A new year and a
new President
Council elected John Pappas to the position of President and
Karen Reeves to Vice President.
Borough Manager Francie Howat will continue to serve as
Secretary/Treasurer, which adds a nice chunk of money to her Borough Manager
salary. Pappas ran his first
meeting on Monday, keeping a good flow to the procedures. He asserted himself without being
arrogant and generally did a commendable job of facilitating the meeting. There were differences of opinion on
several issues amongst leaders throughout the meeting and Pappas facilitated
those differences smoothly. When
questioned by Mayor Orr as to why park improvements should be made to the Nancy
Scott Cowan Park, Pappas clearly made his point as to why he believed it was
the correct decision. Let’s hope
he continues to lead in this respectful manner, even if this Council is
challenged publicly like the previous one.
Positive Change
Meter
In the November elections, all three newly elected Council
members promoted themselves as the candidates for ‘positive change’ in
Eddystone. Monday’s Council
meeting was the first opportunity for these candidates to promote their
positive change agendas. Here is
an update of what was presented:
Kevin Begley:
Nothing to report; nothing proposed
Danielle Thompson:
Nothing to report; nothing proposed
Dave Paterson:
Proposed an SPCA sponsored microchip program to be held in the Borough,
where residents could receive reduced, or even free chips for their pets. Mr. Paterson’s idea was an attempt to
protect taxpayer’s money; the cost to the Borough for handling unidentified
animals will be $366 per animal.
By offering this service, the Borough could be able to identify stray
animals and return them to their owners, thus eliminating the need to pay the
Chester County SPCA the per animal fee.
The rest of Council did not appear to like the idea. President Pappas stated that it was a
good idea but there were some issues that needed to be worked out. Mayor Orr questioned the idea of
educating police officers. Councilwoman
Tatascoire stated, “My dog already has a chip.” Councilwoman Thompson asked about liability issues, and
Councilman Begley questioned who would have to approach ‘big dogs’ running
through town.
I wonder who currently approaches the ‘big dogs’ in town if
they get loose, whether they are chipped or not.
Positive Change Scoreboard: Begley: 0 Thompson: 0 Paterson: 1
Question of the Day: Who is Debbie Sexton?
Budget Update
As of December 31, 2011, the Borough carried just over
$123,000 in excess money in its general fund. This is after they spent $58,000 to buy a new facilities
truck. The excess does not account
for the more than $500,000 in Camden Iron permit fees that were supposed to
come into the Borough last year.
Had that money come into the Borough, we would have had more than
$600,000 in excess revenue, which would have represented an almost 20% excess in
budgeting. Broken down by registered
voter, this would mean each resident was overcharged about $428.37. What could you do with an extra $400 in
your pocket?
Answer to today's question: Debbie Sexton is the person on Council that is in charge of Building and Parks and Public Works, according to Eddystone Borough's website. Actually, Debbie Sexton resigned from Council more than 4 years ago, was replaced by Dennis Call, who served on Council for a few years, and has now been replaced by Dave Paterson. Maybe the Borough can update their website?