfulness? Time will tell.
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed, To turn, turn will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come ’round right. ~ Joseph Brackett 1848
