Friends, Neighbors and Fellow Upper Merion Area Residents:
At the Monument in Valley Forge
2016 was a very exciting year in Upper Merion Township. We opened the Upper Merion Community Center to rave reviews and now there are almost 1400 passholders and more than 175 others have accessed the facility through Silver Sneakers or Silver&Fit. The first full year of the Upper Merion Swimming Pool attracted almost 2000 members. Sullivan’s Bridge opened and bikers and walkers now have a safe way to access the Schuylkill River Trail. The King of Prussia Mall’s connector opened to great fanfare and has shown itself to be an excellent addition to the best shopping mall in the country. The King of Prussia Town Center has provided unique dining and retail options in our community. The new liquor store on US-202 is a dramatic improvement from the previous state liquor stores. We continued to enhance pedestrian safety by installing a much needed sidewalk on North Henderson Road and goats were successfully used in Bob White Park as an environmentally friendly method of invasive species control – these are just a few of the reasons why Upper Merion received Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association’s (GVFTMA) new diamond level sustainability award. Both the parks and recreation master plan and fire and rescue services study were completed and accepted. As a result of the efforts of State Senator Daylin Leach, State Representative Tim Briggs and our township staff Upper Merion received two large grants of $1.25 million to construct the below-discussed Crow Creek Trail and $1 million for the community center complex, as well as many smaller grants. The Board of Community Assistance once again disbursed over $150,000 in grants to local organizations which provide services to Upper Merion residents and scholarships to graduating high school seniors who reside in Upper Merion Township. For the 7th consecutive year the Board of Supervisors passed a budget that didn’t raise taxes – the longest such stretch in decades and we maintained our township’s AAA bond rating. Our unemployment rate is extremely low at approximately 3.5%.
All this and more is why King of Prussia was featured on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer with a multipage spread and while 2016 was an exceptional year for Upper Merion Township, 2017 will also be an active year in our community. Here’s just some of what I expect:
- Several new restaurants will open including Mistral, Founding Farmers, Mission BBQ, True Food Kitchen, The Taco Truck, Yard House, Outback Steakhouse and Tiffin;
- A new and much more mobile device friendly township website;
- The restoration of the township building pond;
- Significant improvements to the Upper Merion Swimming Pool including new bathrooms and improved handicapped accessibility;
- Senior housing (R-55 type) at the Village at Valley Forge should be close to opening by the end of the year. This is the first senior housing project in Upper Merion;
- Construction of a mind-body study in the community center basement along with another aerobics room;
- The First Avenue Linear Park Demonstration Project will open and the broader First Avenue Linear Park and the First Avenue Road Diet should be complete;
- Upper Merion Area School District will begin building a new Caley Elementary (which has already been approved by the township) and Gulph Elementary (which still needs to be approved);
- The expansion of the police station into the former Park and Recreation Department office;
- A sidewalk will be built between the King Manor NHSL station, running along US-202 to Saulin Boulevard and onto Henderson Road; and,
- Construction could begin on the Crow Creek Trail from the high school/middle school area to Volpi Common through the woods to the Upper Merion Community Center.
During my campaign for Supervisor in 2009 and my re-election campaign in 2015 I made one commitment and that was to constantly communicate with my fellow Upper Merion residents. Through my articles, emails, Facebook page, twitter feed (@gregwaks), Instagram account (gregwaks), articles, messages, occasional videos and visibility around Upper Merion I hope I’ve lived up to this promise. It’s a promise I look forward to continuing in 2017.
I want to express my gratitude to my fellow Supervisors. While Bill Jenaway, Carole Kenney, Greg Philips, Erika Spott and I may not always agree with each other on everything, we will always work together, treat others with respect and strive to make Upper Merion Township an even greater place to live, work and play! Thanks also to our township management and staff for their time, effort and successes as well as our residents for pushing us to be the best we can be.
I hope you’re having a fantastic holiday season and I wish you a happy and healthy New Year!
Sincerely,
Greg
