so busy in east whiteland today!
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Category Archives: Politics
meanwhile in north coventry
There was a data center meeting in North Coventry again last night. The developer came back again.
North Coventry Township KNEW this would be a big meeting but didn’t bother to find a bigger venue. Residents have told me they had 12 days to do so, but apparently did not? Residents were so immensely grateful for State Senator Katie Muth showing up for all of these residents, many of whom had to stand in a parking lot!
This not getting a venue that fits the crowd trick is getting old. East Whiteland has been doing this in my opinion. In East Whiteland they also alter the zoom video so even if you are on the zoom part of the meeting you can’t hear some of what is going on in the boardroom or on the recording post-meeting.
As a matter of fact I wrote to East Whiteland Township July 9, 2026 about this very thing of altering the sound that is actually subverting the public record is it not? Public meetings are supposed to be memorialized warts and all, correct? They have the often insipid meeting minutes for the sanitized life, right? Isn’t that as anti-sunshine as not getting a large enough meeting room when you know it will be a BIG meeting? When East Whiteland has done this in a few meetings they have actually muted State Senator Katie Muth. One time I think they turned off microphones, but the other times? The people they pay to record meetings deliberately mute out public reactions and that is wrong.
So in the end according to The Pottstown Mercury, the North Coventry Supervisors opposed the data center plan, but they need to address the fact that residents have a right to be at these meeting so they need to find a place to fit them in, not shut them out. After all up in Luzerne County, Salem Township is being sued by residents for doing just that.
west pikeland has lost it’s heart? can people please rally to save cayden’s corner?
A dad named Ryan Contacted me. He and his wife and family lost a baby at a week old named Cayden. Literally they held him and loved him for 7 days and he was gone. I can’t imagine that feeling, wouldn’t want to, but I have had friends and family experience such losses of children.
This family while working through their grief developed a tribute to their infant son in a West Pikeland Township Park that was a sand lot fo other kids to enjoy. It was named and dedicated “Cayden’s Corner.” Over the past two years, Cayden’s Corner has become both a memorial to their deceased son and a place where who knows how many hundreds of children have played. It was built and dedicated in Pine Creek Park.
So apparently, West Pikeland Township which always seems super secretive (like do they record meetings yet?) and insular in an unhealthy way has been pursuing a larger playground improvement project at Pine Creek Park using grants and donations. A committee was formed to assist with that effort, but despite Ryan Leithead’s involvement in creating Cayden’s Corner and assisting with playground grant efforts, he was not included in those discussions? Like for real? How crass, right?
To add to this, Ryan also learned that the proposed playground redesign may involve relocating Cayden’s Corner and altering or removing the existing memorial signage and dedication that were part of the original project, and for real? Nice way for the township to make this family experience more grief and literally feel shat upon in my humble opinion.
So Ryan went to the Board of Supervisors meeting I guess last evening to speak about his concerns. During the public discussion that followed, it became clear that there are differing opinions regarding the future of Cayden’s Corner and the memorial elements associated with it.
To be very clear, Ryan Leithead is NOT opposed to improving the playground.
He supports investing in Pine Creek Park and creating an even better playground for the families of West Pikeland.
His only request is that every effort be made to preserve the memorial that already exists and that his family be included in discussions affecting something that was built in memory of their son.
Here is video:
Here is Ryan’s written statement:
Good Evening Supervisors,
My name is Ryan Leithead. I am a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee, a West Pikeland resident, and most importantly, Cayden’s father.
My wife Denise is here with me tonight, and this is her first time attending a Board of Supervisors meeting.
In December of 2022, my wife and I experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when our son Cayden passed away just seven days after he was born.
Like many families who suffer a loss like that, we struggled to find a way to channel our grief into something positive.
Working with the Township, I proposed the creation of a sand play area at Pine Creek Park that would become known as Cayden’s Corner.
What was created was far more than a donation.
I personally funded the project.
I selected the equipment and design with the assistance of a trusted and certified local playground contractor.
I helped raise additional funds and secure labor and material donations from members of our community totaling more than $25,000 in value.
I personally built much of the project with my own hands over the course of several months, working from plans reviewed by the Township engineer and supported by Township leadership at the time.
I also assisted with the original playground grant effort by securing a professional playground design and layout at no cost from the same playground contractor and by providing letters of support and community-impact information for both grant applications.
The project was completed and dedicated just before the first anniversary of Cayden’s passing.
For my family, Cayden’s Corner is not simply a playground feature.
It is a memorial.
It represents countless hours of work, healing, remembrance, love, and community support during one of the most difficult periods of our lives.
Over the past two years, I have watched hundreds of children enjoy that space.
That has brought comfort not only to me, but to my family as well.
It was recently brought to my attention that the current playground planning process may significantly alter Cayden’s Corner, including the potential relocation of the entire sand play area and associated equipment, as well as the possible removal of the memorial sign and designation.
That is why I am here tonight.
I fully support improving Pine Creek Park Playground and I am not asking the township to halt the project.
I am asking the Township to preserve Cayden’s Corner as part of that project, consistent with the commitment the Township made in writing when the project was donated, approved, and dedicated to the memory of my son.
If there are accessibility improvements that need to be made, I have repeatedly asked to be included in those discussions and would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively toward solutions that improve accessibility while preserving the memorial.
But I am asking that every effort be made to preserve the memorial that already exists before deciding that it must be removed or relocated, particularly when it was created through significant personal effort, community support, and Township partnership.
I am also deeply concerned by discussions regarding the potential removal of the Cayden’s Corner memorial sign and designation. For my family, the name, sign, and dedication are an important part of the memorial. After everything that went into creating Cayden’s Corner in the aftermath of our son’s passing, the possibility of removing that dedication feels deeply hurtful and difficult to understand.
The name, sign, and dedication are an important part of the memorial and should not be discarded.
Before any final decisions are made, I respectfully ask the Board to consider what Cayden’s Corner means to my family, the circumstances under which it was created, and whether there is a path to improve the playground while preserving the memorial that already exists.
When most people look at Cayden’s Corner, they see a sandbox. When they hear out story they begin to see what my family sees.
We see a memorial built for a little boy whou never had a chance to play there.
We see a place where our two living children can play along side their brother in spirit, and where community children can play in Caydens Memory.
And I see something I built for my son.
Thank you for your time.
Ryan also sits on the board of an amazing organization called “A Haven“. It is a child and family grief center.
I am asking people to contact West Pikeland Township ASAP and demand Cayden’s Corner and Cayden’s memory as dedicated there be maintained.
Oh and not for nothing, Ryan shelled a lot of personal funds and sweat equity into this to make it happen.
As per West Pikeland’s lame website this is the current manager:
TOWNSHIP MANAGER
Joan Blatcher
610-590-5300
Here are the supervisors whom should ALL know better and whom should be considerate about this:
Chair
Thomas J. McLewee Jr.
Term Expires: 1/2/2030
Vice Chair
Noreen Vigilante
Term Expires: 1/2/2030
Supervisor
Steven F. Costa
Term Expires: 1/2/2028
Supervisor
Harold M. Hallman III
Term Expires: 1/5/2032
Supervisor
Bryan Maher
Term Expires: 1/5/2032
breaking news from ginny kerslake re: east whiteland data center
From Ginny Kerslake:
🚨And now this……
Sentinel Green Fig, the developer behind the proposed hyper scale data center project in East Whiteland Township does not have the required commitment from Aqua for the water it needs for the approved 2024 plan.
Not by a long shot
I filed a RTK request over a month ago for the required will-serve letter from Aqua. I finally got my response from the township today.
The letter below from September 2024,
is all that they have. Not only did it expire almost a year ago, but in it Aqua tells Green Fig they cannot supply the 2,900 gallons per minute (4.25M gallons per day) they need. Aqua can only provide 20% of that. Sorry Charlie……
🔴Sentinel Green Fig does not have the water they need for their approved plan. Without that water, the plan is dead. This developer doesn’t just WANT changes to the approved plan to conserve water – they NEED those changes.
The modifications they are requesting including changing the cooling system and removing the basement/relocating the generators to the outside require approval by the Board of Supervisors.
The Supervisors have two choices. They can vote NO to the requested changes and the data center plan is dead. Or they can breathe new life into it by approving the changes, despite the harms that it will bring.
My burning question is WHO knew WHAT and WHEN?
Oh, and aren’t there some very specific things from PECO they need?
demolition time in bryn mawr?
Apparently, the apartments that we knew in my day as Bryn Mawr Courts and most recently as College Hall Apartments is being demolished at present by Shipley?
Sorry not sorry, but that is sad.
If you live nearby, send photos. I am looking for current photos of demolition and photos of it whole if you have them.
I am not thrilled that my alma mater is doing this, but they bought the property and sometime in institutions have the soul of nothingness. Truthfully, they need faculty housing. So they’re being a little shortsighted in my humble opinion.
Truthfully the place was amazing. It stood without burning to the ground with all of the Villanova parties and everything over the decades, but it just shows you how tough the building was.
Someone told me they might be turning that corner into a parking lot? And I found where the school put up a video about the demolition beginning. Just for the record that gator mascot is still the damn dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Also dumb? Celebrating the destruction of a historic asset.
Anyway, if you have photos of the demolition in progress or old photos of the building, you can send them through private message to my blog’s Facebook page. Just kindly indicate what kind of photo credit you would like.
Maybe for decades the place has been more infamous than a historic asset, but the sad thing is it actually was a historic asset.
You know, I’ve never been a big donor to Shipley‘s annual fund over the decades, this demolition of this building kind of makes me to feel less inclined to give them money in the near term and I hate to be that way, but what is wrong with adaptive reuse?
Anyway, if they had had their way, Beechwood House still wouldn’t be standing today either. They are not the ones who saved Beechwood. It was alumni and the community.
All demolition photos added so far are courtesy of Jeff S.
watch the clown car please
State Representative Paul Friel has a rather thin skin and doesn’t like being challenged does he? Apparently there was a dust up with a constituent at his town hall in a music hall and bar in Spring City called The Gem Music Hall.
Anyway, one constituent became frustrated and I guess interrupted him. This man is frustrated about hide and seek over data centers with his state representative which is completely understandable because if you live in East Whiteland Township, the residents in State Representative Kristine Howard’s district grow increasingly frustrated because she is literally invisible on everything, including data centers. People feel Kristine Howard is just in it for her lovely state benefits and pension plans, salary, and perks and you have to wonder is State Representative Paul Friel like that too? I ask because don’t know a thing about the guy other than observations that he is egotistical, thin-skinned, obnoxious towards constituents who don’t agree with him, and plays dodge ball over data centers while talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Oh yes State Representative Paul Friel I can have these opinions on your lackluster performance combined with a love of photo ops to publicly post. You are seemingly quite a doofus of a politician these days.
So back to last night….today a man name Chuck posted a note to his fellow residents in a data center group for losing his cool.
I’m anti Meta but made a page so I could apologize to the people in the crowd at the Paul Friel Monologue over at the Gem in Spring City who were patiently waiting. I definitely interrupted the Monologue and the event in general. To the people in the crowd, except the dude upstairs leaning over the glass wall yelling decorum louder than I was speaking, I truly am sorry.
If you know me you know that’s not my style. I like to come prepared, say my peace in a calm cool and collected matter, and then be silent in the background. I’ve done that at every BOS meeting. Tonight, my frustration boiled over. I got legal opinions on the ordinance and brought those to that BOS meeting. I asked questions and provided objective empirical evidence like effectively all of us, yet was painted as bringing a pitchfork. In my opinion Paul Friel quite frankly slandered/defamed every resident of EVT in his capacity as an elected official.
Context: 25 minutes into his monologue, and after Paul telling a woman in the front she can wait to ask her question (at the advertised Q&A), Paul went on a shpiel about how we cares about Main Street, not Wall Street, and about agriculture. How our farmers face uncertain pressure. I wonder how the data center would mitigate the pressure for the adjacent farm? I wonder how the few small businesses on Main Street in Spring City would do?
He then segued into saying how much small things matter in quality of life, and I’m assuming without seeing the irony, goes “so did anyone hear we’re getting a data center”?
I shouted out yea I forgot my pitchfork, that he had an ego, and how gathering legal opinions (from an environmental scholar at Francis King Carey School of Law and Fair Shake) is me bringing a pitchfork. Again, as I asked there, was he there for us or were we there for him? Who is he to say when we can or can’t ask questions at what he advertised as an open forum Q&A?
Paul Friel is at best tone deaf, at worst in the pocket of corporate America, and at most accurate easily intimidated and likely entirely out of his depth. A walking, talking, thin skin sack of ego.
So context on the “pitchfork” comment. That originated in a condescending manner from State Rep. Paul Friel’s lips:
So yes… residents of East Vincent and other areas this elected officials serve are mere peasants under the tread of his shoes? Nice.
So here was his response:
Mr. Baker congratulations on yes yelling out and interrupting the district updates, then running out after I said everyone has an opportunity to ask questions and that I would stay and answer each and everyone of them which I did. When other people in the audience, which you obviously did not respect, asked you for decorum you choose to yell and literally run out. The agenda and time of the meeting was published and printed out as you entered- there was clearly an update section on local, legislative and community issues followed by Q&A which was the majority of the meeting.
Your misrepresentation of my positions is both disingenuous and blatantly false. Your narrative is also disingenuous I respect the people who gave their time to be there tonight even though you chose not to, the only person who acted more important than everyone else was you sir.
As to facts:
My moratorium bill is the only bill to be voted on in both chambers. It provides a path for a one year pause on data center development. My votes on every bill run is to limit or control data center development- 8 bills passed the house – zero in the senate. I cosponsored and voted to repeal and eliminate tax breaks for data centers- there is literally no bill limiting data centers that I did not vote for.
Then this got more interesting and allow me to share an array of screenshots:
Paul Friel is up for re-election this November. Will he ride the Shapiro data center wave? Time will tell. I think he could sadly get re-elected because I think people won’t want the woman on the other side for posing for photos with the likes of Wella Balsam man.
Her name is Samantha Horosky and she is a kindergarten teacher at Owen J. Roberts. How she does as a candidate depends upon her spine. She has an interesting background and people like her. And people from both sides of the aisle don’t like Paul Friel and feel let down by yet another institutional Democrat.
And that is something that the Chester County Democrats don’t seem to get: they didn’t come to current power by being institutional political hacks. They actually came to power thanks to the hard work of individuals like Samuel Stretton, Esq. But do they remember any of their own history of the not so recent past? Nope.
Meanwhile, the Chester County Republicans also have a learning curve they need to pay attention to. They need to field more normal candidates and to stop embracing people like the Wella Balsam guy and types like duplicitous State Senator Tracy Pennycuick who wants to be grandma with the cookies…but what cookies is she selling? The data center kind?
The sad thing is the skunks in Pennsylvania politics live on in both sides of the aisle in Harrisburg. There are few saints, many sinners. Sinners like Paul Friel.
Cheer up Paul, you can always have photo ops with State Representative Danielle Friel Otten. She’s a nice enough woman who has become a giant disappointment. She came to Harrisburg as a pipeline activist. I personally defended her through a couple of her re-election bids because of her now past life as a pipeline activist, but won’t be able to do that again because quite simply put, Danielle needs to be judged by the company she keeps (do-nothing and mute State Representative Kristine Howard) and the Shapiro Kool-Aid she has drunk.
Paul would you like me to lend you my pitchfork? I do use it in my garden so you would have to give it back.
and the (political) bullies roll into east whiteland township…oh wait they live here in some cases, don’t they?
Last night I published the following on socials:
Dear East Whiteland residents,
Fellow residents are getting outreach from outraged types past and present over us having the nerve to want additional representation in local government. This tells all of us that we are on the right track.
People this is our right. It’s not political. It’s decidedly non-partisan and it’s about representation.
It is literally our right as residents in a second class township in Pennsylvania to wish to go up to five supervisors from three. Our mechanism for doing this is to get something on the ballot, a referendum. It costs us nothing and it doesn’t increase our taxes, but it does increase our representation and perhaps gives us balance which I think is lacking in a lot of local governments no matter how good the representation is.
People who think it’s a bad idea are people who have something to lose. They’re being narcissistic and selfish, it’s personal to them. We might not ever know why it is personal and frankly, I don’t care.
Keep up the good work. Regardless of political affiliation, we are stronger together than apart. And that residents is what people are really scared of who don’t want two more seats on the East Whiteland Board of Supervisors.
One more day for signatures.
Well allow me to expand upon that with real world experience. Back in the day when I was part of Save Ardmore Coalition and we were fighting eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore, we experienced every dirty trick possible.
We will start with I had a price put on my head by a then publicist doing contract work for Lower Merion Township. You see, we as a group of local community activists were at first fighting an issue that wasn’t sexy enough for media coverage. So we had to get creative. We joined what was anew thing called Twitter (now X.) We also joined a new thing, kind of a grandmother of regional blogging called PhillyFuture.org
PhillyFuture.org was a community blog and aggregator launched in the early 2000s (founded by a wonderful human named Karl Martino) that served as a central hub for the Philadelphia political and local blogosphere. It was early days when I and a couple of friends discovered it. It was the most marvelous thing. We learned about things going on all over the region. Even Natural Lands had a blog on this blog.
PhillyFuture gave us a voice. It was the beginning of blogging. We didn’t have publicists or anything like that. It was just us. So we had to get creative. While we were on this platform fighting for Ardmore’s historic business district, Lower Merion Township which still wanted eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore did not like it. The small group of malcontents or whatever it was they called us was starting to get traction. The township at some point for a while hired an outside publicist for in my opinion damage control of a very unpopular and bad plan. Said publicist put a price on the head to know the identity of the Save Ardmore Coalition blogger. At that point there were a few of us, but I always believed they were after me.
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2005/10/01/suburbia-we-can-t-work-it-out
What we went through was the stuff Netflix and Prime series are made for. We were literally targeted as residents for wanting to stop eminent domain. Small businesses were targeted in a most petty manner as well. Back then one of the businesses threatened with eminent domain for private gain was HuNan Restaurant. That was actually WHY I got involved. The family that owned HuNan were dear to me. So when they said no to eminent domain, all of a sudden township folks who always ate lunch at Hunan because it was literally next door to the township building stopped eating lunch there.
Why is this pertinent today? Because everything old is new again and politicians always regurgitate the same old stuff. See this text message screenshot I was sent last night:
has a nasty streak doesn’t he?
Meet Bill Holmes and his charming text message. For the last 10 years or so he and the Great Valley Democrats have eaten lunch together at Dixie Picnic. So he sends this text – to a woman named Tracey who has been a devoted Democrat and supported him as a supervisor AND when he was head of Great Valley Democrats. And she is an owner of Dixie Picnic.
Today none of them showed up. So they all followed daddy to where? Wegmans or Wendy’s?
I first met Tracey not that long after we moved here. I can tell you that she feels such a sense of betrayal by these people. Like literally she’s one of the most devoted Democrats, and always has been. I think she may have even had some sort of gathering for Bill Holmes in the past? I’m a little fuzzy on that detail because that was around the time we were just coming into East Whiteland or before.
But do we see the irony here that she actually lived up to her Democrat and personal values by wanting to put a petition out for people who were interested in enlarging the Board of Supervisors by two that is allowed under the 2nd Class Township code? So she exercised her right as an American and as a resident of this municipality East Whiteland Township and now this guy wants to punish her as a small business owner and a resident? Talk about acting like petty bitch, right?
Also there were signing events for this ballot petition initiative to add two more supervisors and guess what has been reported? Bill Holmes showing up with some unidentified man and one guy named Jerry Pyne whom I believe was the vice chair of the county Democrats and is now on the following committees: Property Committee, Collaborative Planning Committee (WTF is that? The give out gold star stickers committee?), and System Administration Committee? LOL LOL LOL how many committees do they need?
Ok so the fact they showed up is not the problem. The problem was they reportedly showed up with signs to essentially harass other residents into not signing the petition? They literally had “Do Not Sign” signs. Below is a photo taken of him and his cohorts being gently spoken to by the lovely woman who organized the petition. She was a lot nicer than I would have been. Sadly no sign was being held up in that moment.
This further cements, why change must happen.
If you don’t regularly go to Dixie Picnic in Lincoln Court shopping center I am urging everyone to go and support Tracey because of what is being done to her which is petty, chauvinistic, and misogynistic.
And so we are all clear on who Bill is he is somebody who is a politician. He still plays politics. He’s the past chair of the East Whiteland supervisors as well as a supervisor and he was the past chair or cochair of whatever the Great Valley/East Whiteland Democrats.
A man who wants to hurt someone with a small business who’s also a great human is just a tool. Oh and didn’t he come to power thanks to Michele Vaughn? makes you re-think her on county row, doesn’t it?
Here is Dixie Picnic’s website: https://www.dixiepicnic.com/ They are an amazing scratch kitchen and home of the UPcake and nice positive things. You can order through GrubHub and I think Instacart and you can place orders on their website for pick up and they do catering and their hours are your basic lunch hours. This is a restaurant which is also an amazing little community hub.
Now I fully expect the Great Valley Democrats powers that be and think they are still powerful will have a hissy fit over my posting this but they should KNOW that a MAN saying something like this to a woman who owns a small business, lives in East Whiteland, and is a supportive member of their political party is literally indefensible. Is this the only female Democrat he’s had issues with as a perennial politician now without an office?
And so we are clear on how I feel about this bullshit aspect to local politics, allow me to share more of my personal experiences with Great Valley Democrats.
When this all happened to me, I was still a Republican. In 2016 when a certain someone became the presidential nominee, I left the party because as a woman it had already kicked me and my rights as a woman to the curb I felt. I tried on the whole being a democrat but between Chester County Dems and Great Valley Dems it was so institutional, bad corporate and often soulless and that’s being polite. So again, once more I am an Independent.
It doesn’t matter in the big picture but I thought it is good for people to know. Just like it is good for people to know Bill Holmes also ran unsuccessfully for state rep once upon a time. Oh and he only beat his 2013 challenger when he was supervisor by 10 votes. In 2007 he only beat Rich Orlow by 7 votes. Rich Orlow eventually became a Republican supervisor in East Whiteland and then was defeated by Scott Lambert. Then in the true nature of flip floppy politics, Rich Orlow became a Democrat to finish out Bill Holmes term when he stepped down, didn’t he?
Below are some articles about East Whiteland politics and one about East Whiteland population growth. And old blog posts.
Politics is a dirty business and it’s time for people like Bill Holmes to retire and just sit down to begin with. If someone is doing something they believe in personally, don’t you encourage them especially if it is something positive?
These tired ass folks like Bill Holmes think better representation for a community that has grown exponentially is a threat to Democracy and they don’t actually get that it is literally Democracy in action. Behavior like he exhibited is thug politics and it’s time for him to stop.
Also please visit Dixie Picnic. You will be glad you did.
I completely expect I will be targeted with unpleasantness for this post. After all I have never been “on board with Bill” and I have been targeted by unpleasantness before because I believe in growing three person boards to five and I think the data center is a bad plan. Some of those folks should be glad I don’t share their emails calling me what was it? A back stabber? And why? Because I think the three person board in East Whiteland should be five person and I think the East Whiteland data center plan is a bad plan.
East Whiteland your political slip is showing in the most unattractive way possible. Put that in your proverbial pipe and smoke it.
People, if they don’t want this then get out and vote for it in November if t makes the ballot this time. If not, we will do it again.
#ShopLocal and #LoveWhatIsLocal and #ShopSmall and remember that community transcends politics in the end. Always.
https://www.readingeagle.com/2003/11/11/chesco-board-to-welcome-new-commissioners/
wait? what just happened to the exton mall master plan?
I have had to play this little tape over and over because I wanted to make sure I heard it properly. And what I heard is the master plan for the Exton Mall that the supervisors in West Whiteland had in place has just been completely undone by the Zoning Hearing Board and their solicitor?
I have literally got nothing because I just don’t understand. I do believe according to the average process that comes to play here, if the Board of Supervisors wish to appeal, legally they can.
I really don’t understand. But it lends itself to another conversation about solicitors. There’s a big one going on in East Whiteland for example over data centers.
There seems to be contretemps that is ongoing in Tredyffrin Township.
In Westtown, it’s a state of chaos as they just dismissed the entire historic commission.
Now, what do West Whiteland, Westtown, and Tredyffrin have in common? Would it be that they all use Gawthrop Greenwood for main solicitor or zoning?
For Westtown and Tredyffrin they specifically use Patrick McKenna, Esq. West Whiteland is a little different. They use “Gawthrop Greenwood” as the zoning hearing board solicitors. They don’t specify on West Whiteland’s website but it seems to be Patrick McKenna and or his wife Stacey Fuller also with the same firm, correct?
Of course, the other thing with West Whiteland’s Zoning Hearing Board is you don’t know who’s speaking half of the time because the zoning hearing board members do not introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting and neither does the solicitor.
Anyway, I didn’t see this covered in the media at all so hopefully this prompts them to look into this because doesn’t it seem unusual?
east pikeland in kimberton has a superfund site and do we know all we need to know about it?
In January I asked a pretty simple question:
Would someone kindly tell me what is in the water in East Pikeland Township??? And I am not talking about the superfund site (yes there is a fairly large one and where are all of the monitoring wells and plumes and what not?? https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/CurSites/srchsites.cfm )
Every time you turn around, there seems to be something funky oozing out of East Pikeland isn’t there? My guess is they don’t want anything oozing out of there correct?
Kimberton AKA East PIkeland has a largeish superfund site so why don’t they talk about it much?
Today I add to that is where is whom I thought to be East Pikeland’s Manager, Kim Moretti, whom is still showing on their website as being manager? (https://www.eastpikeland.org/township-administration/directory-listing/kimberly-moretti )
Would she be the one to ask this of? Or would people ask the supervisors led far too long by that unnaturally red-haired old man and his underlings who do his bidding?
https://www.eastpikeland.org/township-administration
https://www.eastpikeland.org/board-supervisors
The thing about superfund sites is there really is no safe distance away from them is there? It all varies depending upon the contaminants, wind patterns, local groundwater flow, and cleanup status, doesn’t it? While the EPA investigates and remediates these areas, studies often highlight according to what I have seen, approximately a 1 to 3-mile radius as an area of potential or actual exposure don’t they? Or is that wrong?
Hazardous stuff can migrate can’t it? I mean that is why people living around the Foote Mineral EPA site in East Whiteland (which isn’t so far from the Kimberton site, is it?) are freaked out by even earth being moved for that planned data center, right?
In 1992, The Philadelphia Inquirer did a pretty big spread of an article on Kimberton and how organic the area was. Laura Quinn the reporter of an article dated August 28, 1992 titled the article “A Place Where The Cows Eat Organic”. Today when I saw that in the archives I had to snort. I will share some screenshots of some dead and buried newspapers about Kimberton I find amusing at the end – just not that Inquirer article as I can’t find an archive link on their website. It is a shame I can’t find it on their website to be able to share a link if you subscribe… but anyway, article did happen.
In 2008, The Philadelphia Inquirer or maybe The Daily News (William Bender?) wrote a small article about the Kimberton Superfund site. The article spoke about this 45 acre site on Coldstream Road being on a national priorities list of well over 1000 properties. It was once owned they said by a company called Ceiba-Geigy, and land was now owned by the Henry Company.
According to this article from 2008, there was a lot of trichloroethene (TCE) dumped into multiple “pools” and oh shades of Bishop Tube which never became a superfund site in East Whiteland and is still contaminated, right? Also the article mentions that back then (18 years ago now) they had been removing lots of “volatile organic compounds” from ground water and then when the waste was filtered and decontaminated or something it went into the French Creek? (umm, ick???)
Also according to the EPA stuff online, supposedly between 1947 and 1959, a predecessor of Ciba-Geigy manufactured epoxy resins and textile products there. Overall research from the EPA etc indicates that chemical residues were primarily trichloroethene (TCE), dichloroethene (DCE), and vinyl chloride. A nice toxic cocktail in organic land much?
When you put this crap into Google, this comes up:
Remedial Cleanup Actions
- Operable Unit 1 (OU-1 – Drinking Water): EPA mandated an alternate water supply in 1988 due to residential well contamination. Individual local wells were initially treated using granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption filtration. A permanent public water supply line was fully installed in 1992, removing local dependency on contaminated private wells. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
- Operable Unit 2 (OU-2 – Source & Groundwater Control): A comprehensive groundwater pump-and-treat system was launched in December 1993. Extraction wells capture the contaminated water before it leaves the property bounds, running it through an on-site air stripping treatment facility. [1, 2]
- Institutional Controls: Mandatory deed restrictions are enforced to prevent groundwater exposure, block the drilling of new domestic wells, and preserve the integrity of the protective caps over the former lagoons and septic areas. The site achieved Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use (SWRAU) status in 2018. [, 2]
Then there is Roberts Packing (meatpacking?) which is a CERCLA site. So that I think means it is a hazardous waste location managed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980).
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/CurSites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0301817
East Pikeland, being East Pikeland and a land of the super secret people doesn’t have much on their website. I found this:
https://www.eastpikeland.org/environmental-advisory-council-eac/page/kimberton-superfund-site
Today I found this “KIMBERTON SUPERFUND MONITORINGWELL RECORD” and it is dated July 24, 2026:
Here’s a page on “Monsey” which also shows up in the reel of names in Kimberton:
https://sweets.construction.com/listings/monsey-products-co-nst1449/overview
Here is the link to all of the stuff on the EPA website:
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.docdata&id=0301432
Also not that long ago a resident asked a simple straightforward question:
Then there is this:
Basically you have to wonder what is going on and what has been going on for decades in East Pikeland Township? Ron Graham has been a supervisor since 2008 and chair of that board since 2009, yes? To quote (him) on the website:
Ron believes that efficient and successful governance is based on integrity, open communication, compromise rather than confrontation, and sound fiscal organization.
Mmmkay Ronnie old man (and you are dude complete with unnaturally red hair), if you believe in integrity and open communication, maybe its time for (a) a completely new board of suprvisors (won’t say new chair because the currents do your bidding don’t they?); (b) a ballot referendum to add 3 more supervisors under the 2nd class township; (c) actual transparency and open government; (d) no more bully politics? Also how can this dude been chair of the board since 2009? It’s good to be king right?
This Kimberton Superfund site gives me the willies. Read that new thing. Test your wells and groundwater. Question it all residents, it is your right. And if you start to flip the board, you can also get township administration and solicitors (including zoning) that you trust, yes?
And speaking of questions what happened with the recent zoning hearing board and the hippies are us thing being planned Altair Eco Village? That is partially on superfund land isn’t it? Has stormwater issues?
https://www.altairecovillage.org
I don’t know but in my opinion, East Pikeland needs a whole lot of sunshine and residents need to question everythng.
My opinions are brought to me by the first amendment. No McPhails need apply, do they? (Yeah I knew about that East Pikeland.)
I also think Erin Brocovitch would also love East Pikeland. maybe if lots of East Pikeland folks contacted her about the Kimberton Superfund site, more answers would be forthcoming?
East Pikeland maybe no more cloudy sunshine free days are in order? Unless y’all are vampires?
Here are the funky newspaper clipping from dead papers:
being involved in your community.
I’ve written about this so many times I don’t know why I’m bothering to do it again but I am.
There are no better advocates for a community than the members of said community. It takes a lot at times, sometimes it’s easier.
But people ask, how do you do these things? You gather together. It starts with that.
I think the biggest problem I see that people have with local governments today are the poor decisions, and trying to hide things from people.
Sometimes it takes a while, but the truth always does come out. But there are things that I don’t understand today that comes out of the mouths of our local elected officials. Elected officials are the ones that are driving the bus of the municipality, yet they can’t contemplate their navels without being told what to do by staff.
Now of course they’re just places where the elected officials are just off. Do we call them corrupt or are they just stupid? I think they are stupid a lot of the times because they think their residents are stupid?
If you don’t like the face of who governs you change it, one of your most powerful tool in a citizen toolbox is your vote, along with your voice.
My friends and I have done it. It’s often a slog. Pure and simple. And while it is great to have t-shirts, catchy phrases and acronyms and lawn signs, that is literally the fun part. The crazy rest of it? It’s like having a second unpaid job you didn’t sign up for.
In East Whiteland and East Vincent and Limerick and Plymouth and West Conshohocken and Upper Merion it’s the blasted data centers. In Chaddsford, Radnor, and Malvern Borough and some other areas it’s unwelcome development.
In Easttown things are a little below the radar right now, but I keep getting inklings that things are simmering.
And Willistown is its own hot mess. You have unresolved major development issues with Rockhill Farm. And the guy who won’t let the township fix a culvert on Spring Road. And every once in a while you have people who pop up wanting sidewalks on absurd roads. In some places sidewalks are helpful, but the can’t be on dangerous roads that are not safe for walking or sidewalks to nowhere right? And the eternal thing of who pays for sidewalks when they are installed is an issue that the sidewalk advocates have no realistic answers to.
Another example I’m going to use today is Tredyffrin – what are these people thinking?
Residents are asking for transparency because everything they get is talking in circles, a non-answer, clear as mud. Like how is a supervisor named David Miller able to just write a check for a big chunk for the park being formed out of Picket Post Swim Club? The Chase Road Park but does that check really buy naming rights? (Watch the meeting)
https://www.youtube.com/live/wQ_L-VTRLmo?si=YHmswdPbfx29QvWE
Just the other day after sharing a concern from a resident in Mount Pleasant, a sitting supervisor, replied the following:
So let’s review: she is a sitting supervisor. Her job is to help her constituents and residents of this township. What I’m sharing is a resident asking for help. What she’s sharing meaning the supervisor is she couldn’t possibly. She can call about a leaky fountain, but she can’t also say to the township manager and traffic safety “Hey, we have a problem and there’s going to be a fatality or a really bad accident if we don’t improve the signage in Mount Pleasant.”
But hey, it’s Mount Pleasant right, so why give a damn?
I see you lazy supervisor and so does everyone else.
I will also note this is the woman who actually lives extraordinarily close to where Megan Nieberle was murdered and did we ever hear a word out of her about that?
Now another weird thing in Tredyffrin. Humble brings up Hans van Mol and he’s a curiosity to me. He likes to play parliamentarian at meetings right? So why does he not recuse himself from Parks and Rec stuff? His mama, Diane van Mol is the chair of the Parks and Rec Board is she not? Isn’t that a conflict if he doesn’t recuse himself? And has he recused himself?
And let’s talk America 250? If Tredyffrin is so proud of their flag why did Sharon Humble have the attitude of a cold wet noodle when Michelle Kichline was there. How could she not recognize Michelle’s service to the township as a supervisor for years, she was a chair and she was a county commissioner and a chair there as well!
Tredyffrin residents are waking up. Residents in other Chester County communities are waking up. Government needs to realize that we are all not sheep on this big bus of life.
Ciao.