An interesting Lansdale resident

Part of my role as mayor is meeting interesting people. One such person is Dan Mayland who has lived in the old Williams house (one of the oldest houses in Lansdale) on White’s Road since 2000 with his wife, Corinne and two children. I recently discovered that Dan is a published author whose book, The Colonel’s Mistake, reached the number one spot on Amazon.com’s spy-thriller genre in September 2012 in the U.S. Even more impressive is that three months later it made it to number one in Germany and Britain. In addition, his second book, The Leveling, came out this month. As someone who enjoys reading and has taken a few unsuccessful stabs at writing himself, I was impressed by this accomplishment. And like a news reporter who likes to showcase local talent, I felt obliged to introduce Dan and his book to Lansdale.

His books take place in a little known area of the world which include the countries Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. What I learned after reading these two books is that this region, which is rich in natural gas and other resources, is a hotbed for major players such China, Russia and Iran to exert their influence over these commodities that power our cars and heat our homes. Of course, there is also the role played by the United States’ interesting and complicated relationship with each of them. Dan Mayland skillfully integrates these issues while making the story relevant through its characters and story line.

In order to make his stories believable, Dan has traveled extensively throughout the region as well as having performed exhaustive research on the cultures, history and background of the countries and organizations involved in his books– almost like a modern day Lawrence of Arabia.  I think many of us are fascinated by someone who makes his or her living through art in one way or another. Writing well is an art form as is hitting a 95 mile per hour fast ball as is playing Rachmaninoff’s Third piano concerto. It is through these art forms that communities, nations and civilizations are measured and evaluated. And while no less important, many of us in Lansdale and the region work in utilitarian positions at Merck, Univest, Szekely Chiropractic,  SEPTA or Molly Maguires. Fortunately for us, it is through the craft of those artists that we are able to escape our daily routines for a few hours in a book, at a baseball park or at a concert. 

Therefore, I invite you to take a look at Dan Mayland’s website, http://www.danmayland.com/, and if you’re into spy-thrillers try The Colonel’s Mistake or The Leveling knowing that it was written by a Lansdale resident about a world away.

Dan Mayland at his desk at his home on White’s Road in Lansdale.

Lansdale Primary Election 2013

Lansdale’s primary election is a week away and with it a bit of reflection is helpful. Looking back at the past five years a lot of good things have happened in Lansdale. Since 2009 the following new events have added to Lansdale’s already busy calendar:

• The Lansdale Farmers’ Market began in 2009 providing residents and visitors alike with with fresh fruits, vegetables and other items as well as a community gathering place.
• First Fridays began under the North Penn Community Network in 2009 and then was taken over by Discover Lansdale in 2011. This event provides a nice surge of people into downtown once a month.
• Lansdale’s first ever Oktoberfest began in 2009 raising over $15,000 for the Lansdale Library.
• The hugely successful Lansdale Craft Beer Festival began in 2010 raising over $45,000 for local charities.
• Molly Maguires Saint Paddy’s Day One Miler benefiting Manna on Main Street.
• Founders’ Day began in 2011.

And since 2009, the following businesses have also come into town making Lansdale a destination once again, thus helping existing businesses thrive:

 

• Molly Maguires Irish Pub and Restaurant opened their second location in Lansdale in 2010 after they helped revitalize Phoenixville in 2005.
• Montella’s Sports Bar opened in 2010 after a full renovation of the historic Sir Philip Fox Hotel.
• Virago Bakery opened in 2010 ushering in Lansdale’s first all natural,  gluten free and vegan bakery.
• Water: Elemental Arts and Crafts opened in the Dresher Arcade in 2011 marking Lansdale’s first quality art gallery.
• Round Guys Brewery, Lansdale’s first and only brewery, opened in 2012.
• Tabora Cafe opened their second location next to Railroad Plaza welcoming SEPTA passengers in 2012.
• Shell Fish Sue, Lansdale’s first seafood restaurant, opened in 2012.

The common thread through all these new events and businesses opening in Lansdale is that they are all the result of GRASSROOTS ingenuity and small business toil which have made a REAL and TANGIBLE improvement in Lansdale. This is what residents and visitors refer to when they say Lansdale is turning a corner or that Lansdale is the next Phoenixville or Ambler.

 

Unfortunately, some members of Council, our Administration and members of the Economic Development Committee have instead embraced a centralized, top-down approach that has included a hurried hiring of a business consultant, Delta Development, for $40,000.  Mr. Dunigan, Mr. Strahm and Ms. Fuller all said that not hiring this consultant would “hold up” development in Lansdale or result in “analysis paralysis”. In fact, this consultant has arranged only one or two meetings in the past year with the result of NO new businesses in town and NO reports to the Economic Development Committee.

 

Additional emphasis and money has been placed and spent on branding and wayfinding. Does anyone go to Ambler, Phoenixville or Doylestown because of their brand? No. The Administration also says we need to spend $4 million on the Borough Hall building because if “we don’t invest in ourselves, no one else will”. Does anyone go to Ambler, Phoenixville or Doylestown for their Borough Halls? No. Yet another example of a top-down, centralized approach that only expands bureaucracy.

 

Lastly, the current administration and some Council members feel that if we hire enough consultants and spend another $4 million on the Arts Center it will be a success. With any successful arts venue, the demand always comes first from the arts organizations ORGANICALLY. Then as the arts organization gains the respect and trust of its patrons, a home is found. The Administration’s approach is backwards. As I have said in the past, the current discussion focuses on the building and not on the arts, where it should be for success.

 

This is why I support Lansdale Borough Council candidates who also realize that Lansdale’s REAL success has not been from a centralized, top-down “spend our way” to revitalization, but rather a GRASSROOTS,  COMMON SENSE approach that enables a true, long-lasting, sustainable rebirth to occur.

A notable Lansdale resident

I am a little late in getting this post out as National Walking Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association, was held on April 3rd. But better late than never. Becky is a Lansdale resident that walks in Lansdale. A lot. If you’ve driven more than a few times on Hancock Road, Route 63, aka Main Street, Broad Street or North Wales Road, you have most certainly seen Becky. She usually wears her Eagles hat and she walks rain or shine. When the mercury dips and when the mercury soars she is out there (she did however say that during extremes in weather, she does sometimes stay at home). She began walking her route in 1991 when her doctor told her that she needed to get some exercise for a medical condition. She walks seven days a week. Her route is always the same and always in the same direction– counterclockwise. One lap is four miles, and she typically does five laps for a total of twenty miles a day or one hundred forty miles a week. She changed her direction once about five or six years ago, but she didn’t like walking with traffic, so she went back to walking counterclockwise.

Becky and her husband, Bob, with whom she was walking today.

Walking the same route day after day, I asked her what changes she has seen in the Borough in her almost quarter of a century walking around the East end of town. She told me that traffic has increased, but otherwise people are the same. Some people honk their horns and say hello, and teenagers sometimes yell obscenities– as is their tendency. She told me that when she first started walking, one lap took her 45 minutes, but with age, a lap now takes an hour. I also asked her about crime and whether or not she ever had any problems while walking. “Nope”, she replied which is good to hear as the mayor. She and I chatted a little about Lansdale and the fact she has lived here most of her life– she was born in the old North Penn Hospital– and other than a stint in North Wales she likes the town, but wishes there were more shops on Main Street like there used to be when she was a child in the sixties.

We wrapped up our delightful conversation as I was not dressed for walking any distance in my loafers. And looking at my little paunch in the photo below, I could probably stand to walk a little bit more myself, but I think I would have to undergo some training to keep up with Becky, Lansdale’s Walking Ambassador.

Kiosks, Signs and Such

Last Monday night was the way-finding presentation in Lansdale. The consultants presented the various ways to inform the public about where to park, where White’s Road Park is, where Borough Hall is, etc. Not very exciting stuff as evidenced by the reaction from the Public, and I’ll have to admit that my mind was also wondering during this presentation until our presenter mentioned kiosks.  We could have the kiosks– they’re innocuous enough– but we could also add a few historical markers that would show residents and visitors alike that we are a bit off-center and fun-loving. How about a marker near the train tracks on Main Street that peaks the interest of visitor and resident alike by describing an interesting occurrence from the early part of the last century. It is more elaborately detailed by Richard Shearer, President of the Lansdale Historical Society, but here could be the brief, summary for the marker:

Lansdale Legends

In or around 1910 at Main Street and Railroad Avenue, an unusual culinary event took place involving a butcher prone to seizures, a performing bear and a raucous group of residents.

Now that would make an impression, in addition to piquing one’s curiosity about the event and Lansdale itself!

Another idea for a marker would be to incorporate the H or Hell Tree. According to legend in the book, Weird Pennsylvania, Lansdale was home to one of three H-trees that exist throughout the world (it doesn’t offer information where the other two are). It stood on a 12 foot hill and was an entrance to– of all places– hell. The legend stated that one would have to circle the tree six times and then jump off of the 12 foot cliff at which point the ground would open up and welcome you to hell. Unfortunately, the tree like many other attractions in town, was bulldozed to make room for a housing development or something like that. If the H-tree was found tomorrow, all of Lansdale’s marketing problems would be solved. Think of the potential revenue from a location in Lansdale where people could actually go to hell? Now that’s what I call a transportation hub! But back to reality, an H-tree historical marker in town makes Lansdale interesting.

Lansdale Legends

Somewhere in Lansdale– we’re not exactly sure– was an H-tree which marked the entrance to Hell. To enter one had to circle the tree six times and then jump off a 12 foot cliff at which point the ground would open up and welcome them to their destination.

Imagine the photo ops for residents and visitors alike for this one!

My point in all this is to embrace the odd, which makes Lansdale a more personal and memorable place. Put up markers that highlight these oddities. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I probably will when I say that the new Lansdale logo on flags hanging from the lampposts throughout town is generic. Strip malls have them. Let’s do something different.

Borough Hall

Out of last week’s Administration and Finance Committee meeting, it has been proposed that Council take action at the next meeting whether or not to proceed with the demolition of Borough Hall and the Police Station. This will make way for a new Borough Hall/Police Station complex. This proposal came out of a facilities and grounds study done by architects,  Spiezle and Associates. They have concluded that Lansdale Borough Hall and the Police Station are in dire need of renovation and updating, and they presented four different options for renovating and updating these two buildings. Their plans range from simply repairing deficiencies and therefore, keeping the two buildings intact to building a new police station and keeping the old Borough Hall to demolishing both buildings and starting from scratch. Needless to say, the last recommendation has caused quite a stir here in town (I think most people, including myself, agree that a new Police Station does make sense). 

Demolishing Borough Hall in particular strikes a nerve because it is a historic building in town and as we all know, Lansdale has not done well when it comes to preserving old buildings. In fact, one of the most stinging criticisms here in Lansdale is that we have bulldozed just about every historic structure in Borough– the Tremont, the Eitherton, the Theater, the Longacker, the Bienacker, the list goes on an on. In speaking with my resident elders, I know that it was with great pride that the One Vine Street was dedicated as Lansdale’s new Borough Hall in 1988. Twenty-five years have gone by since then and like our homes it needs updating and repair work, but demolishing? That is a question the residents must answer. And in contrast to the buildings named above which were private property, Borough Hall belongs to ALL of us residents.

The architectural firm, Spiezle and Associates, was contracted to do a facilities study in order to independently and objectively assess the condition of Lansdale’s structures. I understand this rationale to a certain extent. What I don’t understand is that Borough Council will be voting in two weeks to decide if Spiezle will also be contracted to provide the architectural plans for the Borough. If this is the case, then they just wrote their own ticket. According to laws of the State of Pennsylvania, professional services– such as a architectural, engineering and legal– do not have to go out to bid. Our Borough Manager can simply recommend any professional with Council’s approval (that includes consultants which we have had our fair share of). My point here is that there are no competing estimates or proposals; we simply have to accept Spiezle’s recommendation. Are there other ideas out there with lower estimates? We don’t know. As a business (and the Borough likes to say that we should operate more like a business) considering a large project, typically a minimum of three estimates is recommended. In the case of the construction and/or repairs of Borough Hall we have only one estimate which is from Spiezle and Associates.

For example, according to Spiezle’s facilties and grounds assessment on page 19 it is stated that, “Additionally, the Borough Manager does not have private restroom facilities so he/she must use the public restroom through the lobby.” This may be a cheap shot, but does the Borough Manager really need his or her own bathroom? Are there other issues in the Facilities and Grounds Study that need a second look? Other items that are perhaps, nice but not necessary? I am an elected official, and I have an obligation to the taxpayer and not to staff.

On a more philosophical level, I will ask this question: how does spending lavishly on a new Borough Hall improve the lives of the average Lansdale resident? As a resident, I want my toilets to flush, my lights and heat to work, my roads to be relatively smooth and my community safe and my taxes commensurate. In 1970, Lansdale’s population was 18,451. That is 2,182 MORE than in 2010. There were no computers back then AND the Borough functioned in a smaller space at 421 West Main Street. How is it that now in 2013, we have outgrown our current Borough Hall? (By the way, the average attendance by the public to Borough Hall meetings is 13) Could the answer be an ever expanding bureaucracy?

Finally, I have heard time and again from the administration that the Borough needs to invest in itself or no one else will. Do people flock to Doylestown for their Borough Hall? For that matter, has Pottstown’s new Borough Hall revitalized the their downtown? Will a new Borough Hall improve my property values and entice businesses to come to Lansdale? These are important questions that need to be asked before we commit to spending a lot of money on a project that has debatable benefits to the average tax payer. As always, I welcome your thoughts and if you feel strongly either way about this issue, please contact me or your Borough representative. 

The above photo is the corner stone for the Lansdale Post Office that became Lansdale Borough Hall in 1988.

Kudos to Council

As I mentioned in my previous post, I said there would be praise which couldn’t be more timely. First, congratulations to the Lansdale Parking Authority for securing $2.5 million from the State through Representative Robert Godshall’s office. A month or so ago, the Lansdale Historical Society presented, “Revitalization Throughout the Years”, which detailed Lansdale’s attempts at the development of the Madison parking in the sixties and then the eighties and then again in the early 2000′s. For one reason or another all these attempts had failed. That is until this most recent push from the Parking Authority. While there is still a lot that needs to be done before the project commences, this certainly is a good start. I know that the businesses in town– whether old or new– will appreciate the additional foot traffic of up to 500 or more people within a three minute walk. Another hope is that this  Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will help stimulate a demand to fill the vacant storefronts along Main and Broad in the heart of town. More people means more business and more businesses mean a more dynamic downtown experience.

Second, I must also tip my hat to this Council for their support of the Lansdale Police Department. By adding six additional officers since 2010, the Department has gone from a reactionary mode to dealing with crime to a more planned, methodical approach. With more officers on the streets there is a message that is clear: crime will not be tolerated in Lansdale. A recent example is the apprehension of three suspects in the Hen’s Coins aggravated assault and robbery. Within three days the suspects were in custody. And crime overall in Lansdale has dropped 30% in the past three years (wouldn’t it be nice if crime dropped 10% every year; in seven more years we’d be crime free). This tenacity of the Lansdale Police Department should help to allay the fears and concerns of residents and business owners in town. As I have said numerous times, all of our efforts at revitalization don’t mean a thing without safe streets.

Election 2013/The Borough Prior to 2010

For those who don’t know, petitions will be due in a month setting the stage for the 2013 Lansdale election in which five Council seats will be contested in addition to the mayor’s seat. As I had mentioned in my first entry in this blog, my purpose in writing has been to get the public more involved and aware of the governing process. At the time of this writing, I am unsure whether or not I will run again for the position of mayor, but regardless, I will offer my vision for Lansdale including a few observations I have made in the past four and a half years with a sprinkling of criticism and a peppering of praise. In order to make reading this a little easier, I will break these observations up into “microblogs” that I will publish once a week or so. For my microblog number one, The Borough Prior to 2010 is the theme.

The Borough Prior to 2010

A common tactic for incoming elected officials is to demonize their predecessors. This is only natural since an election is a competition– like sport– where there is a winner and a loser. However, in sport there is also an ethic of sportsmanship. In fact, it is the American way. While this Council and administration have done some very, good things—which I will eventually come to—there has also been a collective amnesia regarding some of the accomplishments that actually occurred in the few short years prior to 2010.

When my wife, Szilvia, and I moved back into the Borough in 2003 after a long absence, Lansdale was looking a little rough. There was the dilapidated Turbo Building at the intersection of West Main Street and Valley Forge Road  and the empty Drug Emporium building at the entrance to Lansdale on South Broad Street. These and other eyesores in town were in desperate need of rehabilitation. Fast forward to 2008: there was redevelopment of the West End Gateway to town including the Turbo Lofts and Walgreens (we even have a Starbucks now!), the redevelopment of the Pavilion Shopping Center and the entirely new Station Square complex and Homewood Suites Hotel to name two other big projects.  There was also the re-purposing of the Santerians building into very nice apartments called the Silk Factory and the transformation of the softball fields on East Hancock Street into that lovely Stonycreek Park that many enjoy. And to top it all off, there was the completion of the White’s Road Rotary Centennial Bandshell in 2005. Not bad for five years! I also know that Lansdale certainly appreciates its new sidewalks and street trees along Main and Broad Streets which were part of a Federal grant given by our Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz to Council in 2004. What I would like to remind the public and our Council and administration is that not once was the previous Council or administration thanked or acknowledged publicly during the dedication of the Streetscape Project that cold morning back in January 2011. These have been important steps in the revitalization of Lansdale which have served as a catalyst to where we are today (Hell, I didn’t even have a hand in those!). To dismiss these achievements is irresponsible. (And like I said, there will also be praise for this Council and administration.)

My advice for the future: give praise when appropriate; it makes for a more harmonious community.

Here are a few before and after photos:

BEFORE: Santerian’s Building (note boarded up windows)

AFTER: The Silk Factory Apartments

BEFORE: Main Street Looking West along old Turbo Building

AFTER: Pizza Hut, Saigon on Main, Starbucks, others

BEFORE: Gary’s Drug Emporium, Town and County Bowling, The Patio Cafe

AFTER: The Pavilion with numerous shops and new store fronts

BEFORE: The old Ford Philco Plant

AFTER: Station Square apartments and Shops, Homewood Suites Hotel

Main Street Looking East with the new trees and sidewalks (no before photo here either)

The lovely Stony Creek Park (unfortunately, I could not find any before photos of the softball fields)

The White’s Road Rotary Centennial Bandshell built in 2005