Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 152, No. 13
INSIDE
Oxford Area Sewer U.S. Rep Ryan Costello will not Authority still can’t pay $1.2 seek re-election to million in past-due loans The sewer authority recently sent a letter to its four 6th District seat member municipalities seeking to get them to pay the By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
In a decision that will 2018 Home & Garden likely further tilt the balance Life Magazine of power in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. to the Democratic Party, Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello of the 6th District has announced that he will not seek reelection in November. With his decision, Costello joins a long list of House Republicans who are leaving Congress, including 22 who have announced their retirement, and some others Remembering artist Mitch who are seeking other political pursuits or have resigned Lyons...1B their position. Costello’s decision represents the latest notch in the belt of a re-energized Democratic Party, both nationally and in Pennsylvania – who are seeking to supplant Republicans in both Washington D.C. and in Harrisburg. While Costello and other Republican leaders in the Oxford teacher gets Heart of Learning Award...8A
debt-service that is owed. The responses were varied. By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Courtesy photo
Citing several factors, Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello of the 6th District recently announced that he will not seek reelection in November.
state decide whether or not to keep Costello’s name on the May primary ballot – he had until March 27 by 5 p.m. to decide – the news of Costello’s dropping out of the race coincides with a whirlwind of controversy that Continued on Page 4A
The Oxford Area Sewer Authority’s financial picture has improved, but not to the point where it can make good on approximately $1.2 million in debt-service payments that were missed in 2016. The Oxford Area Sewer Authority Board met on Monday night, and the ongoing efforts to resolve the financial situation dominated the discussions. Much of the conversation was focused on a letter dated Feb. 22 that the Oxford Area Sewer Authority sent out to the four member municipalities—Oxford Borough, Lower Oxford Township, East Nottingham Township, and West Nottingham Township—asking that the municipalities meet their obligations of paying off the two debt-service payments that were missed on a $27
Eve 6 named to headline The Connective Festival
Gerry Davis awarded for years of service...5A
INDEX Opinion........................7A
Courtesy photo
Obituaries...................2B
Recording artists Eve 6 will headline the first Connective Festival in Oxford on August 4.
Calendar of Events.....3B
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© 2007 The Chester County Press
60 Cents
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On March 20, mere hours after the Chester County Press posted on its Facebook page that the California-based, charttopping band Eve 6 was named as the headline act at The Connective Festival on Aug. 4 in Oxford, the news reverberated around social media. By March 21, the post had received over 12,000 visits, a number that is still climbing. Now made up of bassist
and lead singer Max Collins, guitarist Jon Siebels and drummer Tony Fagenson, the band formed in 1995 as Yakoo, then Eleventeen. In 1998, the newly-named Eve 6 (www.eve6.com) issued the self-titled Eve 6, attaining platinum success with hit singles “Inside Out” and “Leech,” the former capturing the No. 1 spot on the Modern Rock charts and crossing over successfully to pop/Top 40 radio. More widespread recognition came with gold-selling sophomore effort Horrorscope
in 2000, which spawned radio gems “Promise,” “On the Roof Again” and Top 40 smash “Here’s to the Night.” The band made appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and “TRL with Carson Daly.” The band then released the more experimental It’s All in Your Head in 2003. Continued on Page 2A
million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that was taken out seven years ago. The four member municipalities all responded to the Feb. 22 letter. A little background on the financial situation: At the time the loan was secured, the four member municipalities agreed to back the loans, with each municipality accepting responsibility for a portion of the debt-service payments in the event that the sewer authority could not make those payments in a given year. Oxford Area Sewer Authority officials, at that time, offered assurances to elected officials in Oxford Borough, East Nottingham, West Nottingham, and Lower Oxford that the revenues would be sufficient to cover the debt-service payments, and the municipalities would not be put in a position to cover the sewer authority’s financial obligations. The sewer authority has the ability to raise its rates, so any revenue shortfalls could be addressed before the municipalities were on the hook. But by 2016, the number of new connections to the sewer system had fallen way behind what had been
projected, and the sewer authority wasn’t able to meet its financial obligations. Instead of notifying the member municipalities in a timely fashion, as is required in the terms of the agreement, sewer authority officials waited until the middle of the year to take meaningful steps to fix the financial situation. The sewer authority voted to increase rates by 30 percent in July of 2016, which has helped stabilize the finances moving forward. The sewer authority was able to make full debt-service payments in 2017, and is on track to do so again in 2018. The sewer authority parted ways with Ed Lennex, the executive director at the time the loan was initially taken out and at the time the debt-service payments were missed in 2016, and retained David Busch of Keystone Alliance Consulting to run the day-to-day operations of the sewer authority. The sewer authority board, which is comprised of two representatives from each of the four member municipalities, is almost entirely new from 2016. While there is a new board and new leadership, and the sewer Continued on Page 2A
U-CF School District announces tentative four-year agreement with Education Association By John Chambless Staff Writer The details are still being worked out, but a tentative agreement is in the works between the UnionvilleChadds Ford School District and the Unionville Chadds Ford Education Association (UCFEA) for a four-year contract extension. The board will vote on the agreement at their April 16 meeting. The “Early Bird Tentative Agreement” with the Education Association was
announced at the March 19 school board meeting, and is available online, although the final language is not yet posted. The four-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement with the UCFEA begins on July 1, 2019 and continues through June 30 of 2023. The agreement calls for a 2.99 percent increase in base salaries for the district’s 338 professional staff members. Payment for supplemental contracts would increase Continued on Page 2A
Dumas Sapp & Son: 70 years in the same small town By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer In order to better understand the very simple reason that Dumas Sapp & Son is celebrating its 70th year in Oxford this year, one would first need to negotiate the purchase of a motor vehicle from a modern-day dealership. Upon arrival, the potential buyer is swept up in a tidal wave of personal attention, shown a fleet of vehicles and ushered to a desk, where the number crunching begins. And then, as if by reflex, the sales associate suddenly vanishes, numbers in hand, into some anonymous place,
to speak with some other associates who will always remain anonymous. In contrast, there have been no hidden figures or back room mathematics at the Oxford dealership since Dumas Sapp first opened his original location in 1948, and whenever a potential buyer stops by, he or she speaks with either owner Kenneth Sapp or sales assistant John Paxson. If there’s a maintenance issue, technician Lex Weeks is there to help them. “We’ve never done that at any time,” said Sapp, who has been associated with the dealership since 1996, and purchased the business
from his father in 2003. “I work with every customer we have right at this desk, and we always contact them a few days after they make the purchase, just as a follow-up to make sure they’re satisfied with everything.” Dumas Sapp & Son has done business this way for generations of Oxfordians, selling over 15,000 vehicles in that time, and its 40-vehicle lot is a never-ending showcase of once- and twice-owned cars, pickups, vans and SUVs. To best illustrate the degree of customer loyalty that the company has enjoyed, Sapp estimated that about 50 percent of all purchases are
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Kenneth Sapp, owner of Dumas Sapp & Son in Oxford, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
made by repeat customers. “I recently sat down with one long-time repeat customer to finalize a purchase, and he told me, ‘Ken, the reason I keep coming back to you is that I know you’re
always fair with me,’” Sapp said. “He told me, ‘I may not always like the answer I get, but I always get it right away.’ It’s a show of mutual respect that he Continued on Page 4A