To: Josh Shapiro, Montgomery County Commissioner Chair, Leslie S. Richards, Montgomery County Commissioner Vice Chair, Bruce L. Castor, Jr., Ronald H. Ahlbrandt, Deputy Director Mongomery County Parks, Trails and Historic Sites, Linda Golden...
Remember Parkhouse
Help stop the sale of the Parkhouse and save 200+ acres of open space in Montgomery County.
Why is this important?
MontCo sells Parkhouse and Open Space to a Developer
Please join the opposition and protest a deal that has been characterized by unanswered questions, shady associations, scandal, lies, a willful disregard of the residents, insider information, and the belligerent arrogance of our County officials in the sale of Parkhouse (aka Montgomery County Geriatric Center or “Johnson Home”) and the surrounding 220 acres of open space in Upper Providence Township by Montgomery County.
Montgomery County Commissioners closed the sale of Parkhouse and the 220 acres of land surrounding the facility that was previously slated to be permanently preserved in the county's own open space plan. The entire property was sold for $41 million in an unscheduled, unannounced, behind closed-doors recess in their Thursday morning meeting March 6, 2014. The new owner is a REIT that was formed in Delaware on January 14, 2014. We have no way of knowing who the actual principals of this REIT are and whether Dr. Menkowitz is still a part of it. The 70 acre Upper Schuylkill Valley Park was not ever part of the original deal but was sold along with the rest of the property then condemned and bought back for $2 million. How generous of them to protect a park that was already county-owned. The 5-year deed restriction only gives the public access to the property for the next 5 years or till the new owner develops it, whichever comes first. It gives the land no further protection from development than Upper Providence’s zoning ordinances already in place and will prove to be a costly battle to protect them
The Request For Proposal had shown the Montgomery County Commissioners had been lying to the public about their intent to develop the land surrounding Parkhouse. The RFP states that the buyer, Mid-Atlantic Health Care, will be working with Einstein Health System, Ganas Development (led by Dr. Elliot Menkowitz a county-employed doctor at Parkhouse) and Sukonik Building Companies to develop a comprehensive development strategy. A subpoena had been issued and Dr. Menkowitz has been fired for ethics violations in his involvement with insider trading on the deal and suggesting he had special influence over the sale process
Mid-Atlantic CEO Scott Rifkin's claim that they had changed their mind in regards to the development of the land is meaningless as they do not own it, GA HC REIT II Royersford SNF, LLC does and THEY will be the ones to develop it.
This sale was brought about to fill a hole in Montgomery County’s budget caused by the failed Logan Square movie studio project. Montgomery County Commissioners are patting themselves on the back for creating the 2014 budget in surplus while blind-siding us on the sale of our precious open space and much needed home to the less-fortunate elderly.
Montgomery County commissioners have now set a precedent to sell off any open space or park that has not been permanently preserved as open space.
It is the responsibility of those in office to operate with transparency, obedience to those who they serve, and with the goal of doing good by all. The three Montgomery County Commissioners have violated all three of these very important principles, and will continue to do so if we stay silent on the Parkhouse issue.
Rallys are being held to raise awareness to this issue. Check the Save Parkhouse Facebook group for the next rally:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242665885899065/
Full story and timeline here:
saveparkhouse.blogspot.com
PA State Representative Warren Kampf has joined the fight to save the open spaces at Parkhouse. Please sign his petition at: www.WarrenKampf.com/Parkhouse
Please join the opposition and protest a deal that has been characterized by unanswered questions, shady associations, scandal, lies, a willful disregard of the residents, insider information, and the belligerent arrogance of our County officials in the sale of Parkhouse (aka Montgomery County Geriatric Center or “Johnson Home”) and the surrounding 220 acres of open space in Upper Providence Township by Montgomery County.
Montgomery County Commissioners closed the sale of Parkhouse and the 220 acres of land surrounding the facility that was previously slated to be permanently preserved in the county's own open space plan. The entire property was sold for $41 million in an unscheduled, unannounced, behind closed-doors recess in their Thursday morning meeting March 6, 2014. The new owner is a REIT that was formed in Delaware on January 14, 2014. We have no way of knowing who the actual principals of this REIT are and whether Dr. Menkowitz is still a part of it. The 70 acre Upper Schuylkill Valley Park was not ever part of the original deal but was sold along with the rest of the property then condemned and bought back for $2 million. How generous of them to protect a park that was already county-owned. The 5-year deed restriction only gives the public access to the property for the next 5 years or till the new owner develops it, whichever comes first. It gives the land no further protection from development than Upper Providence’s zoning ordinances already in place and will prove to be a costly battle to protect them
The Request For Proposal had shown the Montgomery County Commissioners had been lying to the public about their intent to develop the land surrounding Parkhouse. The RFP states that the buyer, Mid-Atlantic Health Care, will be working with Einstein Health System, Ganas Development (led by Dr. Elliot Menkowitz a county-employed doctor at Parkhouse) and Sukonik Building Companies to develop a comprehensive development strategy. A subpoena had been issued and Dr. Menkowitz has been fired for ethics violations in his involvement with insider trading on the deal and suggesting he had special influence over the sale process
Mid-Atlantic CEO Scott Rifkin's claim that they had changed their mind in regards to the development of the land is meaningless as they do not own it, GA HC REIT II Royersford SNF, LLC does and THEY will be the ones to develop it.
This sale was brought about to fill a hole in Montgomery County’s budget caused by the failed Logan Square movie studio project. Montgomery County Commissioners are patting themselves on the back for creating the 2014 budget in surplus while blind-siding us on the sale of our precious open space and much needed home to the less-fortunate elderly.
Montgomery County commissioners have now set a precedent to sell off any open space or park that has not been permanently preserved as open space.
It is the responsibility of those in office to operate with transparency, obedience to those who they serve, and with the goal of doing good by all. The three Montgomery County Commissioners have violated all three of these very important principles, and will continue to do so if we stay silent on the Parkhouse issue.
Rallys are being held to raise awareness to this issue. Check the Save Parkhouse Facebook group for the next rally:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242665885899065/
Full story and timeline here:
saveparkhouse.blogspot.com
PA State Representative Warren Kampf has joined the fight to save the open spaces at Parkhouse. Please sign his petition at: www.WarrenKampf.com/Parkhouse