March 31, 2016 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Delco man convicted of federal fraud charges

A federal jury returned guilty verdicts for a Delaware County man accused of tax fraud on Thursday, March 31, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Jean Baptiste Alvarez, aka “Alex,” 43, of Aldan, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. with respect to false claims, aggravated identity theft, and misuse of Social Security numbers, the release said.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 26. Alvarez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least two years in prison with a maximum possible sentence of 24 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a possible fine, and a $500 special assessment.

According to evidence presented at trial, Alvarez unlawfully provided to Peterson Rene, charged elsewhere, the personal identifying information of hundreds of real persons. Specifically, Alvarez sold Rene patient information labeled “census sheets” that were created by, and kept in the normal course of business, at the Kirkbride Center health care facility where the defendant worked.

These “census sheets” included names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth for patients. From 2012 through 2015, Alvarez and Rene conspired with others to use the stolen identifying information on tax returns for the purpose of obtaining payment of false, fictitious, and fraudulent refunds, the release said.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.

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Jim DeFrank sales team honored

Business

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Fox & Roach, Realtors recently honored Jim DeFrank Sales Team, Chadds Ford Office Sales Associates, with a Chairman’s Circle Platinum Award for their excellent sales performance for 2015, placing them in the top 1 percent of all BHHS agents.

DeFrank and his team agree with the words of Douglas Adams: “To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” Team members, led by DeFrank, include Beth Alois, Jeri Blechman, Anthony Nanni and Roy Shoppell.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS® is a part of HomeServices of America, the nation’s second largest provider of total home services. The company has more than 4,600 Sales Associates in over 65 sales offices across the Tri-State area. Through its affiliate, the Trident Group, the company provides one-stop shopping and facilitated services to its clients including mortgage financing and title, property and casualty insurance.

From left to right Roy Shoppell, Beth Alois, Jim DeFrank, Anthony Nanni and Jeri Blechman,

BHHS Fox & Roach ranks number one in Residential Units and number two in Gross Commission Income throughout the entire Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Network. Our company-sponsored charitable foundation, Fox & Roach Charities, is committed to addressing the needs of children and families in stressful life circumstances and has contributed over $4 million to more than 250 local organizations since its inception in 1995. Visit our Websites at www.jimdefrank.com and www.foxroach.com.

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Birmingham Rd. bridge set for replacement

Local News, Local News Birmingham

Construction is scheduled to begin the week of April 11 to replace the Birmingham Road bridge over Radley Run in Birmingham Township, PennDOT announced on Thursday, March 31.

In a press release, PennDOT said the new bridge, located between the intersections of Lambourne Road and Stoney Run Drive, is scheduled to open in August. It has been closed to motorists since Sept. 22 due to severe structural damage.

During the bridge closure, Birmingham Road through traffic will continue to be detoured over Route 52, Creek Road and Route 926. Local access is maintained up to the construction zone. Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling through the area.

PennDOT will remove the old bridge and construct a new, cast-in-place concrete bridge. The new one-span structure will be 18 feet long and 24 feet wide. It will carry one travel lane in each direction, the release said.

The existing one-span, steel-beam bridge was built in 1938. It is 15 feet long and 26 feet wide. The structure was posted with a 18-ton weight limit and carried an average of 3,553 vehicles a day when it closed.

Loftus Construction, Inc., of Cinnaminson, N.J. will be the general contractor on the $500,000 project that is funded entirely by the state.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 770 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices.

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Pocopson Twp. seeking good communicators

Local News, Local News Pocopson

Pocopson Township is hoping to tap the skills of a handful of good communicators among its residents.

Pocopson Township is looking to form a Communications Task Force.

At the March 28 supervisors’ meeting, Supervisor Elaine DiMonte received the endorsement of her colleagues, Ricki Stumpo and Alice Balsama, to form a volunteer Communications Task Force that would develop a communications plan for the township.

DiMonte said she would like to see a small group with experience in communications and social media. The group’s purpose would be to design and implement a plan to improve two-way communication between the township and residents.

“We want to get the community a lot more involved in what we’re doing,” she explained.

DiMonte said the group would discuss issues such as the content and frequency of emails and the use of social media. She said she hoped that better communication would help the township fill some of the vacancies on township committees, and she said she envisioned one or two town hall-style meetings a year to keep residents informed and engaged.

Interested residents should send an email by May 1 to info@pocopson.org. Information on the position also appears on the township’s website at http://www.pocopson.org/communications-task-force/.

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Farmers urged to apply for tax credit program

Local News Birmingham

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, is encouraging farmers who want to implement best management practices (BMPs) or purchase on-farm conservation equipment to apply for the remaining 2015-16 Resource Enhancement and Protection program tax credits.

REAP, a tax credit program for agricultural producers who install BMPs or make equipment purchases that reduce erosion and sedimentation, is administered by the State Conservation Commission. The program gives agriculture producers an incentive to purchase conservation equipment and materials to better protect the environment, according to a press release from Dinniman.

Farmers may receive tax credits of up to $150,000 per agricultural operation for 50 to 75 percent of the project’s cost. The most common projects approved are for no-till planting and precision agricultural equipment, waste storage facilities, Conservation Plans, Nutrient Management Plans, and protecting heavy animal use areas like barnyards.

The deadline to submit applications for remaining REAP tax credits is April 22, the release said.

“Pennsylvania farmers continue to make great strides in safeguarding our local streams and watersheds,” Dinniman said in the release. “This program can go a long way in helping farmers take advantage of tax credits while making conservation-minded capital improvements and incorporating best management practices in their operations.”

REAP can be used in conjunction with other funding sources such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQUIP) or the Chesapeake Bay Program for purchases.

Private investors may act as a sponsor by providing capital to producers as a project if approved in return for tax credits. Any individual or business subject to taxation through personal income tax, corporate net income tax, bank shares tax or others is eligible to participate in REAP.

Since the program began in 2007, REAP has awarded tax credits to 3,900 projects totaling more than $50 million. Public and private enterprise investments in REAP have contributed to the conservation projects, worth more than $128 million. From 2010 to 2014, REAP has helped reduce an estimated runoff of nearly 1.4 million pounds of nitrogen, 84,000 pounds of phosphorus and 9,000 tons of sediment, the release said.

Applications for the 2015-2016 REAP program area available at www.agriculture.pa.gov by clicking “protect,” then “State Conservation Commission,” then “REAP,” or by contacting Joel Semke at 717-705-4032 or jsemke@pa.gov.

In addition, producers are welcome to participate in a BMP survey being conducted by Penn State Extension to help tell the story of agriculture and the work producers are doing to protect water quality in the state. The survey can be accessed at http://agsci.psu.edu/aec/projects/help-tell-the-story-pa-farmer-survey.

For more information contact Dinniman’s district office at (610) 692-2112, or e-mail acirucci@pasenate.com.

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George Jaroslav Zacharkiw of West Chester

Obituaries

George Jaroslaw Zacharkiw, 58, of West Chester, died Monday, March 28, at home. He was the husband of Susan M. Waldron Zacharkiw.

Born on Jan. 31, 1958, in Chester, he was the son of Tamara Huzva Zacharkiw and the late Jaroslaw Zacharkiw. He graduated from Widener University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

George spent most of his career as an expert witness in the construction industry working for Kellogg Corporation and Navigant Consulting. He was a member of the board of directors of Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway Commission and enjoyed doing home projects for his family and electronics.

“He enjoyed solving problems as most engineers do, but honestly the favorite part of all his engineering and consulting jobs while working for Air Products in Allentown, Kellogg Corporation and Bohdan Associates in Colorado and Navigant Inc. in Pennsylvania, was exploring new cultures and finding the finest sushi restaurants as he traveled the USA and Europe,” said his wife of 34 ½ years. “George always viewed his professional life of travel to new sites as an adventure.”

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Krysta, and her husband, Shawn; his son, Jonathan, and his wife, Erin; grandchildren Sofia, Jack, Jackson, and Eva; and two brothers, Steve and Pete.

Relatives and friends are invited to his visitation on Sunday, April 3, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, Inc., 410 N. Church St. West Chester, PA 19380; 610-696-1181, www.DellaFH.com.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, April 4, at St. Agnes Church, 233 W. Gay St. West Chester, PA 19380. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Abramson Cancer Center at Chester County Hospital, 440 E. Marshall St., Suite 201, West Chester, PA. 19380.

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Route 926 Bridge project set for next year

Local News, Local News Birmingham, Local News Chadds Ford, Local News Concord, Local News Kennett, Local News Pennsbury, Local News Pocopson

_1JF6914-Audience — Area residents pack the Pocopson Elementary School gymnasium to listen to and question engineers regarding the Route 926 Bridge project, now scheduled to begin next year.

After at least 14 years of delays, the Route 926 Bridge replacement project is set to begin in 2017, two years after the last time it was scheduled.

If the project goes as planned, the total job will take a year, but detours will last only six months and access to businesses in the area of the bridge will be kept open.

That was the information coming from Frank Eells, an engineer with Gannett Fleming, the consulting firm working with PennDOT on the project. Eells — the consulting project manager — was the primary speaker at a public meeting Wednesday night at Pocopson Elementary School. Other consultants and PennDOT representatives were also on hand to answer questions.

Pennsbury's Lynn Luft examines a chart showing the timeline for the work. — Pennsbury’s Lynn Luft examines a chart showing the timeline for the work.

According to Eells, the project start date is “solid for next spring.”

Eells said the project itself is the same as was presented at a similar meeting in May of 2014. Approaches to the bridge — on both the Pocopson and Birmingham Township side — will be raised to prevent them from flooding when the Brandywine Creek spills its banks; two new culverts will be installed over Radley Run; and a stretch of Creek Road, north of Route 926, will be realigned.

What’s different this time is the length of time the roads will be closed. The original idea was to have the overpass closed for 18 months. That was later adjusted to a year, but pushback from the school district and from state Rep. Stephen Barrar resulted in a decrease to nine months. Now it’s down to six months. The work schedule is set to be 10 hours per day, six days per week.

A map shows the area of construction. The large green area is the Brandywine Creek. The smaller green area is Radley Run.

Eells said the contract would include penalties, which he didn’t specify except to say they were “very high,” for every day the job takes beyond the projected end date.

He said bids on the project would be sent out in September, and the contract awarded within two months after that. Work would begin next February with a traffic light installed at Route 52 and Pocopson Road.

Once that light is installed and working, approaches to the Route 926 Bridge would be closed and construction would begin. That portion is expected to take about four months, Eells said. When that’s finished, the Creek Road/Route 926 intersection would be closed for two months so Creek Road could be re-aligned and the culverts installed.

Eells said the roads should re-open about Labor Day of next year.

Barrar said that was “great news,” while Bob Cochran, business manager for the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, was also pleased.

“That minimizes our disruption for transportation,” Cochran said.

The official detour will take traffic around the area through Routes 52, 202 and 1. Many residents questioned how well that would work, saying people would find their own way through the construction area. As has been the concern for years, questions arose regarding what would happen if an accident or other traffic problem would shut down the Route 52 Bridge.

While neither Eells nor any of the other representatives could give a specific answer to that, Eells did say the contractor would have the ability to re-time traffic lights at the signaled intersections in the area to help traffic flow if necessary.

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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Democrat gets backing of teachers’ group

Local News

The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the largest education employee organization in the state, on Tuesday, March 29, announced its endorsement of Democrat Marty Molloy in his bid for the 9th Senatorial District in Delaware and Chester counties.

Marty Molloy

Molloy, a nonprofit education executive, is hoping to fill the seat vacated by former state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, who won a judgeship on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in November. Rep. Tom Killion (R-168) earned the unanimous support of Republicans for the April 26 special election.

“With Marty’s background, you might assume that this endorsement was a shoe-in. But we are a bipartisan organization and carefully considered each candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, and their capacity to work to improve education for all children across the state. In the end, we were all united in deciding that Marty was the clear choice to best represent the 9th district in Harrisburg and continue our fight to fully fund education across the state,” Mark Cottom, PSEA PACE Director, Southeast Region, said in a press release.

Malloy said he was proud of this endorsement. “Being a teacher is more than a full-time job – it’s a commitment to doing whatever it takes to make sure young people succeed, both in the classroom and in life – and the members of PSEA know this better than anyone,” Molloy said in the release.

The 39-year-old Nether Providence resident is the director of vocation at YouthBuild, a school that helps at-risk young adults earn high school diplomas and prepare for careers.

“People, perhaps teachers and students most of all, are rightly tired of lip service from career politicians. At home, my wife and I teach our kids to do what they say they will do and follow through on their responsibilities,” Malloy said in the release. “As state senator, teachers, students, and families will always be able to count on me to keep my word and keep fighting for those that need it most.”

The 9th Senatorial District is comprised of the Delaware County boroughs and townships of Aston, Bethel, Brookhaven, Chadds Ford, Chester, Chester Heights, Lower Chichester, Upper Chichester, Concord, Eddystone, Edgemont, Marcus Hook, Middletown, Nether Providence, Parkside, Rose Valley, Thornbury, Trainer, Upland, and the City of Chester, as well as the Chester County boroughs and townships of Birmingham, East Goshen, West Goshen, Kennett, Kennett Square, East Marlborough, Newlin, Pennsbury, Pocopson, Thornbury, and Westtown, with 65 percent of the 9^th District voters residing in Delaware County.

PSEA is the largest education employee organization in the state, representing over 180,000 members in all components of the public school system, including public school teachers, education support professionals, staff in state higher education institutions, nurses in health care facilities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers, the release said.

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Carmen Nieves Diaz of West Chester

Obituaries

Carmen Nieves Diaz, 86, of West Chester, died Tuesday, March 29, at the Pocopson Home. Her husband Angel Colon died in 1984.

Born in Comerio, Puerto Rico, she was the daughter of the late Miguel Nieves and Cristina Diaz.

Carmen was a homemaker and enjoyed cooking and being with her family and friends. She was a great mother and wife.

She was a member of the Iglesia Pentecostal Pena Inconmovible.

She is survived by five sons, Angel Colon and his wife Luz Colon of Brooklyn, N.Y., Jorge Colon of Puerto Rico, Jose Colon of Puerto Rico, Andres Rivera of New York, and Luis Colon of Puerto Rico; five daughters, Carmen Colon and her husband Angel Ortiz of Oxford, Gladys Colon of West Chester, Gloria Colon and her husband Pedro Nieves of Perth Amboy, N.J., Blanca Iris Colon and her husband Jesus Vega of Puerto Rico and Margarita Nieves of New York; two sisters, Luz Maria Nieves of Kentucky and Doris Nieves of Pennsylvania, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She was predeceased by four brothers.

You may visit with her family and friends from 10 to noon on Tuesday, April 5, at the Iglesia Pentecostal Pena Inconmovible Church, 764 Market Street in Oxford. Her graveside service will follow at 12:30 p.m. at the Oxford Cemetery, 220 North Third Street, Oxford, PA.

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.griecocares.com

Arrangements by the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral home in Kennett Square.

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Clarence Robert Bryan

Obituaries

In April of 1941, Clarence and Bertha Bryan brought a baby boy into the world and named him Clarence Robert Bryan. Bobby attended Cochranville Elementary, Elk View School in Penn Township and Avon Grove High School. While in high school Bob, the guy with the ’49 Chevy convertible, met Jean, the girl with the hot ’50 Olds. Bob graduated from Avon Grove in 1959 and received his associates degree in accounting from Goldey-Beacom College in 1964. Bob worked for the DuPont de Nemours Co. from 1959-2001. His time was spent with the DuPont Country Club and the Hotel DuPont.

Bob and Jean married in 1962, made their home in West Grove, and shared 53 years of marriage. They had one son, David Robert Bryan, of whom he was very proud. Bob worked hard and was a very kind man. After retirement, he had more time to spend traveling and enjoying NASCAR and his Phillies. During retirement, he was joined by Parkinson’s disease and advanced prostate cancer. He just kept going and never complained.

Bob died March 29. In addition to his parents, Bob was preceded in death by three brothers; Gary, Richard, and Donald, and one brother-in-law, Donald Gregg. Living on without him are his wife Jean, son David and fiancée Ingrid Weber, sister Janet Gregg, brother James Bryan Sr and a very large family including nieces, nephews and cousins. Bob made our corner of the world a nicer place.

You are invited to visit with Bob’s family and friends from 6-8 p.m., Sunday, April 3, at the Foulk & Grieco Funeral Home Inc. (610-869-2685) 200 Rose Hill Rd. West Grove, PA 19390 and from 8:30 – 9:45 a.m., Monday, April 4 at Assumption BVM Catholic Church 300 State Rd. West Grove, PA 19390. A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Church. Interment will be in Union Hill Cemetery in Kennett Square. Contributions in his memory may be made to Assumption BVM Church at the aforementioned address or to Neighborhood Hospice 795 E. Marshall St. Suite 204 West Chester PA 19380. To view his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, please visit www.griecocares.com

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