What’s the 422?

In paperwork filed with Pennsylvania earlier this year, Skippack Supervisor Mark Marino disclosed that he received income in 2008 from White Paws LLC.

White Paws, a Skippack-based partnership, sold ground in Limerick to North Pointe Community Church, according to Limerick records. Church officials have proposed a new worship center on 13 acres at Game Farm and Metka roads.

What’s the 422 reported in May that the FBI is possibly investigating the extension of public sewer service to a cluster of properties in Limerick’s northern end, including North Pointe and an 18-lot residential subdivision developed by Hirschorn Builders, Inc., of Schwenksville.

White Paws attorney Gerald Mullaney and Marino did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Marino, a former chairman of the Area 4 Republican Committee, lists himself as a “member” of White Paws in a recent ethics filing.

Marino told a reporter in May that his role with the Hirschorn project – located next to Blessed Teresa Calcutta – is “managing the job for approvals.”

In addition to White Paws, Marino also indicates in his statements of financial interest that he received consulting income from Kane Core Inc., the development company created by former Limerick Supervisor David Kane.

Public officials must annually file a “statement of financial interest” with their municipality, in accordance with State Ethics Commission guidelines.

Kane and Marino have long acknowledged their business relationship. In Skippack, elected supervisors file a “disclosure of interest memorandum” each time they abstain from voting on a matter. Between 2007 and 2008, Marino filed 11 such forms, according to township records.

For example, on one vote related to Giamo’s Saddlebrook project, Marino wrote: “various business dealings with the Gambone organization, both Marino Landscape Design, and Kane Core.”

He abstained from a December 2007 vote pertaining to improvements at Route 73 and Evansburg Road.  Marino explained, “improvements involve T.H. Properties so therefore in an abundance of caution due to the fact Kane Core sold T.H. Properties property in the past, I abstained.”

Kane, who resigned from Limerick last September, led efforts in the township to take over the formerly independent Limerick Township Municipal Authority. The sewer authority is responsible for granting public sewer connections to residential and commercial properties in the township. The board of supervisors’ main argument for dissolving the authority was to achieve “economies of scale.”

Township officials provided figures on cost savings during budget discussions, which took place after the transition was complete.

The transition proved rocky, as members of the LTMA board accused the township of political interference. Representatives of Limerick and the authority spent about an hour in Montgomery County Court in March 2008 before settling the dissolution officially in September.

The FBI, in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service, seized records from the Limerick and Skippack township buildings in April 2008. This investigation is ongoing.

Limerick Supervisor Renee Chesler issued a rare public statement in May on exactly what federal agents are interested in. She initially refused to respond to questions from Tom Neafcy during the public comment portion of a meeting.

Chesler then acknowledged that she had, along with several other township officials, “answered questions … related to development in Limerick.”

Neafcy, a candidate for supervisor, defeated Chesler in May’s primary election.