I am so sorry, but I think Conshocken is hiding something over the Millenium fire? This town government is not known for being lily white except in it's bigotry and racism, is it? Will we ever know what really happened? Say, isn't Brian O'Neill in Tierney's PMH investor pool too? And isn't Conshohocken all mired in the worst kind of small town Republican politics as well? OMG, is this all about the GOP these bad things? Is this why the GOP needs to clean house in PA in Montco and Delco but good?
Is Conshohocken keeping mum because it has something to hide? Hmmmm? Makes you wonder who is on the take and who has what to lose? Of course, if Conshohocken is innocent, they could come forward, but will they?
Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2009
Montco files report on Riverwalk fire
By Anthony R. Wood
Inquirer Staff Writer
The surprise in Montgomery County's much-anticipated report on the devastating August fire at Conshohocken's Riverwalk complex was what wasn't in it:
Input from Conshohocken officials.
In presenting the report at a county commissioners meeting yesterday, county public safety chief Thomas Sullivan said one of the key players in the fire investigation - the Borough of Conshohocken - declined to cooperate with Montgomery County investigators.
The blaze, which destroyed 189 apartment units, was a setback to the centerpiece of a successful small-town revival story.
Borough officials declined the county's request to answer several basic questions, including some on building permits and variances.
"I'm not sure why the borough didn't respond," Sullivan told the commissioners.
"There's pending litigation, and we can't comment," Borough Fire Marshal John McGrath said in an interview. At least three lawsuits have been filed in connection with the fire.
"I disagree with that" explanation, Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel III countered in an interview later. "You're talking about public records.".....Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews said that after he has read the report, he will consider how the county might get involved in building-code issues.
Sullivan said the report assumed that the buildings conformed to Conshohocken's codes - but with a caveat: The reports' authors acknowledged that the lack of input from the borough was a serious flaw.
"It was impossible to glean any definitive information," they wrote. "As such, this report is acknowledged to be of limited value."
It said that a key question - whether proper precautions had been taken at the work site where the fire started - remained unresolved....The civil suits, filed on behalf of tenants in Montgomery County Court, name as defendants developer J. Brian O'Neill, owner of the property; the construction companies that worked at the site; and Riverwalk property manager Bozzuto Management Co.
The county report made no attempt to assign blame, alluding only to the "failure of some entity . . . to properly supervise" the work.
Oh this smells, Conshocken is up to it's eyeballs, pending litigation my ass....
Montco Report On Fire Advises Changes
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Published: Friday, January 23, 2009
Norristown — Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners yesterday received a report yesterday on last year’s major Conshohocken fire that could leave them wanting more details.
On Aug. 13, 2007, a fire at the Riverwalk at Millennium apartments engulfed three of the complex’s buildings in Conshohocken Borough, causing 14 minor injuries and 300 displacements of residents but no deaths. Since then, the County Department of Public Safety, along with a team of local experts, completed an “After Action Report” to help plan ahead to prevent similar cases.
The three commissioners are still perusing the document at this writing but heard it summarized by Public Safety Director Tom Sullivan, who said the borough hasn’t provided details on the buildings’ code compliance. He said the borough seems concerned about liability issues it would face should it respond to a set of questions on that subject submitted to it by several local fire chiefs working on the review.
“Additional information might have helped our report writing,” Mr. Sullivan said. “We don’t really know that.”
He added that his department makes the assumption for the moment that the Riverwalk Buildings were built to code but the matter is uncertain.
Commissioners’ Chairman Jim Matthews, R, said he considers that issue important to whatever decision the board makes on future measures. The county has considered drafting a model building ordinance to which municipalities could refer when setting standards for new construction projects.
“I think we’re operating in a little bit of a vacuum right now in the absence of a response by Conshohocken,” he said.
Something smells in Conshy, and it ain't the Schuylkill River.....
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2 comments:
I enjoy your blogs about politics in general. I would like to bring to your attention that Conshohocken is not a republican strong hold as you state. The borough Council is six democrates and one republican. Conshohocken has always been mostly democratic even in a republican County.
I was there shortly after the fire started. What Conshohocken is hiding is the complete lack of leadership and stunning ineptitude of the responding fire departments. I swear, any idiot could see where the fire was going. They were setting up to fight the fire in one place and ignoring the side of the building that had yet to catch fire. They were 30 minutes behind the fire THE ENTIRE TIME. There was absolutely no effort made on the part of the firefighters to actually contain the fire. Most of them were just walking around doing nothing. I was there for over 2 hours on the bike patch watching them. It was horrendous. That fire could have been contained at the unfinished structure had someone actually been in charge of the scene and been thinking ahead of the fire.
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