Former constable now Concord supervisor

Thomas Mahoney was appointed to the Concord Township Board of Supervisors Tuesday night. Mahoney, a former constable in Concord, replaces Kevin O’Donoghue, who stepped down last month for business reasons.

Mahoney, one of seven applicants, has lived in the township for 15 years with his wife and two sons, spent seven years as a constable, and owns a construction and landscaping business. He’s a graduate of West Chester University and the Delaware County Police Academy. He said he wanted to be on the board to continue serving Concord’s residents.

“I did the people’s business with a gun. Now I want the chance to move up and do more,” he said after the Aug. 2 supervisors’ meeting.

O’Donoghue was re-elected for a six-year term in 2015, but Mahoney will have to run for election in his own name in 2017 for the remainder of O’Donoghue’s term. However, that term will likely be shorter because Concord will become a home rule township on Jan. 1, which will bring an end to those six-year terms.

Tom Mahoney takes the oath of office after being appointed supervisor in Concord Township. Judge Wendy Roberts administered the oath. Mahoney’s son Tom is standing next to him.
Tom Mahoney takes the oath of office after being appointed supervisor in Concord Township. Judge Wendy Roberts administered the oath. Mahoney’s son Tom is standing next to him.

(As part of that transition, four people will be running for the position of township commissioner next year, with two of the four running for four-year-terms and two running for two-year terms until the election cycle stabilizes. After that time, there will be seven commissioners with three running during one election and four running for office two years later.

Now, however, “Tom Mahoney will have to run in the April 2017 primary for a four-year term under the rules of the new home rule charter,” according to Joshua Twersky, a member of the transition committee as well as the Government Study Commission, which wrote the charter. “There will be three four-year-term and two two-year-term council seats available for the November 2017 general election,”

In addition to Mahoney, incumbents Dominic Pileggi and John Gillespie would run next year if they wanted to continue as commissioners. Pileggi’s and Gillespie’s current terms expire the end of this year, regardless of the change to home rule.)

Mahoney was not the only appointee named during the meeting. Jamer R. Doughty was appointed to the Planning Commission for a term that expires on March 7, 2017, and Raymond J. Sharp was named to the Building Board Code of Appeals. That term expires in January.

Other business

• Pileggi announced that the township is buying four acres of vacant ground on Route 322 near the township sewer plant for $80,000. He said there is no need for the land now, but the price makes it a good idea.

Additionally, the township is buying 10 vacant lots on Walker Street at $96 per lot. Pileggi said the assessed value is $600 per lot. “We want to get them off the market because of the pressure to build modular homes,” he said.

• Township engineer Nate Cline said Concord has received a $1.6 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The township will split the grant with the Garnet Valley School District to build left-turn lanes along Smithbridge Road at the high school and at Smithbridge’s intersection at Temple and Kirk roads.

He said the project is expected to cost slightly more than $2 million and that the township and district would share that cost. He thinks the project will start sometime in 2017 or 2018.

• Concord Township is also looking into changing its sewer rates. Currently, residential sewer customers pay a flat fee of $110 per quarter, while commercial customers pay $35 plus $6.40 for every 1,000 gallons. Cline said this puts an inequitable burden on low-capacity users. The township is looking for a pay structure that is use-based.

 

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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