The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.
Perkasie Borough has a collection box conveniently located in the lobby of the police station at 9th and Pine Street.
As a result of a Right to Know (RTK) request, a borough resident has obtained emails and a copy of the rental contract for Menlo Pool for the 8/11/13 incident- after the borough RTK officer Donna Benner invoked the 30 day extension on August 13 without giving reason and anticipated date and cost of the records as required under state law.
Obtaining information from the borough is like pulling teeth. Why the dishonesty? Why were RED FLAGS ignored?
The first email dated Thursday August 8 at 12:32pm is from assistant manager Andrea Coaxum to the interim parks and recreation director Carolyn Hanel, also copied are borough manager Dan Olpere and Interim Police Chief Steven Hillias.
This email contradicts earlier statements by borough officials that they were initially aware of only around 100 party patrons as it clearly references"several hundred people"and also admits "concerns over the size of the party" and encourages Ms Hanel to be "very clear to the man that no alcohol will be permitted". According to published reports by NBC news"Borough officials insisted the promoter told them only 100 people would be coming to the pool for a small birthday party" and“The renter was told three times that he couldn’t bring alcohol in and he knew that,” said Perkasie Borough manager Dan Olpere.
It also encouragesnotification of the police (who are copied on this email and have previously claimed no knowledge of the event until they were called that night) and a warning "The pool staff should already know to call 911 if things start to get out of hand." Also mentioned is a $1,000 donation which was offered by the renter but never accepted by borough officials. Coaxum gives her approval of the rental.
The next email is from the manager Olpere to the assistant manager Coaxum and Hanel, again the police are copied. To his credit he states that he would not want to inconvenience pool members by rescheduling the movie night just to "accomodate hundreds of non-members that we will never see again" and tacitly gives his approval for the rental. Again the $1,000 donation is mentioned.
The next email is from Hanel to Coaxum and CC to Olpere and Hillias. It mentions extending the party to midnight and again the $1,000 donation is mentioned and closes with "Stay tuned, more to come." No further emails were received but the packet did note that there were other documents related to the RTK request that were not disclosed because they could be related to a criminal investigation.
The next email timestamped 1:38pm (just an hour after the first emails on the subject) is from Hanel to the Menlo Pool manager advising them of the decision to rent the pool and that the organizer would likely be stopping to pay that day.
The next document is the actual executed rental agreement, the name of the staff member who executed it has been redacted by us to protect their identity because they did not make a decision to rent the pool and are simply acting as an agent of borough officials.
This document reveals the Philadelphia address of the renter Antwan Garfield, and also several policies that were violated by borough officials including
all parties are held to a 3 hour limit
a guest list must be submitted to the Aquatics Director 2 weeks prior to the party to ensure the correct patron to guard ratio is met
Full payment of rental fees must be paid two weeks prior to event
Here is the memo from Manager Olpere to council with his version of the events. Of interest is where he reports that the pool manager was told that some guests would be "some people had vouchers from a cancelled event and that they would be admitted with those." Yet another RED FLAG that was ignored putting our community and pool staff at risk
Residents spoke with Councilmembers Ryder and Stottlar about a number of issues including the car show, Menlo Pool incident, Fire department, road paving.
Notably absent was Councilman Steve Pizzollo, who had a verbal exchange with a resident at last weeks public meeting and told her "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
A 42 year Perkasie resident is circulating a petition calling for resignations of top Borough officials for "failure of leadership. He is not affiliated with Perkasie First but we are sharing this to encourage residents to learn about the issues in Perkasie and get involved.
You can view the petition and electronically sign it at the following link: http://bit.ly/17TH48v
Well it appears the local newspaper the News Herald forgot to
report all the important information from the borough council meeting of Sept 3
2013. There were a lot of new faces and some from the previous meeting who were
back expecting accountability from this council for the Menlo pool fiasco, in fact
public comment lasted a full hour and even caused the VP Purcell to shift the
meeting agenda to deal with the questions and call the Interim Police Chief
forward to address concerns.
A Sellersville
resident came forward to display her disgust that the borough was lying and
trying to play down the situation especially the shots fire on the night of the
pool party. She was the resident whose house the shots were fired outside of.
She also notes that shots were apparently fired over by south school which was
a separate location.
Comments were also echoed by new attendees that someone was
trying to down play the event and that was accompanied by more calls of council
leadership to resign and do the right thing for the community so we can get
some true leadership on council. There were also more calls for the borough
manager to be held accountable and fired.
Once again all these calls fell on deaf ears as they always
do further proving to the residents the council is up there for the wrong
reasons. They are not there for the town and the townspeople. They are there
for power and status nothing more. In fact Councilman Steve Pizzollo interrupted
one resident as she spoke and continued heckling audience members. Another
violation of council policy on public comment.
The new pool rental procedures were discussed and they sound
like they will prevent episodes like the pool party from happening again by why
do we always have to wait for something to happen and the public to be affected
before council does anything? The new rules and regulations are fine and well
but it was the current rules being broken by management that allowed for the
pool party to happen and our town to be trashed and taken advantage of.
How do we know these new rules won’t be broken for profit? When
will someone be held accountable?
Shots were fired in our community! People’s personal space
and properties were violated! Our youth were left to deal with this issue while
our $115,000 a yr “manager” was at home in the next county over enjoying his
peace and quiet without the violation of his property. The only thing this
council is showing is their arrogance by not listening to the community.
Email
your council members. Demand they do the right thing!
Otherwise the community
is going to continue to spiral downward.
Also discussed was spending $20,000 for a study on our electric rates regarding the tiered billing that the borough currently uses. Hiring expensive consultants is another hallmark of Manager Dan Olpere to avoid being held personally accountable for decisions.
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
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!
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
“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.
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.
"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."
"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."
"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.
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