Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 155, No. 12
INSIDE
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Oxford Borough will receive $551,782 from federal coronavirus relief package
By Betsy Brewer Brantner ernment in the most recent Contributing Writer full fiscal year prior to the emergency); and Oxford Borough Council • Make investments in announced at their March water, sewer, and broadband 15 meeting that the bor- infrastructure. ough will receive $551,782 Funds cannot be used to from the federal $1.9 trillion deposit into pension funds Home & Garden Life coronavirus relief pack- or to offset revenue resulting age. The package included from a tax cut. funding for state and local State and local recipients governments. The money are able to transfer funds will be funded through the to private nonprofit groups, state, and then the county, to public benefit corporations the local municipalities. involved in passenger or State and local govern- cargo transportation, and ments are able to use these special-purpose units of restricted funds to cover state or local governments. costs incurred by the panThe solicitor will be demic to: researching further on how • Respond to the COVID- these funds can be used. 19 emergency and address Council did express some its negative economic interest in transferring some impacts, including through of funds to private, nonprofit aid to households, small groups. County plans COVID-19 businesses, nonprofits, and Sidewalks also were dismemorial events honoring industries such as tourism cussed at the meeting. victims...5A and hospitality; Catherine Byers, a • Provide premium pay Hodgson Street resident, to essential employees or told council that she was grants to their employers. looking forward to getPremium pay could not ting information about the exceed $13 per hour or upcoming project planned $25,000 per worker; for her street, which would • Provide government ser- require sidewalks. vices affected by a revenue “I live on the corner,” she reduction during the pan- said. “I’m concerned there demic (relative to revenues is no grant money. I’d rather collected by the local gov- not have to pay for my side-
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walks. My neighbors feel the same. I’m looking for information and hoping to receive it soon. People on Broad Street got their new sidewalks without paying.” Later in the meeting, council member Kathryn Cloyd
started a discussion on the pros and cons of creating a sidewalk fund. A number of options were discussed. The subject will be discussed further at the April 5 council meeting. Council member Mary
Higgins said, “Coming up with some sort of plan to help with the cost of sidewalks would relieve a lot of stress on property owners.” Council also heard a proposal from Rogers Group Continued on page 2A
New Garden Flying Field adjusts to restrictions due to Biden flights to DE By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer After his eight-year tenure as the Vice President of the United States ended on Jan. 20, 2017, Joseph R. Biden resumed living with his wife Jill and their two dogs in their lakeside home off of Barley Mill Road in Greenville, Delaware. In the last months of his campaign for the presidency last fall, navigating the road became a challenge for motorists, as roadblocks and U.S. Continued on page 3A
Courtesy photo
New Garden Flying Field Aviation director Jon Martin holds a Temporary Flight Restriction sign, which is in effect at the airport during President Biden’s flights to his home in Greenville and places severe flight and business restrictions on the airport.
Oxford Carpool Cinema The Public Works planned for April 16 and 17 Department earns The featured movies are Happy Feet and A League of Their Own By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer For anyone who has been missing community events and activities or the simple joy of going to see a movie in a theater, Oxford Mainstreet, Inc.(OMI) is planning two evenings of family entertainment that will be sure to please. OMI will be presenting Carpool Cinema, which will take place at the Oxford Area Regional Park (900 West Locust St. in Oxford) on April 16 and 17. The animated hit Happy Feet will be the featured movie on Friday, April 16, while A League of Their Own will be shown on Saturday, April 17. “Both evenings are family friendly,” said Christy Hannum, the executive director of Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. “The reason that we wanted to do drive-in movies is that many of our First Friday events were cancelled because of the pandemic. We wanted to plan a safe, socially dis-
accolades in London Grove
By Chris Barber Contributing Writer
tanced event that families could enjoy.” The gates will open at 6 p.m. each night, and the movies will begin at 7:30
The members of the London Grove Public Works Department were the stars of the show at the township meeting on March 10. At the beginning of the department’s report, Dave Mattson was presented with a citation for his 17 years of service to the township on the occasion of his retirement. Township Board Chairman David Connors praised Mattson for his years of dedication during which he gave unselfishly and exercised sound judgment. Connors also thanked Mattson for his years of serving as the certified host inspector for SECCRA, the Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority, p.m. which sits within the boundHomemade kettle corn aries of London Grove. He will be sold by Wholly will be replaced in that role Grounds and the candy ven- by township fire marshal Continued on page 2A Robert Weer.
The supervisors also announced a letter of thanks from resident Russ Losco, who fell on ice and needed emergency medical response. Connors relayed the information given by Losco that when the ambulance crew was unable to make it through the ice to attend to him, Public Works Director Shane Kinsey and crew member Nate Hughes jumped into action to assist the EMTs. “They were outstanding. I am eternally grateful, and they should be commended for their commitment to other people,” Losco was said to have written in the letter. In a related comment, Connors complimented the road crew on responding to six snowstorms and clearing the roads. “We’ve gone from some the worst roads to best roads in Chester County,” he said. Later, Sue Geiger and Walter Borys, the township’s representatives on Continued on page 2A
One-acre plot at township property to be converted into community food source By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On Nov. 7, 2018, the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors announced that the township had completed the purchase of the Spar Hill Farm, a 103-acre property at the confluence of Burnt Mill, Center Mill and Old Kennett roads. At their online meeting on March 17, the board voted to donate one of those acres back, for the best of reasons.
By a 3-0 vote, the board enthusiastically approved a request by Emergent Abundance Farming Collective (EAFC) to convert one acre of the property to a volunteerbased farm for EAFC to grow, harvest and distribute organic vegetables to Kennett Area Community Service (KACS) and other food banks that support community members who are facing food insecurity. Cultivation of the oneacre plot will begin soon,
and food distribution is expected to reach KACS and other food banks by the summer. Julia Smagorinsky of EAFC said that cultivating a one-acre farm at Spar Hill dovetails with the organization’s mission to create an abundance of food and ecological habitat and to share food, knowledge, skill and access to land with the local community of Kennett Township. EAFC has already made its mark as a local
food resource. In 2020, as COVID-19 stifled the ability of some in the community to get access to healthy food, the group began to grow vegetables, berries, herbs and medicinals on a one-acre plot on a private property, which led to weekly donations to the Kennett Food Cupboard at KACS, Food for All in Wilmington and to certain recipients in Philadelphia. “Throughout all of this, I have been able to mentor people to come in no matte
what skill level they have to share my skills, knowledge and ideas on how we can grow more ecologically,” said Smagorinsky, who has an extensive background in agriculture. “Because of this momentum, we have been attracting more people who would like to join us.” EAFC’s work at Spar Hill promises to be far more complex in its application than merely planting seeds. Smagorinsky will teach Continued on page 4A