An extraordinarily heavy police presence greeted attendees at the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, March 20.
A handful of county detectives, a former district attorney, and more than a dozen officers from multiple departments came to applaud the addition of veteran officer Matt Gordon to the Kennett Township Police Department.
Kennett Township Police Chief Lydell E. Nolt said Gordon’s distinguished law-enforcement career included nearly two decades in the City of Coatesville as well as stints with the Chester County Detectives and the state Attorney General’s Office.
Gordon’s 8-year-old daughter, Reese, held the Bible as Kennett Township Supervisors’ Chairman Scudder G. Stevens administered the oath of office. Gordon, who will start on Friday, April 22, is the sixth full-time officer, including the chief, in the department. The department also has one part-time officer, Nolt said.
In other police news, Nolt said the department has been participating in Project Naloxone, a program designed to provide police departments and law-enforcement agencies throughout Chester County with the training and medication, also known as Narcan, to reverse opioid overdoses. Started in late 2014 by Good Fellowship Ambulance in West Chester, the program has made a positive impact, Nolt said.
“Fifty people would have potentially lost their lives without this drug,” said Nolt.
The police chief said the township would soon be the recipient of a permanent receptacle for residents to dispose of unused medications safely. “The DA confirmed that it was shipped out last week,” he said.
Designed like mailboxes, the receptacles offer environmentally safe, anonymous disposal while also keeping the drugs from getting into the wrong hands or polluting waterways. The boxes are already installed in the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester, and the Kennett Square, Westtown-East Goshen, New Garden, West Goshen, and Oxford police departments.
Nolt also reported that the township is cracking down on overweight trucks, which pose a safety hazard because their braking system is designed for a specific weight. When a truck exceeds that load and attempts to stop, the braking capacity is diminished, Nolt said.
In other business, Stevens said he was pleased to report that the Kennett Public Library, which generated contentiousness last year, appears to be moving in a positive direction with an energized board of 12, most of whom are new. Stevens said he and Moore both attended a recent presentation to explain the library’s branding plan – and the process used to determine the library’s name – that was well-researched and well-received.
“I was very impressed,” Township Manager Lisa M. Moore said of the presentation.
Two additional public sessions to explain the library’s branding plan will be held on Tuesday, May 3, at 3 and 6 p.m. at the Kennett Township Building. To access an electronic version of the presentation, click here. To register for one of the informational sessions, go to http://www.kennettpubliclibrary.org.
“The bottom line is that there is a lot going on with the library, and it is all good stuff,” said Stevens.
After listening to an explanation from Moore regarding a Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI), the supervisors voted to authorize the application for a $100,000 grant with a $50,000 match for a master plan for the Kennett Greenway, a 12-mile, multi-use trail. TCDI is a program of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission that supports local development and redevelopment to qualifying municipalities.
Moore said the township would apply with the borough, which has pledged in-kind services, a partnership that would increase the likelihood of receiving the funds.
Expanding on the theme of regional connections, Michael Guttman, the township’s grant program coordinator, said exciting developments are underway in Yorklyn, Del., which, due to recent land acquisitions by the township, will be easily accessible to Kennett residents.
Among the many initiatives, Guttman said the Delaware Symphony Orchestra is building an amphitheater that will serve as its home base for summer outdoor concerts. It is also debuting “rail bikes,” pedal-powered vehicles that run along railroad tracks.
“Kennett Township residents will be able to walk or bike there,” Guttman said.
Finally, Moore presented the township’s 2015 Financial Report, which is available on the township website and can be accessed here.
Resident Art Kaiser asked if Moore could provide some specifics on the township’s investment portfolio, such as the top 10 investments, and she said she would make that information available.
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