Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 156, No. 4
INSIDE
2022 Health and Medical Guide
Small towns, ideas...3A
smart
A trolley, a dance hall and an artist...1B
INDEX Opinion.......................5A Obituaries..............2B-3B
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Classifieds..................4B
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Oxford School Board discusses how to utilize American Recovery Plan funding By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Contributing Writer The Oxford School Board met on Jan. 18 at the district’s administration building to discuss how the school district will use funding from the American Recovery Plan (ESSER). The district is expecting roughly $6 million over the next few years, and of that money, 20 percent must be designated to programs that directly address student education time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will include items such as summer school, and educational support programs. The rest of the money will be used for other pandemic-related costs such as personal protective equipment, technology, buildings and grounds, services for special needs students and more. These
general categories are included in the federal guidelines. Specific items may come later as the item will come up for board approval in February. The grant application for this money must be submitted by March 1. Calculated on a per-student basis, the total amount is $1,686 per child over the two years of funding. Local resident Carol Colangelo spoke against accepting the grant money because of the federal safety plan regulations that go with it. “I as a stakeholder don’t want the $6 million,” she said during the public comment period. “This $6 million is as corrupt as you can get.” The other speaker under public comment was resident Ronnie Lutz, who also opposed health dictates tied to ESSER funding. Continued on page 2A
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Medic 94 receives state funding for equipment upgrades
Courtesy photo
State Sen. Carolyn Comitta (center left) and Bob Hotchkiss, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Services/Medic 94 (center right), display a new Philips Tempus ALS Cardiac Monitor defibrillator. Comitta secured $50,000 in state funding to support the purchase of the new equipment for the EMS organization.
State Sen. Carolyn Comitta recently secured $50,000 in state funding for Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Services/MEDIC 94 to support the purchase of new Philips Tempus
ALS Cardiac Monitor defibrillators, for its licensed paramedic units. The funding helped put the nonprofit organization over the finish line in its capital campaign to make the vital equipment upgrades to all its
paramedic units. Comitta, who serves on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said the investments come at a critical time as residents, Continued on page 2A
New Garden board hears proposals for erosion repair, development and outdoor movie theater By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The New Garden Township Board of Supervisors discussed a wide variety of township-related topics at their Jan. 18 meeting that ranged from erosion repair, progress on the Village of Toughkenamon and introducing an outdoor movie
theater at Saint Anthony’s in the Hills. At the township’s request, Beth Uhler, an environmental project manager with Cedarville Engineering, provided an overview of a recent study that found erosion issues along Mercer Mill Road, which she said is creating uncontrolled stormwater runoff along the road
-- the result of cumulative and impervious surfaces over the past several years and more frequent and intense flooding and rainfall events. The uncontrolled stormwater runoff is causing erosion to the roadside, excessive stream conversion through several private properties and affecting a masonry culvert located underneath the
road and affecting a stormwater basin that is serving a subdivision. The erosion has been exacerbated by the road’s steepness, Uhler said. “All of these issues are affecting the water quality of the tributary as well as the east branch of the White Clay Creek,” she said. “Not many people fully understand the negative impacts
that sediment can have on water quality. It’s one of the most significant impacts by volume in terms of any pollutant. In addition, nutrients like phosphorous can attach to sediment particles and exacerbate water quality levels.” Uhler then proposed four potential solutions to the Continued on page 4A
Kennett Township to explore ideas for a coat of arms design By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer During his campaign to become a supervisor for Kennett Township in 2021, Geoffrey Gamble said that he would try to leave a significant imprint on a job that he promised would see only one six-year term. At the board’s Jan. 19 meeting – and Gamble’s first full meeting as a supervisor – his recommendation
that the township create a coat of arms seal may leave a dignified and permanent imprint on the township for years to come. “I think that we should adopt something more sophisticated, quite honestly, to mark our history, our progress and our future,” Gamble said, referring to the origin of the township’s name, when Francis Smith, a landowner on Pocopson Creek, is said to have named
the area after his birthplace in England -- the Valley of the Kennet River, a tributary of the Thames River in southern England. Gamble referred to the graphic identities found in the coats of arms for the three original Pennsylvania counties: the County of Philadelphia’s seal featured a sailing ship, Bucks County’s seal featured a plow, and Chester County used three wheat sheaves,
called ‘garbs’ on a green field, in its seal. Throughout his presentation, Gamble referenced other coats of arms now seen in other Pennsylvania municipalities, including the design used by the Borough of Kennett Square, which he called “artistically pleasing,” as well as East Marlborough, Pennsbury and New Garden, all of which incorporate a signature element of their community in their coats of
arms. “Municipal arms should be aesthetically pleasing, simple, timeless and relatively unique,” Gamble said. “In exploring unique features in Kennett Township, the obvious choice would seem to be the Old Kennett Meeting building. The problem with this choice is that it looks like every other historic building throughout the Commonwealth, Continued on page 2A
Chester County Hospital to receive state funding to expand capacity In part of the effort to address the devastating closure of two hospitals in the county, $2.1 million in state funding is being allocated for the expansion of inpatient and emergency department capacity at Chester County Hospital
© 2007 The Chester County Press
State Sen. Carolyn Comitta, State Rep. Christina Sappey, and State Rep. Dianne Herrin announced that they have secured more than $2.1 million in total state funding to support expanding inpatient and emergency department capacity at Chester County Hospital.
The funding, made available through the federal American Rescue Plan, comes at a crucial time as communities across the county face Tower Health’s decision to close Jennersville Hospital in southern Chester County and impending plans to close Brandywine Hospital in the
Coatesville area at the end of this month. Comitta, who serves on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said the funds will significantly help Chester County Hospital and its emergency department deal with an expected influx of patients due to the closures.
“These are vital and timely investments in our public healthcare and emergency care infrastructure in Chester County – investments that were especially needed in emergency and behavioral health even before the pandemic and well before Tower abruptly announced the hos-
pital closures,” Comitta said. “Of course, both those factors substantially added to the urgency and severity of the situation. Fortunately, we were able to respond quickly to access additional resources and are working to expedite the projects.” Continued on page 3A