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Chester CountyPRESS
Volume 154, No. 9
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
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New Garden sewer sale The kid has game nearing final approval stages By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On June 29, 2017, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved the application of Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater, Inc. (Aqua) to purchase New Garden Township’s wastewater system for $29.5 million. For the next two years, negotiations to finalize the purchase hit several legal snags, which reached its peak in Oct. 2018, when the PUC’s Office of Consumer Advocate sued the PUC in Commonwealth Court, claiming that the sale of the township sewer system would lead to a severe escalation of rates among Aqua customers not only in New Garden but across Pennsylvania. Last week, however, the
township sent a notice to all wastewater system rate payers in the township that signified that the long journey to finalize the sale is coming to a close. On Feb. 21, the notice stated, Aqua filed the proposed final settlement with the PUC for the completion of the sale, pending final approval from Hon. Administrative Law Judge Steven K. Haas and the PUC. In addition, there is one more hurdle to leap over before the sale can go through: Parties opposed to the transaction can submit written comments to the PUC before April 8, 2020, which will be reviewed by the PUC before the sale will become final. Currently, the township bills its sewer customers on a quarterly basis and the township rate structure incorporates a
base rate and then two levels of rates for excess usage above the base rate. However, once the sale is completed, New Garden customers will need to adapt to Aqua’s billing process, which bills its sewer customers on a monthly basis, and over a period of time would convert the current quarterly billing to monthly. The public notice that was just sent to township customers includes a table that is based on monthly usage and billing. For the approximately 2,000 households in the township who are tapped into the wastewater system, those who use an average of 3,750 gallons of water per month could see their sewer bill increase by as much as $36. By comparison, customers who use 5,000 gallons or less per quarter now Continued on Page 2A
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
At the age of 10, nothing is standing in the way of James Ruffin’s athletic dreams. For more on this Kennett Square athlete, see Page 1B.
Oxford Public Works Director questions use of water funds to pay Sewer Authority loan By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
Education & Summer Camp Guide
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Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
At the March 2 Oxford Borough Council meeting, a motion to pay a portion of the Oxford Area Sewer Authority’s (OASA) unpaid loan to the USDA from the Borough’s Water Fund drew questions from the Borough’s Public Works Director John Schaible. At the end of last year,
OASA’s director David Busch delivered bad news to the Council when he informed them that Oxford Borough and Lower Oxford, West Nottingham and East Nottingham townships were responsible for paying $1.2 million in missed debt-service payments on a loan that was used to fund an expansion of the sewer system. According to a Guarantee Agreement signed by the four municipalities,
those municipalities are responsible for paying a proportionate payment of that $1.2 million in April of this year. Unfortunately, Oxford Borough has the majority of the rate payers, making the borough’s portion of that bill 44 percent of the total. At the time, Oxford Borough Manager Brian Hoover said, “that’s a lot of money for us to come up with.”
However, when Council started their discussion on paying it back by borrowing money from the Borough Water Fund, Schaible questioned the legitimacy of that. Hoover told Schaible borrowing from the water capital fund was okay. The motion started out as paying a portion of the amount or $267,053.97, but Council member Robert Ketcham said he wanted
to amend the motion and pay the total amount owed, which amounts to more than $400,000. Borough Solicitor Stacey Fuller said that whatever amount they agreed on the payment would be contingent upon a plan to pay the municipalities over a 10-year period and for OASA to use funding from two projected property sales to repay the Borough. Continued on Page 3A
Kennett Township taking small steps to preserve historic house By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Spring forward at 2 a.m. this Sunday!
From where it stands on McFarlan Road in Kennett Township, the Isaac Allen House – a simple, two-story Colonial home with an historic stone core – is nearly invisible, hidden by climbing walls of vines and ferns that have turned the exterior of the home into a green Photos by Richard L. Gaw waterfall of neglect. Positioned just 12 feet Kennett Township recently re-entered into discussions to possibly stabilize – and perhaps restore – the from the edge of the road, historic Isaac Allen House on McFarlan Road. cars and trucks careen by Chandler Mill Bridge rehab underway...6A
INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries...........2B&4B Calendar of Events.....4B Classifieds.............5B-7B
© 2007 The Chester County Press
In Avon Grove, bidding process now underway for new high school construction project By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The Avon Grove School Board handled a full agenda at its meeting on Feb. 27, approving the refinancing of bonds, adopting a school calendar for the next three school years, and discussing a variety of items ranging from high school project bids to keeping the staff and students safe amid the possible
threat of Coronavirus. Avon Grove officials will soon have a much better idea of the actual costs for constructing the new high school. The district is now receiving bids for the project. There will be a pre-bid meeting for all contracts at the Fred S. Engle Middle School Library Media Center at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 12. All the bids must be delivered to the school district by the dead-
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it throughout the day, and there is no notice or signage beside it that calls attention to its historical connections. It’s mostly the local historians who are aware of its significance. They know that it was likely to have been built between 1713 and 1751, originally called the Cox Tenant House, and that it once stood in the path of the British Army on their way to the Battle of the Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777. Owned by the Giancola
family in the 20th Century, the home was owned by Richard Giancola, whose family was a major mushroom producer in the area; by the turn of the new century, it became an office space, but in the last five years, it has remained unoccupied, and is now owned by Chatham Financial. In 2016, Chatham Financial submitted a demolition permit application, but through a stipulation in the township’s Continued on Page 4A
Fewer Avon Grove students attending charter schools
784 840
line on Tuesday, April 21. School district officials will then open the bids and start awarding contracts in May. In his superintendent’s report, Dr. Christopher Marchese commented on the concerns about the possible spread of the Coronavirus. Marchese assured everyone that they are monitoring the activities nationally to make sure that Avon Grove is doing Continued on Page 3A
Charter school enrollment on Jan. 1, 2020 Charter school enrollment on Jan. 1, 2019
Difference of
56
students
The Avon Grove School District is currently in the process of developing a budget for the 2020-2021 school year. One financial bright spot is the projection that the district will see a year-to-year decline in total tuition costs for charter schools. According to data in a preliminary budget presentation, the district saw a decline in the number of students who are enrolled in charter schools from 840 at the start of 2019 to 784 at the start of 2020. As a result, the district is able to reduce the amount of money budgeted for charter school tuition costs for the 2020-2021 school year.
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