Continuing a recent pattern in Pocopson Township, the nearly two-hour supervisors’ meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, was dominated by debate over the Barnard House and punctuated by some testy exchanges.

Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the Barnard House is being renovated for use as the township municipal building and the home of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center. The project has produced sufficient conflict that a question-and-answer session is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pocopson Home.

The supervisors, with support from the Barnard House Steering Committee, agreed to hold the event in response to a request from Elaine DiMonte, who is running unopposed for supervisor. She said she believes residents’ concerns, which include allegations of shoddy workmanship, ineffective oversight and spiraling costs, need to be addressed. The issue of whether the historic building is well-suited to township administration has also surfaced.

But setting up the forum has also generated acrimony. At Monday night’s meeting, Supervisors’ Chairman Barney Leonard applauded the work of DiMonte and residents Holly Manzone and Sarah Mims. The three comprised a task force formed to create a format for the Q&A.

Leonard rejected the trio’s recommendation that township resident Robert L. Miller, a lawyer and member of the Pocopson Township Planning Commission, serve as moderator at no cost. Leonard said that despite Miller’s strong qualifications, he did not believe it was fair to ask a township resident – someone with “skin in the game” – to preside.

He and Supervisor Georgia Brutscher voted 2-1 to appoint Thomas Oeste, a lawyer who had been suggested earlier by the township solicitor, for the role. Oeste will receive $175 an hour. Supervisor Ricki Stumpo voted no.

Mims, who said Miller attended a recent Barnard House Steering Committee meeting in preparation for serving as moderator, said if the supervisors had wanted a non-resident, they should have said so. “Why did you waste my time?” she asked.

Leonard disagreed. “No one’s time was wasted,” he said.

With some minor modifications, the supervisors agreed to accept the task force’s general guidelines for the event. The moderator will allot 90 minutes to answering questions submitted by residents, and 30 minutes for follow-up questions and comments. If time runs out, the answers to questions will be posted on the township’s website.

Lauressa J. McNemar, a member of the Barnard House Steering Committee, said she believed more than 100 questions had been submitted; however, DiMonte said she thought some of the submissions echoed earlier questions, making the actual number smaller.

Debate also accompanied a discussion about security at the event. Brutscher and Leonard voted 2-1 to pay a uniformed Birmingham Township officer $65 an hour from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Stumpo concurred with several residents who said the township should use its own constable.

A question about whether non-residents would be permitted to speak generated some spirited remarks. Brutscher said members of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC) should have a voice. Calling them “a major stakeholder,” she said the group had contributed more than $50,000 to the project.

“They are not stakeholders; they don’t live here,” said resident Sean Rafferty.

Another resident, Randy Mims, asked whether KURC’s use of the Barnard House violated the covenant the township signed with Chester County, which sold the property to Pocopson for $1 in 2008, a question that was not answered.

Stumpo said she felt residents should get priority to speak at the Q&A. Leonard said that issue would be determined by the moderator. He expressed surprise that only 44 residents had RSVP’d; however, a couple of residents said they had been away and didn’t know about it.

Leonard said the room holds 80. “It would be helpful to have RSVPs,” he said, adding that the moderator would determine the best way to deal with a potential overflow crowd.

With Stumpo dissenting again, the supervisors voted to reinstate Richard Jensen as the Barnard House’s project manager. At the July 27 meeting, they voted to have Jensen withdraw from the project after questions were raised about his dual role as both project manager and zoning-code enforcement officer.

Leonard said Jensen would not be doing any formal inspections. Jensen is needed to sign off on work done during the first phase of the project so that the contractors can get paid, Leonard said.

Representing a more upbeat topic, Karen Cresta said plans for Pocopson’s Founders Day are in the final stages. Cresta said she and fellow organizers – Colleen McKinney and Christine Hagen – were excited about this year’s event, titled “Harvesting a Great Community.”

“We hope all the community members will come out,” Cresta said.

She said Founders Day – scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27, from noon to 4 p.m. at Pocopson Park – relies on volunteers, a task that always represents a challenge. She encouraged residents to get involved and pointed out that Unionville High students could earn community service credits, which are required for graduation.

In other business, the supervisors were unable to agree on whether to appoint a resident to the Kennett Library Task Force and tabled that issue until the new supervisors take over in January. Similarly, a request from a resident interested in serving on the Kennett Library’s Board of Trustees will also be delayed.

Leonard echoed his view that a new library board should be given time to solve its problems without interference from a task force, which represents municipalities dissatisfied with some of the library board’s recent decisions, including a name change and conflict over a location change.

According to Pocopson Township minutes from May 2013, Pocopson's supervisors have not contributed any funds to the library since learning that the library board had rejected its two nominees for a seat on the library board.

The supervisors’ voted unanimously to spend $5,500 on the township’s share of an assessment commissioned by the Emergency Services Joint Task Force. Stumpo said the group includes the municipalities served by the Longwood, Po-Mar-Lin and Kennett fire companies: East Marlborough, Newlin, Pocopson and Kennett townships and the Borough of Kennett Square.

“We all agreed that we don’t know enough to make decisions” about fire and ambulance services, said Stumpo. “We don’t know who needs a pumper and who needs a ladder truck,” she explained, adding that “the volunteer system is not working.”

Brutscher said she would attend a meeting called by East Bradford Township to discuss the possibility of forming a regional police force. Although she agreed with Leonard that the prospect did not appear to meet Pocopson’s needs, she said it was prudent to get information.