Springfield moves to vacate portion of Rolling Road
SPRINGFIELD >> Commissioners approved the first reading of an ordinance that will officially vacate a portion of South Rolling Road. The action is required by the township to bring codes into compliance.
A July 24, 2017, settlement agreement between the Springfield School District and St. Francis of Assisi Parish was in place regarding an access drive also known as Murphy Drive. As per the design and engineering of the master plan for the new high school and overall campus, the roadway will be closed to the public other than for parish use.
A section of the petition by St. Francis for vacation states, “The unvacated portion of South Rolling Road as ‘useless, inconvenient, or burdensome’ under the Pennsylvania General Road Law because it does not physically connect to any public road and is unable to do so and essentially ‘dead ends’ into the parish’s parking lot.”
A second and final reading of the ordinance is expected in February. Commissioners meetings are open and the public may comment on township business.
The board opened the January meeting by welcoming Police Chief Joseph Daly, who presented commendations to several members of his department for their actions during the Oct. 20, 2018 shooting at the Springfield Mall.
Officers Michael Kingsbury and Dennis McPartland responded to the incident when several individuals were involved in an argument, leading to gunfire. The officers determined shots were fired outside the mall. While suspects escaped, the officers restored order in and outside the mall, and secured the crime scene, Daly said.
A full investigation lead by detectives Daniel McNeely and Robert Nutley included exhaustive review of all footage captured on cameras, identification of individuals seen and interviews with witnesses and those present at the mall. In addition to apprehension of a suspect, police found weapons in a hidden compartment of the subject car.
“This was a magnificent job done by all department personnel involved. And, fortunately, nobody got hurt in the incident,” said Daly.
A second commendation was given to Kingsbury for keen observation, team work, and identification of a suspect in a series of robberies along Baltimore Pike.
“When you talk to members of the department, they say it’s all in a day’s work. But we know they go above and beyond, such as the mall incident when they took control,” said Commissioners President Jeff Rudolph. “All our men in blue operate this way, and we are thankful to have each and every one of them.”
Daly takes the opportunity to bring officers to commissioners meetings to commend their performance in such a way to inform the public about the department’s efforts and outstanding level of service.