Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 155, No. 27
INSIDE
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Oxford Borough Council holds first in-person Kennett Square public meeting at friends, leaders new Borough Hall pay tribute to Dennis Melton ‘For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains’
By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
Greenville & Hockessin Life
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Before a gathering of more than 100 friends and community leaders in the Hartefeld Room at the Hartefeld Golf Club on June 30, Dennis Melton – who died on May 5 -- was remembered as a quiet leader who led by the power of his conviction and the passion of his conscience. Melton was an architect, a recording and performing musician and a local visionary, and at the core of that commitment was the town of Kennett Square, Melton’s wife Donna said at the beginning of the hour-long ceremony. “About 25 years ago, Dennis had said to me, ‘I am looking for a place to make a difference. I am Continued on page 2A
Local author publishes book...1B
$1.00
Oxford residents had their first opportunity to see the new Borough Hall and council room on June 21. Oxford Borough Council held their first in-person council meeting that was open to the public at the new Borough Hall. It was actually a hybrid meeting since residents could also watch through Zoom. Due to the pandemic, council was not able to hold a meeting at the new location until now. The July Borough Council
meeting, scheduled for July 19, is also a hybrid meeting. Residents are encouraged to check oxfordboro.org to confirm meeting dates for the summer as some meeting dates have changed. Council President Peggy Russell welcomed residents to the meeting and to their first look at the new Borough Hall, which was included as part of the project to build a new parking garage in downtown Oxford. Council also approved a motion to update the COVID-19 policy to conform to new regulations that have been recom-
mended by the CDC and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latest guidance does not require masking for those who have been fully vaccinated. The borough’s policy is being adjusted to be consistent with that. Effective immediately, staff who are fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks while in a borough building. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after a second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after Continued on page 5A
Many help with beautifying Oxford Borough About 675 trees have been planted in Oxford Borough, and flowers and shrubs have been added, too. A borough council member has been instrumental in the effort By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
County secures funding to help those with emergency rent or utilities needs...7A
INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries.............2B-3B Classifieds............4B-5B
Oxford Borough residents may not have noticed, but someone has been beautifying the town, one tree, flower or shrub at a time— and protecting the fragile environment as well. At the forefront of this effort is Kathryn Cloyd, a borough council member and chair of the borough’s Environmental Committee. Cloyd and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay planted 275 trees at Broad and 8th streets, 140 trees at Public Works and 260 more trees Courtesy photo at Sycamore Crossing. The Several community volunteers have been assisting in efforts to plant trees, plants and shrubs in Oxford Continued on page 3A
Borough.
Republican campaigning to defeat supervisor Whitney Hoffman in November election
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Geoffrey Gamble’s ‘six-year contract’ with Kennett Township
© 2007 The Chester County Press
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer From 2014 to 2019, Kennett Township resident Geoffrey Gamble commuted several times a year to Rome, Italy, where he served as a member of the Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta, which maintains 500 hospitals and clinics in developing countries. He was also appointed by Pope Francis as the Vatican’s honorary papal ambassador to mis-
sions and refugees around the world. When Gamble returned home to Chester County two years ago, he saw that the township was entirely different than the one he once knew. “When I left, we used the State Police, and now we have more than ten township police officers,” he said. “When I left, the police department’s budget was about $300,000 and now it was north of $1 million.”
Most shocking of all to Gamble was the news that township manager Lisa Moore – with whom Gamble had once worked side by side with as the township’s auditor from 2001 to 2003 – had been arrested on Dec. 10, 2019 after an eightmonth investigation by the Chester County District Attorney's Office, revealing that Moore had allegedly embezzled more than $3.2 million from the township dating back to 2013. Moore has been charged with 115
felony counts and 26 misdemeanor counts involved in felony theft, forgery, computer crimes and related offenses. To this day, Moore’s alleged actions still form a palpable dark cloud that hangs over Kennett Township, an unspeakable and consistent albatross that has chosen to hover over a municipality where questions about these injustices still far outnumber answers. On June 2, Gamble sat at Continued on page 4A
Courtesy photo
Republican Geoffrey Gamble is opposing Democrat Whitney Hoffman in a November election to decide the next Kennett Township supervisor.
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District makes several big personnel changes The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District’s organizational chart looks a little different after several important personnel changes were approved by the school board in June. Timothy Hoffman is the new assistant superintendent after serving as the district’s director of curriculum and instruction for the last four years. He first joined the district in 2012 as the principal of the Charles F. Patton Middle School. He then transitioned to the
district office in 2017, serving in the role of director of curriculum and instruction. Prior to joining UnionvilleChadds Ford, Hoffman was an assistant principal in the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District and for the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. That is also where he started his teaching career. For the past year, Hoffman was instrumental in creating the district’s health and safety plan in response to COVID-19. His leader-
ship helped shape plans for a hybrid educational model at all grade levels. Subsequently, he played a large role in the transition to in-person learning. The school board also approved the appointment of Joseph L. Deady as the new director of finance, reaching an agreement on a five-year contract that will run through July 18, 2026. Deady will be replacing Bob Cochran, the current director of business and operations, who is retiring in August.
Deady has spent the last 15 years working in public education. He is currently the supervisor of accounting for the district, a role he has held for the past seven years. He previously served as the assistant business administrator for both Souderton Area and Southeast Delco school districts and the district accountant for Southeast Delco. Michael Audevard was approved as the district’s new director of curriculum and instruction, the role that
Hoffman performed until he was appointed as the new assistant superintendent. Audevard first joined the school district in 2008 as a fourth-grade teacher at Chadds Ford Elementary School. After spending seven years as a teacher, he took his first administrative post as assistant principal at Concord Elementary School in the Garnet Valley School District. After two years, Audevard returned to Unionville-Chadds Ford Continued on page 3A