{"id":3560,"date":"2013-12-18T10:51:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T15:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=3560"},"modified":"2013-12-18T10:52:39","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T15:52:39","slug":"for-new-garden-twp-247-police-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=3560","title":{"rendered":"For New Garden Twp., 24\/7 police coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supervisors also OK 2014 budget with no tax hike, 5-year police contract\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
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By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>

New Garden Township awards plaques of appreciation to three outgoing supervisors: Robert Perrotti (from left), Peter Scilla, and Bob Norris.<\/p><\/div>\n

In keeping with the holiday spirit, the New Garden Township supervisors came to Monday night\u2019s meeting bearing gifts, including the passage of a $4,673,100 budget for 2014 with no tax increase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In addition, the supervisors unanimously approved a five-year contract with the police bargaining unit, a vote that paved the way for making a pilot program of 24\/7 police coverage permanent. Supervisors\u2019 Chairman Stephen Allaband said the township would receive the additional protection at no extra cost.<\/p>\n

Only outgoing Supervisor Robert Perrotti opposed the plan. \u201cI really don\u2019t think this is a decision this board should make,\u201d he said, pointing out that three new members \u2013 a majority of the five-person board \u2013 will take over in January. \u201cI think it\u2019s a huge mistake.\u201d Allaband pointed out that the new board could overturn the decision if they felt it wasn\u2019t in the township\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Bob Norris credited representatives from the police and the township for their professional negotiations, a process that represented give and take on both sides. \u201cI hope you\u2019re as happy with the contract as we are,\u201d Officer Gerard M. Lindenlauf said to the supervisors.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, Lindenlauf, president of the New Garden Police Officers Association, said \u00a0the township was able to \u00a0to increase the coverage without increasing costs mainly by adding part-time officers and eliminating overtime.<\/p>\n

In other police business, Police Chief Gerald R. Simpson reported that the relocation of the department into a new modular facility adjacent to the old one had been accomplished, a move necessitated by mold. He and Norris also gave a preliminary briefing on a tour the pair took of seven other departments that have either renovated their facilities, built new ones, or retrofitted existing buildings within the past decade.<\/p>\n

Norris said the purpose was to get an overview of what other departments had done to help New Garden determine its best option for establishing a permanent home for the Police Department. Norris said no decisions have been made, and the choices range from retrofitting and possibly expanding the Township Building or another structure to constructing a new facility from scratch.<\/p>\n

Among the departments studied, the costs ranged from $1.2 million in Oxford, which serves less than half the residents that New Garden has, to $4.5 million for the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Department, which provides service to nearly three times as many residents. The average completion time for the projects was a little less than three years.<\/p>\n

Simpson expressed gratitude to the other departments, which also included Willistown and East Brandywine in Chester County, and Smyrna and New Castle City in Delaware. He said he appreciated their willingness to share their experiences.<\/p>\n

Three exiting supervisors \u2013 Norris, Perrotti and Peter Scilla \u2013 also received thanks and a plaque for their service. Perrotti had the longest tenure \u2013 since 2002. Norris began his stint in 2006, and Scilla stepped in six months ago to fill a vacancy that was created by the resignation of Warren Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Another gift of sorts for township residents came from Chris Robinson, who spent time in the Chester County Archives to answer a long-nagging question: How old is New Garden, anyway?<\/p>\n

Peg Jones, a fellow member of the township\u2019s Historical Commission, said a date of 1700, which even appears on the police logo, has been used over the years, but never authenticated. Robinson said the oldest legal document that could be found is dated 1714. \u201cI was amazed at how much U.S. history is around us,\u201d he said of his research.<\/p>\n

Jones said the Historical Commission wanted to present the supervisors with a proclamation establishing the 1714 date because the board has been so supportive of the commission\u2019s efforts. \u201cWe wanted this to happen on your watch,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

In other business, the supervisors heard from Marion Waggoner, a resident who prepared a detailed report on what he termed the adverse effects of a plan by the Artesian Water Company to activate a well in the township that would draw from the Cockeysville Aquifer. Allaband suggested directing the solicitor to notify Artesian that their plan violates the township ordinances, but Norris suggested that the township might need additional consultation. \u201cIt looks like the train is going regardless\u201d of what we say, Norris said.<\/p>\n

The supervisors opted to deny what interim Township Manager Spence Andress labeled \u201ca strange request\u201d from a man seeking permission to trap foxes on coyotes on township property. After some discussion about who had even seen coyotes and why the man wanted them \u2013 \u201cHe sells their fur,\u201d said Andress \u2013 the board concluded that permitting the activity could open a can of worms.<\/p>\n

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Supervisors also OK 2014 budget with no tax hike, 5-year police contract\u00a0 By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times In keeping with the holiday spirit, the New Garden Township supervisors came to Monday night\u2019s meeting bearing gifts, including the passage of a $4,673,100 budget for 2014 with no tax increase. In addition, the supervisors unanimously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2435,909,2436,2437,568,569],"class_list":["post-3560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-interim-township-manager-spence-andress","tag-new-garden-township","tag-officer-gerard-m-lindenlauf","tag-police-chief-gerald-r-simpson","tag-supervisor-robert-perrotti","tag-supervisors-chairman-stephen-allaband"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}