Upper Pottsgrove Township commissioners voted 3-2 to award bids for a new township complex on Gilbertsville Road. Commissioners Cathy Paretti and Dave Waldt voted against awarding the bids. Paretti said she is not against the project, but worries the township is making the same mistake it made when it targeted the Smola Farm open space as the site for the new complex. The Gilbertsville Road property was originally purchased in 2024 with open space funds, just as the Smola Farm property was. The board eventually voted to pay back the open space fund with general fund money for the Gilbertsville Road parcel. In announcing the $9.5 million in bids, the township noted “the entire project is fully funded without taking on any debt.” The township intends to continue the appeal of a reaffirmed ruling by a Common Pleas judge that enjoins the township from soliciting or accepting bids on its proposed plan to build a municipal complex at the former Smola Farm site. The judge issued a final 28-page opinion on June 13, prompted by the township’s appeal to Commonwealth Court. He wrote, “If a municipality could acquire land by using those open space tax revenue, but then decide to develop the land for another purpose, it would betray the bargain that the elected representatives made with the public — i.e. if you the public are willing to be taxed an additional amount in order to acquire and preserve open space in our community, then we, the elected officials will use the revenues solely for that limited purpose.” Chairman Trace Slinkerd said the appeal will continue because it has the potential to set a precedent about “who decides what open space is. Is it people who sue us? It’s a big case and it needs to go forward.” As of July 2024, the township had spent just under $135,000 in legal fees on the case.
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 6/18/2025