Borough meeting spotlights sidewalks, police

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As Aalana Vasquez enjoys pizza, Kennett Square Police Officers Johnathan Ortiz (left) and Sarah London converse during the 2015 National Night Out. To Ortiz's right is Borough Councilman Geoffrey R. Bosley.

Community policing and sidewalks dominated the Kennett Square Borough Council meeting on Monday, July 18.

Borough Council President Danilo P. Maffei began the meeting with a moment of silence for all of those suffering in the wake of recent incidents of violence directed at the police.

During public comment, two residents extended praise to the Kennett Square Police Department for different reasons. Joseph Dilley referenced what he described as a very serious incident to which four officers responded.

“They took care of this problem within 10 hours; it was just incredible,” Dilley said, declining to elaborate on the specifics. “They did a helluva job.”

Clara Saxton said she attended a recent meeting in Wilmington about improving police and community relations that included two members of the department. “Our people really represented us well,” she said of the officers.

Council voted 5-0 to approve a special event application from the Joseph & Sarah Carter Community Development Corporation for the borough’s Sixth Annual National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 2, an initiative that focuses on community policing. Borough Council members Ethan Cramer and LaToya Myers both abstained from the vote because they hold leadership roles with the CDC.

Myers explained that statistics have shown that crime rates go up in areas where people are isolated. National Night Out aims to foster community and provide an opportunity for youth and the police to get to know each other. For the first time, the festivities will include Kennett Township and its police department.

Councilman Geoffrey R. Bosley said he’s attended the borough’s National Night Out programs before and has been impressed. “It’s terrific,” he said.

Council also voted 5-0 to approve the Carter CDC’s Community Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 27, from noon to 3 p.m. Maffei read a resolution from Mayor Matt Fetick, who did not attend the meeting, praising the National Night Out event and the partnership between the police and the community.

Council spent more than half an hour discussing a waiver request from the DiOttavios in the 500 block of East South Street. Penny DiOttavio, who supplied council members with documentation as well as photos, explained that the sidewalk and curb in front of the home had deteriorated from poor drainage.

Because the properties on either side of them don’t have curbs or sidewalks, theirs serves no purpose and is now unsafe, she said. In response to a question from Maffei about whether the borough had cited the property, Tony DiOttavio said no. He said he recognized the sidewalk's hazardous condition and had installed caution tape around it.

Tony DiOttavio said he planned to repair a retaining wall that had also been damaged by standing water but wanted to replace the sidewalk with a strip of grass.

After considerable back and forth about setting a potential precedent that was inconsistent with the borough’s goal of becoming more walkable, the council voted unanimously to approve the removal of the sidewalk and curb, consistent with any PennDOT regulations.

However, council did not waive the sidewalk requirement. Maffei noted that the borough’s Streetscape Committee is presently working on a borough-wide plan for sidewalks. By not waiving the requirement, the borough could decide in the future to add sidewalks to that stretch of East South Street.

In other business, council heard an update on the Brandywine Battlefield Task Force from Sally Warren, one of the borough’s two representatives on it. She said the Chester County Planning Department had received funding to work on Phase Two of its study, which would focus on Kennett Square and its role in the American Revolution.

“If you love history, this is very exciting stuff,” she said.

Warren said that the largest land battle of the American Revolution involved 30,000 British and American soldiers with a footprint – which keeps growing as research continues – of more than 35,000 acres. She said the project aims to identify areas “where Americans made their ultimate sacrifice” so that they can be protected from development.

Later, John Thomas, the borough’s other task force member, encouraged residents to get out their metal detectors in hopes of finding remnants, such as military buttons or musket balls, in their back yards. Anyone who makes such a discovery should contact him, he said.

In closing remarks, Maffei responded to negative comments from residents at a previous meeting about The Creamery, a pop-up beer garden in the 300 block of Birch Street.

He said the borough’s Codes Department, Liquor Control Board, and Chester County Health Department all conducted inspections in response to citizens’ complaints about unsafe conditions and unauthorized cooking and found no violations.

The Creamery received a temporary use permit, which expires at the end of the year, so that borough officials would have an opportunity to see whether the operation proved to be a viable business venture. “So far, it looks like it is,” Maffei said, encouraging anyone with concerns to let borough officials know.

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