Gould Regime Hurting Chestnuthill

By J.J. Publius

Chestnuthill Supervisors put the Township in debt to tune of $3-million, neglect potholes in the roads, and Gould shamefully chases away prime, beneficial commercial development.

It's time for a change!

Chestnuthill Township Roads Neglected by Gould and Supervisors

When Claude Possinger was a Chestnuthill Township Supervisor and also the Township's Roadmaster, our Township roads were first rate. Now, many Chestnuthill Township roads are in a sorry state - chuck full of potholes, lots of eroded shoulders, and poor road surface quality. There's no pride in the Chestnuthill Township roads!

Before the Gould regime took over control of Chestnuthill Township, all the Township road-work was done. And it was done within the funds provided to the Township for road work (liquid fuels tax rebate). That liquids fuels tax rebate from the State will add up to nearly $450,000 this year, nearly $1/2-million. It was about $430,000 last year.

The Chestnuthill Township roadwork is not getting done these days. Moreover, Gould and his regime apparently are not able to get the roadwork done within the liquid fuels tax rebate from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (State). Gould and his regime have put Chestnuthill Township in debt to the tune of $3-million, ostensibly for roadwork and other infrastructure expenditures. Yet even with that extra $3-million, many Chestnuthill Township roads are a disgrace.

Lake Mineola Road is a good example of a Chestnuthill Township road where Gould and his regime are not getting the roadwork done. It goes from its intersection with Route 209 near the ESSA bank in downtown Brodheadsville to its intersection with Route 715 near the Chestnuthill Township building.

As you turn onto Lake Mineola Road from Route 209, you will notice a huge hole immediately to the North of 209 and to the East of Lake Mineola road. This pothole is downright dangerous and it is a disgrace. No pride in Chestnuthill Township there. See Figure 1, below.

Figure 1. A huge hole at the intersections of Route 209 and Lake Mineola Road immediately to the North of 209 and to the East of Lake Mineola road. It's difficult to determine if this dangerous road-hole is a State hole or a Chestnuthill Township hole. Perhaps it is a little of both. Either way, Gould should see to it that it is fixed promptly!

If it is a Chestnuthill-road hole then all it takes is about a cubic yard of shale to fill the hole. Between the nearly $1/2-million the State gives the Gould regime to fix the roads and the $3-million the Gould regime borrowed to fix the roads, there should be enough money to buy a cubic yard of shale, should there not?

If it is a State-road hole, Gould as Chairman of the Chestnuthill Township Supervisors ought to be able to get the State to fill the hole.

(West End Voice Photo. 12 May 2005)

As you drive onto and along Lake Mineola Road, you will notice much alligatoring in the road surface. That's a sign of a neglected road. And it means the road should be seal-coated at once. Actually roads should be seal-coated before they start to alligator. See Figure 2, below.

Wherever you see alligatoring in the macadam surface of a road it means the road surface at least should be seal-coated, immediately. Often it is better in the long run to resurface the roadway once the surface starts to alligator.

In road surface lingo, alligatoring refers to the system of cracks in the road surface that resemble the skin of an alligator in appearance. alligator . . . v : of paint, varnish, or the like: to crack and acquire the appearance of alligator hide, as from weathering or improper application. (Dictionary.com)

But, you will notice more than just alligatoring as you drive along Lake Mineola Road. It's chuck full of potholes. Much of the shoulder is eroded, in disrepair, or destroyed. The road surface quality is poor, is eroded, and is in severe disrepair. No pride in Chestnuthill Township on the Lake Mineola Road! See Figure 2, below.

Figure 2. Section of Lake Mineola Road in Chestnuthill Township. Notice the destroyed and eroded shoulder and East edge of the road to the left of the photo. Also notice the deep pot hole on the East edge of the road (photo left).

Here, the entire remaining road surface is alligatored indicating need of at least a seal-coating. However, Lake Mineola Road is riddled with potholes such as the ones in the center-middle and center-top of the photo. This road should have been completely resurfaced. It should be resurfaced immediately!

However, Gould and his regime have neglected the Lake Mineola Road for years. The Lake Mineola Road should be fixed immediately. It's time for a change!

(West End Voice Photo. 12 May 2005)

Lake Mineola Road also is a key shortcut between Rt 715 and Rt 209. That shortcut lets Rt 715 traffic avoid the traffic light at the intersection of Rt 715 and Rt 209 at the WaWa in downtown Brodheadsville. It also lets 715 travelers avoid the Brodheadsville Bottleneck.

However, the Lake Mineola Road shortcut is not usable. It needs immediate re-paving.

We discuss the Lake Mineola Road shortcut in more detail in Brodheadsville's Rt. 209 Traffic Bottleneck Can and Must Be Fixed in the West End Voice, Volume 14 No. 1, May 9, 2005.

If you want to see an example of just how horribly some of the Chestnuthill Township roads are being maintained, take a ride on Lake Mineola Road. When you see the miserable condition of Lake Mineola Road, you will understand one of the reasons that we believe Chuck Gould and the Chestnuthill Supervisors are not doing their jobs and should be fired.

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Gould Causes Chestnuthill to Lose TV Studio -- What a Shame!

Back around 2000, Blue Ridge Communications (BRC), an Eastern and Central Pennsylvania cable TV provider including much of Carbon, Monroe, and Pike Counties, wanted to build a new studio for its Channel 13. More importantly, the Blue Ridge people decided to build that Studio at Pencor's facility in Gilbert, Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania. But, Chuck Gould abused his position as a Chestnuthill Township Supervisor to kill the plan dead, what a shame!

Pencor Services, Inc., is the parent company of Blue Ridge Communications, PenTeleData (Prolog), Palmerton Telephone Company, Penn's Peak, the Lehighton Times News and seven weekly newspapers.

Pencor's Gilbert facility is that beautiful commercial complex that lies in between Route 209 and Fairgrounds Road between Brodheadsville's Weir Lake Road shopping complex and the Village of Gilbert. BRC's West End office is located at Pencor's Gilbert facility.

The Ye Olde Professional Building is on the Pencor property there now. The Channel 13 studio would have been a second major building on that site.

The Gilbert Channel 13 studio would have meant around 50 to 60 good jobs. And it would have added about $1-million to $1.5-million to the property tax roles for both Chestnuthill Township and the Pleasant Valley School District (PVSD). That's just the kind of commercial development we need and want in Chestnuthill Township and in the PVSD.

Good jobs and increasing the tax base are not the only benefits that would have accrued for Chestnuthill Township, the PVSD, and the West End. Having the Channel 13 studio right here in Chestnuthill Township would have made it so easy to take school children there for tours of the Channel 13 studio -- what a fantastic educational opportunity that Gould blew.

Think of the opportunities for the young people of our community to get part time jobs and even internships there that having the Channel 13 studio in Gilbert would have provided. Gould blew that too.

Pencor, BRC's parent company, has been a great contributor to Chestnuthill Township and the West End, including improving the quality of life here too. The most noticeable of which is Pencor's investment in our community by building its Ye Olde Professional Building in Gilbert. Moreover, Pencor was going to build its Blue Ridge Communications Channel 13 studio here too. But, Gould killed that.

Thanks to Chuck Gould, it is doubtful that Pencor will invest any more money in Chestnuthill Township. Way to go Gould - NOT!

The Channel 13 studio issue was raised at a recent Chestnuthill Township Supervisor meeting. Gould did not have the courage or honesty to admit that he had killed the Channel 13 studio project. Instead, he ducked around the issue claiming that Pencor had never applied to Chestnuthill Township for approval of its Channel 13 studio plans.

In the formal sense it is true that Pencor did not make a formal application for permission to build the Channel 13 studio in Gilbert. But Gould killed it before it ever got that far.

Pencor did present a preliminary plan to Chestnuthill Township.

Within about three-months of that, Gould and the Township Supervisors issued a building moratorium and then passed an unconstitutional ordinance that effectively stopped the Channel 13 project cold. The dirty trick that Gould used to do this prohibited construction in flood plains. Since the Pencor property in Gilbert is in the 100-year flood plain, Gould's dirty trick stopped the Channel 13 studio project.

The Pencor people discussed the matter with Gould. They wanted to get a variance or exemption that would have allowed the Channel 13 studio. Gould would not budge.

Since then the ordinance that Gould enacted that stopped the Channel 13 Studio from being built in Gilbert has been amended. Under the amended ordinance, the Channel 13 studio could have been built in Chestnuthill Township.

What other beneficial development has Gould killed? What other abusive and unconstitutional ordinances has Gould managed to get on the books in Chestnuthill Township?

Pencor Services and its subsidiaries, including Blue Ridge Communications employs more than 1,000 people. BRC has more than 179,000 subscribers throughout Central and Eastern Pennsylvania.

Gould's Grey Elephant AKA Firehouse Lane

On Route 715 within site of the Routes 209 and 715 intersection in Brodheadsville there is a major, unpaved, roadbed. It's been there for nearly a year now. It's a Chestnuthill Township road now named Firehouse Lane. See Figure 3, below.

Figure 3. Firehouse Lane and Route 715 in Brodheadsville.
(West End Voice Photo. 12 May 2005)

This roadbed, Firehouse Lane, has been like this since last year. The reason is simple and unacceptable.

The Gould regime built the roadbed without first obtaining the necessary easements from neighboring property owners. And they built it without first obtaining the necessary permit from PennDOT to connect a Chestnuthill Township Road to a State road, in this instance the State road is 715.

Notice the Firehouse Lane roadbed stops just short of 715. That's because the Gould regime built Firehouse Lane without the necessary easements and permit from PennDOT. Right now it amounts to a white elephant. So, we have decided to name Firehouse Lane Gould's Grey Elephant. That's because the shale making up the roadbed, the white elephant, has a grayish cast to it.

When asked at a recent Chestnuthill Township meeting how much Gould's Grey Elephant cost to build, Gould failed to provide that number. He did however mention that some of the cost of his gray elephant, Firehouse Lane, had been contributed by the West End Fire Company and some (unnamed) developers.

We have heard some estimates that Gould's Grey Elephant (Firehouse Lane) has cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3/4-million. However, so far we have not been able to verify that figure.

Firehouse Lane in and of itself is not a bad project. What is bad is that it was not quickly completed because the Gould Regime did not first obtain the necessary easements and PennDOT permit.

Add to that the fact that Chestnuthill made Gould's Grey Elephant a stagnant yet high priority while neglecting to fix roads in Chestnuthill Township -- roads that have been in need of repair for some time, roads such as Lake Mineola Road.

Don't forget that the Gould regime also has neglected to solve the Brodheadsville Bottleneck problem too. See Brodheadsville's Rt. 209 Traffic Bottleneck Can and Must Be Fixed in the West End Voice, Volume 14 No. 1 © May 9, 2005.


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