Friday, April 26, 2013
Michael Galla has taken the job of assistant town manager in Plymouth, Mass.
Horsham is on the lookout for a new director of administration. Michael Galla, who oversees daily operations of Horsham Township departments in his current role, has accepted a job as assistant town manager of Plymouth, Mass. Galla will work in Horsham through May 24, according to Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker. From there, Galla, who holds a Masters Degree in government and political affairs from Villanova University, will begin his duties in Massachusetts on May 28. He is expected to be replaced, according to Walker.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A Horsham Township resident calls on the governing body to put forth an ordinance to limit remotely piloted aircraft.
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Thursday, April 11
By Andrew Starr Today I rise in public opposition to the installation of a drone command center at the Horsham Air Guard Station. Although it is a matter that could be deemed out of our control, we all need to be aware of what is happening in our own backyard and the implications. The news of the command center has brought about strong opinions from many residents for and against. Those who welcome the command center are happy to see the needed jobs it will create. Those that oppose the command center fear for their privacy and ultimately their liberty. Drones are now the weapon of choice in the expanding an egregious war on terror. According to Senator Lindsey Graham, drones have killed over 4,700 people including women and children, …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Colleen Troxel was sworn in Wednesday as Horsham's first-ever police administrator.
Colleen Troxel is one of the elite. Troxel, a Horsham Township police officer since 1999, made history Wednesday night when she was sworn in as the first female police administrator in the township’s history. “To rise up through the ranks is important,” said Troxel, who was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. Raised by her father, Larry Gerrard, a now-retired Philadelphia homicide cop, Troxel said she followed in his and her older brother’s law enforcement footsteps. Both were in attendance at the Horsham Township Council meeting Wednesday to congratulate Troxel in her history-making event. “I’m thrilled,” Gerrard told Patch. “She’s good at what she does.” Other police and township officials would agree. In April 2011, Troxel was one of…
Monday, March 18, 2013
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors awarded Horsham Township third place in the annual reports category as part of its 45th annual contest.
Would you like to keep tabs on how your local taxes are spent, how much the Horsham Township Library is costing you, annual road and traffic improvements and which laws were adopted the previous year? All that and more is outlined in Horsham Township's annual report. The first 21-page year-in-review of sorts was compiled for 2011. Highlighting everything from local elected officials and police to which stormwater management projects the township carried, out the visually compelling report most recently received recognition from the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. townships for communication efforts in multiple categories, including annual reports, social media, Web sites, TV programming, newsletters and other …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The former Simmons Elementary School has been vacant since 2011. Hatboro-Horsham School District hopes to sell the 10.5-acre property.
The Hatboro-Horsham School District is looking to sell one of its unused schools and adjacent ground. The district decided to "test the market" in trying to sell the former Limekiln Simmons School, which is situated on Limekiln Pike in Horsham Township, according to Bob Reichert, the district's director of business affairs. The building had been used to house the district's special education offices and pre-school until 2011 when the roof started leaking. Now, Reichert said he will be working with a real estate office to gather relevant property information, and, eventually set a "value" for the 10.5-acre parcel. An asking price has not yet been set, Reichert said. Reichert said real estate agents would prepare a marketing plan and …
Friday, March 1, 2013
Owners of The Elements Horsham hope to transform the Horsham Road mixed-use center into a 'food destination.'
A new American restaurant with 'higher end fare' is planned for a parcel still under construction at The Elements Horsham, according to the property owner. An announcement on which restaurant, specifically, will fill one of two buildings where the dilapidated 5 Star Gardens once stood could come by summer, Mark Korman, Korman Communities' commercial division president told Patch. Korman said he has letters of intent for the site, but said it was too soon to disclose the potential tenant as the lease had not been finalized yet. "We've been really picky," Korman said, adding that his company has "passed on a few" possible eateries. "There are plenty of hoagie places and pizza places," he said. The American restaurant that's planned, while…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Horsham property owners around the former Willow Grove air base will have fewer development constraints with the removal of the township's Airport Crash and Noise Overlay District.
After two stalled attempts, the Horsham Township Council on Wednesday night removed one of the last semblances that an airport had been operational in town. A public hearing in a more-crowded-than-usual meeting room drew no comments as the governing body voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance eliminating the so-called ACNOD, or Airport Crash and Noise Overlay District and to remove development restrictions currently in place. Councilwoman Deborah Tustin was absent Wednesday. The ordinance adoption follows the September 2011 closure of Willow Grove air base and its runway Keith Valley Road goes through what is now the former ACNOD. Commonwealth National Country Club, Deep Meadow Park, Samuel Carpenter Park, Valley View Estates and Lakeside…
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The Department of Environmental Protection has ordered that Horsham residents with contaminated wells permanently close them and move to public water use.
By year's end, 40 Horsham Township homeowners whose wells have tested positive for contaminants that taint drinking water will be hooked to public water, officials said. The Horsham Township Council on Wednesday put forth several actions that would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to foot the bill for the $850,000 water line installation and the "mandatory hookup" of residents in the area of Limekiln Pike and Grindleton Lane and Davis Grove Road near Park Road. Testing of wells in this section of Horsham Township began in June 2011. Since then, DEP officials have said levels of perchloroethylene or PCE were detected that are “above safe drinking water standards.” The odorless and colorless chemical is a widely-used solvent …
Friday, February 8, 2013
Three men have been charged with allegedly selling heroin from a Horsham man's home.
Three men have been arrested in connection with alleged drug dealing at a Horsham Township residence, authorities said. Israel Martinez, 26, of North Fairhill Street in Philadelphia, Francisco Cintron, 29, of Rosehill Street in Philadelphia and Raymond Giordano, 42, of Blair Mill Road in Horsham, were arrested on felony drug charges in connection with allegedly selling heroin at Giordano’s home. On Feb. 6 at 8:40 p.m., Montgomery County Drug Task Force officers from Horsham, Hatboro, Upper Moreland and Cheltenham police departments executed a search warrant at Giordano’s home at 36 Blair Mill Road, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. The warrant was obtained after an investigation revealed heroin was being sold …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Horsham Township's energy use is being evaluated by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in hopes of devising energy-saving and cost-cutting alternatives.
Horsham Township has switched from traditional lights to LED bulbs in its traffic lights, 100 street lights will become LED-powered soon and a solar light illuminates the parking lot behind the township building. Horsham has done all it knows how to become more energy efficient, Township Manager Bill Walker said during Monday night's township council meeting. Now, the township is looking to expand its energy conservation horizons even more with help from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Liz Compitello, a research analyst in the DVRPC's Office of Energy and Climate Change Initiatives, gave a brief presentation during the council's meeting outlining a year-long township-specific program which got underway in October 2012. …
Trent Coombs
12:50 pm on Thursday, April 18, 2013
According to the original articles announcing this great opportunity for the base, The drones are not going to be flown out of Horsham, only piloted from here. more ›