Pucker up, Dave Woglom. What you are doing to the residents of South Hellertown Avenue usually requires that you kiss them while you are doing it. You've been caught again. By your own employees! And by a local columnist.
Downtown Quakertown has long suffered from a perceived lack of parking, especially along Antique Row on East Broad Street. But there are plenty of free spaces available - if you know where to look. Qtown owns almost a full acre of parking, just a few feet away, along the railroad tracks, behind the East Broad Street shops and South Hellertown Avenue homes. And there is easy access from both streets. You didn't know? Visiting shoppers don't either. Not surprising. There are no signs.
But neighbors have had to endure flooding, dust in the summer, and potholes in the winter. Despite years of complaints, the rundown lot has never been paved. The drains are totally clogged. That "dust in the summer" covers homeowners' cars, outdoor furniture, and backyard playsets. So you would think that a plan to pave the area would be a no-brainer, right? In fact, it probably should have been done years ago, right? Think again, asphalt-breath.
See, Quakertown doesn't make any money from the sale of antiques on The Row. And it doesn't own the houses on South Hellertown Avenue. Not many votes are involved. So there has been little benefit to council in paving the East Broad Street lot. But last year, the landscape changed. The newly-renovated train station opened. And, until the promised choo-choos actually arrive, and pay rent, it is just a local catering hall. And it desperately needs customers to justify the expensive renovations.
The biggest drawback? You guessed it - lack of parking! Now there was a reason to pave and stripe the EBS land. So, without ever speaking with the neighbors, Woglom commissioned the engineering firm of Cowan Associates to create a plan, which was completed last October 24. The company was instructed to maximize the parking, and laid out sixty-nine spaces. Borough employees say that Woglom then gave instructions to prepare documents for bidding.
Small detail: The only way that residents of South Hellertown can drive into their garages is through that lot. It's been that way for more than 50 years. But Woglom's plan involved blocking their access, merely to add a few more parking spots. Word spread quickly among borough employees, who confronted Woglom with their concerns. They say that his response was "This is borough property, I can do what I want." (His office has more "leaks" than Qtown's infrastructure!)
One employee actually went to a council meeting to explain the mess to them, but Woglom ordered him to sit down. Finally, after months of discussion, Woglom acknowledged that the plan might need modification.
On March 2, more than four months after the layout was created, he sent homeowners a memo, and a copy of the plan, asking them to meet with him March 9, and "discuss the Borough's options for future improvements". He called the drawing an "initial draft", although he had already told his staff to prepare for bidding it .
But that "initial draft", cutting off the garages, scared the bejabbers out of the neighbors, some quite elderly. And for a full week they could do nothing but bejabber. Aside from the utter lack of human decency in distributing a flawed plan that he knew would upset the residents, Woglom's scheme would have been illegal. A long-settled point of law, called "adverse possession", says that if you are allowed to use land that you don't own for 21 uninterrupted years, you then "own" the right to continue that activity forever, until you stop. Access to garages is a perfect example.
If Woglom had gone through with his idea, there is no doubt that Quakertown would be defending a fistful of lawsuits. Wasting your tax dollars. And for what? A few parking spaces?
Finally, at the meeting, Woglom proudly handed out a new plan, which shifted some parking away from the garages. And he expected that the residents should be satisfied. But they started asking questions. So did a certain Free Press columnist, whom residents had asked to be present. And it soon became clear that the neighbors are really going to be far worse off.
That new plan omitted a few details: The lot is actually not going to be paved, as they were lead to believe. "Too expensive". Only freshly stoned, to create more dust. And noise. The additional traffic will create even more dust. And noise. The borough apparently intends to ignore its own ordinances and not replace the drains. And to top things off, since Qtown has never actually dedicated the alleyways, they can not enforce any traffic laws, including speeding. Nice job, Dave!
Woglom actually admitted to the residents that the first parking plan couldn't be used, a problem that could have been avoided if he had met with residents before it was drawn and paid for, not four months later. When a Free Press columnist asked when Woglom learned this, he claimed that he "could not remember". The columnist reminded him that the useless plan was a waste of taxpayer money, and Dave then denied having admitted it. The columnist repeated Woglom's quote. Dave asked, "Are you calling me a liar?" Well, if the shoe fits...
Of the seven council members, only David Zaiser showed up at the meeting. He continues to be the sole elected leader who cares more about the problems of the residents than just making the job as easy as possible.
Ready for the punch line? Woglom ended by declaring this all to be a "win-win" for everyone!!! What is that other phrase for "trust me"?