NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Meeting Thursday morning during one of the coldest spells Montgomery County has seen in decades, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a temporary homeless facility at the Days Inn Hotel on High Street in Pottstown.
The facility will provide 62 rooms to locals who are living outdoors, mostly on Norfolk Southern Railroad property.
Commission Chair Neil Makhija said, "Since the beginning of the new year, temperatures have been dropping below freezing, increasing the need for services that help protect individuals from harm. We are taking a vote later in this meeting to start emergency hoteling services in Pottstown for the homeless to provide them a warm, safe place to stay while the advocates work on providing long-term solutions."
"Just last month, we announced a new shelter in Lansdale," Makhija noted. "It's truly been a united effort across the county for this project."
He added that this shows that the county can make a difference on a seemingly intractable issue like homelessness.
Commission Vice Chair Jamila Winder commented, "We will be voting on the authorization of a lease for up to 62 rooms at the Days Inn in Pottstown. These rooms provide a safe warm space for residents experiencing homelessness to seek shelter, starting with those on the property of Norfolk Southern and the Borough of Pottstown. This project demonstrates the seriousness which this county is taking in tackling housing insecurity."
"Providing housing for our most vulnerable residents has and will continue to be a priority," Winder added. "And we're proud to announce the new year-round partnership in Lansdale. And now we can bring these resources to the people of Pottstown. Depending on zoning approval, we also hope to provide in Pottstown 24/7 services."
Winder went on to say that Pottstown has one of the county's highest percentages of unsheltered people, and that the new units have the capacity to reduce the homeless by up to 75%.
Winder invited Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller to comment. He said, "We're really happy that this partnership could come in this time of need for the borough. We have a shelter with 45 beds, but we needed someone to step up and fill the gap."
Keller went on to thank the county commissioners and staff for stepping up.
"It was refreshing to see how fast this solution came up," he said. "It was very thorough, but it was very rapid. It was clearly all-hands-on-deck, and that's something you don’t often see at the local level."
Asked to comment, Commissioner Thomas DiBello joked, "Obviously, you've saved the best for last."
Taking a more serious tone, DiBello said, "This is huge. Pottstown has been dealing with the homeless issue for many years, but this time we had private investment that got the ball rolling."
He went on to say that what is being done in Pottstown goes beyond just dealing with homelessness; it's also providing wrap-around services that can address other needs, whatever that may be, such as economic, mental, addiction or multiple other reasons that someone becomes homeless.
"They are not people that we should look down on," DiBello stressed. "They are people who need help, and we should help them through these tough times, and as commissioners, we've been working hard to lift them up."
He also said that the commissioners are looking to open another center in 2025 at an unnamed location.
"If we can get 90% of the homeless in these shelters, I feel that we commissioners can be proud of that success," DiBello said. "This was a tremendous effort, and it really was a team effort."
In other news, county Planning Manager Anne Leavitt-Gruberger presented a status report on the county's 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted 10 years ago.
She outlined a number of projects that should be implemented in 2025, including promoting ongoing Health and Human Services projects to promote family health, vaccinations, education and literacy; continued construction on the Ridge Pike Improvement Project; and the county's bridge reconstruction program.
To achieve the comprehensive plan's goal of sustainable places, some projects in 2025 that will be implemented include the Perkiomen Creek flood reduction study; beginning the county's stormwater planning upgrade; continuing to support farmers through educational events and the farmland preservation program; and continuing the implementation of the "Homes for All" plan to support the housing needs of the county's residents.
To achieve the goal of a vibrant economy, Leavitt-Gruberger pointed out a number of 2025 projects to be implemented, including improving the transportation infrastructure by starting construction of an exit ramp at the Fort Washington Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to create direct access onto Commerce Drive and continuing to collaborate on the passenger rail extension to Pottstown and Reading.
She also stressed the importance of partnering with the Valley Forge Convention and Tourism Bureau to promote the county's regional assets and grow the county's share of the state tourism business.
By a 2-1 vote, with Commissioner DiBello opposed, the commissioners appointed Michael Thevar and Ayo Patterson to the Montgomery County Community College Board of Trustees. DiBello stated that he opposed the nominations because he had only received the nominations the previous day and did not have time to study the nominees' qualifications.
Also, the commissioners awarded a contract for Bridge Rehabilitation to AECOM Technical Services Inc., Philadelphia, in the amount of $1,038,073.53.
The contract provides for the selected consultant to complete preliminary engineering, final design, construction services and right-of-way acquisition services for the rehabilitation or replacement of Montgomery County Bridge No. 232.
The bridge carries Fruitville Road Bridge over Perkiomen Creek in Upper Hanover Township.