Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 156, No. 8
INSIDE
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
$1.00
Spencer announces his candidacy on Kennett High School steps Longtime Kennett Square public servant is seeking the Republican nomination for the 158th Legislative District seat in the State House By Chris Barber Contributing Writer
Leon Spencer formally threw his hat into the ring as the Republican candidate New winery opens in West for Pennsylvania’s 158th Grove...3A state Legislative District. Spencer, 71, a native of Kennett Square and former mayor of the borough, stood on the front steps of Kennett High School on Saturday morning and announced to a crowd of about 70 that he is seeking the seat. Spencer, a musician and community activist, has served on the Kennett School Board and borough council. He has also been honored as a Kennett High School “Legend.” William Penn the founding Pennsylvania...1B
and of
Timber Ridge Lane in Chadds Ford is a subdivision of five lots, three of which are fine homes tucked in a heavily-wooded area on the north side of Kennett Pike. At the Kennett Township Opinion.......................5A Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 16, one Obituaries.................2B resident alerted the board to Classifieds..................4B a persistent eyesore that has angered homeowners along the road and severely damaged the natural beauty of the development. Timber Ridge Lane homeowner George Plesko, speaking on behalf of all three homesteads, shared the photographic evidence of an abandoned construcMushroom Festival gives back to community...4A
INDEX
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Continued on page 2A
Kennett High School on Saturday morning.
Resident shares construction damage to Chadds Ford development with township By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
tion project that has caused extensive environmental damage to the remaining two lots on the road -- that total nearly nine acres. Beginning in 2020, heavy machinery began appearing at the lots in preparation for building. Within days, several trees began coming down – many of them more than 100 years old – that quickly escalated into a near complete deforestation of lots 4 and 5 and included the removal of 69,000 square feet of woodland removed on lot 5 alone. “I checked my blueprints of the development, and it looked like they were taking a lot more trees down than would have been normally permitted,” Plesko told the supervisors. “The [lumber-
jacks on the properties] told me that they were going to take everything down, and wanted to know how far the boundaries were and how far they could go.” Plesko said that he immediately called then township Public Works Director Roger Lysle, who visited the site and determined that there was no paperwork giving permission to the builder to cut the trees down. Plesko told the board that if the builders would have been issued a permit, 15 percent of the woodland could have legally been taken down. Instead, he said, the project removed three-and-a-half times that amount before work was stopped. Continued on page 4A
Oxford Borough is open for fun By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer Spring is just around the corner and so too is fun in Oxford Borough. Council approved multiple Special Events Applications at the Feb. 14 council meeting. Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. events that were approved include the First Friday Street Fairs and the 8th Annual Downtown Car Show, which will take place on Sept. 2. Council also approved the Oxford Presbyterian Church Apple Fest for Sept. 24. Oxford Chamber of Commerce’s Movies in the Park was approved for June 17, July 13 and Aug. 19. The long-awaited return to normal, or the new normal, appears to be on the
horizon. More information about those events will be available in the months to come. In other news, council listened to an update from Brendan Patti, a Homeowners Association president, about a continuing discussion regarding ownership of the streetlights at Sycamore Crossing. That discussion will continue with the borough solicitor, borough council and Sycamore Crossing’s Homeowners’ Association. Although Solicitor Stacey Fuller did state that her records indicated there was no agreement regarding the dedication of streetlights, council members agreed to continue the discussion. Council approved Continued on page 3A
New board, award recipients recognized at Chamber event By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Tim Moore, a nuclear engineer with Constellation Energy Corp., became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce for 2022, replacing Betsy Niedziejko of WSFS Bank.
Tim Moore, a nuclear engineer with Constellation Energy Corp., became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce for 2022. His formal induction took place at the Chamber’s
annual meeting breakfast at Hartefeld Country Club on Feb. 17. Moore, who replaced Betsy Niedziejko of WSFS Bank, said, “that as chamber chairs come and go on an annual basis, we all stand on the shoulders of those who went before us, and Betsy’s got some strong shoulders that I will be standing on,
and I hope that I can continue the movement forward of this chamber based on the work that Betsy and others have done.” In addition to Moore’s new post, the Chamber also elected its officers for 2022: Doug Doerfler of Genesis was named Chairman Elect; Sean Walker of Kuzo Continued on page 2A
Kennett schools to drop masking requirement by month’s end By Chris Barber Contributing Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
Accompanied by his campaign manager, former state Rep. Eric Roe, Spencer took to the podium and addressed the crowd. Many of those in attendance held signs stating their support for Spencer. In his short speech on the chilly morning, Spencer advocated achieving a society in which individuals with varying talents and interests work together to make life better for all, even if they have differences. He compared people using diverse talents with athletic teams and bands ending up with beautiful music and victories by combining the variations in instruments Photo by Chris Barber Leon Spencer addresses the crowd at his announcement event at the steps of and field positions.
The Kennett Consolidated School District will drop its face mask mandate effective Feb. 28. Superintendent Dr. Dusty Blakey made the announcement at the monthly board meeting on Feb. 14 in the Mary D. Lang Kindergarten
Center. As of that date, the district no longer requires, but strongly recommends, wearing masks and will continue to monitor the levels of COVID-19 positivity. At that meeting as well, the board heard a preliminary 2022-2023 operating budget presentation and a request by the high school Gender Sexuality Alliance
to eliminate differences in graduation gown colors based on gender. Blakey prefaced the masking news by showing graphs of COVID-19 positivity in the school district as it reached a low point in November and then zoomed to new highs after the holiday break at the end of December.
He pointed to the obvious visual high counts on the graph of 282 positive cases in the school district after the students returned from Christmas vacation. Since then, the incidences have dropped substantially, and as of the February meeting there were only three staff and 11 students reported COVID-19 positive.
“We are looking at continuation of that (downward) trend,” he said. Blakey has the assent of his board to make decisions regarding the district’s response to the pandemic without calling a meeting for approval. Citing data from CHOP and the Chester County Health Continued on page 4A