Chester County Press 05-30-2018 Edition

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Chester CountyPRESS

www.chestercounty.com

Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas

Volume 152, No. 22

INSIDE

60 Cents

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Parking garage talks continue in Oxford

A day of honor

Council member Robert Ketcham makes a presentation about usage of the metered parking lots By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer OAHS honors athletes...5A

Oxford Borough expects to receive contractors’ bids on the parking garage project by June 19, so soon officials will have a better idea of the actual costs for what would be the most significant infrastructure investment in the town’s history. The costs of the project, and more specifically how much the borough would have to borrow in order to finance the project, will ultimately decide whether borough officials Avon Grove loses, 5-4...7B continue to make decisions that move the project forward. At the May 21 meeting, borough officials and residents continued to discuss the project, its costs, its drawbacks, and the potential economic impact

on the commercial district. While proponents of the parking garage project view it as a much-needed catalyst for economic development and as a long-term solution to the borough’s parking issues, critics have expressed concerns about the costs and whether the parking garage is needed. The borough has already achieved an extraordinary amount of success in securing funding from state and county sources. Pauline Garcia-Allen, of Econ Partners, has helped facilitate the parking garage project for the borough, and she outlined how the borough has received $3.7 million from a variety of state and county agencies, and another $600,000 in grants for streetscape Continued on Page 3A

Photo by John Chambless

West Grove’s 20th annual Memorial Day Parade brings the community together to honor local veterans. See story and photos on Page 1B.

KHS students form new campus safety awareness group Sculptors will be spotlighted at Square Pear Gallery in Kennett Square...4B

INDEX Opinion........................7A Obituaries...................2B Calendar of Events.....3B

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Classifieds..................5B

© 2007 The Chester County Press

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On the afternoon of Feb. 14, 14-year-old Ben Strusowski, a freshman at Kennett High School, came home from school and received a text from a friend that read, “Turn on the news.” He then saw it for the first time, and with it came a fear that has not left him since: Students and administrators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Photo by Richard L. Gaw Kennett High School freshmen Lily Goodwin, Mia Gruce and Ben Strusowski have School in Parkland, Fla., formed an anti-violence group that is proposing safety initiatives in the Kennett had just been murdered by a lone gunman. Consolidated School District.

Strusowski remained riveted to the television screen, while combing social media and the internet for any information he could find. Miraculously, he connected with Parkland students, who sent him graphic videos of the shooting that showed bloodied school hallways where dead teenagers lay strewn about. He watched a video that showed the progression of the shooter. “My first thought was, ‘Oh, another school shooting,’ and in a way, this sounds terrible, but my feeling was, ‘This happened, Continued on Page 2A

Important information about opioids is shared by Franklin Supervisors By John Chambless Staff Writer The national opioid epidemic was brought home to the Franklin Township Board of Supervisors at their monthly meeting on May 16. Township resident Robert Weidenmuller pre-

sented an overview of the crisis and how it is affecting the local area, and his presentation is now posted on the township’s website (www.franklintownship.us). Weidenmuller told the supervisors, “In 2000, less than 20,000 Americans died from drug overdose.

In 2016, over 64,000 died, mostly from opioid family drugs. In 2016, 4,642 drug-related overdose deaths were reported by Pennsylvania coroners and medical examiners, an increase of 37 percent from 2015. The presence of an opioid, illicit or pre-

scribed by a doctor, was identified in 85 percent of drug-related overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in 2016. In Chester County, a total of 153 people died of a drug overdose in 2017, compared with 106 in 2016 and 81 in 2015. “And, in case you believe

this to be problem only of young people, 47 percent of those who died in 2017 were under the age of 35, while 53 percent were 35 or older, including 6 percent over 65. And, these numbers do not reflect the number of overdoses where lives Continued on Page 3A

Citizen Recognition Awards in Oxford Fire police captain and the Oxford Area Recreation Authority receive Citizen Recognition Awards for their contributions to the Oxford community By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Fire police chief Raymond Amy doesn’t normally attend Oxford Borough Council meetings. So the job of getting him to the council meeting at 7 p.m. on May 21 fell to Scott Brown, Oxford Borough’s interim police chief. Brown told Amy that there was an issue that borough officials needed to discuss with the fire police chief. The surprise on Amy’s face was evident when the real reason for having him at the meeting was revealed: He was one of two recipients of the annual Citizen Recognition Awards

that are coordinated through the mayor’s office. Amy’s emotional response to being presented with a Citizen Recognition Award by Mayor Lorraine Durnan Bell was a feelgood moment unlikely to be equalled at a council meeting any time soon. Bell thanked Amy for his dedicated service to the Oxford community. He has been a member of Union Fire Company No. 1 for 12 years. Amy has helped keep his fellow emergency responders and citizens safe while responding to more than 1,900 calls for emergency service. He has also volunteered countless hours Continued on Page 4A

Photo by Steven Hoffman

The 2018 Citizen Recognition Awards recipients are fire police captain Raymond Amy and the Oxford Area Recreation Authority. Pictured are Oxford Area Recreation Authority members Jeremy McKinney, Joseph Beird, Chip Benke, Michael Watson, and John Reynolds, Jr.; Fire police captain Raymond Sidell Amy; and Oxford Borough Mayor Lorraine Durnan Bell.


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