Category Archives: petite rants

pipelines foul marsh creek and tales of shoen road: time to leave our area pipeline companies

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Photo courtesy of my friends.

I woke up thinking about Marsh Creek again this morning. I will preface this post with did you know the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in July?

Washington Post: Virginia Politics
Energy companies abandon long-delayed Atlantic Coast Pipeline

By Erin Cox and Gregory S. Schneider
July 5, 2020 at 7:07 p.m. EDT

So if the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline have been stopped, why not Mariner II?

I do not know how you could have missed the news this week. It started when Sunoco/Energy Transfer breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday on Shoen Road. This is where my friend Ginny lives. I will let her words from five days ago be heard now:

It was a rough day y’all. Started before 6am with Sunoco violating our township noise ordinance. Then at 1:40pm I sent an email to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection staff in charge of Mariner East informing them that Sunoco’s plan to handle a frac-out of drilling mud on our property was failing and instead of Sunoco stopping drilling as required or the DEP forcing them to, they all did NOTHING. Two hours later there was a river of drilling mud flowing across our property. All this while an estimated 250,000 gallons of formerly pristine groundwater pour down the drill hole every 24 hours to be hauled away as residual waste….. enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every two days. This is expected to continue for a few months.

The upside of all this: As I stood at the road, amongst a crowd of township police and glaring workers and security, and with the support of friends, people from our community driving by gave thumbs up and bold raised fists.

Community power. Defend what you love.

~ Ginny Kerslake 8/10/2020

And I watched live videos where it looked like my friend Ginny was being menaced on her own property? It has been crazy. My friend Ginny, however, is grace under pressure. And she pointed out on Tuesday:

As an estimated 250,000 gallons of ground water per day gushes down the borehole from the Mariner East HDD on Shoen Road in West Whiteland Township to be hauled away as waste, after Sunoco beached the aquifer yet again, let’s look at the situation in Edgemont, Delaware county where Mariner East drilling also destroyed private wells. But unlike in West Whiteland, THERE IS NO PUBLIC WATER OPTION.

Erica Tarr’s family has been without clean running water for several months. They have had to dig a new well and put in expensive filtration devices to no success and at great expense to them. Aqua PA has quoted them $500,000 to extend a new public water line to their home. Sunoco had done nothing for them. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has done nothing for them.

Where’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro? He has been investigating Mariner East for over a year now. Meanwhile this family is denied our constitutional right to clean water. So many families have been denied this right along this egregious project and in Western PA due to fracking, many without the resources to fight or fix, or without even knowing their water was contaminated. Where’s Governor Tom Wolf?

A reminder of Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment, proudly passed in 1971:

“The Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA), (Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution), states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”

What’s there to be proud of Pennsylvania?

~ Ginny Kerslake 8/11/2020

Would you want to bathe in that water?

Ginny had this to say today:

As the DEP investigation into and cleanup of the drilling lubricant spill into Marsh Creek continues, so too do the investigations at Shoen Road where Sunoco has breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday.

In a bold-faced life Sunoco claims they did not breach the aquifer, though they did it in 2017 and 2019 in their previous failed attempts and 250,000 gallons of water has been flowing back through the pilot hole and is being pumped 24/7 from drill pit.

And why isn’t the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection doing the appropriate analysis to determine an inadvertent return?

Time for the DEP to pull the permits

“This is an example of the crisis of our time. The people of Pennsylvania have a right to clean air and pure water, public health, safety and private property.

“Yet the priority seems to be protecting a multi-national, private, for-profit corporation, which then exploits and degrades our resources, our quality of life and our health and safety. Who does our government work for?”

~ Ginny Kerslake 8/14/2020

So what is Ginny talking about? Why the fouling of Marsh Creek by Sunoco/Energy Transfer this week. Lots of us, myself included have kept kids away from beautiful Marsh Creek since the polluting event this week.

Marsh Creek. A simply beautiful place loaded with wildlife. Where drinking water lives.

I first learned about Marsh Creek in my early 20s. I had a roommate back then who had grown up in the Downingtown area. Her mother worked for the EPA, so they were a family who completely respected the majesty of nature and were pro-environment back then.

I was fascinated by Marsh Creek when I first saw it. As the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says on their website:

Marsh Creek State Park was developed to help manage the water resources in the Brandywine Creek Watershed. Frequent flooding, water shortages, and lack of recreational opportunities were problems in the watershed.

The park was formerly a combination of rolling, wooded hills and small farms located on both sides of the Marsh Creek valley. The former village of Milford Mills is now under 30 to 50 feet of water. All of the buildings were removed; leaving only a few roads, foundations, and the embankments to the Larkin’s Bridge under the lake.

The lake was created by the damming of Marsh Creek. Construction of the dam occurred between May 1970 and June 1973. The impoundment is a 90-foot-high, 990-foot-long earth and rock fill dam on Marsh Creek, a tributary of the East Branch of Brandywine Creek.

On November 16, 1973, the gates of the dam were closed. The lake reached normal pool stage 218 days later on June 21, 1974.

At normal pool elevation of 359.5 feet above sea level, the impoundment covers an area of 535 acres plus a 25-acre wetland. The lake volume is 13,000 acre-feet (4.4 billion gallons) with a maximum depth of 80 feet at the dam.

The Marsh Creek watershed comprises 20 square miles of the Brandywine Creek watershed, which is part of the Delaware River Basin.

~ Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Story of Milford Mills and the Marsh Creek Valley: Chester ...

My friend historian Catherine Quillman wrote a book about Milford Mills.

Way back in the first half of the 19th century, there was the tiny town of Milford Mills. A little village, really.

Little houses in the midst of sprawling farm country. A one room school house, a bridge, a general school.

Only in Your State says “Local legend also tells of a majestic mansion with 44 rooms. It was here, so goes the story, that supposed gangster Max Boo Boo Huff spent five years – from 1930 to 1935 – in the mansion, running a modern-day bar during Prohibition. Huff’s departure gave way to a new owner who turned the mansion into a resort.”

The village of Milford Mills existed until around 1970 when federal and local authorities decided a dam and a reservoir would be built there. The plans for Marsh Creek Dam meant the end of Milford Mills. I am told residents tried to fight it, but they lost and the village was razed. The dam was built and the man-made lake began to fill up with water. In 1974 or so the Marsh Creek Lake had a reported 100,000 fish added to it. The remnants of Milford Mills became the ghost town under the lake.

Marsh Creek was built to address water issues. It was built to provide drinking water for the Chester County Resources Authority. Apparently, previously there had been shortages. Also addressed by the creation of Marsh Creek? Alleviation of seasonal flooding. Of course I have to wonder given the intensity of infill development including around Marsh Creek if that still helps as much as they had thought it would. The park was also created and there are all sorts of things to do there. You can hike around and look at the ruins of Milford Mills, picnic, swim, sail, fish.

So when I first saw Marsh Creek it was I guess the late 1980s. I was in awe of how pretty it was plus fascinated by the mob stories and probable urban legend of wise guys ending up in the lake.

But now what lies ahead for Marsh Creek? How fouled is the water? Will we ever really know? What we do know is thanks to the brilliant activists.

Plume of pollution out at Marsh Creek thanks to Sunoco/ Energy Transfer Partners.

Inquirer: Drilling is stopped after leaks develop along Mariner East pipeline. One is affecting Chester’s Marsh Creek Lake.
by Frank Kummer, Posted: August 11, 2020

And this heinous fouling of Marsh Creek Lake is not the only pipeline problem this summer. More and more sinkholes keep cropping up:

Inquirer: State investigating new sinkholes along Mariner East pipeline
by Andrew Maykuth, Posted: July 17, 2020

I just. Can’t. Even. What in the hell has to happen to be enough? Is this enough to get these people out of our communities? These pipelines are the things you hear about, but if you don’t live close enough to a pipeline site you think we are all a collective of drama queens.

I used to think that it was mostly drama before I moved to Chester County. I thought “oh it can’t possibly be that bad.” Then there are the moments that stick in your head. One such moment occurred for me a couple of years ago. We invited Adelphia Gateway which wishes to do Sunoco-like projects to a parlor meeting in my living room. My friend Ginny sat on my sofa with tears in her eyes as she recounted what had happened to her and her family at the hands of pipelines at that point.

This parlor meeting was July 25, 2018. I will note that questions we gave to the PR talking head sent to handle us have to date never, ever been answered. Adelphia Gateway will have my entire neighborhood within a blast zone if they proceed, and we are on wells. There is not public water for us so what has happened this week on Shoen Road and at Marsh Creek is EXACTLY what I worry about along with the sinkholes and well, the very real fear of any of these lines blowing up.

Anti-pipeline activists are still painted as these awful people. Ladies and gentleman, they are your neighbors. People you socialize with. Go to church with. Your friends. My friends.

For the recent primary election, the pipeline proponents, supporters, etc spent a crazy amount of money to try to still our voices by attacking candidates who speak for us. Ginny Kerslake did not prevail in the end in the primary against sheeple Kristine Howard, but my other friend Danielle Friel Otten did survive and crushed her opponent. If that pro-pipeline money had NOT been spent, I believe Kristine Howard would have gone down in flames. She still can if people are now smart and get behind a third friend, Wendy Graham Leland. I know it is only a matter of time before Camp Lameass Howard starts in on her. I wish them luck there, but I digress. I know some amazing women, but I digress again. (Sorry I do that sometimes.)

Lookee here however, remember that the politics intertwined in the pipeline issues are very important. It’s a ridiculous game of who is on first.

People, we need to be first.

Please call on our leaders to demand Governor Wolf Pull the Mariner East Permits PERMANENTLY:

Office of the Governor
508 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
717-787-2500
http://www.governor.pa.gov/contact

joshmaxwell@chesco.org
mmoskowitz@chesco.org
mkichline@chesco.org
repotten@pahouse.net
senatormuth@pasenate.com
johohenste@pa.gov
RA-epcontactus@pa.gov
sdamico@upperuwchlan-pa.gov
jgoncharoff@upperuwchlan-pa.gov
jbaxter@upperuwchlan-pa.gov

Chester County Commissioners fired off this today:

However, allow me to also share some other things I have seen:

Upper Uwchlan…Upper Uwchlan please don’t tell me you people are going to be ostriches sticking your head into drilling mud laced with bentonite? Sigh.

And here are things I would like you to read:

My ChesCo: COMMUNITIES / OP-ED / PENNSYLVANIA
Connecting the Dots: Marsh Creek . . . District 13 and CWA
August 13, 2020 – by Richard Ruggieri

As per a Daily Local report in 2019, there is a relationship between AQUA and Energy Transfer:

Sunoco/Energy Transfer, the company behind the problematic and controversial Mariner East pipeline project, is in business with Aqua America, which provides water service to thousands of residents in Chester County, state Sen. Andy Dinniman revealed Friday.

“It is important that citizens know the relationship between companies involved with the Mariner East pipeline,” Dinniman said.

According to Energy Transfer’s 2018 annual report, the company owns a 51 percent stake in Aqua – ETC Water solutions, characterized as a “joint venture that transports and supplies fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.”

~ Daily Local News 6/28/2019

Talk about an unholy alliance, right? So Sunoco/Energy Transfer fouls the water. AQUA PA is public water and they are trying to take over the Chester Water Authority ? So that also guilt by association (or investment) means they are fouling Marsh Creek and so on but then they would have control over our water if AQUA PA takes over CWA?

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. (Yes I am an Outlander fan.) But seriously? You can’t make this stuff up! We are living it! And to what end? The destruction of where we call home and our water resources for freaking corporate profits?

My Chesco: COMMUNITIES / GOVERNMENT / PENNSYLVANIA
After Energy Transfer Debacle, Otten and Muth Invite Legislators and Public Officials to Observe Marsh Creek State Park
August 13, 2020 – by MyChesCo – Leave a Comment

My Chesco: NEWS
Wolf Administration Outlines Actions Underway in Wake of Pipeline Drilling Spill Affecting Marsh Creek State Park, Chester County
August 14, 2020 – by MyChesCo – Leave a Comment

WHYY : WATERSHED
Paddle protest at Marsh Creek Lake calls for Mariner East shutdown
By Susan Phillips August 13, 2020

Image may contain: 1 person, text that says 'MARINER EAST PULL THE PERMITS BINGO PERHTEH PUL Edgmont Township Rep. Howard Howard Senator Katie East Goshen Township Rep. Hennessy Barrar Middletown Township DCNR Rep. Rep. Shusterman West Gosher Township PUC Chester County Senator Keaney Uwchlan Township Comitta DEP Rep. Sappey Rep. Williams Senator Dinniman West Whiteland Township Rep. Killion Delaware County Upper Uwchlan Township Construction Mariner caused natural every NOW! revoketh weinvite officialsto action demandthe evocation immediately! but Sfety'
From West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety – It’s Pull the Permits Bingo time!

State Impact PA: Mariner East construction spills 10,000 gallons of drilling mud into Chester County lake

Susan Phillips
AUGUST 11, 2020 | 7:17 PM

NBC10 Philadelphia: MARINER EAST PIPELINE
8K Gallons of Drilling Fluid From Controversial Pipeline Project Leak Into Lake

NGI Mariner East Again Contending with Drilling Fluid Spills in Pennsylvania

BY JAMISON COCKLIN
August 13, 2020

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has responded to several reports of fluid discharges at construction sites for the Mariner East pipeline system in Chester County, including a confirmed spill at a state park.

~ Natural Gas Intelligence 8/13/2020

Pennsylvania Pressroom:

08/13/2020 Wolf Administration Outlines Actions Underway in Wake of Pipeline Drilling Spill Affecting Marsh Creek State Park, Chester County

Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.

Harrisburg, PA — The Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Environmental Protection (DEP) assured Marsh Creek State Park supporters that concerted efforts are underway to safeguard visitors and park resources in the wake of Monday’s pipeline drilling fluid spill affecting the lake; and that Energy Transfer will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.

“We are deeply concerned and troubled over this significant resource and recreation impact at Marsh Creek that comes at a time when that park, as are all our parks, is seeing incredible visitation rates amid the pandemic,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “Drawing more than 1 million visitors a year, Marsh Creek is among our most visited park, and water-based activities are the catalyst for that draw.

“The popularity of paddle-boarding alone is phenomenal at Marsh Creek Lake, and anglers and other boaters can be found daily on the lake. Containment, water testing, and remediation are underway, and access to affected water and shoreline will be restricted.”

Noting the park’s connecting trails and other strong ties to surrounding communities, Dunn said, “DCNR recognizes this park is beloved by those who live nearby and is an important resource to the people and businesses of surrounding communities. I feel it is important to let them know we’re standing by them on this.”

What Happened

On Monday, August 10, DEP responded to a report from Sunoco of a potential inadvertent return at HDD 290, a drill site off Green Valley Road in Marsh Creek State Park in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County. Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.

Used in Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project in Chester County, an estimated 8,100 gallons of drilling fluid (mud and water) leaked into wetlands off park property and into a tributary to Marsh Creek Lake. The spill is affecting the lake’s cove area along Park Road.

What’s The Status

Buoys will be used on the lake to delineate the affected area.

Approximately 33 acres of the 535-acre lake is now off-limits to boating and fishing.

Offering a swimming pool, the park does not permit beach-based swimming. Boating and fishing still is permitted on the rest of the lake, and the park remains open to all other activities.

“With the assistance of DEP, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, private contractors, and our park personnel, we are focusing on containment, cleanup, and remediation, and we need the public’s cooperation,” Dunn said. “Aiding that effort are DCNR park managers and rangers, as well as our aquatic specialists who will be gauging the spill’s effect on water quality and lake aquatic life.”

What’s Being Done

DEP, along with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), continue to investigate and oversee the cleanup of the inadvertent return into Marsh Creek, said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.

At the conclusion of the investigation, DEP anticipates that there will be civil penalties and potentially other regulatory ramifications.

Drilling activity at the site has ceased until further notice.

“Since the spill occurred on Monday, clean-up crews have made significant progress in collecting and containing spilled material. DEP aquatic biologists have been onsite since the beginning of the incident to assess the spill and ensure that cleanup activities are conducted properly. Downstream drinking water intakes have been notified and there are no concerns about drinking water safety. There have not been any complaints of impacted private water wells,” McDonnell said. “DEP is also actively coordinating with experts at DCNR, Department of Health, Army Corps of Engineers, and Public Utility Commission to ensure that the ongoing situation is managed consistently and safely. DEP has consistently held Sunoco accountable for violations and will do so in this instance as well.”

Located in northcentral Chester County, Marsh Creek’s lake and 1,784 acres offer a refuge for migrating waterfowl and also are popular with hikers, hunters, and picnickers.

More information about Marsh Creek and Pennsylvania’s other 120 state parks is available on the DCNR website.

MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Brady, DCNR, 717-877-6315;
Virginia Cain, DEP, 484-868-2452

~ Commonwealth of PA Press Release 8/14/2020

Daily Local: Officials claim pipeline workers breached aquifer at Shoen Road in Chester County
By Bill Rettew 13 hrs ago

Daily Local: Dignitaries visit site of drilling mud spill at Marsh Creek Lake
By Bill Rettew

So…who was NOT there at Marsh Creek today? HOW ABOUT STATE REPRESENTATIVE KRISTINE HOWARD? KRISTINE, IF IT ISN’T A PHOTO OP WITH GOVERNOR TOM WOLF AND CAROLYN COMITTA YOU CAN’T BE BOTHERED?

AND OH YES WHERE WAS CAROLYN COMITTA (AND WHO IS RUNNING AGAINST HER FOR STATE SENATE NOW)? AFTER ALL IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A YEAR AGO WHEN SHE “TOURED” THE PIPELINES WITH KRISTINE HOWARD AND TOM WOLF RIGHT? THERE WAS A FAB PHOTO OP AND THE PHOTOS HAVE LONG SINCE DISAPPEARED HAVEN’T THEY?

PLEASE VIEW THIS NEXT SCREEN SHOT WHILE IMAGINING BARBARA STREISAND SINGING “MEMORIES”:

~ Carolyn Comitta Press Release August 22, 2019 | 4:08 PM

While we are on the topic of who has and has not been to Marsh Creek can we mention that Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro should have been there over the past few days?

Enough is enough #WaterIsLife #DefendWhatYouLove

I do not know about you but I am over this pipeline bullsheit. Over it. Ever new adventure in the land of pipeline drama is worse than the last. These pipeline companies are destroying where we live and don’t try to spin the crap that they employ locally unless Oklahoma and all the other states that make up the out of state license plates are suddenly IN Chester County?

We put our lives and sweat equity into where we call home. So why is it government is just allowing it all to be destroyed? Systemic corruption? Greed? What?

I don’t know where to go in my head. I grew up around oil companies. My father did PR for one for years. Years. But all the pipelines I ever knew about then were petroleum. Like the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which started operating in 1977. Of course in that same vein, I remember the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989. And I remember how the guy driving the tanker (while drinking) got off without felony charges.

Back to the present. Gotta love the Energy Transfer statement regarding Marsh Creek:

As my friends from Just The Facts Please said regarding this latest jackassery word puzzle from Energy Transfer:

These [idiots] just can’t help themselves with their lies and stupidly worded statements. Marsh Creek IS an important drinking water source for this region. But I guess Kelcy Warren wouldn’t know that from his tower in Texas.

ETP states, “As a clarification to some public statements that have been made, no public drinking water has been impacted.”

~Just the Facts Please. Facebook 8/14/2020

Kelcy Warren is the CEO of Energy Transfer. And Chairman of the Board of Directors. And he hosted Trump’s Dallas Fundraiser in June (What COVID-19?). Supposedly this is an email to reach him : amayfield@energytransfer.com – also found this which lists Energy Transfer Executives. Also found this on Energy Transfer’s Website: Office: 214-840-5820
Media@EnergyTransfer.com and InvestorRelations@energytransfer.com (Just in case any of you wish to email Energy Transfer perhaps?)

So where in the Sam Hell do we go from here? I don’t know about you but I want these pipeline operators GONE. As in FOR GOOD. #SafetyOverSunoco #SoOverSuNOco

I know this is a ridiculously long post and I have meandered like a stream. But this Marsh Creek thing makes my head spin. This has to stop. Our elected officials need to man and woman up and kick the pipelines the hell out of Pennsylvania, starting with where we call home, Chester County, PA.

Keep the faith Mama Bears. #DefendWhatYouLove

Image may contain: one or more people, sky, outdoor, nature and water
Source: Facebook West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety

whitetail disposal of perkiominville, pa this post is for you.

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Door to door solicitation is creepy. Gone are the days of the nice Fuller Brush Man of our grandparents’ era. A few years ago I had a very unpleasant experience with door to door window salesmen. Suffice it to say there is nothing like having all new windows and telling a salesman politely you’re not interested and then they don’t and won’t leave.

As a matter of fact the only door to door folks I have found to be polite the past are the clean water action people (can’t remember the correct non-profit name) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And when you tell the Jehovah’s Witnesses you aren’t interested they say thank you and leave. They might leave you a hopeful religious pamphlet, but they leave pleasantly and actually GO.

So here we are in the midst of still dealing with a global pandemic AKA COVID-19 with cases on the rise. But that doesn’t matter to Whitetail Disposal of Perkiomonville, PA. Yes, these people are #COVIDidiots:

Today Whitetail Disposal showed up at my door. I have read online posts about their aggressive door to door sales people, who even come back a second time when they have been turned down.

The guy was clean cut and neatly dressed. No complaints there. He was easily identifiable as one of their employees. No complaints there. But when a homeowner (me) says she is uncomfortable with a door to door solicitation during COVID-19, and you should leave and here is what you shouldn’t do:

1. Don’t tell the homeowner you aren’t doing anything wrong. You are by arguing.
2. Don’t keep standing there waving your badge and saying you have a permit to solicit when the homeowner has asked you to leave. That’s called trespassing.
3. Don’t go to leave by cutting through people’s properties to get to other properties, that is still trespassing!

That is what happened to me today. And I do know from others in my area and research I have done that they have been cutting through people’s properties to get to other properties to solicit. If that guy had just said “thank you for your time” and left when I asked him, there wouldn’t even be this post. And I would not have contacted my township. But I did. I understand that townships have no mechanisms to put parameters on times like these because, well, in our lifetimes there hasn’t been a global pandemic. However, it does give you pause with regard to companies which want to put potential customers and employees at risk like this. Even the census takers stopped going door to door!

I had some people in my area give me a hard time locally over my opinion and experience. Suffice it to say this is MY right to tell them to leave and complain to my township is a door to door salesperson doesn’t do so immediately. I am not having them over for tea. I did not invite them over period. So it is at my discretion to ask them to leave and complain if they don’t.

If you have ever done any kind of sales you know the ability to exhibit a graceful defeat and back away means that some day that same person might well remember that moment and HOW the salesperson handled it. Seriously. I came out of the financial services industry and if you want to meet among the most aggressive and pushy breed of salesperson, it’s a stockbroker on commission. The most successful ones I ever knew were the ones who put the customer and potential customer at ease, even if it meant backing away when they were told “no”.

I have spent some time researching Whitetail Disposal and I was astounded at the sheer volume of complaints. Even on the Better Business Bureau website. Here is an array of complaints from here and there and social media:

But they won’t get my business and based upon my research and experience today, it is doubtful that they deserve anyone’s business. My hypothesis is they stay afloat by getting new business by undercutting the other companies. But they can’t seem to maintain their customer basis and it’s kind of obvious when they have employees post how wonderful they are, eh?

My final word? I actually tried to call them three times to discuss their door to door policy. But like their reviews everywhere state, you can’t get anyone on the phone.

#COVIDidiots

Thanks for stopping by.

Amusingly, the Whitetail soliciting person did their best to stay out of range of security cameras and if they are all ok to be around, why is that?

kristine howard, the only thing you have earned is my disdain.

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Kristine Howard has lit drop flooded our mailbox today. Especially loved the giant glossy mailer that says she’s “earned” her reelection. Sorry not sorry, the balls on that woman! Or her campaign.

In all my years of voting, and watching local, regional, state, and federal politics I am astounded that someone who has literally done nothing is even still a viable candidateIn all my years of voting, and watching local, regional, state, and federal politics, I am gob smacked astounded that someone who has literally done nothing is even a candidate.

If she is such a real “environmentalist“ why has she killed so many trees this election season?

She is not visible, she is not available to her constituents, she is solely available to Tom Wolf and his agenda. And whomever else her puppeteers are.

I gave her a chance two years ago and the only thing she has earned to date is my distain.

I don’t care if you vote for a purple people eater tomorrow don’t vote for Kristine Howard.

sex, lies, and lawn signs: don’t we have bigger fish to fry in chester county?

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blah blah

 

Sigh. I knew Incumbent and Invisible State Rep. Kristine Howard (D-167) was feeling threatened, but I had no idea that she would stoop to such lows (or allow her campaign to.)  Especially as a female candidate and current elected official.  But she has.  She is coloring outside the lines, waaaay outside the lines to the point of wondering what she gets by doing this or allowing it to be done? And she is always when anything ever comes out, a pathetic apologist.  Case in point is this latest missive to the Democratic Committee and whomever wrote this needs a lesson in writing in general:

hatchet 2

hatchet 3

hatchet 4

hatchet 5

 

What is that smell? Ahh yes political puffery and bull twaddle.  Why? Because she and her campaign are TERRIFIED of my friend Ginny Kerslake who is running for her State Rep seat as a BETTER Democrat.  She’s too silly to realize that she should actually be terrified of my other friend who is running as the Republican candidate, Wendy Graham Leland. (But I digress.)

Everything that comes out targets Ginny Kerslake because well, that is ALL Kristine Howard has done.  Other than that she is invisible.  She started doing newsletters I think to prop up her sagging campaign.  And her campaign deserves to sag. But her campaign is behaving more and more like a Bravo Real Housewives franchise they are so pathetic. We might watch the Housewives shows for entertainment value, but we certainly wouldn’t elect them to public office, would we?

Her opportunistic boyfriend sidles up to husbands of former county commissioners and others who don’t even live in Chester County to slam and attempt to denigrate anyone who isn’t high stepping like a Rockette alongside them, Tom Wolf, or who is NOT pro-pipeline, correct? They have multiple fake social media news pages up and that’s how they are running this campaign: lies, innuendo, harassment, fake news. You know the political campaign equivalent of sex, lies, and videotape.

And at the heart of the matter are the pipelines, aren’t they? That is why Ginny Kerslake and Danielle Friel Otten are so feared. They aren’t them, they are us.  Being normal and hard working is the world’s oldest and biggest threat to political chicanery.

Rep. Kristine Howard allows these things to continue, turns a blind eye and is mute, so why would anyone want her in Harrisburg? Doesn’t she know right from wrong? Is allowing political crap like this to persist outside the bounds of being ethical? Or just being devoid of a strong moral compass?

Rep. Howard remains mute while others speak and write for her.  Just like with the last election when she was also invisible and mute to the point that even door knockers campaigning on her behalf knew nothing about her or what she even looked like.  And she used a couple of photos then that were like a decade or better out of date so when you did finally see a photo of her today most of us had no idea who it was.

Rep. Kristine Howard is also a Tom Wolf marionette.  Whatever Govie man says, she swoons. Swoons. How high can she jump for him? Very high.  Take last summer when her constituents adversely affected by pipelines quite literally begged her in tears to tour their neighborhoods with them. She ignored them but later showed up for a photo op with Governor Tom Wolf….and Rep Carolyn Comitta.

Back to her missive to Democrat committee members. Why is she targeting Ginny Kerslake and Ginny Kerslake alone over lawn signs? Other Chester County candidates have lawn signs out? Take Don Vymazal, for example. His signs are out.  Other signs are out. But no, all she targets is ONE person, Ginny Kerslake.

Rep. Kristine Howard also has her angry gal pals.  Like West Whiteland Supervisor Theresa Hogan Santalucia.  But they share a common dislike for Ginny Kerslake, don’t they?  When the good supervisor isn’t shilling for Howard she is the mouthpiece of her sister Rose Hogan Danese, who is running (or trying to run) against Rep Danielle Friel Otten.  Danielle is another target in general of these people.  And a friend of Ginny’s. (See the pattern?)

suck up emoji

So back to this whole #SignGate.  Ginny Kerslake is not breaking any laws and quite frankly contactless delivery is contactless delivery.  Rep. Kristine Howard should have better things to do.  But she and her campaign and her camp followers apparently do not have anything better to do.

It’s like the rumors they have been spreading about another friend of mine who was campaigning for Ginny before all the #COVIDmadness ensued.  Accusing her of having the virus and spreading it.  Have you heard of anything so hateful in the time of a global pandemic? And a little fact checking is in order because Ginny’s team hasn’t been canvassing since we were all told to stay the hell home.

And other things they made a mountain out of a molehill on was they claim Ginny Kerslake voted for Duane Milne in 2018. Ummm, who cares if it’s true?  I mean really? Aren’t we allowed to chose whom we wish to vote for regardless of political affiliation? And does that mean they know who every resident of Chester County has voted for? Are they in fact violating the supposed sanctity of the voting booth?

So every few days it is something else. But the signs thing is just so pathetic it was time to speak out about it.  I am sure they will attack me next.  And State Rep. Kristine Howard will stand mute when that happens, won’t she? After all where is her moral compass if she thinks this is the way to win a primary, right? Maybe she should stand on her record, but then that makes you wonder what has she actually done since taking office? The answer is photo ops with Wolf and other Wolfettes and not much else.

I ask you primary voters in the 167th to vote Rep. Kristine Howard OUT of office on June 2nd.  Any woman that stands by and allows her campaign soldiers to behave the way they have does not deserve votes.  She does not have her own voice. She is a political puppet, a marionette.  I find that equally sad and pathetic. I don’t think this is what State Rep. Kristine Howard set out to become, but it’s too late, she’s there and it’s done.

In general, the Chester County Democratic Party needs to get it together. They say power corrupts and I have to marvel at how it hasn’t taken that long for them to start acting stupid? And they criticize the Republicans? Come on now.

I close with a positive.  Please read former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge‘s recent editorial.  It is very powerful.  CLICK HERE.

 

caspar whiner

 

 

 

no billboards for christmas please, east whiteland

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Just when you think more headaches can’t possibly arise for East Whiteland residents, along comes the possibility of…..BILLBOARDS…BIG ELECTRONIC ones.

So riddle me this East Whiteland— why did you spend ridiculous amounts of taxpayer money on a Route 30 Corridor Study only to allow further deterioration via billboards? I mean What The ever loving F ? is Lancaster Ave / Route 30 / Lincoln Highway supposed to improve by being turned into I-95 in Philadelphia by GIANT television screens that are on 24/7/365? You haven’t even addressed the smaller one that blinds people near Lincoln Court!

Way to sneak in the holiday surprise, right? (Here is the link to the Planning Commission Agenda but the links to each of the items on billboard, but those links go absolutely nowhere right now .)

And about the E. Whiteland Outdoor, LLC?

So does that mean East Whiteland now has a lot in common with other townships like Tredyffrin, Haverford, Coatesville, and even more? (See the Community Matters Blog in Tredyffrin.)

And hey East Whiteland all those apartment dwellers you want on Route 30? Townhouses, etc? Do you really think these people and future residents want to have to buy blackout shades to avoid the glare of I-95 in Chester County? Because that is what people already face driving by that small non-related overly bright TV in front of part of Lincoln Court, right?

And it looks like East Whiteland zoning for off premises signs doesn’t exactly match the supposed spirit of what they supposedly wish to accomplish with the Route 30 Corridor Study?

I just can’t EVEN with this township. Sign me disgusted. If YOU are disgusted too please go to the Christmas Surprise Planning Commission Meeting. Wednesday December 18th at 7 PM. East Whiteland Township is located at 209 Conestoga Road, Frazer, PA 19355

chesapeake bay crab cakes & more and the snotty pants customer service experience

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WARNING RANT AHEAD. Turn away now if you don’t want to read it.

Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More. A catalog company based out of Owings Mill, Maryland.  Part of the Chesapeake Fine Food Group.  They describe themselves on LinkedIn as:

Based out of Baltimore, MD, Chesapeake Fine Food Group is the proud parent company of Mackenzie Limited, Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More, and Impromptu Gourmet.

Whether you’re a seafood connoisseur or a chocoholic, our catalogs have something for the gourmet in everyone. We have a simple rule of thumb: find the best of the best, and never compromise on quality.

Our three catalogs circulate on a monthly basis, and we can also be found online at http://www.mackenzieltd.com, http://www.cbcrabcakes.com, and http://www.impromptugourmet.com

One tiny detail? I get catalogs from Chesapeake Bay and Mackenzie Limited. Only I have never ordered from them nor received a gift from them.  When TWO of the same catalog came in for Chesapeake Bay today I called “customer service”.  Can you say Ms. Snotty Pants at your service?

Indeed.  Snotful doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Ms. Snotty Pants was all professionally perky when she answered my customer service call. She was saccharine sweet until….OH MY GOD the nerve!  I had the temerity to request NO CATALOGS.

“You aren’t calling to place an order?” Ms. Snotty Pants asked.

“No, sadly I just want to kill fewer trees. I have never received a gift from your company nor ordered from your company and also never requested a catalog, so I just want to be removed from the mailing list.”

“I can’t help you.” replied the suddenly icy Ms. Snotty Pants. 

This is when she got truly snotty. Spoke to me like I was a toddler.  She couldn’t possibly help me because (wait for it) my name was on a mailing list they paid for.  Someplace called the Direct Marketing Association.

I was dumbfounded. I asked her to repeat herself.  So she did. Irritated Mommy to bad toddler style. Did she offer me contact information for Direct Marketing Association? NOPE.

And apparently although they can solicit me for business in an unsolicited manner and clog up my mailbox, they are not required to maintain an opt out of catalogs list that so many other businesses keep.  Basically this woman didn’t give a crap when she realized no credit card and order from me.

Forget about the fact that I think these lists should be like do not call lists (which aren’t paid attention to much anymore, sadly), I think this phone call speaks VOLUMES about the LACK of actual customer service because every other catalog company I have phoned to say “Hey no more catalogs please” could NOT have been nicer.  They were all lovely. Except for Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More.

So maybe they have wonderful products and maybe their other brands MacKenzie Limited and Impromptu Gourmet also have wonderful products. But I will never, ever order from them and will encourage anyone who wants to read this post this far to also never, ever order from them. Customer service should be pretty damn basic for a company like this. And they are lacking.

Oh and about the Direct Marketing Association?  If you call them, they have absurdly short customer service hours daily, and oh yeah, you have to PAY THEM to submit an application to remove your name from their solicitation lists when you didn’t give them permission in the first place.

So I signed up at CatalogChoice.org, a non-profit who will try to help you get off the catalog lists.

As per an article Chesapeake Fine Food Group is sadly woman owned by Laura McManus and  Kate Glenn. Don’t know them and shame on them for not extending customer service to people who take the time to contact you to ask to please be opted out of catalogs they never requested in the first place. And FYI? Their Better Business Bureau Reviews are  awful. Their Facebook reviews are on average bad as well.

Any catalog companies who can’t assist you in getting removed from a mailing list are not catalog companies who deserve the business of any consumer whatsoever.

Rant over.

west whiteland: development and crumbling history?

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Along S. Whitford Road. I have photographed this before. It continues to deteriorate.

Meanwhile, turn the corner onto Creamery Way I think it is and you see:

It’s like in West Whiteland there is a race to develop every square inch into homogeneous Tyvec wrapped insanity…while history rots.

Surely Chester County deserves better?

ex-supervisors in west vincent be like….seeing dead people

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When there is an election coming in West Vincent you can always rest assured that the same old political bullsheit will surface. Oh yes, bad words…please alert the potty mouth police. (Yes, sarcasm, we are talking about West Vincent, after all.)

Take the letter above. Written by Vomitorious Ralph err…that suave Country Squire former Lower Merion Township resident and political operative , former West Vincent Supervisor…David Brown.

Hence, elections in West Vincent are like seeing dead people…err former politicians desperately seeking relevance.

(Yessss people…..Buckle up West Vincent between now and Election Day it will be CRAY CRAY…..)

Time to resurrect Chickenman archives?

The largest irony about reading this letter? Wondering if it’s autobiographical to the author’s cronies and their days gone by?

I mean come on now really Mr. Brown? My goodness. If you were Pinocchio 🤥 would you be able to hold your head up now?

You can always count on West Vincent to be super nasty at election time. I have experienced it personally and have saved the screen shots to prove it. Cyber bullying, cyber harassing, the dickitude factor runs high.

I fully expect they will attack me again because oh my gosh my golly I don’t like the crap that spews out of West Vincent every single election season.

If you want the tea and scones administration to return, by all means be of the sheeple and for the sheeple and vote sheeple. Sara Shirk is your gal.

But if you want a nice man who is thoughtful and caring and honest, then vote for George Dulchinos.

Otherwise it’s the Handmaids Tale….

“roundabout” we go in east whiteland and east goshen looking for answers…that don’t add up to eminent domain….

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aerial

Roundabouts. That is PennDOT new speak for traffic circles.   I know, I know I have been writing about this a lot on this blog. Most recently at the beginning of this month (October, 2019) That is when East Whiteland and East Goshen released a letter they received from PennDOT September 30:

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At that time I said  September 30th was Monday, so why has it taken this long for the people to be notified and have they even notified the potentially affected residents? I marvel that PennDOT dated the letter September 23rd and it took until September 30th to be received? DO they not also send an electronic copy?

PennDOT needs to define “minor construction” and does that mean any eminent domain land takings?

PennDOT will do this project when exactly and how long will it take?

And if PennDOT was offering to meet with both townships, I suggested that when that occured the most directly affected homeowners should be present with whatever representation they so chose to be with them.

Well guess what? According to residents I know (directly affected in fact) the meeting DID take place. And East Whiteland Towsnhip verified this on October 15 when they said on their website “On September 30, East Whiteland and East Goshen Townships received a letter from PennDOT regarding its recommendations for the Route 352 and King Road intersection.

The Townships recently met with PennDOT to discuss those recommendations. No decisions as to road improvements have been made, but the Townships agreed to update traffic counts along the roads and expect to continue discussions with PennDOT when those studies are completed.”

Please note who was missing at said meeting with PennDOT. Yup, you’ve got it, the potentially affected residents.

When they received the news these residents (my extended neighbors) replied to East Whiteland very politely but firmly:

Thanks for keeping us in the loop and for pushing back on PennDOT’s recommendations.

That said, while we appreciate that you may be hesitant to proceed with the only two options PennDOT is permitting (a roundabout or making the roads perpendicular), we still have much to talk about. Will you share why the townships are willing to pay for new traffic counts, what the townships think are the existing problems that must be fixed and what is your goal?

It is my understanding that the various justifications the township has presented have been adequately debunked. It started with cut through traffic, then law breaking cut through traffic, then rush hour delays, then unjustified future traffic predictions, and eventually it morphed to safety. Now, it seems like rush hour delays may be the leading reason again. Or, is this all just a means to mask future plans for over-development? Whatever the reason, it is concerning and very disappointing that the township hasn’t ruled out eminent domain given the community feedback as well as an overwhelming evidence contradicting those justifications.

If the township still feels adequate justification exists and cares about the affected residents, you will help us to understand those justifications. We don’t need to wait for new counts.

If people were dying in the intersection, bad accidents were above “normal” or traffic was backed up frequently enough that it was unpleasant for those of us who actually live here, we would understand (or move). However, these conditions absolutely do not exist. We live here because we want to. If you plan to take our land, destroy our properties, reduce our quality of life, eliminate our privacy and reduce our safety by making the traffic move faster and closer to our homes, we need to understand and accept your justifications or we will fight you to the bitter end.

Finally, can we audit the new counting process when it occurs? Or can we be involved in hiring the firm to perform the counts? Given the conflicts of interest identified with McMahon and the weakness of their presentation, the legitimacy of any further data they present will be called into question.

Subsequent email letters went to PennDOT (three times) from directly affected residents and as they can be obtained on a Right To Know Request, I am publishing them now.

Here is the first letter:

From: Tom Stuart
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2019 11:28 AM
To: ASHPATEL@pa.gov
Cc: Sue Drummond <sdrummond@eastwhiteland.org>; Rich Orlow <rorlow@eastwhiteland.org>; ‘slambert@eastwhiteland.org‘ <slambert@eastwhiteland.org>; 
Subject: Eminent Domain Taking @ King & 352

Dear Mr. Patel:

I read your September 23, 2019 response to East Whiteland and East Goshen Townships regarding the intersection of Sproul (S.R. 0352) and King Road (S.R. 2022).

In your first paragraph you cite an increase in traffic volumes as the justification for a solution requiring eminent domain taking.  A solution that “must be advanced for eventual implementation within a reasonable timeframe.”

Given your solution will destroy homes, privacy, safety and home values (for which payment alone will not cure), are you basing your recommendation on the two traffic reports prepared by McMahon & Assoc in 2005 and 2016?  Or, do you have some other traffic volume data that you can share?

It is my understanding that both McMahon studies were performed for just (2) one-hour periods during peak traffic periods in 2005 and 2016, respectively.  Further, while I am not currently able to locate the 2005 report to confirm, I was informed by an EG township official that there was very little traffic volume increase measured at the intersection between 2005 and 2016.  If this is true, then what “increase in traffic volumes” are your referring to?  Is it based on only future predictions?  Please quantify.

My wife and I have lived at the intersection for over 20 years. (I purchased the home on December 31, 1996.) Our home literally faces the center of the intersection.  Based on my extensive experience, I vehemently disagree with the premise that there is a volume problem that must be resolved.  You may consider my opinion biased because the widening and tree/brush removal will eliminate all of the privacy I have spent 10s of thousands of dollars (and a couple decades) to build up, it will dramatically reduce my safety (I can provide more details), and moving me closer to the intersection will destroy my property value.

That said, don’t take it from me.  At the June 5, 2019 meeting at Immaculata, I surveyed an audience full of 100+ township residents by asking, “Who thinks delays are the primary problem at the intersection?” Exactly zero people raised their hands.  (https://bit.ly/2oueoGQ:  Time Stamp: 1:50:10)  

So, while your recommendations may be suitable if there were a traffic delay problem at the intersection, the township residents do not agree with the premise under which you have proposed a solution.

So, if PennDOT will not support a permanent, signal-only solution to help address the left turn issues from 352, does PennDOT support a “do nothing” approach?  It was not entirely clear whether you were recommending or requiring your “comprehensive” eminent domain taking solution.  This is an important detail.  Please clarify.

Best Regards,

Tom Stuart

Here is the second letter:

From: Tom Stuart
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 3:37 PM
To: ASHPATEL@pa.gov
Cc: Sue Drummond <sdrummond@eastwhiteland.org>; Rich Orlow <rorlow@eastwhiteland.org>; ‘slambert@eastwhiteland.org’ <slambert@eastwhiteland.org>; ‘rsmith@eastgoshen.org’ <rsmith@eastgoshen.org>; John Nagel <jnagel@eastwhiteland.org>
Subject: RE: Eminent Domain Taking @ King & 352 – *** Major Safety Concern ***

Dear Mr. Patel,

I have a critical safety concern regarding your suggestion to enable King Rd traffic to drive head on through the 352 intersection at the same time (“in exchange” for split phasing on 352.)

First, do you have a sketch or diagram of the revised intersection layout you are proposing?

I have driven up and down King Rd through the intersection a few times since I read your letter—including in the pitch dark last night. I wanted to get a feel for and imagine the shifted sight lines you are proposing (if the township proceeds with a 2-phased approach.) I imagined it with the westbound King Rd lane being re-located southward by about 1 lane width.

Given that the westbound approach rises slightly to the intersection and the eastbound approach rises significantly, you are inviting a full-speed, head on collision by letting that traffic flow at the same time and at full speed with such limited visibility.

Even if your plan includes destroying a half dozen or so properties by removing all of our privacy and safety providing trees and shrubs, safe sight lines simply do not exist with the current (or the slightly modified) geometry.

As you may or may not be aware, the left turns from 352 are not a major safety hazard now. They are more of an inefficiency and annoyance. The resulting accidents from those turns tend to be low speed fender benders… not head on and certainly not at full speed. The worst symptoms are frustrated drivers honking and cursing.

For this reason, I believe that switching the split phasing from King Rd to 352 as you propose (in part 1 of your 2-phased approach) will make the intersection considerably less safe.

Incidentally, there is a similarly shaped intersection geometry where Paoli Pike meets route 30 in Paoli. The sight lines are MUCH better there because it’s more level. However, in the mid to late 1980s (before the lights were changed to include a protected left turn phase from 30) there was a head on collision that occurred with so much force the driver’s heart detached from all of her arteries. So, unless you and the township want to be directly responsible for introducing fatalities to the intersection, I suggest you withdraw or amend that portion of your recommendation.

If you have any feedback defending what you proposed, I’d be interested to hear it—especially because the townships will likely heed your input more than mine.

I urge the townships to respond to this concern as well.

Best Regards,
Tom Stuart

And here is the third letter:

Tom Stuart 
Thu, Oct 17, 8:21 PM (12 hours ago)
to ASHPATEL@pa.gov, Sue, Rich, slambert@eastwhiteland.org, rsmith@eastgoshen.org, John, Christie, benpoe4@juno.com, TINA, Timothy, Christine, Zeek747, me, Ted

Dear Mr. Patel,

I gather from your lack of response to my previous emails (and because the residents were not invited to recent closed-door meeting) that you do not intend to respond to me. The important part is that I have raised my safety concern, you saw it, the townships saw it and it’s now part of the public record.

I would like to draw your attention to a few more critical issues I have identified in your letter of Sept 23 to the townships:

Your suggestion (2e) indicates that signal upgrades could better detect traffic. Obviously, this means reducing delays without any negative impact on safety or otherwise. If PennDOT thinks traffic delays are a problem, why would this not be your recommended solution as a first and immediate phase? Why wasn’t this recommended and implemented years ago? You go on to state that this improvement would not be approved by PennDOT unless the township also agree to take land from local residents in “a reasonable timeframe”. This is outrageous and extremely upsetting. Is this how PennDOT operates– with a complete and total disregard for residents’ homes and properties not to mention a disregard for common sense and unnecessary expenditures?
One of your suggestions is to clear the vegetation through the intersection along King Rd to improve visibility (2c). When it comes to the goal of improving safety, this applies not only to the drivers but also to pedestrians and residents, I assume. As Senior Manager of Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, you must be aware that trees and shrubs create a safety barrier between the traffic and the residents when they must co-exist in close proximity. Tearing them down, as you propose, reduces safety for residents (and pedestrians).
You state that that safety is the department’s primary goal. Yet, you directly contradict this statement with your proposed solutions. If safety is the primary goal, a safety improvement like enhanced traffic detection and painted lines (as you suggest in 2f) could be implemented now. (Or, years ago.) In fact, if safety were the primary goal, a safety improvement such as signal phasing on 352 could be delivered even if it came at the expense of added delays. Your proposals not only fail to make safety the primary consideration, you go so far as to suggest that signal-only safety improvements to 352 traffic can only be delivered if the township agrees to reduce safety on King Rd by letting it drive head on, simultaneously. Local residents would likely agree with me that this could be a net reduction in safety. The reality is that the goal of your proposal appears to be: reduce delays and, if possible, improve safety and do so at the highest possible expense. I find it disappointing that neither you nor the townships ever acknowledge this glaring falsehood being perpetuated. This is not and has never been about improving safety.
Each time I read your proposal and consider what has transpired to date, I become more and more disappointed by what appears to be a complete lack of competence, integrity, honesty, transparency and common sense by all parties carrying some sort of responsibility here. If you disagree with anything I have said and do not wish to have a dialogue with me directly, I understand. I hope you will communicate your feedback to the townships so they can pass it along to me. Or, if the townships care about the affected residents, they can prove it.

Until I see common sense prevail, I will not go away.

Best Regards,

Tom Stuart

“….would not be approved by PennDOT unless the township also agree to take land from local residents in “a reasonable timeframe”.”

There you have it. EMINENT DOMAIN.  They always try to make it sound pretty. How was it one of the East Whiteland Supervisors referred to it? As “slivers” of land or something equally preposterous?

It’s eminent domain. It’s stealing someone’s property and for what? So PennDOT can have their Roundabout Reign Of Terror?

I noticed in September PennDOT was doing the old soft shoe PR on their pet project to ruin where we live. All. Across. The. State.

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Here, courtesy of Talk Erie News, is essentially PennDOT’s press release in September about this:

ERIE NEWS
PennDOT Data Shows Pennsylvania Roundabouts Reducing Fatalities, Injuries, and Crashes
By TalkErie News – September 16, 2019

roundabout

erie 1erie 2erie 3

Now whomever heads up PennDOT gets a plum pickings patronage job with taxpayer funded benefits of pure political pork, right? Well it is currently one of the original Wolf girls, Leslie Richards:

leslie

 

If you wonder why our roads are so bad, can it be said look no further than Ms. Richards?  Would you like to contact Leslie Richards? Try:

The Honorable Leslie S. Richards
Secretary, PA Dept. of Transportation
Keystone Building
400 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120
lsrichards@pa.gov

Leslie also has a Facebook page, but she allows no contact there. Just public adoration. She also has Twitter – Leslie S. Richards (@SecRichards) REALLY making her a Wolf girl.

Here (courtesy of Wikipedia) is the chronology of her ascent to the cushy land of political patronage jobs:

Richards was elected to the Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors in 2007, and became chairwoman of the board in 2008. 

Richards was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 2011. Her election, along with that of fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro, marked the first time in over a century that Democrats controlled the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. Richards served as Montgomery County’s representative on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.  Richards also serves on the board of SEPTA. 

Pennsylvania political operatives had mentioned Richards as a potential Congressional candidate in Pennsylvania’s 6th congressional district. Richards declined to run for the seat after incumbent Congressman Jim Gerlach retired in 2014. 

In 2015, following the election of Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, Richards was nominated to serve as Secretary of Transportation of Pennsylvania. She was subsequently confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate in May 2015. 

In 2017, Richards was appointed the first female chair of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as well as the Public Private Partnership (P3) Board. 

But what does she actually DO? I will note I contacted Ms. Richards when this whole Roundabout Reign of Terror began.  Her response, even an acknowledgement, of the fact that I contacted her must have gotten lost in the mail.

So people always say when it comes to things like road projects to follow the money, right? So what happens when we follow the money to PennDOT with regard to things like Roundabout Reigns of Terror? Who is benefitting? Is it a long list? Is it a short list?

I sent an e-mail overnight to Senator Andy Dinniman since I feel the State Representatives have been quite invisible on this.

What is happening here is terrifying. He needs to act. He actually might have the power to help my neighbors and get the pause button pushed.

NO ONE HAS TRIED BASIC SIGNALIZATION CHANGES! Why the heavy PennDOT push for traffic circles or the more politically new speak term of “roundabouts” ? Whatever happened to trying something less expensive before taking people’s homes?

Again, if the money trail is followed all the way to Harrisburg where will it lead?

The basic intersection changes affected residents asked for would cost a whole lot LESS than a Circle. And it would not involve eminent domain.

But we, as residents and taxpayers, have been told that PennDOT doesn’t want that. Everything they want seems to involve  eminent domain doesn’t it?

Money, money, money. It’s only money and OPM or Other People’s Money at that.  Do you want your taxpayer dollars to go to stealing a neighbor’s home?

Why should my neighbors be forced to this? Why should they fear losing their homes? How would you feel if you were facing eminent domain?

None of us asked for this. And the origins of this current situation is somewhat mind boggling to me. That all came out when we did RTK requests a few months ago.

People have asked State Reps for help and to the best of my knowledge that has kind of gone nowhere.

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My neighbors need and deserve help. This affects residents in East Whiteland and East Goshen. Truthfully it affects anyone who travels through this intersection.  Have you watched people use roundabouts? And what about Immaculata and the buses that come through to them and the trucks, big trucks, which travel these roads?

Of course my personal thoughts include that wanton development is also a culprit here- another thing residents didn’t ask for.

I have seen what the threat of eminent domain does to communities as I have been to this movie before. I just didn’t expect it out here as a threat quite as often as I have seen it.

We have done rights to know.  In the spring we learned a lot.  Is that the only way we can ever get answers is to pay to be flooded with paper?

This summer I took photos while a passenger in a car. Of a roundabout no one knows how to drive on in Chester County.  On Route 52. Where it is still kind of rural and no one lost their homes, although undoubtedly someone lost some land as in open space/farm land.

The topography where that circle was placed is radically different from where PennDOT seems hell bent for leather to get one at King and 352.

Putting a traffic circle, roundabout, whatever you wish to new speak it as on King and 352 is like the proverbial square peg in the round hole, or is it round peg in the square hole? (Sorry, traffic circle humor)

Remember this issue when election day rolls around.

Soon it will be Halloween.  Then we will have Thanksgiving and Christmas and Channukah and so on, so what do these poor residents have to look forward to with the evil specter of eminent domain courtesy of PennDOT lurking around seemingly every corner?

Residents asking for traffic improvements on side streets somehow translated to a potential pork project and please stop the roundabout turntable, residents want to get off.

Can anyone help stop this? Does anyone give a crap about residents anymore? Or all we just expendable?

Other posts:

the dance around eminent domain and other tales from the king road/route 352 meeting

no eminent domain. no circle/roundabout. people before politics.

meeting on route 352 and king road set for june 5th at 7pm at immaculata university

east goshen responds to right to know request on 352 and king intersection improvements

dear east whiteland and east goshen: we need a little “sunshine” about shared intersection improvements at king and 352.

penndot responds on king and sproul/352

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