Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 8
60 Cents
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
INSIDE Group developing initiative to Consultant
locate global indoor ag center in Kennett Township By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Last year, on this side of the world, several Kennett Progress Township residents were in the beginning stages of forming the mission of the township’s new Sustainable Development Office (SDO), intended to provide the township with economic opportunities, while maintaining responsible growth. At about the same time, in another part of the world -- in Dubai, to be precise Seeking a future for for-- the Pegasus Agriculture mer McKean property...1B Group, a world-wide leader in hydroponic [indoor] agriculture, was looking to enter the U.S. marketplace by announcing its intention to support a major publicprivate initiative to develop a global indoor agriculture production, research, training and innovation center on the East Coast. How these two factions Raising awareness of Juvenile Diabetes...4A
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
INDEX Opinion........................7A Police Blotter...............8A Calendar of Events.....2B Obituaries....................3B
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Classifieds..................4B
© 2007 The Chester County Press
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On Jan. 31, Kennett Township’s Sustainable Development Office invited representatives from five colleges and universities to a presentation on the township’s commitment to the future of indoor agriculture.
connected was the merging of like-minded ideas, and what they expect to create together, with the help of area colleges and universities -- may someday
bring the indoor agriculture industry -- and the world -to Kennett Township. Last month in another part of the world, they came together.
By Nancy Johnson Correspondent
After-the-Bell welcomes 5,000th student...9A
two years, the township worked with PennDOT and local legislators, State Rep. John Lawrence and State Sen. Andy Dinniman, to secure funds to improve the intersection. PennDOT has committed to $800,000, plus a grant for troubled intersections that will chip in another $276,000. Combined, this will pay for about half the estimated cost of the project. That leaves the township about $1 million short of making the necessary intersection improvements. At the Feb. 1 Board of Supervisors meeting, Mason and the rest of the supervisors took a major step that will help the intersection project move forward. They unanimously passed a resolution that
Keystone Alliance Consulting has been hired as a consultant to oversee the Oxford Area Sewer Authority as it attempts to resolve significant financial issues that have developed just a few years after a major expansion of the wastewater treatment plant that serves the Oxford area. The Oxford Area Sewer Authority Board interviewed three different firms and ultimately decided to hire David Busch and Keystone Alliance Consulting, a company based in Ambler, Pa., to lead the operations of the Oxford Area Sewer Authority. The firm will be handling most of the duties that were previously the responsibility of Ed Lennex, the former executive director of the Oxford Area Sewer Authority. The sewer authority board voted to terminate the contract with Lennex in January. The sewer authority hasn’t been able to make the debtservice payments on a $27 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that was used to expand and increase the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant. The sewer authority blamed its revenue shortfalls on the fact that purchases of Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) for commercial and residential developments have lagged far behind the projections that were submitted by the municipalities when the sewer authority updated its Act 537 Plan six years ago. The sewer authority board, comprised of eight members—two each from Oxford Borough, East Nottingham Township,
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Oxford Borough Penn Township seeks traffic impact fee Council reaffirms Funding intersection improvement is top priority support for parking garage project By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Oxford Borough has been successful in obtaining funding for the proposed 300-space parking garage and transit center that would be constructed on a parking lot near the center of the borough’s business district. So far, the borough has secured more than $1 million in grant money, and officials are optimistic that applications for additional grants from county, state, and federal sources will result in additional funding to help pay for the projected $5.7 million project. At Monday night’s meeting, Oxford Borough Council voted 6-0 in favor
hired to oversee Oxford Area Sewer Authority
of a resolution that reaffirmed borough council’s support and partnership in the parking garage project. Council president Ron Hershey emphasized that the resolution does not obligate the borough to move forward with the plan to construct a parking garage, nor does it commit the borough to spend any additional money for the project at this time. Instead, by approving the resolution, borough council is simply reaffirming that it wants to continue the process of seeking funding for the project. “Basically, what it says is that borough council believes in the parking Continued on Page 3A
Penn Township has a lot to be proud of, but it also has a major nemesis – the Route 796 and Baltimore Pike intersection. Although both are state roads, Pennsylvania has enormous debt and very little money is being allotted to road projects. According to Curtis Mason, the chairman of Penn Township Board of Supervisors, the intersection is rated “F,” for total failure. “The intersection is to the point where it is absolutely dangerous,” Mason said. The Red Rose Inn was purchased by the township in 2011 because it was crucial to improving the intersection. For more than
Oxford Area High School brings ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ to the stage By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Everyone fully expects the central figure in Oxford Area High School’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” to chew some scenery. The rest of the cast is fine with it. In fact, they are looking forward to seeing the audience’s reaction when Audrey II, the singing, creepy, carnivorous plant with unusual appetites, takes the stage in its largest form. “This show is different from anything that I’ve directed before,” explained Julie Wydrzynski, the director of choral music at Oxford Area High School, during a break from the rehearsals last week. The school’s Drama Department will be presenting three performances of the horror comedy rock musical: one on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. and two on Saturday, March 4 at 2 p.m. and 7
p.m. “Little Shop of Horrors” is set in a florist shop owned by Gravis Mushnick and staffed by Audrey and Seymour. Seymour stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II”—after the co-worker that he has a crush on. Seymour discovers that the crossbred plant develops the ability to speak—and sing. Before long, Audrey II is promising Seymour that his dreams will come true as long as he keeps feeding it what it needs to grow: human blood at first, and then human flesh, and then whole humans. The musical traces its roots to a low-budget 1960 black comedy movie by Roger Corman. It incorporates a wide range of musical styles—everything from 1950s doo-wop to early 1960s rock and roll to classic Motown. “Little Shop of Horrors” premiered off-off-Broadway
Kennett Borough invades privacy By Uncle Irvin
Wydrzynski said that “Little Shop of Horrors” has been on her list of musicals to do for the last five years. They decided to stage “Little Shop of Horrors” this year despite the fact that the musical is far from the traditional high
Somebody’s asleep over at the Kennett Borough Hall. Due to a tip from a resident, Uncle Irvin discovered that he could use the borough’s website to find every resident’s name, address, and water bill amount. You just go to the pay bill site and enter a resident’s name, last name first, and find out what his address and water bill is. The site calls for entering a premisesconsumer ID, which is not enforced, so anyone can get anyone’s water
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Audrey II (voiced by senior Andre Jackson) enjoys a midnight snack at the ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
in 1982, before moving to off-Broadway, where it had a successful five-year run. The musical eventually received a Broadway production and numerous other productions in the U.S. and abroad. The musical was also made into a 1986 movie.