MCFADDEN SPEEDING, FULMER BACKPEDALING, ANNIS MISLEADING
Woldow.com Exclusive, September 11, 2003

Quakertown Police Chief James McFadden may have a real “Blue Monday” on September 22nd. McFadden was stopped for speeding in Upper Saucon, and informed the officer who pulled him over “You can expect a hearing notice”. Sure enough, Big Mac is fighting the ticket, and has a 3:00 hearing in Coopersburg. He will be finished in time to attend the borough council session that night, where Elfriede Werner’s committee investigating his methods will be delivering it’s report. Both events are open to the public.

And speaking of council, Ray Fulmer is president, so you would think that he would be working WITH them. Judge for yourself. Council voted unanimously last week to sign the Bucks County Mutual Aid Agreement, but even before they could find their pens, Fulmer was already finding ways to avoid complying.

All he had to do was keep quiet, sign the agreement, and be on the yellow brick road to heroism. Be part of the council that saved the borough from the police chief. But noooooo. After the meeting, he declared that the agreement is designed only for emergencies, “not for day-to-day police matters; that’s a popular misconception”.

Ohhhhh, sorry Ray, wrong answer. Apparently he just doesn’t get it. Borough residents, Upper Bucks municipalities, and Quakertown police officers want to hear council EMBRACE cooperation, not hear the president suggest how Chief McFadden can continue to AVOID it. And, by the way, right in Article I of the agreement it says “The assistance requested can include all normal response of Fire, Police, and Rescue Squad in addition to those services specifically defined in The Emergency Management Services Code”.

And, you might remember Cliff Annis as one of the people who tried to get Richland to spend $120,000 per acre for his favorite piece of land, when the township was buying nice open space for $7000-$10,000 per acre. He is now a columnist for The Free Press, and never lets the facts stand in the way of a good story. For instance:

His column carries the ironic caption “Did You Know?”. If you rely on Cliff for accurate information, you STILL do not know. Let’s start at the end of the column, where the editor’s note NOW tells us that Cliff is a “certified professional chemist”. Cliff originally claimed that he was an “environmental scientist”, and The Free Press actually printed that title for a few weeks. Then they learned his true profession, which has nothing to do with the environment at all. Did You Know? Now You Do.

If you read his August 14 column, you get the distinct impression that the township received, and ignored, a report from the Heritage Conservancy saying that old farm buildings on the Suelke tract at 309 and Tollgate Road should not be torn down. This just isn’t so, and as a former member of the preservation board, Cliff knows it isn’t true.

The Heritage Conservancy made no recommendations at all. They prepared an inventory of buildings for the township planner to help her issue a report on the legality of developing various site. She took that document, and several others, into consideration when she issued her report to the supervisors on March 12, 2003. The conclusions in the report which Cliff did NOT reveal are:

“Richland Township does not currently have an ordinance in effect that would preclude the property owner from demolishing the existing structure”.

“It is my understanding that the PHMC (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission) did not consider the existing structures to be historically significant based upon their criteria”.

“The site is not currently listed in the National register of Historic Sites”.

“...there is no mechanism to force the property owner to preserve and/or maintain the existing structures. The owner has the right to develop his property in accordance with the current ordinances.”

Even if the supervisors HAD wanted to preserve the buildings, they had no legal way of doing so. We are quick to blame our elected officials for breaking the law, but we can hardly fault them for following it, no matter what Cliff (or any of us) would like personally. And, by the way, the Township Comprehensive Plan, which allows development on that site, was prepared prior to the terms of the current supervisors. It was created by the township planning commission. And who was the chairperson? Jane Steeley, the woman Cliff praises so highly in his September 11 column! Did You Know? Now You Do.

And speaking of that September 11 column, Cliff goes back to two 1997 articles from the Morning Call in an attempt to resurrect his old anti-YMCA argument. He cites quotes from the attorney for the Spring Meadows developer, which said that land where the new YMCA is proposed “would be donated to the township park board”. He also quotes the un-named Morning Call reporter as saying that the 38 acres of land “could one day be a township park”. It is Cliff’s conclusion that using the land for the new Y would be “inappropriate” because of those statements.

Here’s a news flash: Neither attorneys for developers, nor reporters, make decisions for a township. While a developer can OFFER land for any purpose, and a reporter can SUGGEST a use, the township decides how to accept the land. Had Cliff completed his investigation, and read the transfer documents instead of the newspapers, he would have found that the land was finally accepted by Richland for “General Municipal Use”. And, note 15 of the final zoning plan for Spring Meadow Estates says “Open Space shall not be separately sold, nor land be further developed or subdivided, except for Open Space Area A” - the land proposed for the YMCA. Did You Know? Now You Do.