NORRISTOWN >> The municipality took a major step toward establishing its own recreational imprint by taking the initial steps to acquire the Greater Norristown Police Athletic League building at 340 Harding Blvd.
At its Tuesday night meeting, Municipal Council voted 5 to 1 (Suanne Gardiner was not present) to approve an ordinance allowing for the purchase of the venerable recreation center which has served the community for more than 40 years, for a price not to exceed $225,000.
In a statement released Wednesday, the GNPAL board of directors announced an impending agreement to “transition management and ownership of the center to become the Municipality of Norristown Recreational Center” effective Dec. 31.
“We are delighted to have served the community for so many years and established a successful variety of programs at the center for the municipality to take to the next level in the interest of the youth and families of our community,” stated GNPAL Board President Lee Holmes.
“It has been a long-standing goal of the Municipal Council to expand recreational services for the residents of Norristown,” said Council President Sonya Sanders. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to collaborate with the GNPAL board to make the Norristown Recreation Center a reality.”
The dissenting vote on the GNPAL acquisition came from 4th District Councilman Hakim Jones, who said the process happened too quickly for him to make a sound decision on the matter.
Jones said he thinks the community deserves a new, state of the art building and that renovating the decades-old structure has a “high potential to fall short of expectations.”
“I personally had more concerns than excitement regarding this recommendation,” said Jones.
Councilman Derrick Perry said he appreciated that GNPAL approached the municipality regarding the sale when they could have gone somewhere else and expressed confidence that council would do what is necessary to transform the property and its adjoining lots — which the municipality already owns — into a recreation center on par with those in neighboring townships.
“A strong recreation program is part of what enhances community pride and makes Norristown an even more desirable place to live for existing residents and those interested in becoming residents,” said Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones. “Recreation services is a vital component of the council’s strategic plan to provide more for Norristonians, as well as attract new development and new residents to Norristown.”
Municipal and GNPAL officials and staff said they will be working diligently for the next few months to ensure a seamless transition.
Questions regarding Norristown Recreation should be directed to the Office of the Municipal Administrator at 610-270- 0421.
In other business, council voted unanimously to pass a resolution in opposition of PA Senate Bill 6 of 2017, a piece of welfare reform legislation that would impose a financial penalty of $100 on public assistance recipients who lose their electronic benefit transfer cards more than once, and establishes a 10-year ban on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits to individuals convicted of certain drug-related felonies, among other measures aimed at deterring fraud.
The resolution states that Council finds the $100 lost EBT card fee to be an undue hardship on families already facing financial challenges and fails to consider cards that could go missing as a result of evictions, homelessness, domestic violence or theft.
Council also took umbrage with the bill’s drug-related felony ban, saying it disproportionately targets mothers struggling to recover from drug addiction and violence.
