Day: February 4, 2015

5th Springfield High Town Hall Draws 300

About 300 persons sprawled throughout the Springfield High School (Pa.) auditorium for tonight’s (Feb. 4) fifth meeting  concerning the fate of the school. Springfield High School 5th Springfield High Town Hall Draws 300

Being debated are four expensive options ranging from building a new school near Leamy Avenue, estimated cost $136.4 million; renovating the existing 60-something-year-old structure on Leamy Avenue, estimated cost $133.8 million; building a new school near Saxer Avenue, estimated cost, $131.05 million and doing basic maintenance on the existing structure $100.39 million.

Judging by the questions and applause, the crowd seemed evenly split between the Saxer Avenue option and the bare minimum (or less) one with maybe a slight skewing towards the latter.

Architect and volunteer Gary Lockman said the simple maintenance cost was so high because the school’s HVAC and electrical systems were at the end of their life cycle. He said it would cost $20 million just to upgrade those systems. He further said the asbestos roof deck needs to be replaced. He noted that this type of roof deck is rather rare significantly hiking the cost of its removal. He said the district investigated cheaper solutions without success and that the asbestos was impossible to encapsulate.

He also said it made no economic sense to renovate the building. Unlike the simple maintenance plan, the renovation plan would include upgrades rather than mere replacements.

Another factor in the expense was the labor cost in southeastern Pennsylvania. A slide was shown illustrating that labor costs were 47 percent less in Berwick and 29 percent less in Pittsburgh.

Don Mooney, the district’s executive director of operations,  said the project would be financed with new 20 to 25 year amortization bonds that would wrap around existing bonds scheduled to be paid off in 2025.

He said the owner of a home assessed at the district’s median of $146,050 would pay $250 a year for the simple maintenance plan when the full cost kicks in nine years after the project starts and $399 per year for the Saxer Avenue plan.

One women in the question segment, however, asked if the school district could guarantee that the tax bite would not be greater than what they were claiming, and the district’s representatives were unable to do so.

School Director Douglas E. Carney, who is the driving force behind the town halls, said the school board has been lobbying legislators to repeal the state prevailing wage law, which artificially inflates costs of projects. He said, however, he didn’t think getting rid of it would make much difference in the Springfield High School project due to the project’s scope

For the slide show displayed at the 5th Springfield High Town Hall go here.

5th Springfield High Town Hall Draws 300

300 Attend 5th Springfield High Town Hall

5th Springfield High Town Hall was Feb. 4, 2015

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 2-4-15

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 2-4-15

Talk about a civilized place to live. Monaco has more hired employees read to make music than to fight. At least in 1986. There were 82 men in the military and 85 musicians in the principality’s orchestra.

Springfield 1922 Advertisement

The below advertisement appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1922 for building sites in Springfield, Delaware County, Pa.

It called the town “The Leading Suburb and noted it was just 12 minutes and one fare from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal.

It boasted that it has been developed with “substantial stone highways and cement sidewalks winding through the rolling hills for over a mile along the westerly side of the Media Short LIne.”

It described it as a “fast-growing development” and called attention to the three stone passenger stations on the trolley line.

The developer, A. Merritt Taylor of the Springfield Real Estate Co., sold building lots of between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet that contained “ample space for fruit trees and flowers”.

He noted that there were “a few especially desirable hill-top locations of exceptional size and commanding extended views”.

He also noted that he had “two well-designed old farm houses in poor repair which can be converted into unusually attractive homes at moderate cost”. The farm houses were surrounded by old shade and fruit trees.

The properties started at $1,500 and he had an agent daily opposite Springfield (presumably Springfield Road) station.

Hat tip FullHistory.com

Springfield 1922 Advertisment

Springfield 1922 Advertisement

Unemployment Big Lie Says Gallup

Unemployment Big Lie Says Gallup
The Obama Administration’s 5.6 percent unemployment rate is a big lie says Gallup

Jim Clifton, the chairman and CED of the prestigious Gallup polling firm is calling the 5.6 percent unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Department of Labor “The Big Lie.”

Clifton notes that the 30 million Americans either out of work or severely underemployed are not counted. He pointed out that those who have stopped looking for work are not counted as unemployed while those who work one hour a week and are paid at least $20 are.

Further he noted that those working part time but seeking full-time work are not reflected in the numbers.

“There’s no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie,” Clifton said.

Clifton said that Gallu  defines a good job as at least 30 hours per week for an organization the provides a regular paycheck and that only 44 percent of of the adult population has one.