There was little action during the Sept. 28 Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors’ workshop. The board tabled three items, and the only definitive actions pertained to transferring funds from one account to another and giving a thumbs up to the Chadds Ford Historical Society.
The board granted a special events permit to the CFHS for its annual Great Pumpkin Carve. Bethel Township police will provide traffic control for the three-night event scheduled for Oct. 20-22.
Transferring $115,000 from the township’s Open Space Money Market account to a Walkable Chadds Ford account took a bit of discussion, however. Resident Carolyn Daniels, representing the Ridings Homeowners Association, asked why the money was being transferred. Her concern was that money collected through the Open Space Tax was being used for Walkable Chadds Ford.
The question led to a lengthy discussion, but Supervisors’ Vice Chairman Noelle Barbone said the funds had come from grants for Walkable Chadds Ford and that those monies went into the Open Space Fund because a separate account for the Walkable project had not yet been set up when the grants first came in, and Supervisors’ Chairman Samantha explained the funds were being transferred for tracking purposes.
Supervisor Frank Murphy later stressed that no tax money residents paid the township has been used for the project.
“The money being transferred did not come from the open space referendum,” he said.
But the board also tabled three agenda items until next week’s regular meeting on Oct. 5. Supervisors are currently scheduled to vote on possibly changing website vendors, leasing a plotter scanner, and moving to a different access control system for the township. Murphy said he wanted more time to understand better the issues and costs involved.
There were also discussions on panhandling and handling shelter-in-place situations, such as the one on Sept. 10.
On Sept. 10, Pennsylvania State police were called to Webb Road because shots were fired. (That story may be found here.) Police blocked off traffic from entering or leaving Webb and told residents there to shelter in place until the perceived threat had ended.
One of the questions raised during Wednesday night’s meeting was whether there could be an alert system with the state police that would advise residents of what might be going on and give instructions or updates.
Tpr. Michelle Naab, the community affairs officer at Troop K, Media, was in attendance. She told the board that the state police aren’t set up to do that.
There was also a discussion regarding people panhandling around the intersection of Routes 1 and 202 and the possibility of enacting an anti-panhandling ordinance. Barbone raised the issue, saying she has seen panhandlers in the area and has read on social media that others have observed the same.
But the issue won’t go any further because Chadds Ford Township has no way to enforce such an ordinance, and, Naab pointed out, the state police don’t enforce municipal ordinances.
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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