‘Mayhem and lawlessness’ in Pennsbury
Pennsbury Township residents expressed a series of concerns
to supervisors last week that led one supervisor to wonder whether there was
“mayhem and lawlessness” going on in the township.
One group of residents wants the township to rectify a
sewage problem while another groups wants supervisors to address criminal
activity on Cossart Road.
Cossart Road resident Edward Altieri told supervisors during
their May 19 Board of Supervisors meeting that there has been an increasing
level of vandalism and other criminal activity on the otherwise quiet country
road.
He said about 40 to 70 cars ride up and down the street at
night—on weekends and when there’s no school— often with teenagers drinking
and, possibly, doing drugs. He also said people and property had been shot at
with paintballs.
Another resident, Chris Buccini, said he had a rifle pointed
at him after he told a driver to slow down.
Supervisor Aaron McIntyre responded by saying it appears
“There’s mayhem and lawlessness in Pennsbury Township.”
Residents asked if the road could be closed as was done
sometime ago.
Supervisor Wendell Fenton said a June 10 meeting was scheduled
with the state police to address problems.
Township Manager Kathy Howley said a day later that the
meeting has been postponed because Lt. Tracy Brown, the barracks commander at
Troop J, Avondale was unavailable that day.
Howley did confirm that Cossart Road was closed for a year about
10 years ago for the same types of problems.
Not all of the problems have been reported to the
Pennsylvania State Police. Buccini said he didn’t report his incident because he
was afraid of retribution. He did get a photo of the license number of the car
with his cell phone camera.
Tpr. Corey Monthei, community affairs officer at Troop J,
said his barracks has received no reports for things other than traffic
accidents since the first of the year, but that residents need to let police
know when there are other problems.
“We can’t do anything unless we’re informed,” Monthei said.
While Cossart Road residents are concerned about crime,
residents of Pennsbury Hills are concerned about sewage on their lawns and
running into streams.
Janice Friel, who lives on Pennsbury West, said she couldn’t
get her on-site sewage system certified when she and her husband tried to sell
their home. She spearheaded a petition drive getting 27 signatures of 45
homeowners.
Friel said she was not alone in having sewage problems, but
that the properties in the development are too small to accommodate new on-site
systems. Meanwhile, wash water is bubbling up through the ground and, in some
cases, sewage is running into streams, she said.
Other residents said their systems are antiquated and would
be illegal to install by today’s laws.
“We’re stuck,” said Friel.
Friel and other residents asked whether they could tie into
the Ponds Edge sewer system or the system that will go in once the Pennsbury
Village project is built.
Supervisors said they were looking into ways to rectify the
situation.
Supervisors Charles “Scotty” Scottoline said he is working
with the township’s sewer consultant to develop a white paper that will address
residents’ needs.
“You’ll know when we know,” Scottoline said.
He added that there are two parcels of land, about 10 acres
each, north of the Pennbury Hills development that might be used as a possible
solution.
Building a public sewer system was mentioned briefly. While
no one is certain what it would cost for residents to connect to such a system,
if one is built, a figure of $25,000 was mentioned in passing.
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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