Menlo Pool incident fallout continues

Video of council members responding at 8/19/13 council meeting, sorry for the poor quality the accoustics are terrible- you will need to turn up the volume.

In the days after the most recent Perkasie Borough meeting where pool staff, residents, and the police expressed their anger and frustration about the pool party incident, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Borough Officials are more concerned with damage control than accountability:

Borough Manager Dan Olpere abruptly notified council the day after the meeting (Tuesday August 20) that he would be away for personal time starting the following day for a week.

One of the members of Perkasie First submitted a Right to Know request for public record of the audio recording of the August 19th council meeting in the days following the meeting.  The $20 fee was paid and a CD was received that was blank.  Upon contacting the borough, a new CD was issued that had only 42 minutes of the meeting and was cut off in the second public forum.  When an inquiry was made for the complete record the email reply from the Borough came back: "I checked with our IT person who made the CD. The digital recorder only recorded the first 42 minutes of the meeting. There must have been a malfunction. Sorry."

To be clear- despite published reports from the borough and police- at least one employee testified in the second public forum that youth pool employees found at least one USED NEEDLE on pool grounds the next day in addition to the numerous drug paraphernalia   In fact a resident questioned the Borough on whether OSHA regulations were followed in having employees clean up this medical waste despite not having proper training and safety equipment. 

Will residents demand accountability from the Borough for putting the safety of the pool employees, residents, and police in jeopardy?  

Please attend the next Borough Council meeting where according to Council Vice President Jim Purcell "all the work gets done" on Tuesday September 3rd at 7:00 pm at Borough Hall located at 7th and Chestnut Streets.

Meanwhile, neighboring West Rockhill Twp learns from Perkasie Borough mistakes...  http://montgomerynews.com/articles/2013/08/28/perkasie_news_herald/news/doc521d81bba2549328253727.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Perkasie Borough Meeting 8/19/13 Aftermath of Near-Riot at Pool

Video and audio of meeting to come!  Subscribe to blog for updates!

Click here for original post with party photos

8/21/13 UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST
Thanks to the Residents who are posting flyers around town with this blog, these flyers are not affiliated with Perkasie First but the fact they are showing up proves that residents are awakening to the problem with management of this town!

Will concerned residents continue the pressure on Council to take action at the next meeting?  Plan to attend the next Borough meeting on Tuesday, September 3rd at 7pm 

and demand action from Council Leadership

What was learned about the events surrounding the 8/11/13 near riot at Menlo Aquatics Center at the Borough Council meeting last night:

• Despite red flags, police were not made aware of the party until they were called for a disturbance.
• Pool staff did not feel safe at the event, and witnessed drug and alcohol use and other disturbing sights.
• Pool staff were forced to clean up the pool the next day, handling drug needles and combing through the grass on their hands and knees.  Comment from one lifeguards parent: "Too bad the pool employees were told to throw away all the evidence including driver's licenses."
• The pool was never tested for fecal coliform levels the next day despite reports that the pool was so murky that you couldn't even see the bottom.  It was simply shocked with extra chlorine and reopened after the teenage pool staff swept the grounds.
• Once again the District Attorney's office is involved with Perkasie Borough, thanks council!

Video from the Party Here!

The manager of the Chartwell Swim Club in Marlton NJ where the club-style party was supposed to be held knew from her interactions with the promoter that something was not right- did her due diligence and found out with a simple internet search about the real intent of the party and was able to cancel it and call police to protect their facility.

"It all seemed sketchy to me, so it really wasn't a difficult thing because the story changed, like three or four times, every time we talked to them," said Michelle Adams of Chartwell Swim Club of Marlton, N.J. Adams said it only took minutes on Google to discover the party was a paid, nightclub-style event. 
Read more from WFMZ.com at: http://www.wfmz.com/news/Perkasie-pool-party-causes-outrage/-/121458/21535958/-/9jsdqa/-/index.html

Perkasie News Herald Coverage

“Two officers ran from the front entrance and saw six to eight pool guests standing on the hood, roof and trunk lid of a marked police car from an assisting jurisdiction. The offenders jumped off the car and scattered, fleeing north on Third Street in different directions,” Hillias said.

From Intelligencer:

Kate Lane, a neighbor of the pool, said the night was very scary. “I was scared, and I thank God for the police that were in front of my house,” she said.

Menlo lifeguard Phil Allebach, who was on duty the night of the party, said he was pushed into the pool several times and saw patrons drinking liquor and smoking marijuana. Many patrons were being rude and acting unsafely around the pool, doing flips and diving into shallow water, he said. Allebach and other lifeguards had to perform multiple rescues.
“As the night went on, the party became total chaos,” he said.

At Monday night’s council meeting, someone had posted large, orange signs inside the meeting room, with the messages “Yet another cover-up by borough officials!” and “Aigeldinger — short on leadership,” referring to council president Matt Aigeldinger. Other residents called for Perkasie leadership to resign, to heavy applause. 

Channel 10 News Coverage:

"Police say the party attendees climbed on police cars and pushed lifeguards into the pool. Two dozen officers from neighboring towns were called in to help."

 Philadelphia Inquirer Coverage:

"The man on the phone said he was desperate. He needed to rent a swimming pool for his younger brother's birthday party. A New Jersey swim club had canceled because of a sewage problem. He was willing to pay extra - even make a donation.The public pool in Perkasie, a small borough in upper Bucks County, declined his offer for more money. But it booked the private party for Aug. 11, expecting about 100 people."

Allentown Morning Call Story

"As the night went on," Menlo lifeguard Phil Allebach said, "the party became total chaos."
Six to eight partyers were stomping on the hood, roof and trunk of an unmarked police car, while neighbors worried that the wildness would spill into their yards.
"I was scared," said Kate Lane, a neighbor of the pool. "I thank God for the police that were in front of my house."

Police and pool staff are to be commended for their actions that night.  They were put in danger by inept leadership in the Borough.  The same leadership that promises "changes to policy" so this will never happen again and empty platitudes from the rest of council, with Councilperson Florence Frie even being critical of people raising concerns.  Councilman Stottlar explained he would like to be part of a proactive council as opposed to a reactive one and offered a heartfelt apology.

Call or email them directly and demand answers as to why the kids who work at the pool, the police, and the residents were put in danger.  DO NOT CALL THE POOL, the staff there are not to blame.

Come to the next meeting on Tuesday September 3rd at 7pm, council promised to take action and the residents must hold them to this promise! Mark you calendars now!

Manager  Dan Olpere  215-257-5065

Mayor | John Hollenbach -- 2013 | (215) 257-7617
Council President, Ward 1 | Matthew Aigeldinger -- (240) 364-4788
Council Vice President, Ward 2 | James E. Purcell -- (215) 257-5065
Council, Ward 1 | Steven F. Pizzollo --  (215) 258-5665 
Council, Ward 1 | Stephen G. Algeo --  (215) 257-8542
Council, Ward 2 | Florence A. Frei -- (215) 257-7054
Council, Ward 2 | Justin Stottlar -- (215) 257-5065
Council, Ward 3 | Barbara J. Krantz -- (215) 453-2183
Council, Ward 3 | Suzanne Kravitz -- (215) 258-0196
Council, Ward 3 | James Ryder -- (215) 896-9069

Video of Manager Dan Olpere being interviewed by news cameras, sorry for the poor sound quality the acoustics are terrible in the room   

Emails received by a councilman from borough residents:

this is .......... from S third St we met last year you helped me with some issues here, I was at the Borough Meeting tonight the first in many years, I don't know how you do it, I couldn't . to sit there and listen to the praise and apologies from most our your fellow council members, I think you were the only one who spoke the truth reactive not proactive. Not one of them had the guts to say someone should be held accountable for what they did. I am sure some low level person will take the fall but they as the borough paid employees those in management should be held accountable, the fellow to your left said everyone makes mistakes in their job and he is correct but make enough of them or make one big enough you get fired or at least disciplined. again no accountability. To put those police and the Kids from the pool in harms way like that those apologies were not enough those responsible should do it in person to their faces. THEY ALLOWED THEIR OWN RULES TO BE BROKEN! Shame on them it came back to bite them, In work today our cleaner who used to clean for the borough and lived here brought up the news that was in his local paper today.
another black eye for Perkasie, I took my house off the market earlier this year and we decided to stay here, not sure if that was a mistake I will regret. One other point tonight about the new business coming to Perkasie I know you heard it and I do understand the importance of new business , but to give them a break on their electric bill that was like a knife in my back!

Thanks for your time,another black eye for Perkasie, I took my house off the market earlier this year and we decided to stay here, not sure if that was a mistake I will regret. One other point tonight about the new business coming to Perkasie I know you heard it and I do understand the importance of new business , but to give them a break on their electric bill that was like a knife in my back! 
Thanks for your time,

Another Email:

I heard from my wife that the pool is closed today and they have a team in there cleaning the place. (A week late don’t you think).


My wife went to the borough hall and demanded a refund for the rest of the season (when asked why for obvious reasons the borough secretary denied the Splah N First Class event and said that it was all “here say.” I think a copy of the police report from last nights meeting needs to be distributed to ALL Perkasie borough employees and they should nock-off their attitudes at this time, and be reminded who they are working for) and reiterated to the snippy woman at the desk that we will not be renewing our membership until Dan Olpere is gone. 


Hopefully this occurs sooner than later. 

Yet Another Email to Council: 

Mr. Pizzollo: This is NOT a "mistake" as you alleged on Monday night. A mistake is made in honesty, deception is made by negligence  lack of accountability, and irresponsible actions. There was lack of accountability in three stages that day solely by Dan Olpere. The first, was not researching WHO was renting the facility. The second was not responding when finding out what the party was really about, and hanging the lifeguards and police, as well as every resident in this town out to fend for themselves, while he cozied up in his Montgomery County home. The facility in New Jersey called the borough three times, no response - irresponsible lack of accountability. The third was not reporting to the borough to 'help' when finding out what was happening. The fourth was putting the public works staff, and lifeguards, as well as young children and pool patrons at risk during and after the cover up cleanup effort. Was the bucks county health department contacted to test the pool water? Were there drug dogs brought in so a toddler doesn't put "sugar" in their mouth? Was the place searched with metal detectors to ensure that all of the used needles had been found? - another failure on Dan's shoulders and a grave lack of accountability.

Dan Olpere failed miserably in his attempts to do his job, he failed the public, the lifeguards, and the police. It is INCONCEIVABLE how this so called Council can sit there, stone faced and defend the actions (or lack thereof) of Dan the day, especially after hearing from the Police and lifeguards at the meeting on Monday night.

The fact that they defend this man, puts each and every one of them who defended him in the same boat of deception. They want this story to go away, they will brush it under the rug, and push it aside. This is an election year. I would urge everyone in Perkasie, who has a shred of concern regarding this situation, weather its for your kids sake, your neighbors, friends, and family, or your own, to attend these meetings, and watch as they harbor this man from criticism and push the blame to a "mistake." Remember this in November, vote each and every one of these deceptive, dishonest members out of public office for the good of the town.
Dan Olpere failed miserably in his attempts to do his job, he failed the public, the lifeguards, and the police. It is INCONCEIVABLE how this so called Council can sit there, stone faced and defend the actions (or lack thereof) of Dan the day, especially after hearing from the Police and lifeguards at the meeting on Monday night.
The fact that they defend this man, puts each and every one of them who defended him in the same boat of deception. They want this story to go away, they will brush it under the rug, and push it aside. This is an election year. I would urge everyone in Perkasie, who has a shred of concern regarding this situation, weather its for your kids sake, your neighbors, friends, and family, or your own, to attend these meetings, and watch as they harbor this man from criticism and push the blame to a "mistake." Remember this in November, vote each and every one of these deceptive, dishonest members out of public office for the good of the town.

Menlo Pool Fiasco- Near Riot

8/18/13 UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF POST!
over 30,000 hits on this article, thanks for sharing!

Click Here for updated post after 8/19/13 Borough Council Meeting

Sunday evening around 10pm on Aug 12 2013 police were called to Menlo Pool for a disturbance.  Early reports are that between 600-1,000 people were present for a "splash party" that paid $40 per person for tickets.  There were reports of borough employees being verbally and physically harassed.  Despite this near riot there were no arrests made by borough police who had apparently called for backup from neighboring towns due to the number of people present.

Residents on nearby streets reported trash thrown all over and people loudly using racial slurs on the streets, cars racing through town.

Here is the invite that was apparently widely circulated on Twitter in the weeks before:

Here is a photo posted on instagram apparently from a party attendee:

Here are a few questions for Borough management:

Why was the pool rented out for a party on Sunday night in direct conflict with what is stated on the borough website that there will be no private parties on Sundays?

Why did it take from 8pm until almost 10pm for employees to place a call to the police?  The party was falsely presented to the borough as a private birthday party for 100 people.  When more than that showed up and were accepting tickets to the event it should have been brought to the attention of authorities.

Why was not one single person arrested for disorderly conduct, littering, creating a disturbance, etc?  Attendess reportedly came from as far away as Philadelphia, now that 600 plus people know exactly where Perkasie is and that our police were not prepared to handle this, does this invite a future crime spree into our town?    Out of 600 people there has to be some criminal element.

Does the borough plan to press civil or criminal charges against the organizers?

If you have any additional information please share it in the comments below.  Residents are encouraged to come to borough hall and demand answers from council and our borough manager on Monday August 19th at 7pm in Boro Hall- 7th and Chestnut Streets.

8/14/13 UPDATE

Contrary to statements by borough officials in news reports, residents report seeing many empty liquor bottles and trash including used women's hygiene pad around the vicinity of pool  Resident also reports hearing SHOTS FIRED in park towards Sellersville and finding empty shell casings.  Follow this blog for more updates.

From published news reports:

“It was way out of control,” Olpere said. “It was not a birthday party. … It was just a big lie.”

"What went wrong was that this was a very disrespectful, unruly crowd.”

There was also a lot of litter left around the pool property, red plastic cups and empty bottles that had to be cleaned up, according to Matt Aigeldinger, council president.

Yet no arrests?

Call the party promoter Ryane Elliott in the Mt Airy section of Philadelphia at 267-252-6597 and ask him why you weren't invited to the "Splash n First Class"

Further Update: according to a source within the Bucks Co Emergency management team the police were called early in the evening for a reported assualt on a pool employee.  3 borough police officers were apparently overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and there were people using drugs right in the open and jumping on the police cars.  Backup was called and responded from neighboring towns as far away as Solebury.  There was also a report of SHOTS FIRED and .22 caliber shells casings were found. 

News Articles

http://montgomerynews.com/articles/2013/08/15/perkasie_news_herald/news/doc520d67a1e9d16380922367.txt?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

All Photos found on social media so far:

NEW REVELATIONS keep coming out.  Residents report drugs including heroin found in trashcans the next day, pool staff literally combing the grass to remove traces of the party.  Police officer witnessed being pushed in the pool, yet despite this ZERO ARRESTS.


More history on the mis-management of Menlo Aquatics Center:

http://perkasiefirst.blogspot.com/2012/07/should-council-check-up-on-menlo-pool.html

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/pennridge/near-drowning-sparks-concerns-at-menlo-pool/article_08e4ffca-b18f-525c-931b-6869dc3134a9.html

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/pennridge/perkasie-considers-pool-safety-measures/article_cfee895c-ce99-59d8-ab84-19b1ac72b453.html

This pool should be the crowning jewel of Perkasie, yet it is continuously being mis-managed.  Just yesterday the following photo was snapped by a pool patron in the mens shower room

8/18/13 UPDATES

Warning Signs- all ignored!!!

• Last minute booking of "birthday party" with 100+ guests
• Borough became aware on Sunday that 300+ attendees were expected, despite this the borough manager Dan Olpere was at home with his feet kicked up and the police were never even notified of a large party on short notice.
• Because of this lack of leadership, no one was present at the pool who was able to recognize the RED FLAGS that popped up when the party organizer showed up:
• 15 physically intimidating security guards dressed all in black
• party organizer with cash box and wristbands
• organizer accepting pre-printed tickets and taking cash at the door

By the time trouble was readily apparent (pool staff assaulted and noise complaints from neighbors) the crowd was too large for Borough Police to handle.  Reinforcements were called in from multiple surrounding municipalities and police and pool staff are to be commended for their restraint in avoiding a RIOT from breaking out.

There were SHOTS FIRED from nearby and bullet casings were recovered at South high school.

CORRECTION:  Police officer was not pushed in the pool, evidently was a private security guard.

Perkasie Manager Dan Olpere's lack of oversight put the pool staff, the police, and the community in danger.

Pool neighbors, parents of pool staff, and concerned residents should attend the Borough Meeting tomorrow evening Monday August 19th 7:00pm at Borough Hall located at 7th and Chestnut Streets.  There are public forums at the beginning and end of the meeting where opinions may be expressed.  

At the end of the day the TRUTH needs to be heard and ACTION taken to prevent another near tragedy.   WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Perkasie First cleans up Borough eyesore

Several volunteers spent time cleaning up the curbs along 7th Street at the Delbar and Gross Chicken properties tonight.  This is the entrance to the boro center where the Under the Stars car show will have their entrance this coming Saturday.  These property owners should be ashamed for their lack of maintenance, and the borough management was absent from their responsibility as well.  Fortunately there are concerned residents that take pride in their town and whom stepped forward.

Photo from before:

Concerned members of Perkasie First weedeating and cleaning up:

After Photo: