Sinking Spring revitalization committee: This is going to work

by Steve Reinbrecht

The world needs to know that Sinking Spring is serious about its ambitious redevelopment plan, in the works since 2009, borough officials said Thursday.

Getting that message out – that the $80 million project will succeed and improve traffic, grow the town’s tax base and make life better for all Berks Countians – will help the project get over current hurdles, they said.

At their monthly meeting in Borough Hall on Thursday, members of the BOSS 2020 revitalization committee voted to send a report to Borough Council about the project’s goals and accomplishments.

The project has obvious momentum. It has attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in county and state funds. The first phase resulted in the Spring Market Center on the site of the former Boscov’s store. In the next phase, crews demolished half a dozen buildings on Penn Avenue this fall to make room to straighten the intersection where Cacoosing and Columbia avenues meet Penn Avenue.

Another sign of the project’s traction is that PennDOT has asked consulting engineer Bob Ludgate Sr. to file intersection plans so the state can include them in its ongoing $13.6 million project to resurface Route 422 from Route 724 in Sinking Spring to Wernersville.

But there are obstacles to BOSS 2020.

For one thing, some council members are questioning the cost of the borough’s participation. The borough plans to raise taxes next year.

At the revitalization committee meeting Thursday, Councilman Brian Hoffa said that all the council members support the project but some are concerned that the financial pay-off might not come in time to save the borough from busted budgets.

“The fear is overextending,” Hoffa said. “That’s the fear and the reluctance.”

Ludgate said that increased tax revenue generated by the Spring Market Center has recouped the borough’s investment into that first phase of the revitalization project.

Joe Eways II, on the marketing team, suggested reminding people about the downside of NOT doing the project, such as increasing blight.

Sam Loth, project coordinator, mentioned the vacant bank at 2000 Penn Ave., which he said couldn’t survive in the spot because of poor access.

Now that work is progressing on improvements on Route 222 north of Reading, local transportation officials should realize that this project is the most important road project in Berks and promote the project to PennDOT, Eways said.

Another hurdle is PPL Electric Utilities’ unwavering plans to install a 69,000-volt power line, along with a 100-foot-wide right-of-way, through the middle of the redevelopment.

The company says the line is vital to improve the reliability of the power grid.

Loth says the electrical line would destroy the project, driving off investors.

People are saying PPL isn’t looking hard for an alternate route because it doesn’t think the borough’s plans will succeed.

And of course, there is getting all the money that will be needed to finish the project, which envisions untangling the five-way intersection of Penn and Mull avenues and Route 724.

A borough with only 4,000 residents can’t be expected to shoulder the burden, Loth said.

The committee plans to apply for money from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which helped develop the SteelStacks development in Bethlehem.

That program has funded several Berks projects: $2.5 million for the improvements at a proposed industrial park at the Reading Airport in Bern Township, and $3 million for Paris Healthcare Linen Services and $500,000 for science lab renovations at Reading Area Community College in the city.

The committee also plans to apply for a federal Fast Lane Grant. The project has a good chance of getting on the federal radar because the borough is a bottleneck affecting transportation of essential products like fuel oil, propane and lubricants, all coming through the borough in tanker trucks from the tank and pipeline facilities.

The proposed Mariner East pipeline project will have a spur to the Sinking Spring area that could double petroleum production there and greatly increase truck traffic.

An average of 33,000 vehicles go through Sinking Spring every day, Ludgate said.

Loth proposed meeting with executives at those companies, such as Sunoco, to make them aware how improving traffic flow will benefit their business.