September 22, 2015

Fears of turning people away or requiring security to control an unruly crowd proved unfounded at Monday night’s Pocopson Township question-and-answer session on the Barnard House.

About 50 people attended the forum, which was designed to address conflicts that have surfaced during the past several months about the historic building, a former stop on the Underground Railroad that is being repurposed as the township municipal building and the home of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center.

However, a number of residents said the planned, two-hour presentation raised more questions than it answered. It also concluded nearly a half-hour earlier than expected.

The township supervisors agreed to hold the event at the Pocopson Home in response to a request from Elaine DiMonte, who is running unopposed for supervisor. DiMonte suggested that residents’ concerns, which include allegations of shoddy workmanship, ineffective oversight and spiraling costs, needed to be addressed before the project moved forward. Whether or not the historic building is well-suited to township administration has also been a source of contention.

Thomas F. Oeste, an attorney hired to moderate the session, began by detailing the evening’s ground rules. He said that 163 questions had been submitted in advance by 12 residents and that after eliminating the duplicates, the answers were provided to him in writing, primarily by members of the Barnard House Steering Committee, which has been overseeing the renovations.

Oeste said 90 minutes would be allotted to reading the questions and answers aloud – with the supervisors’ taking turns – and the final half-hour would consist of follow-up comments and questions, with a two-minute limit per speaker. By reading quickly and allowing Oeste to handle the last section, the supervisors completed the first segment with five minutes to spare.

To access the questions and answers on the township’s website, click here.

During the follow-up session, eight attendees spoke. Three raised concerns about the project, particularly the need to assess residents’ support for it. Responding to an earlier comment that a referendum wasn’t feasible, DiMonte inquired about conducting a survey. Oeste asked the board if it wanted to respond.

“I don’t think we wish to respond to that now,” Supervisor Georgia Brutscher replied.

Resident Lisa Borel, who asked about how the township would ensure that its recycling center wasn’t misused once it moved to space with public access outside the Barnard House, was promised an answer at a later time.

Five members of the audience, four of whom sit on the Barnard House Steering Committee, voiced support for the project.

Carol Haaf, a committee member, said, “The steering team is comprised of honest, thoughtful members, and it is a shame that they are being maligned instead of being treated with respect. Shame on us. It makes our township look bad.”

Representing the Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC), John A. O’Neal said KURC has been committed to the project for seven years. “We feel that such a unique opportunity cannot be lost,” he said.

After the meeting, Supervisors’ Chairman Barney Leonard and Brutscher both said they thought the session went well, but about a dozen residents disputed that assessment.

“Unfortunately, many of the questions were not answered, and the validity of a number of the responses must be challenged,” said township resident Sean Rafferty.

As an example, Rafferty cited Leonard’s response to a question from resident Andrea Gosselin about any studies done on the township’s Denton Hollow Road facility that led the supervisors to rule out the possibility of expanding the current township building. Leonard said they would be provided. But Rafferty said he had already received a response to a Right-to-Know request on the subject that said the information did not exist.

Resident Randy Mims also took issue with some of the answers. He said he failed to understand how the Barnard House Steering Committee could have stated that the project incurred no cost overruns when a hardwood floor had to be redone because it was laid before the building had heat, causing it to buckle.

Sarah Mims, a longtime member of the township’s Historical Committee, said she disagreed with former Supervisor Steve Conary’s statement that only two choices existed: continuing the project at an additional cost of $650,000 or stopping it and paying back grants of $350,000.

Mims said she believes the building should be preserved, but she isn’t convinced that township administration represents the best use of it. She also said she was disappointed to learn that the Barnard House Steering Committee had only applied for five grants to defray costs; during roughly the same time period, she said the volunteers working on the Locust Grove Schoolhouse applied for more than 50.

Township records indicate about $730,000 has been spent so far on the project, and another approximately $75,000 is awaiting payment, bringing the total to more than $800,000.

DiMonte and Alice Balsama, who is also running unopposed for supervisor, echoed the frustrations.

“On the surface, some of the answers would appear logical; however, a majority of the answers were very misleading,” DiMonte said, adding that she remained disappointed that the supervisors continue to reject the idea of a survey. “Maybe the supervisors are just afraid of the outcome.”

Balsama said she was concerned that residents’ requests for financial disclosure on the Barnard House project had been misconstrued as personal attacks on the Barnard House Steering Committee. “I can recall no moment in time at any township meeting when anyone has made statements against any volunteer’s dedication to this project, and I find the repeated redirect from the business aspect to that personal strata nonproductive,” she said.

Both DiMonte and Balsama said the Barnard House conflict has strengthened their resolve to improve communication with residents, such as disclosing a project’s costs, both incurred and expected, on the township’s website.

The next township meeting is Monday, Sept. 28.

 

 

After too many accidents, the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors wants area residents to know that it approved changing the intersection of Bayard and Rosedale roads to a four-way stop sign, a township press release said.

In addition to accidents, the impetus for the change also involved the general lack of site distance when crossing the intersection. The township tried to make numerous alterations to improve the site distance prior to creating a four-way stop, including removing trees and brush and painting cross bars on the road.

Two traffic studies commissioned by the township recommended the four-way stop. Due to safety concerns, the Safety Committee, chief of police, and public works director/roadmaster all supported the change as well, the release said.

The stop signs have been installed, including advance warning signs with flashers to inform motorists. Township officials are asking area residents to exercise caution at this location since some drivers may not be expecting to stop.

“We are confident that once everyone gets acclimated with the four-way stop, it will greatly improve the intersection and assist in decreasing the number of accidents at this intersection,” said Township Manager Lisa M. Moore in the release.

It was a light agenda for the U-CF School Board work session on Sept. 21, but members were updated on middle school renovations and heard concerns about teacher raises based on continuing education classes.

While it was not an agenda item, Director Keith Knauss brought up his concern that the district was paying for, and giving raises for classes that, he said, do not make faculty members better teachers.

Knauss said a recent report showed the district spent $241,000 on tuition reimbursement for 220 courses, and then gave teachers raises for taking those classes. He said he accepts the concept of doing that in the belief that continuing education makes for more effective teaching.

However, he thinks some of the courses taken don’t necessarily improve teacher performance, and that reimbursement and raises just add to the district’s costs without benefit.

“We like to think our teachers are taking classes at West Chester University taught by a doctorate degreed professor with a challenging examination on subjects such as understanding the autism spectrum disorders…but a shadow industry has emerged,” Knauss said.

“This industry offers a number of courses that add little to teaching effectiveness, courses that [Superintendent John] Sanville would never approve if he were not constrained by contract language.”

As examples, Knauss referred to classes such as Google Apps for Education, Interactive Whiteboard Technology, Integrating iMovie Into the Classroom.

“This has got to stop because 25 percent of the courses taken each year, comprising $58,000 in tuition reimbursement, fall into this ineffective category.”

Knauss acknowledged that reimbursing for technical education courses is part of the teachers’ contract, obligating the district to pay for them, but he would like to see new wording that would, he said, be mutually beneficial.

He suggested giving every teacher an automatic 12 technical education credits without taking any courses, thereby saving tuition money.

There was no deep discussion on the issue at the time, but Sanville did say he and his administrators do look at teacher requests carefully, but there is less leeway when it comes to tech courses.

Yet, he also said some tech courses do make sense while others are difficult to understand as fitting in with specific teacher responsibilities.

“Some teachers are taking great courses,” Sanville said, but some of the other courses aren’t as great, but there is less leeway to deny courses. Only about 20 courses were denied last year, while 220 were approved.

Other business

Director of Buildings and Grounds Rick Hostetler said renovations at the Charles F. Patton Middle School would not interfere with the middle school play, despite rumors to the contrary.

“The key word is rumor. There’s nothing happening in the auditorium, so there’s no reason for any auditorium activities not to proceed,” Hostetler said.

He added that the auditorium would be renovated at a later date and that would coincide with upgrading the sound system there.

Hostetler also updated the board on the repairs to the roof at the high school so that the sound of rain does not interfere with audiences’ enjoying productions there.

He said the architect has determined a corrective design, pricing has been obtained from some contractors, and a tentative contractor has been selected. The delay at this point, he said, is that the insurance company has not yet authorized the architect to hire the contractor and move ahead.

The insurance company’s attorney contacted the architect to tell the district to issue a notice of claim, he said.

“The insurance company has been hesitant to move forward on a $200,000 item,” Hostetler said.

He added that the school district’s attorney has contacted the insurance company’s attorney, but there’s no update beyond that.