All in Borough Council
PECO claims that the removals are necessary because they want to replace existing electrical poles with ones that are 10 feet higher. PECO said this is necessary to enable them to increase voltage to residential customers from 4kV to 13kV, which they say will allow them to provide more reliable service, to shut down the Morton electrical substation (which is becoming obsolete), and to support an expected increase in the use of solar-generated electricity. Free to read and share
As The Swarthmorean reported online on October 22 in a special recap of the October 20 Swarthmore Planning Commission meeting at Borough Hall, 26 community members stepped up to the microphone to voice their opinions about the proposed condominium project that would span 102-104 and 110-112 Park Avenue in Swarthmore. The comments coalesced around several themes. Free to read and share
Jane Billings, who has served as Swarthmore’s borough manager since September 1990, will retire in February 2022. Borough Council President Mary Walk announced the news at the council’s May 3 work session. Free to read and share
Swarthmore’s borough council voted to reopen borough hall and the Central Park amphitheater, and approved a three-year lease-purchase of a 2021 hybrid Ford Explorer for the police department. Free to read and share
A routine meeting of Swarthmore’s Zoning Hearing Board sparks an exploration of the history of zoning decisions in the rapidly gentrifying Historically Black Neighborhood of Swarthmore, and some questions about the borough’s future. Free to read and share
The Swarthmore Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved a special exception for Kit Raven to build a “family/caregiver suite” at her house on Dartmouth Avenue. Raven’s is the first application for a family/caregiver suite to come before the board since the borough amended its zoning code to permit them in 2018.
After concerns about kids riding bicycles on sidewalks in the business district were raised at Swarthmore Borough Council’s December 7 work session, five residents attended the December 21 council meeting to express their sense that the bicycle problem is getting out of hand. Also, the council voted not raise taxes in 2021. Free to read and share
Rereading articles from this past January and February is like peering through the wrong end of a telescope into a lost world. Here’s a review of what we were doing and thinking about in 2020, as it showed up in the pages (and website) of this newspaper — both BC (Before COVID) and AD (After Distancing). Free to read and share
In a sometimes fiery meeting that lasted over three hours, Swarthmore Borough Council voted on Monday not to raise taxes in 2021. The vote was 6 to 1. The most contentious part of the meeting was a report on the increasing nuisance of bicycles in the business district. Business owners have complained that cyclists are riding down the Park Avenue sidewalk with little regard for pedestrians and leaving their bikes obstructing the sidewalk. Free to read and share
After hearing from neighbors, developers, and engineers, and deferring to the legal expertise of borough solicitor Robert Scott, Swarthmore Borough Council voted to approve the subdivision of 686 N. Chester Road at its October 5 work session. The council had the choice between voting for one of two proposed plans for the property, or of voting to reject both.
Swarthmore Borough and the Children and Adult Disability and Educational Services (CADES) reached an agreement on Sunday allowing for the continued use of the Rutgers Avenue school as a quarantine location for CADES clients with COVID-19 who normally live in group homes in the community. Swarthmore Borough had filed an injunction in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday, April 14, seeking to remove patients diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Swarthmore Borough Council held a Zoom legislative session on Monday. Approximately 14 people, including borough council members and staff, attended. Much of the evening’s business consisted of ratifying resolutions related to the pandemic. The council ratified Mayor Marty Spiegel’s March 12 declaration of a state of emergency in the borough, as well as the council’s decision to hold meetings virtually as long as the emergency declaration remains in place.
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This week’s Swarthmore Borough Council meeting was all about trees: a new inventory of the borough’s street and park trees, issues with PECO’s tree trimming, and more. We also excerpt a letter from the Tree Committee about the many benefits of trees.
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Jill Gaieski has worked for the state attorney’s office in Broward County, Florida, and collected DNA from Bermudians. She has started an organization to fight gun violence, served (almost) two terms on the board of the Swarthmore Co-op, and earned her advanced sommelier certificate at the Wine School of Philadelphia. Since a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, January 6, she is now a Swarthmore Borough Council member as well.
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How to inventory a whole year? What to remind you of, and what to skip? What would you rather forget, but maybe shouldn’t? What have you already forgotten that might interest you to recall? Collecting (recollecting) these happenings and lives and milestones is a way to consider what we have accomplished and aspired to and worried about as a community, as we take the first steps into 2020. To think about where we have succeeded, where we have more work to do, and where we might want to start all over again.
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Monday night’s final Borough Council meeting was enlivened by interruptions of official business to celebrate Borough Council President Creagan, who has served for a total of eight years. Creagan’s calm and measured demeanor, cited by many of his colleagues throughout the meeting, was on display last night as he simultaneously ran an efficient meeting, paused to address a community-merit-badge-seeking Boy Scout in the audience, and found affectionate words for all.
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The Swarthmore Senior Citizens Association (SSCA) Sidewalk Committee met in June with Borough Manager Jane Billings and Ross Schmucki, chair of council’s Public Works Committee, to discuss sidewalk regulation and repair. Homeowners in the borough are responsible for maintaining their own sidewalks, and the borough code is precise in its specifications. At the same time, repairing a sidewalk can be expensive. Getting rid of the sidewalk permit fee was a recommendation of the SSCA. Was it approved?
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The thorny subject of Swarthmoreans renting out their homes for short periods of time was debated by the Planning and Zoning Committee of Swarthmore Borough Council at its monthly meeting on November 14. The issue was brought to the committee’s attention by neighbors of a house frequently rented out on Airbnb—sometimes to large groups—when the owners are away.
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Swarthmore Borough Council led off its monthly legislative session on Tuesday night with the ceremonial swearing of new police officer George Dunn, who was celebrated by a throng of fellow and family members. Officer Dunn actually began in the job last week following his official oath of office. Council president David Creagan congratulated council members Mary Walk and Ross Schmucki on their reelection, new member Jill Gaieski upon her election, and Mayor Marty Spiegel on election to his first full term. Gaieski will replace Creagan on Council as of the upcoming reorganization meeting.
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In its two October meetings, Swarthmore Borough Council approved several measures which should make the borough less attractive to speeders, and safer for all residents. Council members voted to approve the conditional offer of employment to Folcroft resident George Dunn as a patrol officer, gave the go-ahead to purchase two solar-powered radar speed signs, and adopted standards for hardscaping in the borough zoning code.
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