Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 149, No. 44
INSIDE
60 Cents
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Chester County goes to the polls
Cecil County Life Photo by John Chambless
Peggy Ann Russell (right), a candidate for Oxford Borough Council, Photo by John Chambless was at the Oxford Presbyterian Church polling place on Tuesday morning, along with the daughter of Julia Malloy-Good, a candidate Voters arrived early at the Penn Township Building, which typically gets a large turnout of voters from nearby senior communities. for Judge of the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.
Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board looks to replace retired member...........….....3A
Oxford defeats Kennett in Ches-Mont play......1B
Route 1 Economic Development Initiative leaders share status of progress By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer There were a little more than 100 elected officials, conservation experts, and representatives of townships, municipalities and schools gathered at the Route 1 Economic Development Initiative update presentation, held Oct. 27 at the Technical College High School in West Grove. In the day-to-day of their nine-to-five jobs, many of them are directors, supervisors, managers, presidents and officers, but in the context of what brought them to the presentation, they all share the same title.
They are stakeholders in a transportation tributary across four boroughs and 12 townships, that many believe will serve as the shining light of smart growth, through a series of economic development and conservation efforts. For more than an hour, they heard brief presentations by several steering committee chairpersons, who shared some of the progress that the entire Initiative has made in the last year. In his opening remarks, County Commissioner Terence Farrell emphasized the county’s economic commitment to southern Chester Photo by Richard L. Gaw County, saying that he and More than 100 local leaders of business, government, conservation and education Continued on Page 8A
attended the Route 1 Economic Development Initiative presentation on Oct. 27.
Oxford explores parking garage options A parking garage could help pave the way for increased economic development in Oxford. A new study will include an analysis of some of the top locations for the parking garage A lively parade in Oxford......................5A
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Oxford Borough officials and business owners have long identified the need for more convenient Calendar of Events......3B parking in the business Opinion........................7A district. One possible solution is building a Obituaries...................6A parking garage, and the
INDEX
initial findings of a parking management study were unveiled at a public meeting on Oct. 28, with an emphasis on an analysis of some of the potential locations for a parking garage. At the public meeting, the draft of the study was reviewed, with elected
officials and business owners commenting about the importance of parking to the longterm vision for the revitalization of downtown Oxford. “Addressing parking is a major consideration for attracting a major employer downtown,” explained John Lawrence, the state
representative from the 13th legislative district that includes Oxford Borough. “Sooner or later, parking will have to be addressed. This is an absolute lynchpin for moving toward that.” Oxford Borough enlisted Steve Krug, principal of West Chester-based
Krug Architects, to complete a parking management study. Krug has vast experience working with communities on projects like this, and his firm has overseen five different parking garage projects in West Chester Borough alone. Continued on Page 2A
Classified....................9B Police Blotter...............9A
Police investigate reports of Public input sought on Route needles in Halloween candy 896 project By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Five miles of the roadway will be repaired and altered
The Kennett Square Police Department is still investigating reports that some candy given out to children on Halloween was tampered with. No injuries have been reported as a result of these incidents, Kennett Police Chief Edward Zunino said
on Monday. According to a press release from the Kennett Square Police Department, needles were found inside five wrapped Twix bars that were handed out to four different children. The four children are not all related, but they all went out trickor-treating with each other. The candy is believed to
have been handed out in the Stenning Hills section of town. The candy and the packaging are currently being processed and examined by authorities. An additional incident where a needle was said to have been found in a Snickers candy bar was reported to the Kennett Continued on Page 7B
Does more mean better? Photo by John Chambless
The intersection of Den Road (at right) and Route 896 is the site of an archeological dig. The rise in the roadway is slated to be removed to improve visibility of the intersection with Route 841, which is a few feet south.
By John Chambless Staff Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
For people who live along a five-mile stretch of Route 896 -- or people who regularly drive the heavilytraveled road -- life is going to get more complicated as PennDOT finalizes its plans to repave and reconfigure the roadway. In
an Aug. 20 letter to the Franklin Township Board of Supervisors, PennDOT estimated the start of construction would be in the fall of 2018. Except for paving, Route 896 hasn’t changed since it was a dirt track laid down for horses and wagons. The problem is that traffic now Continued on Page 7B
By Uncle Irvin Looking at the Nov. 3 municipal election, it seems to me that a record number of new candidates are eager to be a supervisor, borough council member or school board member. There seemed to be candidates challenging each other for every open seat. One would tend to look at these statistics
and come away with the conclusion that the general public is not satisfied with the accomplishments of their local leaders and are demanding change. Americans need to shed their thin skins and throw out non-achievers – now more than ever. Whether you support Donald Trump or not, his opinion is that a large majority of our elected officials and candidates are really not qualified for ser-
vice because of a lack of mental quickness and intelligence. Concerned citizens need to spot the dullwitted and keep them from taking office, too. Southern Chester County did its thing on Tuesday. Let’s hope the results pan out for better government. (Uncle Irvin’s column is his opinion only, and is not a news story.)