“Perkasie First” group concerned with rise in electric rates

May 19, 2010

By: Perkasie News-Herald

By Emily Morris
Managing Editor

Three years ago, a group of Perkasie Borough residents upset about the cost of the new Menlo Aquatic Center and other issues in town gathered together under the name “Perkasie Pride.”

They put up a slate of four candidates, all of whom were elected and currently sit on council. Two years later, they repeated the process with a slate of five more candidates, all of whom were elected to council in the fall of 2009. At least four of the candidates, current Councilors Marty Gahman, Rich Hendricks, Jim Purcell and Maria Slowik, had been on council in the past for varying lengths of time and at various points in time.

Latest Headlines

• Piling up: A tale of trash in Perkasie and Sellersville
  

  May 19, 2010

  By Erin DuBois
  Staff Writer

  Since the dawn of time, it’s been an embarrassing yet unavoidable problem.  Some claim the problem goes back as far as 400 B.C., when Athens established the world’s first municipal dump.

  British Victorians enjoyed the convenience of dumping trash out the window, regardless of the heads of unsuspecting passersby, while early New Yorkers fretted not that visitors hailed the city as ‘“a nasal disaster, where some streets smell like bad eggs dissolved in ammonia,’” according to BFI’s trash timeline.

  At the turn of the 21st century, refuse disposal is a more civilized but no less contentious prospect.  Like a modern day tale of two cities, Sellersville and Perkasie residents wage very different battles where trash is concerned.

• Shopping local offers support to local economies
  

  May 18, 2010

  By Jennifer Mohan
  Staff Writer

  Lately, it seems as if everyone is looking for new ways to become more “green.” What better way to start than by examining the green in your wallet and how you choose to spend it.

  At first glance, shopping locally can sometimes appear to be more costly. Many items purchased at smaller, locally-owned businesses can often carry a larger price tag. However, in many ways spending your money at local businesses can be one of the most economically savvy things you can do. Not to mention the added benefits to the environment.

  What exactly is “Shopping Local”?

• Hilltown increases Mill Road bridge funding
  

  May 12, 2010

  By Jennifer Mohan
  Staff Writer

  The Hilltown Township Board of Supervisors voted to increase funding for its Mill Road bridge design project at its Monday, May 10 meeting.

  The board voted unanimously to increase the township’s contribution to the design of the Mill Road bridge project from the original $300,000 to $578,000.

  “Just to make this clear,” Supervisor Jack McIlhinney said, “this is only for the design, not for the construction, of one 28 foot bridge.”

  “This is going to be one hell of a bridge,” Supervisor Barbara Salvadore said.

• Perkasie looks at energy savings
  

  May 06, 2010

  By Emily Morris
  Managing Editor

  Perkasie Borough continues to look at energy savings this month, considering both an energy audit and the option of installing solar panels in the borough.

  The idea came after the firm EnergyChek approached the borough offering its services as a way to help the borough save money.

  Harold Stone, superintendent of the borough’s electric department, explained the firm would look at six borough buildings – the borough hall on Chestnut Street, the Menlo Aquatic Center on Arthur Avenue, the Police Department and Public Works building on Ninth Street, the electric department on Seventh Street and the fire hall at Fifth and Arch streets.

  Olpere said the firm uses a variety of equipment to analyze the efficiency of windows, motors, HVAC systems, electrical systems and more.

• Olde Towne plans new ‘Saturday Mornings in Perkasie’ events
  

  May 06, 2010

  By Emily Morris
  News-Herald Editor

  Many in the area are already familiar with the joys of meandering the shops in Perkasie on a Saturday morning, but Perkasie Olde Towne Association wants to spread that joy to a larger crowd.

  Perkasie Olde Towne Association President Joe Ferry went before Perkasie Borough Council Monday, May 3, to seek approval for POTA’s newest line-up for localistas and locavores alike, a bimonthly event called “Saturday Mornings in Perkasie.”

  The event would be held the second and fourth Saturdays of each month from 8 a.m. to noon beginning May 22 and carrying through October, Ferry said, and would welcome area residents as well as those from outside the area to come visit the borough’s shops and sights.