Tonight is a Board of Supervisor Meeting, 7:30 PM at the Township Building. Although the agenda does not include further budget discussion, citizens are certainly welcome to bring up budget comments/concerns under ‘New Matters’. The 2010 budget will be voted on at the December 21 Board of Supervisor Meeting, so I suggest that if you have strong opinions you need to be there tonight to offer your comments. If you recall, the draft budget passed at the November 30 meeting without any changes. There is still time for budget discussion, but the clock is ticking!
2010 budget
Remembering a Day in the Past . . . Berwyn-Paoli-Radnor Fire Company Photo
Three years ago, was a very busy time for me. It was Tredyffrin 300 preparation; Judy DiFilippo and I co-chaired that very memorable celebration that honored our history’s past. In addition to the special planned events, there was a historic documentary, (Tredyffrin Township. . . the First 300 Years; Judy and I are talking about the possibility of a future township-wide showing, maybe this summer in Wilson Farm Park) and we also created a calendar to mark Tredyffrin’s milestone, which featured historic places and special people that make our community the wonderful place that it is! Those calendar photos were later framed and hang in the front lobby of the township building. For many of you who visit the township building, you probably walk right by those photos and may not even notice. However, when I look at those photos I remember the day they were taken and all that went in to making each photo unique and special.
There has been much discussion in the last few weeks about the Fire Companies, the budget cuts and the appeal to restore the proposed budget reductions. I was taken back to a summer day 3+ years ago, when I arranged to have Berwyn, Paoli and Radnor volunteer fire fighters all gather at the Strafford Train Station. The Radnor Fire Company graciously agreed to bring their fantastic historic fire truck for the occasion. This day for the volunteer fire companies, like so many of the other groups who gathered for their calendar photos, was a time for community goodwill and fellowship. Today, I spent some time locating that wonderful photo in my files and thought it was timely and appropriate to include — many of you purchased the calendar, but there could be some new Fire Company volunteers and community members who do not remember the photo or that never saw it. See if you recognize any familiar faces.
Attached is a jpg of the Berwyn-Paoli-Radnor Fire Company photo, feel free to share it. (Rena Ferris was the Tredyffrin 300 calendar photographer).
Berwyn-Paoli-Radnor Fire Company volunteers at historic Strafford Train Station
Resident's Letter Supports Reinstatement of Fire Company's Proposed Budget Cut
The following letter of support to reinstate the proposed budget cut to the fire companies appeared in this week’s Main Line Suburban newspaper. Although Kathleen Keohane of Malvern speaks of the proposed $3.5 million reduction in overall township spending, it is the Fire Department that receives her major attention. Kathleen offers her explanation of what this decrease in township conributions will mean to Berwyn, Radnor and Paoli Fire Departments.
Support volunteer firefighters
To the Editor:
I hope Tredyffrin residents are paying close attention. On Nov. 30 the Board of Supervisors voted 4-2 to pass the 2010 preliminary budget. It features a whopping $3.8-million reduction in spending, almost 15 percent below last year’s operating budget. And it does so in the name of holding the line on property taxes – even as transfer-tax revenues continue to decline.
But in my view this lean budget comes at a significant cost to our community’s safety and vital services, especially in terms of our fire departments. Berwyn and Paoli fire companies are manned mostly by volunteers, and adequate funding has been an ongoing struggle for them. In fact, until 2007, Tredyffrin provided no capital contribution for the replacement of costly equipment. It was all the responsibility of the fire companies themselves.
Next year our local tax dollars will provide less than $300,000 toward the $2-million-plus operating expenses of the Berwyn and Paoli fire companies. Easttown and Willistown’s combined contributions to B.F.D. and P.F.D. will account for about half that amount.
That leaves a huge funding gap to be filled by insurance reimbursements and fund-raising. And it doesn’t even begin to cover the huge capital costs our fire departments incur in order to purchase major pieces of equipment. For example the replacement cost of an ambulance is about $150,000, a fire engine $500,000 and a new ladder truck over $1 million. And Berwyn Fire Company is in need of all of these in the next two years.
These are staggering costs for volunteer fire departments to manage. Yet we expect them to save lives and protect property with this minimal level of taxpayer support. And commit more time for training and spend more time fund-raising than ever before.
Is it any wonder that the number of people willing to volunteer as firefighters has declined greatly in recent years? Have taxpayers really considered the real cost of maintaining a full-time firefighting/EMS staff in Tredyffrin? It has been estimated at $7-12 million – and that’s annually.
So when Tredyffrin makes across-the-board cuts in tough times, our already underfunded fire departments really suffer. They need more support, not less – from the township as well as individuals and businesses that benefit from their services.
Notably both Easttown and Willistown have decided not to reduce their funding for fire and ambulance services in 2010.
So please step up. Get the facts on Tredyffrin’s proposed budget cuts and funding levels for public safety. Call your supervisors and let them know you want to see the fire companies’ funding restored to the 2010 budget. And please get out your checkbook and contribute to the most worthy of organizations – your local fire companies.
Your life may depend on it. Just ask the disabled woman rescued from her burning Chesterbrook home on Thanksgiving afternoon. Tredyffrin police, fire and rescue responded in a matter of minutes and saved her life and her property.
Kathleen E. Keohane, Malvern
Which Local Non-Profits Lose Contributions in 2010 Budget?
The proposed 2010 township budget includes across the board contribution cuts to all non-profit organizations. I knew that Surrey Services contribution of $10,000 was removed in the 2010 budget, but could not find information on 2009 contributions to other non-profits. I contacted Mimi Gleason and she was able to provide the following 2009 township contributions:
Neighborhood Health Agencies of Chester County $2,400
Surrey Services: $10,000
Great Valley Senior Center: $1,000
Wayne Senior Center: $6,000
Wharton Esherick Museum: $500
Crime Victims Center of Chester County: $2,000
Jenkins Arboretum: $1,500
Total $23,400
We have been focused on the Library, Fire Departments, Police and township staff reductions included in the proposed 2010 township budget. It is important to acknowledge that the proposed township budget also includes $23,400 in contributions cuts to these local non-profit organizations . Across the country, non-profit organizations are seeing their contributions plummeting, whether it is food banks, senior centers, historic preservation organizations, etc. Tredyffrin Township, like many other municipalities is forced to greatly reduce (or totally remove) their contributions to these type of community organizations.
During this upcoming holiday season and time of giving, I would encourage you to make a contribution to your favorite charity. If you are lucky to have the extra resources, please consider making a gift this year – we are all in the same boat together, let’s help each other.
Fire Companies are Working on Financial Statements
I have received word from the Fire Companies that they are working on individual statements and financials that will be easy for the public to understand. It’s important to understand the effect that the 5% budget cut (in addition to the 9-10% budget cut from the State) will have on their organizations for 2010. The next Board of Supervisor Meeting is this Monday, December 7, 7:30 PM at the Township Building. Let’s see if we can get a better understanding of Berwyn, Paoli and Radnor Fire Company budgets prior to the meeting. As soon as I receive information or links from the individual Fire Companies I will post it on this site.
On the Main Line, the Sting of Rising Unemployment
Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer includes a must-read for all of us. The article, On the Main Line, the Sting of Unemployment really speaks to what is going on all around us. We now all know someone in our community who has lost their job. I used to think that we were insulated from some of the very difficult economic situations facing other parts of Pennsylvania and around the country. However, that is no longer the case.
Although the article states that Chester County fortunately is 3rd lowest in unemployment in the state at 6.5%; it also suggests that unemployment here is growing at a staggering rate. Unemployment claims along the entire stretch of the R5 (Paoli Local) rose 143% from July 2007 to July 2009. However in some areas, such as Strafford, Wayne, St. Davids and Radnor the unemployment claims rose as much as 730%!
During this challenging township budget season, I suggest we all need to be mindful of the difficult economic times that our friends, family and neighbors are facing.
Our Fire Companies — No Reinstatement of Their Budget Cut!
Tonight’s Board of Supervisor meeting tested my faith in our local government. The audience witnessed our supervisors heap accolades on our firefighters, praise their saving of a handicapped, wheel-chair bound resident in Chesterbrook on Thanksgiving Day, and then watched as the firehouse representatives groveled to have their 5% Tredyffrin Township 2010 budget cut reinstituted. How is it possible that in one meeting, our supervisors can extol the virtues of our volunteer firefighters and their life-risking efforts and at the same time (some of the supervisors) can vote to take away township support? And yes, the supervisors can vote to leave the annual fireworks in the budget (I think that budget line item was $20K). I am all about the 4th of July and fireworks, but does this seem an equitable trade?
Let’s remember tonight’s meeting when some of these individuals take to the campaign trail and speak of their emergency services support.
As for the BAWG report and the St. Davids Golf Club’s $50K cash offer — I think I better sleep on it before I write how I feel about that part of tonight’s experience. I have to remind myself that I will take the higher road and not follow the example of other’s bad manners.
Understanding Township Planning Commission Authority
So that everyone is on the same page, here is the description of the township’s Planning Commission and its authority. It seems fairly clear that the Planning Commission is the last word on land development in the township.
From the Tredyffrin Township website:
“Tredyffrin’s Planning Commission is a volunteer group of nine residents appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Each member is appointed to a four-year term. The Board of Supervisors has authorized the Planning Commission to prepare, update and oversee implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance and to review land development and subdivision applications. Land development decisions by the Planning Commission are final, while the Board of Supervisors has final approval authority on all subdivision applications.”
Did the BAWG committee consult the Planning Commissioners before including the St. Davids Golf Club’s $50K sidewalk offer in their report?
The Plot Thickens . . .
I continue to focus on the mystery $50K offer from St. Davids Golf Club which appears in the recently released BAWG report. Details and bio information concerning one of the BAWG members has surfaced which could begin to answer some of my questions. John Petersen speaks directly to this subject in his recent posting on Tredyffrin Township Political Notebook.
I understand that the budget suggestions made by the BAWG committee to the Board of Supervisors are just that suggestions. However, by making the BAWG report public on the township website, its contents are then available as public record (and public scrutiny). If the mission of the BAWG was to look at all available revenue resources, than one might assume that the $50K offer from St. Davids Golf Club is an available revenue resource. But in my way of thinking, the St. Davids Golf Club sidewalk offer is not an available revenue resource. The Planning Commission’s decision to include the sidewalk requirement was part of the contractual agreement between the township and St. Davids Golf Club for their building project. Although previous attempts were made by St. Davids representatives for ‘relief’ of this land development requirement, as of now the requirement for the sidewalks still stands. This is not negotiable and therefore can not be represented by the BAWG report as an ‘available revenue resource’.
Countdown to Board of Supervisor Meeting. . . Looking for Answers
Full Disclosure Request
Where are you going to be Monday night at 7:30 PM? I suggest that you either attend Tredyffrin Twp’s Board of Supervisors meeting or tune in from home.
There are questions swirling in regards to the recently released BAWG report and the suggestion of a $50K offer from St. Davids Golf Club in regards to the sidewalk construction. St. Davids Golf Club has been in default since July 2008 to build the sidewalks and now mysteriously this $50K offer from the country club appears in the BAWG report. Since BAWG released its report, I have been trying to get the following questions answered, but to date I have come up short.
- Where did the $50K St. Davids Golf Club offer come from?
- Was this a written offer from St. Davids Golf Club Board of Directors and was it made directly to the BAWG committee?
- Was the Township Solicitor, Township Manager and members of the Board of Supervisors advised of the St. Davids Golf Club offer (prior to BAWG’s publication of its report)?
- If this is a written offer, what are the conditions and timeline for its acceptance? Who has the authority to accept the offer?
- Was this offer and the details discussed with the Planning Commission or Sidewalks, Trail & Paths (STAP) Committee prior to appearing in the BAWG report?
- Are any of the members of the BAWG committee also members of St. Davids Golf Club?
- Are any of the members of the Board of Supervisor also members of St. Davids Golf Club?
Prior to Monday night’s Board of Supervisor meeting (and BAWG presentation), I suggest that you review the timeline (and Planning Commission minutes) that I put together for an earlier blog entry. Click here for St. Davids Golf Club Sidewalks – Is it to Nowhere?
It is my understanding the Tom Colman, Chairman of the BAWG committee will make a public presentation on the report and here’s hoping that there will be time for the public’s questions and answers. This is one taxpayer with questions, and so far . . . no answers.