An active Monday night at Borough Hall. Here are some of the highlights:
Mechanic voices beef over Police Cars
For the last 6 years, the Borough has been taking the police
cars for service to Bob Taylor and Joe Signore, local in-town mechanics. We are no longer doing this, though,
which may void out the warranty on services already rendered. Mrs. Tatasciore asked a legitimate
question about who is now servicing the police cars and the Chief of Police responded
by saying that he ‘comparison shopped’ and found a better deal. The Mayor asked the gentlemen to speak
in the ‘back room,’ to which the guy responded, “No, I want to talk here. I want it known publicly that we did
service the police cars but we no longer are doing so.”
The comparison prices will have to account for the
additional gas we will be paying to drive the police cars to a location out of
town. I don’t understand why the
Chief did not share the comparison prices. Had there been some price shopping, it would have been
easier to simply share the actual prices to solidify that argument. It’s hard to argue with actual figures.
I sure do hope a personal grudge between two people does not
end up costing taxpayers more money.
We will already lose revenue if the local business makes less money;
remember, we do have an earned income tax. It would be sad to see us not only lose the tax revenue but
also pay more in repair costs as well.
Plumbing Inspector allegedly breaks bottle over resident’s head;
suspended with pay pending an investigation
Frank Lopchinsky, the Borough plumbing inspector, allegedly
broke a bottle over the head of a young resident. Ms. Blankley, the alleged victim’s mother, came to the
Council Meeting with a long list of criminal offenses from Mr. Lopchinksy’s
past, which allegedly includes burglary and theft. She questioned why the Borough hired this man and also why an
investigation into the alleged assault was taking so long.
Later in the evening, Councilman Stewart made a motion to
suspend Mr. Lopchinsky with pay until the investigation is completed. Council unanimously approved the
measure, much to the chagrin of the audience who thought the suspension should
have been without pay.
Some commentary on the issue. First, I have to agree with
the Council on this one, at least as far as their actions go toward suspending
Mr. Lapchinsky with pay. Everyone
deserves his or her day in court. Had
he been suspended without pay, he could be entitled to retroactive pay, among
other things, depending on the outcome of the investigation. Maybe now the investigation can occur
quickly so that taxpayer’s are not footing the bill of two plumbing inspectors. I just wish that Mr. Pappas would do
the answering for the Council, Mayor, and appointed officials, as he tries to
respond with dignity and respect.
It is clear that a few of the people up there are lacking in the people
skills department.
Kevin Begley (kind of) resigns
Kevin Begley tendered his resignation from Council due to
‘personal family matters.’
Council has not formally accepted his resignation, though, so that Mr.
Begley could have the opportunity to help out with the Memorial Day
festivities. Why couldn’t the
Council seat be filled and Mr. Begley simply volunteer his time at the Memorial
Day celebration? Lots of people
volunteer at Lighthouse Hall, even without a title. If Mr. Begley is so worried about the Memorial Day activities,
then why has he missed so many Recreational Board meetings, as have some of his
most recent appointees.
Something smells fishy here.
I have a feeling the establishment can’t find a replacement
for Mr. Begley, so they are buying time in the hopes of finding someone who is
willing to walk the establishment line.
Meanwhile, Kelly Butkus continues to show up to both the
Recreational Board and Council meetings.
Credit Card Spending Policy Passed
Council adopted a spending policy to ensure that employees
with access to the Borough credit cards cannot make purchases for items, such
as dinners, without the approval of Council.
Hmm….why did we not have this in place before? I hope this has nothing to do with the
fierce rumors running through about misappropriated money. I wonder who had access to the credit
card before and was buying dinners for people on our dime?
If you are curious, file a Right to Know Request on all
reimbursements given to elected, appointed, or hired employees of the Borough
for meal allowances charged to the Borough credit card.
Multi-family homes proposed for 13th and Eddystone Avenue
Mr. Catania was hired to develop plans to convert the
existing single family home and property into a series of twins and
rentals. Mr. Catania, our Borough Engineer,
was asked to approve the submitted plans.
In case you are wondering, the Mr. Catania referenced in both
instances is the same guy. So, Mr.
Catania was asked to approve his own plans. I wonder which way he will lean….Thankfully, Mr. Pappas
asked for guidance from the Delaware County Planning Commission. Residents beware!!! If you do not make your voice heard, we
may soon be seeing a flood of apartments, duplexes, and triplexes popping up
all over town. Cheap properties
are ripe for investors, and there are several properties in town big enough to
allow this type of building to occur.
In most cases, zoning variances would be needed for off
street parking.
If people do not speak up now, the variances will surely be
approved. And as for our property
values; well, we all know where they are right now, don’t we? I am not sure how more vacant rentals
will help them.
Here’s an idea (seriously):
Maybe Council should deny the variances (which they have a
legal right to do), then work to try and buy some of the existing homes. These homes could be rented to younger
police officers if they are willing to live in, and commit to working for, the
Borough for a prescribed amount of time.
Maybe we could even look into a ‘lease to own’ program, just like other
communities are doing; the rent money would then be saved to help the Borough
purchase additional homes. This solves
two problems with one solution: we
start hiring younger police officers who could live in the Borough, make a home
here, and perhaps even get promoted into full-time positions (this solves the
police shortage and the need for stable neighbors moving in) AND we also get
some of the homes off of the market so that investors cannot scoop them up and
turn them into dozens of multi-family homes.
Marcus Hook has a similar housing program, and Upper Darby
recently held a “Home Buyers” seminar trying to get new people into their
community.
Targeting young people to move in. Providing a financial incentive for them to buy affordable,
safe housing in a great school district with access to major transportation.
Sounds like a great marketing plan for Eddystone.
I am sure the establishment will figure out 19 reasons why
this is a bad idea instead of trying to grow it into something positive. And, truth be told, I am sure this is a
rough idea that is in need of polish.
Take the idea and improve on it, Council. Please.
Civil Service Commission forming
Mr. Stewart mentioned that we are in the process of getting
the Civil Service Commission advertised so that we can hire new police officers
and promote those who deserve promotion.
Watch the Delco Times for this to be advertised.
Congratulations to Eddystone School’s 4th graders
Congratulations go out to the 4th graders from
Eddystone School for their “Influential Women” essays and for the school staff coming
to the event to support it. I do
apologize for not adding the names of the children, however I was unable to
speak to their parents before they left and did not want to publish their names
without permission. If the parents
of the children would like to email the essays to the blog, we would be happy
to repost them so the entire community can read them (erocksbeat@yahoo.com). Great job!
Kudos to Mrs. Tatasciore for keeping this excellent
tradition alive.
Monthly grades
It’s time to retire the positive change meter and start
looking at the contributions of each member. Grades are based on what I saw and also heard from other
residents:
Mr. Stewart gets an A.
Nice points at the end, and it took a substantial amount of courage to
suggest the paid administrative leave motion.
Mrs. Tatascoire gets a A. Great questions and involvement all night long. Excellent job with the essays.
Ms. Thompson gets a B-. She has gone silent lately, however she did answer a
resident’s question regarding the credit cards. She did mention something about a community yard sale.
Mr. Paterson gets a B- as well. He immediately supported Mr. Stewart’s motion for paid
administrative leave and did at least make an attempt at trying to do something
to curtail the recent shootings in Chester from spilling into Eddystone.
President Pappas get a C+. This grade may be a bit harsh on the President, but I expect
more out of him. He had to deal
with a difficult public comment period of the meeting and had some curve balls
thrown at him. I just expect him
to control the other leaders in the Borough and demand that they speak
respectfully to residents.
There is no doubt in my mind that he will get this fixed,
though. He has risen to the
occasion on everything else this year.
He will get the Borough leaders in line.
No grade goes out to Ms. Reeves, who was absent or Mr.
Begley who was MIA.