After Upper Perkiomen School District officials approved an agreement supposedly made between their solicitor and the solicitor for Upper Hanover Township, the ball is back on the court – so to speak.

                A hearing on whether to allow others to become party to an appeal filed by the school district against conditions imposed by Upper Hanover officials for construction of a new middle school has been rescheduled from its original March 20 date to March 30.

                The proposed project to build a new middle school on district property along Montgomery Avenue, the border line between Upper Hanover Township and the Borough of Pennsburg, has been in the court system since district officials filed an appeal back in November 2016. The appeal argues against conditions placed on the project by the township.

                Those conditions included construction of sidewalks, student busing and a number of other student safety related issues along Montgomery Avenue.

                At last week's meeting of the Upper Hanover Township Board of Supervisors, officials expressed their decision that they will not oppose a Petition to Intervene filed by three area property owners. The petition was filed by on Feb. 25 by Pennsburg property owners David Pico and Len Matthews along with Upper Hanover property owner William Chrisman, Jr. to allow them to be a party in the discussions over any resolution.

                According to court papers, the determination of the land use appeal filed by the school district will affect legally enforceable interests in the three residents' properties, all on Montgomery Avenue.

                In a reply to the petition filed by the property owners, Mark Hosterman, an attorney representing the school district, wrote that since the appeal was filed the district and township "have worked diligently and concertedly to settle the appeal upon mutually-agreeable terms of settlement granting Petitioners' untimely request to intervene to this appeal will unduly delay and prejudice the original parties."

                Pennsburg borough officials voted last Tuesday to submit their own Petition to Intervene, which was filed by borough solicitor Charles Garner, Jr. on Friday.

                In their petition, the borough officials express, in part, that they believe that Montgomery Avenue has been designated as a "hazardous" roadway by PennDOT through a School Student Walking Route Certification. 

                The borough has concern that any potential stipulation or settlement of the conditional use could be detrimental and may adversely affect the interests of borough residents and, therefore, the Borough of Pennsburg during the land development process.    

                Pennsburg's petition also states that the borough council is responsible for the health and safety of its residents and, given the borough's location to the proposed middle school, it believes it has the requisite interest to intervene.

                The hearing for the Pico, Matthews and Chrisman petition is scheduled for next Thursday at 9 a.m. in Courtroom "D" of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown.  Judge Thomas Del Ricci has scheduled the Pennsburg petition to be heard at the same time.