At its reorganization meeting, the newly constituted Upper Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to hire Kilkenny Law as township solicitor and then unanimously moved to drop two of three lawsuits pursued by the previous board, ending appeals related to the failed Smola Farm municipal complex project and a defamation suit deemed a retaliatory SLAPP action by a judge. The board cited high costs and poor legal prospects for continuing the cases, which had already consumed hundreds of thousands of dollars. No action was taken on a third lawsuit involving the Gilbertsville Road property — another potential site for a new municipal complex — in which three current commissioners had previously sued the township as private citizens and were represented by the same law firm now serving as solicitor, raising some commissioners’ concerns about conflicts of interest. The board also rescinded a 2022 resolution that gave broad powers to the board president over the municipal complex project, which critics said shut out dissenting commissioners and fueled years of political conflict.
Source: Pottstown Mercury; 1/7/2026