Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 156, No. 10
INSIDE
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Miguel Juarez named Kennett Township Chamber to award Police Officer of the Year posthumous 55th Annual Chairman’s Gala to be held March 19
outstanding citizens of the year AGSD announces changes to administrative team...2A
A champion’s journey...1B
Spring forward on March 13!
INDEX
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer In a long list of recipients that goes back to 1968, the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Outstanding Citizens of the Year list reads like a Who’s Who of local dignitaries and impact makers who have carved their contributions into the bedrock of the communities they have served. As Chamber President and CEO Cheryl Kuhn began preparing for the Chamber’s 55th Annual Chairman’s Gala – which will be held on March 19 at Longwood Gardens – she did so with the emotion of grief. Over the past two years, while the Chamber battled through a worldwide pandemic, three of its key members
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– Gail Suzanne Chase, Michael R. Moyer and Dennis C. Melton – had all passed, and a fourth -- David Gregory Hughes – had passed in November of 2019. “All of them were active members in the chamber and leaders in their communities,” Kuhn said. “As each one of these individuals passed, it affected the Chamber, it affected me and it affected everyone they came in contact with. “As people came forth and began to tell us stories about each of them, it gave me an entirely new perspective on just how much they had all meant to others.” Soon, it became clear to Kuhn that as the plans for the gala began to take shape, the idea of honoring all of them posthumously had to be done. Continued on page 3A
Corporal Jeffrey Call, Officer Mark Todd also recognized at March 3 ceremony
Courtesy photo
Kennett Township Detective Miguel Juarez received the 2021 Officer of the Year award on March 3. Pictured with Juarez are, from left to right, Supervisor Geoffrey Gamble, Esq.; Kennett Township Manager Eden Ratliff; Vice Chair Scudder Stevens; and Kennett Township Police Chief Matt Gordon.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Detective Miguel Juarez of the Kennett Township Police Department was named 2021 Officer of the Year, during ceremonies held at the township’s Board of Supervisors meeting on March 3.
Police Chief Matthew Gordon recognized Juarez for the diversity of his efforts in many areas of the department over the past year. They included Juarez’ uniformed crime reporting to the FBI; streamlining the department’s accident reporting to the state via Car Fax technology; and
overseeing the department’s car and body camera system. Juarez was also credited for restoring the department’s computer and records management after a ransomware attack on the township’s IT system. In addition, Juarez Continued on page 2A
Penn Township develops plan to meet MS4 requirements By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Contributing Writer
The Penn Township supervisors authorized township Opinion.......................5A engineer Dennis O’Neill to Obituaries......2B, 3B & 5B begin discussions relating Classifieds..................4B to stream bank restoration work in the township. Penn Township is required to follow a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System plan, known as an MS4 plan. Regulated by DEP, the aim of the unfund-
ed mandate is to reduce sediment going into the waterways. In Penn Township, everything west of Route 796 is in the Chesapeake Bay watershed while land to the east of Route 796 drains into the Delaware Bay watershed. According to O’Neill, the township will be required to take 452,000 pounds of sediment out of the Chesapeake watershed side of the township. The township will be
given credit for 229,000 pounds removed by stormwater basins installed since 1995. That leaves 223,000 pounds per year that still needs to be addressed. There are various methods of sediment reduction, including retrofitting older basins and stream bank restoration. “We believe stream bank restoration is the best option for the township,” O’Neill said. The typical cost would
be $350 to $400 per foot, To meet the target, 5,000 feet of stream bank would have to be restored on the Chesapeake watershed side of the township, which comes to roughly $2.2 million total. PennDOT’s MS4 plan has recently been approved to reduce sediment runoff from state highways by doing stream bank restoration in three locations. They are currently working with a
property owner in the township for a project. PennDOT is allowing municipalities to tag onto their projects at a substantially lower cost of $2 per pound of sediment removal. That would reduce the cost for Penn Township to approximately $450,000. The township would need to find streams for their project. One possibility is property that is already township-owned, situated Continued on page 4A
Mayer named new manager for OMI By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer Jenna Mayer, the new Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. (OMI) manager, came on board on Jan. 10, just in time to plan the return of First Fridays in the borough. At Borough Council’s last meeting, they approved a number of event applications, including the ever-popular First Fridays and the Annual Car Show. Mayer said that she is ready to coordinate those events. Originally from New Courtesy photo Jenna Mayer, the new OMI manager, is ready to meet everyone at First Friday Jersey, Mayer graduated events beginning in April. from York College in 2018,
and then from Northern Colorado in 2020 with a master’s degree in sport and exercise science. She went to work at Princeton University in the Athletic Department Facility and Events Operation. “Then COVID hit,” she said, “and I got thrown into marketing. I actually decided I wanted to come to this area, having spent time in York, Pa. My boyfriend lives in Lancaster, Pa. I saw the ad on Indeed.” She was instantly smitten with the town of Oxford when she came in for her interview. Continued on page 3A
Miller leaves director post at Kennett Flash By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
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Andrew Miller, who introduced national musical acts to local audiences, engineered innovative virtual concerts during a worldwide pandemic and created a successful rooftop series, recently left his role as the director of the Kennett Flash to join the Performing Arts Division at Longwood Gardens. Under Miller’s leader-
ship, The Flash – now in its 13th year of operations – was the beneficiary of his relationships with artists at the local and national level that resulted in an increased visibility not only for the venue itself but for Kennett Square. His efforts resulted in performances at The Flash by 10,000 Maniacs, Alejandro Escovedo, Livingston Taylor, The Levin Brothers, Bettye LaVette and many more. As a measure of continu-
ing to provide live music during the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller launched a series of virtual performances and secured a number of state, national and private grants, including significant grants from the National Independent Venue Association, The Live Music Society, and The Chester County Community Foundation, which were critical in keeping the doors of The Flash open. “The Board of Directors is
strong and poised for new initiatives,” said Board President David Mattock. “We are prepared for ‘business as usual’ as we move into a busy spring calendar with fantastic artists. The search for a new director is well underway and because Andrew left us in a very good position, we expect the transition to be a smooth one. We are excited for this new opportunity.” “I am grateful for my time at The Kennett Flash,” said
Miller. “When I came to The Flash in the summer of 2015, one of my earliest memories was a conversation with Dennis Melton about programming. Not knowing what direction to take, I asked him for his input. He said, ‘Figure it out, that’s why we hired you.’ “This statement ended up being what fueled my love for this position from the start, the gift of creative freedom. Within the first Continued on page 4A