Royersford Borough Council meeting recap

The Royersford Borough Council met on Tuesday, February 22^nd. The council discussed several road issues and some information regarding the borough’s holiday celebrations, in addition to routine council business.

Three road issues came up during the meeting. Borough residents have complained to the council that the traffic at Main Street and Lewis Road is very congested, and that the traffic backs up as far as the 10th Avenue Wawa. The council said a short traffic study had been completed and that, in cooperation with PennDOT, they will increase the light’s length by five seconds to hopefully allow more cars to proceed through the intersection. The council also agreed to examine the light at Walnut Street and Lewis Road to see if it needs a similar change.

The council also moved to reduce the speed limit along Walnut Street from 35mph to 25mph in order to make it consistent with the speed limits in the rest of the borough.

Lastly, the council approved a resolution to use a Community Development Block Grant for road repairs for a section of Chestnut Street between Fifth Street and Lewis Road, which will be milled, repaved, and have handicap access ramps built into the sidewalk.

The Parks and Recreation committee met recently with the organizers of the yearly Halloween parade. The organizers brought several issues to the committee: the need for parade volunteers to be identified by either matching shirts or vests so they can be easily distinguished from the crowds, whether large groups should be required to pre-register before attending the parade, and a question of whether it is a safety hazard for candy to be thrown into the crowd from vehicles (the other option being that volunteers would hand out candy along the sidewalk). While no decisions were made, the council is aware of the concerns.

Parks and Recreation also announced that the annual Easter Egg Hunt will be on April 16^th at Victory Park.

In other council notes:

• The Public Works Department reported that the total snowfall in Royersford for January 2011 was 36.4 inches.
• The council has had no communication from Rite Aid Corporation regarding their development of the lot at the corner of Main Street and Lewis Road. One councilman said that he hoped there would be progress soon because “that corner just keeps getting worse every day.”
• Councilman Bruce Burns mentioned that he had dealt with a gas leak at his home recently and after being told by PECO that it wouldn’t be fixed until the weather got better, he enlisted the help of Borough Manager Michael Leonard to get the problem corrected. Council encourages residents who may smell gas to both report it to PECO and to contact the borough and let them know so that the borough can follow up before the situation becomes too dangerous.
• Mayor David Urner announced he will be a guest judge at the fundraiser event on Saturday the 26^th.