December 8, 2015

Updated on Dec. 9 to correct debt figure

Kennett Square Borough Council ended the year with a bang on Monday, Dec. 7, as Council President Leon R. Spencer Jr. leveled his gavel during one of eight impassioned pleas from residents to retool the 2016 budget.

Budget concerns dominated the 2½-hour council meeting, sandwiched between accolades for the Joseph and Sarah Carter Community Development Corporation and an update on the borough’s resubmission of its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System strategy, a federal mandate known as MS4.

Despite residents’ protests, the budget passed 3-2 with Spencer and council members Danilo P. Maffei, and Geoffrey R. Bosley voting in favor of the $14.5 million spending plan. Council members Chip Plumly and Brett M. Irwin opposed it.

“New council, you’ve got your work cut out for you,” said Spencer, who was presiding over his last meeting. Council’s Dec. 14 meeting was cancelled, and so Borough Council, with three newly elected members – Wayne Braffman, Doug Doerfler and Jamie Mallon – will convene on Jan. 4. Plumly and Irwin did not seek reelection.

On that same date, council members will hear from applicants vying to fill the vacancies created by the resignations of D. Lynn Sinclair and Patrick B. Taylor. The deadline for letters of intent is 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

The 2016 budget holds the line on taxes with a millage rate of 6.35. (A mill is a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.) However, the spending plan includes revenue from a 3 percent increase in both the water and the sewer rates. And it continues a practice of transferring money from those funds into the general fund.

Using quotes uttered at a previous meeting by Borough Council members, resident John Thomas said the general fund is a “train wreck” and “living beyond its means.” He said council should be closely examining items from insurance to phone bills for possible cuts. He said the borough can no longer rely on population growth to fuel its coffers and needs to establish a reserve and reduce its debt, which borough officials said is $15.6 million.

“If you pass this budget without cutting something, there is something wrong with all of you,” Thomas said.

Thomas’s sentiments were echoed by several other residents, but tensions escalated when Robert Whiteside accused Spencer of not paying attention and cut Spencer off when he attempted to explain Whiteside’s apparent misperception.

“Don’t be slamming no hammer at me; I have a right to express my opinion,” Whiteside said, his voice rising as Spencer asked Police Chief Edward A. Zunino to show Whiteside the door.

After a brief conversation between Zunino and Whiteside, a 2013 police award recipient for helping apprehend a burglary suspect, tempers subsided. Whiteside suggested that some borough public works employees were not pulling their weight and should be monitored more closely. He also accused Spencer of not being responsive to constituents.

Spencer later disputed Whiteside’s characterizations. He explained that he takes notes during comment periods and not only responds to residents in a timely fashion but also keeps records of those phone and email exchanges.

Both Plumly and Irwin reiterated residents’ suggestions that more cuts could be made to the budget. Plumly, who submitted an alternative plan that generated savings by reducing services and contributions to a number of nonprofits, said he was disappointed that his colleagues did not act on any of his recommendations.

Bosley countered that Plumly’s proposal had been reviewed thoroughly.

“I think this budget, as painful as it is to my tax bill, to my wife’s tax bill, to everybody’s tax bill, is fine where it sits, and I’m voting in favor of it,” said Spencer.

Maffei said because of the turnover on council, which will soon feature five newcomers, the new group would have an opportunity to revisit the budget in January. Borough solicitor Marc D. Jonas concurred. To view the budget, click here.

In other business, council heard from Edward F. Rasiul of Pennoni Associates, who presented revisions to the borough’s 2012 MS4 submission. Maffei noted that the EPA’s directive, estimated to cost the borough about $40,000 over five years, illustrates the difficulties of reducing the borough’s debt. However, he added that MS4 ultimately aims to protect drinking water by reducing stormwater pollution.

“If you don’t protect your water, then water costs are going to go up to treat it,” he said.

During one of the evening’s more upbeat presentations, Zanyla Mitchell and Britney Bautista received plaques for their leadership roles during the borough’s fifth observance of National Night Out in August. Spencer said it’s always nice to recognize positive influences. “When it comes from young people, it’s all the more impressive,” he said.

The partnership between police and the Carter CDC, formerly the Historic East Linden Project, Inc., has been celebrated on National Night Out. The CDC has been credited for turning the historic neighborhood surrounding East Linden Street from a mecca for drug-dealing, violence, and disrepair into an attractive area committed to diversity and community outreach.

Borough Council also passed a resolution applauding the Carter CDC’s success in revitalizing the neighborhood.