LancasterOnline.com:News:Donegal authorizes district population, building study

QUOTE(Lysol54 @ Sep 27 2007, 08:52 AM)

I guess it goes back to very poor planning by the local planning board, that and much of that development is actually in Rapho Township and not Mount Joy. Like you said about getting from CVS to Darrenkamps, how many lights do you have to go through there3-4?

Funny you should ask! There are now 7 lights - 1-Darrenkamps, 2-at the new shopping center thing,3- Country Table/new Turkey Hill, 4- Union National Bank, 5- Post office/Wachovia Bank, 6 - Rt 772 and Main St., 7- right at Weis Market/CVS. Gotta love Progress!

QUOTE(CeeKay @ Sep 27 2007, 09:54 AM)

Funny you should ask! There are now 7 lights - 1-Darrenkamps, 2-at the new shopping center thing,3- Country Table/new Turkey Hill, 4- Union National Bank, 5- Post office/Wachovia Bank, 6 - Rt 772 and Main St., 7- right at Weis Market/CVS. Gotta love Progress!

Holy Sh$% i guess you are right i just did it again in my head. Wow. But like i said i think a lot of the problem is you have two differant townships at that point and Mount Joy has a lot more to lose there than Rapho does. But from what i've seen Rapho and Mount Joy really have dropped the ball as far as planning goes.

QUOTE(Lysol54 @ Sep 27 2007, 08:37 AM)

KA, just curious do they use that elementry for other purposes? Churches, Tournaments and such? I know a school in PM expanded the parking lot to accomidate those sorts of things. And as far as taxes go i feel sorry for people in Donegal. If the SD would have had a decent business manager a few years ago they wouldn't have had to raise taxes. Its just a shame one persons mishandling can cause the whole district to suffer.

As CeeKay stated, they do use that school for other purposes so I guess I can see the need to expand the parking lot. However, had they planned it a little better they could have added the extra spaces during construction.
I would have liked to see them do this study before they decided to build Donegal Springs and close Seiler and Grandview Elementary Schools. The first solution that comes to mind would have been moving the middle school to the high school, move the elementary students to the middle school and build a new high school. At this point, it's all hindsight, but something will have to be done in the not so distant future.

It seems to me that expanding the high school where it sits now would be a nightmare; there is very little room without losing parking spaces or the tennis courts unless you build up.

QUOTE(KAFrey @ Sep 27 2007, 10:06 AM)

As CeeKay stated, they do use that school for other purposes so I guess I can see the need to expand the parking lot. However, had they planned it a little better they could have added the extra spaces during construction.
I would have liked to see them do this study before they decided to build Donegal Springs and close Seiler and Grandview Elementary Schools. The first solution that comes to mind would have been moving the middle school to the high school, move the elementary students to the middle school and build a new high school. At this point, it's all hindsight, but something will have to be done in the not so distant future.

It seems to me that expanding the high school where it sits now would be a nightmare; there is very little room without losing parking spaces or the tennis courts unless you build up.

Totally agree with the expansion on the high school. There is not enough ground there to expand. Don't know about building up. That could depend on the structure of the current building - being able to support extra weight, etc. I think we will eventually see a new high school building. It's all about the planning! Donegal and surrounding townships have just exploded in the last few years. About 10 years ago (maybe more), a friend of mine bought an older house in the borough because their realtor told them that was the "up and coming" area for the future. Easy access to Harrisburg or York (if you like sitting in traffic on 30 or 83/81) and the turnpike exit is just up 283. Hang on to your hats, cause I don't think the taxes have hit their high marks yet.

QUOTE(CeeKay @ Sep 27 2007, 10:30 AM)

Totally agree with the expansion on the high school. There is not enough ground there to expand. Don't know about building up. That could depend on the structure of the current building - being able to support extra weight, etc. I think we will eventually see a new high school building. It's all about the planning! Donegal and surrounding townships have just exploded in the last few years. About 10 years ago (maybe more), a friend of mine bought an older house in the borough because their realtor told them that was the "up and coming" area for the future. Easy access to Harrisburg or York (if you like sitting in traffic on 30 or 83/81) and the turnpike exit is just up 283. Hang on to your hats, cause I don't think the taxes have hit their high marks yet.

But the one good point for you guys would be that more and more people are moving into the district, i think its the largest growing place in Lancaster County. So with all that influx of people your going to have more people to share the burden. Might take a little bit but i think in the end you'll be better off.