Chester County Press 7-17-2019 Edition

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Chester CountyPRESS

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Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas

Volume 153, No. 29

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Oxford Borough Council member resigns A former council member has already been appointed to fill the vacancy By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Phillip Hurtt has resigned from Oxford Borough Council. Hurtt submitted his resignation letter to borough officials, expressing his regrets that he couldn’t continue to serve on borough council. Council president Sue Lombardi said that Hurtt has moved out of Oxford Borough, and as a result he is no longer eligible to serve on borough council. Lombardi said that she appreciated the effort and time that Hurtt put into serving on borough council. Council vice president Peggy Ann Russell added that it was sad to lose Hurtt

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as a council member. Hurtt is a Democrat who was elected to borough council in November of 2017. His term began in January of 2018 and runs through 2021. On Monday night, Oxford Borough Council formally accepted the resignation— and acted quickly to appoint a replacement. Council member John Thompson made a motion to appoint Randy Grace to fill the vacancy. Grace is a former council member and a business owner in town. Council member Ron Hershey seconded the motion to appoint Grace to fill the vacancy. During the discussion that followed, several council members, including Russell

and Amanda Birdwell, said that while they might support the appointment of Grace, they thought it best to wait on making an appointment so that others in the community had an opportunity to apply to fill the vacancy. It was an issue of fairness, they said. Those who supported making the appointment right away noted that Grace brought experience to council at a time when it is needed. Lombardi and Thompson, two of the more experienced council members are not seeking reelection, and there will be a lot of new faces on council in the new year. Additionally, waiting to make the appointment would have required a

Regional police to hold three events on National Night Out

Destination Delaware

Brought to you by the Chester County Press • July 17, 2019

Destination Delaware special section

of

The Southern Chester County Regional Police will be coordinating events at three locations on Aug. 6 as part of National Night Out, a national communitybuilding campaign that promotes police-community partnerships. Officers will be joined by members of fire and EMS services in Toughkenamon, in the parking area behind the Harvest Ridge Winery; in Avondale, in the parking area near the Avondale Post Office; and in West Grove Borough, in front of the West Grove Library.

Hogan will not seek re-election to District Attorney post By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Shore art Square...3B

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Photos by Steven Hoffman

Phillip Hurtt is resigning from Oxford Borough Council.

special meeting because the borough council’s next meeting will take place outside the 30-day window for council to act to fill the vacancy.

Kennett

INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries...................2B Classifieds.................4B Calendar of Events.....6B

Coming at a time when the direction of the Republican Party in Chester County seems to be spiraling in free fall, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan recently announced that he will not seek reelection to the office he has held since 2011. Hogan, a Republican who has been with the DA’s office for 21 years, cited family reasons for his decision to drop out of the race. He said he will remain in his

Ryan, a 15-year veteran of the Chester County and Philadelphia DA’s offices, and who led Chester County’s Child Abuse Unit. Under Hogan, the county’s DA’s Office has earned kudos for its two-pronged battle against opioid and heroin distribution and addiction in the county. It established a multi-agency task force to target dealers and seek treatment for those suffering from addiction. Hogan has also spearheaded a county-wide consortium of agencies and individuals, combined with

See special editorial on Page 7A © 2007 The Chester County Press

office until January when his term ends, and that his first assistant, Michael Noone, will replace him on the November ballot, against Democrat Deb

innovative investigation techniques, to create protections for children and elders against predators and abusers, while stepping up Continued on Page 2A

Randy Grace was appointed to fill a vacancy on Oxford Borough Council on Monday night. He previously served as a council member.

When the vote was taken, Lombardi, Hershey, and Thompson voted in favor of the appointment, while Birdwell, Russell, Continued on Page 3A

Kennett School Board appoints architect for sports field upgrades By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Marking 40 years healthy foods...1B

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The Kennett Consolidated School District is planning a series of sports field upgrades, including refurbishing the synthetic field at the high school sports stadium, the all-weather synthetic track, and the tennis courts in the summer of 2020. It was announced at the Kennett School Board’s July 8 meeting that the firm of Architerra PC was appointed to do the architectural work. The planned upgrades to the sports fields is part of the school district’s five-year

plan for capital projects. As he introduced the discussion about the sports field upgrades, business administrator Mark Tracy noted that the synthetic turf at the stadium is now 12 years old, which is longer than the ten-year life that was projected at the time the turf was installed. School board member Dominic Perigo explained that district officials were less than pleased with the turf in the first few years after the stadium was built, but the turf did hold up for a lengthy amount of time, Continued on Page 2A

Continuing a tradition of faith New pastor takes helm of Oxford United Methodist Church By John Chambless Staff Writer The long tradition of faith at the Oxford United Methodist Church stretches back to 1885, when the brick church was built at Addison and Market streets. This month, Rev. Bernard Kefer steps into that tradition as the church’s new pastor. Kefer and his wife, Vicky, have come to Oxford from serving at Zion United Methodist Church in Coal Township, and the larger Clark’s Grove United Methodist Church in Paxinos. They took over for Rev. Mark Terry, who had been at the Oxford church for a decade before being appointed to a church in Springfield. Kefer noted the long tenure of his predecessor and added that the pastor before Terry served for 15 years, so there haven’t been a lot of changes in leadership

Photo by John Chambless

Rev. Bernard Kefer took over at the Oxford United Methodist Church this month.

at the Oxford church. The Kefer said this week that congregation, however, has he has been getting plenty enthusiastically welcomed of suggestions for things to Continued on Page 3A Kefer and his wife, and


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