Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Supervisors approve Clarke as police chief
Robert Clarke—until Monday night the lieutenant and officer in charge of the East Marlborough Township police department— can now simply be called “chief.”
The township supervisors appointed Clarke chief of the department at their regular monthly meeting Monday night. The former chief, Gerald Davis, had an- nounced his intention to retire in February, saying it was time for a younger officer to take over, and Clarke had moved into a leadership position as a result.
The supervisors gave Clarke a round of handshakes to celebrate his new status.
Belrose development
The supervisors also heard Township Engineer Jim Hatfield report on a variety of prob- lems at the Belrose development south of Route 1, opposite Longwood Gardens. Hatfield said there were problems in parts of the development with erosion and inadequate erosion control measures such as vegetation.
Hatfield also said numerous driveways had problems with cracking asphalt that had emerged after freezing periods this winter.
Numerous Belrose residents at- tended the meeting, seeking ways to address the problems Hatfield had described. The supervisors said problems with public improvements such as stormwater management structures could be paid for by tapping into the development’s performance bond. But paying for problems in privately owned areas like driveways could be more complicated, they said.
For instance, said Hatfield,
many of the cracking driveways had been built by community’s first developer, Bentley Homes. The current developer is Woodstone Homes.
Cuyler Walker, chairman of the board of supervisors, said the township could make a claim against the performance bond to ensure repairs were made in the public areas. For the driveways and other problems in ar- eas privately owned, he encouraged the current developer to talk with owners to find some mutually agreeable solution. A Woodstone representative thanked Hatfield and the supervisors and promised to look into the problems.
The supervisors voted to make $24,000 of the performance bond available through July, with the possibility of making more available if needed to pay for repairs to public areas.
Wal-Mart expansion
In other business, the supervisors voted to let WalMart expand its gardening sales area by conducting sales in an open area near the existing garden center during the height of the gardening season. Lance Ransom, store manager, said they would sell plants, mulches, sand, paving stones, and other similar garden supplies for which there were not adequate space within the store.
The supervisors also voted to open a currently closed bridge on Poplar Tree Road to restricted vehicular traffic, with one lane open to vehicles under two tons only, essentially restricting the bridge to cars and small trucks. They also agreed to look into various ways to replace both bridges in the area, since they were in substandard condition.
Much of the work could be done by the township road crew, the supervisors said, but Hatfield warned that some of the installation work should be done by specialist contractors. Suggestions included prefabricated concrete bridges that could be dropped into place, paving over elliptical pipes, or constructing wooden bridges.
Longwood Gardens electrical substation
A request from Longwood Gardens to build a new electrical substation received preliminary and final approval at the meeting. Representatives from Longwood said the proposed 7,068-square-foot substation would require the removal of 119 trees, many of which they said were not in good condi- tion. They said Longwood would plant 61 new trees, greatly exceeding the number required by the ordinance.
Before granting the approval, the supervisors discussed ways to best screen the substation from view of the nearby residents and minimizing annoyance from lighting at the station.
The supervisors also approved road closures around the New Bolton center associated with a new fundraising 5K walkrun race scheduled there for May 2.