Ready or Not Here it Comes…

Residents of the Route 119 corridor that lies in East Huntingdon Township situated between the former SONY plant and the new bridge over Jacobs Creek, the County border, had better be ready for a vast metamorphosis in the form of a progressive storm that is heading your way! One only has to speculate on the heels of a new 119-819 interchange, restoration of the 119 roadway, and construction of a modern sewage plant at Old Meadow that total transformation is just around the corner. Call it what you want but once completed the aforementioned projects are a Kickstarter to emminent residential, commercial, and industrial expansion for sleepy old East Huntingdon. Void of any zoning, the Township could become a potential target for in opportune ventures as the needed infrastructure required had been nonexistent to this point in time. As with any tsunami, preparations and advance warnings are the key to a successful response. The advance warning part is evident but the prep part is definitely in question. We are not, let me repeat…We are not ready for this kind of major overhaul thus a suggestion may be to, fasten your seatbelt an extra notch. Our pristine area is in the crosshairs of developers just as it was years ago when the waste dump was located over the hill from the regional education facilities. Has anyone viewed that landfill area recently? Probably not because it is behind a 8 foot high metal fence with rolled barb wire…hmmm! It has grown from a small patch garbage dump to an incredible silent giant that someday will rear its ugly head. Many proponents voiced their displeasure at that time to dissuade the project but it happened anyhow due to the right to utilize ones own property however wished. We could have learned a lesson from our forefathers, those local prominent individuals who worked tirelessly on zoning issues for the Township many moons ago, developed a plan after years of promigation, held hearings and meetings, finally presented the land usage restrictions for passage, and had it trashed by a powerful movement of non-progressives. Yes, an all out effort that consisted of boxes and boxes of meeting minutes, specified plans, maps, documented testimony, public input, and governmental oversight was literally dumped in the trash, how synonymous! So what do we do now, ahead of the wave, to assure that an effort is made to prevent a reoccurrence? That my friend, my local neighbor is up to you…