Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 150, No. 45
INSIDE Verdict on township supervisor’s alleged crimes to be reached soon By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Cecil County Life Magazine
American art in a time of transition...1B
The future of London Grove Township resident and supervisor Raymond W. Schoen is now in the hands of Chester County Court of Comon Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody. Carmody is reviewing the case law that was discussed in a pre-trial motion on Oct. 12, between Schoen’s defense attorney Mark Philip Much and Assistant District Attorney Bonnie Cox-Shaw, which allowed Schoen to avoid having to attend his criminal trial on Nov. 9 at the
Courthouse. Records provided by the Court’s administrative office indicate that Schoen’s trial will now be held on Nov. 14, when a decison by Carmody is expected to be reached. If the case is not decided on that date, a criminal trial will be rescheduled for Dec. 12. Schoen was arrested Feb. 10 on a triple count of criminal tresspassing, theft and receiving stolen property, for his involvement in the alleged stealing of firearms from a Birmingham Township home last December. Continued on Page 3A
An act of bipartisanship
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
For the third consecutive Election Day, Penn Township held a food drive outside the Penn Township Building on Nov. 8. All food collected will be donated to The Bridge at the Church of the Nazarene in West Grove. Pictured from left to right are Ajay Talwar from the Penn Township Democrats; Adriana Pfaff from the Penn Township Republicans; volunteer Michael McGoldrick from the Avon Grove Charter School; and Hal Cohen from the Penn Township Democrats. For the results of all local elections, turn to the Chester County Press’ Facebook page, beginning on Nov. 9.
East Marlborough supervisors amend zoning to allow medical marijuana processing By John Chambless Staff Writer
Lighthouse benefit auction is Saturday...4A
60 Cents
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The East Marlborough Township budget for 2017 was formally presented to the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 8, but the exact figures were not announced, pending further study, publication and posting online in the coming days.
Board chairman Richard Hannum said that he had not had enough time to study the numbers, but did say that the budget was “overall, much the same as last year,” and that “there is nothing in the budget to raise taxes.” The board will formally discuss the details of the budget at their December meeting, after it has been published.
At the beginning of the meeting, the board discussed new township zoning amendments, one of which will allow growing facilities for medical marijuana in the township, reflecting a statewide ruling declaring that such facilities are legal. Cuyler Walker, who is the chairman of the township Planning Commission,
worked with township solicitor Frone Crawford in drafting the amendments. “The state recognizes medical marijuana’s legal use in Pennsylvania, so townships must provide for that in their ordinances,” Walker said at the meeting. Only growing and processing facilities will be allowed in the limited industrial district, he said,
and not in any residential districts. “I’d like to emphasize that this amendment is just for growing and processing,” he said. “There will be no sales in the township.” The board approved the amendments, which also included a strengthening of riparian buffer provisions, by a unanimous vote. Continued on Page 3A
Kennett Square Borough Stroud shares officials don’t expect a tax water quality data at township increase for 2017 By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Unionville upset in playoffs, 10-7...10A
INDEX Opinion........................7A Calendar of Events.....2B Obituaries...................3B
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At Monday night’s council meeting, Kennett Square Borough officials unveiled a preliminary budget for 2017, and it does not appear as if a tax increase will be necessary to balance the spending plan. Borough manager Joe Scalise began the budget presentation with a look back at some of the projects that took place during 2016, as well as a look ahead at some of the projects that are planned for next year. Scalise explained that during 2016, the borough put on hold an expenditure of
The most expensive project that could potentially be considered during 2017 is a $3.2 million expansion of the parking garage. But as it stands now, there will be no new debt taken on in 2017. The borough has applied for a grant from the state that would pay for a significant portion of the costs of the parking garage expansion, but until the borough attains the grant officials won’t be considering moving forward with the project. Scalise said that the projected general fund budget for 2017 totals $4,155,200. There is no tax increase in the proposed budget, so the Continued on Page 2A
meeting
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Stroud Water Research Center Assistant Director David Arscott, Ph.D., a consultant for London Grove Township on the progress and data of its two water sensor monitors, provided preliminary water sampling testing results at the township’s board of supervisors meeting on Nov. 2. The research included studying water sensor data from samples at two locations, and analyzing water chemistry from base flow and storm flow grab sam-
ples from three locations in the township: on Rosehill Road, at the Avon Grove Little League field, and the Lake Road Bridge crossing. After sending the samples to several analytical labs for evaluation, Arscott told the supervisors that each show differences among sites on base flow and storm flow conditions. The research indicated that the highest concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, phosphorous, ammonium, potassium and sulfate in storm flow samples were found at the most downstream site, and at Continued on Page 3A
Veterans program salutes all those who have served Election 2016 debased America By Uncle Irvin (The word “debased” was borrowed from a recent issue of an English magazine called the Economist) Photos by John Chambless
younger,” he said. “But the veterans of the gulf wars, people who’ve served in Afghanistan – they have made the same sacrifices, and can teach you the same lessons about patriotism and sacrifice and love of our country.”
Uncle Irvin has been a presidential voter since the 1960 election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The recent 2016 election is, by a wide margin, the worst example of free and open elections since I began
Continued on Page 2A
Continued on Page 5A
The young students stood around the tables of veterans and family members after their performance.
By John Chambless Staff Writer © 2007 The Chester County Press
$300,000 for land in the southwest side of town that would have been used for a park. The borough also saw significant savings on the purchase of new computer software. Looking ahead to 2017, the borough will be moving forward with the regional streetlight program that replaces older streetlights with new, energy efficient LED lights. The savings that the borough sees from the upgrades should offset the costs. A new pump station is also needed for Cypress Street, which is budgeted at $115,000. A Linden Street booster station upgrade is expected to cost $440,000.
The red, white and blue decorations were the same, the patriotism was the same, but as guest speaker Henry Detering noted, there were some people missing this year at the Kennett Area
Senior Center’s Veterans Luncheon. The ranks of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans are thinning, and Detering – a retired Lt. Colonel and former teacher and principal – pointed out that “while there’s nothing wrong with students
today, they don’t have the example I grew up with,” when veterans were everywhere in daily life. “Today, most families don’t have any connection to death in uniform. The Greatest Generation is rapidly disappearing. Even my Vietnam generation isn’t getting any