Miscellaneous

Merck and Company has agreed to settle two lawsuits filed by investors who say the drugmaker delayed releasing bad news on cholesterol drugs.   The suits claim the company withheld information to prevent a drop in sales for Zetia and Vytorin.   Merck has agreed to settle the class action suit brought by several pension funds for $688,000,000.

An age restricted townhome community with 24-units could be in the works on seven acres near Walton Farm Elementary School on Allentown Road in Towamencin.   The property is owned by Presentation of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church and the idea is to give parishioners a place to retire near their house of worship.   The seven acres is currently designated for single family residential use and it would need to be rezoned for cluster development before the project could move forward.   The township supervisors say they will schedule a public hearing on the rezoning request after formal plans for the age restricted townhome community are received.

Officials in Montgomeryville could soon take on more debt.   The Board of Supervisors Monday night authorized advertisement of an ordinance allowing the township to issue $10,000,000 in tax exempt bonds.   The borrowed money would provide most of the funding for building a new multi-purpose community center at Stump and Horsham Roads.   It would also be used to pay down the debt on two pieces of open space the township purchased last year.   The smaller of the two is the proposed site for the community center.   Township officials say the bond issue would not require a property tax hike.   The township supervisors will vote on approving the $10,000,000 bond issue at their February 25th meeting.

The Operations Manager for the Mechanical Group at Moyer Indoor-Outdoor in Souderton, John Haley, says a homeowner can save money on winter heat with a programmable thermostat because it automatically changes the settings for different times of the day.

Read more: Programmable Thermostat Saves Money