Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 155, No. 8
INSIDE
Rep. Lawrence demands answers from Dept. of Aging...4A
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
$1.00
Life in Oxford Longwood Gardens plans after the death of marvelous makeover George Floyd It’s been nine months since George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. After the death, protests against police brutality, especially toward black people, quickly spread across the U.S. This is the story about one town’s response… By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
ning of a joke, even though most of us have heard variations of a joke that begins Courtesy of WEISS/MANFREDI with Reed Hilderbrand for Longwood Gardens just like that. The joke usualLongwood Gardens expects to break ground on a $250 million expansion and “A black pastor, a white ly pulls in diverse religions, renovation project later this year. Pictured is an aerial view from the southwest of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience. Please see Page 1B for police chief, and a young cultures, genders, races or details about the project. teen of color come into a ethnic backgrounds. They room…” are subtle and, well, it’s a No, this is not the begin- joke. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like a good joke? officer held his knee on civilian persons involved But are these subtle jokes George Floyd’s neck, his in a crime watch, or those really a casual and system- hand casually resting in his just opposed to people of atic method of enforcing pocket, his face expression- color walking in a park or the discrimination of people less, squeezing the life out jogging. As a country, we of color, or people of dif- of a human being. And in have seen this scene play ferent religions, or ethnic his final moments, George out much too often and for Floyd, with his dying far too long. There have backgrounds? There was nothing subtle breaths, called out for his been too many Emmett Tills and George Floyds through about the death of George mother. Local author’s new book People around the globe the years. Floyd on May 25, 2020. will help you live a glutenThe images invaded our were shocked. Suddenly, free life...4B Unity Walk in Oxford homes as we watched, this country was center unable to turn away from stage displaying the killing the horrific sight of a white of a black man, in the mid- Shortly after George police officer holding his dle of the day, surrounded Floyd’s death, a Unity Walk Photo by Betsy Brewer Brantner was quickly organized in Connie and Dick Winchester remembering other pro- knee on the neck of Mr. by a crowd of onlookers. the Borough of Oxford. Floyd, all the while being Statistics continue to show tests and walks over their lives. Winchester is a retired More than 40 people took surrounded by three other that in the U.S., people of professor from Lincoln University. His wife Connie was the Director of Neighborhood Services Center for officers who did nothing. color are more likely to be part in the event that was many years. Continued on page 2A And for nine minutes, the detained by police officers,
Busy Kennett Square intersection to undergo improvements Lock it for Love...7A
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Kennett Township and East Marlborough Township are partnering on a project that will make vast improvements to the Opinion.......................7A intersection-interchange of Obituaries..............2B-3B Route 1 and Route 82, just Classifieds.............6B-7B north of the Kennett Square Borough. At their Feb. 17 meeting, the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors gave
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INDEX
© 2007 The Chester County Press
approval to the project, and to authorize Township Manager Eden Ratliff to execute the agreement with Wyoming Electric & Signal in the amount of $669,804.75. The Wyoming, Pa.-based company submitted the lowest cost estimate bid for the project. Kennett Township Finance & Procurement Specialist Denise Serino told the board that the project is expected to begin soon and have an
anticipated completion date of Oct. 1. The project will include extensive excavation and demolition; the addition of a turning lane, ADA ramps, mountable concrete islands and a sidewalk; and the removal of curb lines. The modified intersection will also include the addition of two stop lights – one at the end of the exit ramp for drivers who exit the northbound side of
Route 1 to Route 82 heading toward Kennett Square, and the other at the exit ramp for drivers leaving southbound Route 1 onto Route 82 heading north to Unionville. The configuration of the intersection will eventually allow for signal changes, to allow for pedestrian crossings. In 2017, the two townships jointly filed an application through PennDOT’s Automated
Red-Light Enforcement Funding Program (ARLE) that proposed a project to address traffic flow concerns along Route 82 corridor in the vicinity of the Route 1 on- and off-ramps. This project was awarded a grant in 2018 from the ARLE Funding Program in the amount of $692,592 that led to the townships commissioning Traffic Planning & Design (TPD) to complete a Continued on page 4A
New Garden spells out its top projects for 2021 By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer As New Garden Township enters its third month of 2021 flush with a significant cash flow from the recent sale of its wastewater system to Aqua Pa., Inc., its Board of Supervisors used their Feb. 16 online meeting to formally introduce the township’s top project priorities for the year. At their Jan. 19 online meeting, the board shared how and where the township will allocate the
profits from the sale of its wastewater system on Dec. 21, 2020, which as of the transaction’s closing came to $29,756,567. The board said that $21,774,761 will be funneled back into the township’s investment portfolio, for possible use over the next decade to 20 years. From that sizable figure, the township will spend an estimated $2.3 million on the following projects in 2021: • Saint Anthony’s in the Hills: A ten-year project to continue the develop-
ment of the property, now owned by the township, that includes the creation of a committee and property clean-up • Egypt Run Bridge: Replacement of existing bridge and construction of new bridge, projected to begin on June 1 and be completed by July 15 • Scarlett Road Trail: Two-year project to develop a trail system • Waterline extension at the New Garden Flying Field: One-year project that will likely begin in May
• Broad Run Creek: Additional clean-up and repair of stormwater erosion in the vicinity of the planned White Clay Point development and St. Anthony in the Hills • Newark Road-Baltimore Pike intersection: On-going project that is slated for eventual development • Toughkenamon Streetscapes Improvement Plan: Sidewalk development for Newark Road and Main Street in the Village of Toughkenamon • In addition, the town-
ship intends to develop opportunities for the purchase of additional open space; update its zoning rules and regulations related to development in the township; and create additional TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) recommendations. A formal presentation to introduce these projects is being planned for an upcoming township meeting. In other township business, the board approved a motion to proceed with Continued on page 2A
Kennett Square Borough Council welcomes new police officer By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Kennett Square Borough Council welcomed a new police officer, approved two professional services agreements, and made several appointments during its meeting on Feb. 16. Kennett Square Police Chief William Holdsworth led the introduction of new police officer Cole Burkhart, who was also
officially sworn in. A video of the swearing-in was shown during the council meeting. Burkhart graduated from Octorara High School in 2011 and completed the program at the police academy in 2016. He has previously worked for the police departments in Downingtown, Parkesburg and East Whiteland Township, and Holdsworth said they all offered praise for Burkhart’s work. It was
a lengthy process to fill the vacant position in the police department, mostly because of delays caused by the impact of COVID19, the police chief explained. He and Mayor Matt Fetick both said that they were pleased to have Burkhart join the department as a full-time officer. Borough council approved two professional services agreements—one with Longwood Gardens
and one with the Kennett Library. Longwood Gardens has asked the borough, as well as East Marlborough Township, to evaluate its projected sewer conveyance and connection to the sewer facility and associated infrastructure. The professional services agreement that was approved by Cole Burkhart has been borough council allows the hired as a new police developer to work with the officer in Kennett Square Continued on page 3A
Borough.