If you only turn to this column to read about what's wrong, stop right now. Put down the paper, pick up the remote, and turn on Jerry Springer. I hear he has a holiday special on how Dasher cheated on Dancer, or vice-versa.
No satire here this week. No behind-the-scenes excitement (unless you count Dasher and Dancer). This is a season of celebration for people throughout the world, so at the risk of losing my entire audience, I am going to dwell only on the positive. Things that the people of Richland Township can be thankful for. Despite the current spate of controversy, times are much better here than they were in, say, 1997...
'Twas the night before Christmas, six years ago,
Not an idea was stirring, we just didn't know.
Developers rolled out their plans with great glee
'Cause building in Richland was known to be free.
And taxpayers paid for most township cost,
Since the concept of applying for grants had been lost.
No police, no manager, no planner, no money,
And Open Space? Hah! The notion was funny.
The tire dump fires were all red-hot news,
But no one could make dumpers pay cleanup crews.
Volunteer citizens were darn hard to find,
With just 22 no one paid them much mind.
But though things were a mess here, it might have been worse
Had not some of our locals stood up to the curse.
They saw what was needed, and hired a few
Good professional people who knew what to do.
On Orloff, on Keller, on Sechriest, on Stu,
On Cerami, Tamburri, and on You-Know-Who.
They wrote township grants, preserved 600 acres,
And made the developers givers, not takers.
Now there's fine-detailed budgets for ten years or so,
And we've even solved Shelly Steam overflow.
A veritable army of volunteers have their say,
The treasury's full, and the tires hauled away.
Traffic will flow better on Route 309
With the new computer-controlled stoplight design.
The Richland police force is ten, and will grow,
While area development's starting to slow.
So keep the faith, Richland, be of good cheer
And hope God continues to bless us next year.
On Christmas Eve, 1997, after 263 years of existence, Richland had never acquired a single grant on its own. Virtually everything was paid for with taxpayer money. Today we have received dozens of grants, including $250,000 for the Shelly Stream, $1.7 million for a state-of-the-art traffic system, $375,000 for police start up, $50,000 for stream environmental work, and about $675,000 in open space monies.
Seventeen shopping centers and large housing subdivisions, totaling over 2000 units, had been built or approved by Christmas, 1997. But the township had received little or nothing from the developers. In one case Richland actually paid $25,000 to developers for road improvements! Since then, we have received, or will receive, in excess of $2.2 million in cash to build park facilities, buy fire equipment, support police services, make traffic improvements, manage water runoff and satisfy a host of other municipal needs. We have also received over 200 acres of recreational ground, at least 2 miles of trails, and funds to build Ronald Reagan Drive, repair the Trumbauersville Bridge, and install several traffic lights.
Six years ago, our combined fund balances were about $1 million, and there were no short-term or long-term budgets. Today there is close to $4.2 million in the treasury, giving Richland an A+ bond rating. Property taxes are 10 mils, with 2 mils of that going to our five fire departments to replace aging equipment.
In late 1997, the township had about 200 acres preserved, and no money set aside for open space. Today we have about 800 acres, and an upcoming $3.6 million bond issue, worth at least 350 more acres. We had no local police protection. Today we have a force of 10, soon to grow to 12. We had no professional township administration. Today there is a manager, and trained full-time staff. And we have added community day, and an annual golf fundraiser, subsidized by private dollars. Richland's newsletter won second place out of 1,500 townships in Pennsylvania.
It wasn't Santa Claus who brought about these changes. They didn't come down the chimney, or just appear in our stockings. A small group of elected and volunteer leaders gave years of their time to Richland, often putting aside personal employment and time off to help make this area a better place to live. They didn't do it for the salary, or the recognition, or the thanks, because there was precious little of each.
If the true spirit of Christmas is in the giving, then Richland has been blessed with year-round Kris Kringles for many years. Let's hope we can remain as the North Pole of Bucks County for at least a little longer.