Council commends emergency services after hazardous crash
MEDIA » Delaware County Council on Wednesday thanked first responders for their work in averting a disaster Tuesday. In a separate issue, a councilman issued a warning about politics.
County Councilman John McBlain described the overturned propane truck at I-95 and Route 476 Tuesday, snarling traffic for hours. He thanked the county’s first responders for preventing a large-scale tragedy.
“Our emergency response teams and hazmat teams did respond while numerous fire, police, EMS and fire police were out there,” he said. “What could have been a very bad situation with an overturned propane truck on the busiest intersection in the county was handled well.”
He said he was pleased when he received a 7 p.m. call from county Emergency Services Director Tim Boyce saying, “Look’s like things are under control and highways are being opened.”
Councilman Kevin Madden agreed.
“On a day like (Tuesday), where we have would could’ve been a tremendous disaster, it’s a good reminder again to be appreciative to Mr. Boyce, to the Emergency Services Department and all of our first responders who allow us to sleep a little easily at night knowing that they’re out there,” he said.
Boyce credited those who responded to the incident.
“We have so many dedicated volunteers in Delaware County, our first responders.” Boyce said. “This was a near-catastrophe.”
He said they did a lot of air monitoring around this release.
“The planning that we do for a number of emergencies really paid off (Tuesday),” he said. “It’s a credit to our volunteers, many of whom were out there six hours, directing traffic and evacuating people.”
In another motion, the approval of a $40,000 grant to the Center for Resolutions for conflict resolution and meditation programs, Councilman Brian Zidek paused.
“This is a difficult vote for me and that’s not to disparage or speak at all about the wonderful work at the Center for Resolutions does,” he said. “The difficulty for me in the vote lies in some of the partisan behavior pursued by some of the leadership for the Center of Resolutions. I’m going to vote in favor of this grant but I want to be understood that entities that seek money from this council should understand that I will look skeptically at their request if the leadership of that organization engages in partisan activities regardless of party.”
He continued to outlay his concern.
“People absolutely should feel free to exercise their First Amendment rights but having said that, the citizens of Delaware County need to believe that their tax dollars aren’t being handed out for ... organizations for political purposes,” he said.
Zidek, one of two Democrats on county council, said he was concerned as the center’s executive director is Paul Summers, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to forging signatures on the nominating petitions of U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-7, of Chadds Ford. Summers, a longtime county GOP figure, was sentenced to two years probation.
He said he was also concerned about Center board members’ contributions to political parties.