Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 158, No. 41
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
$1.50
Lawrence: ‘Governor Shapiro, take the sale of the Chester Water Authority off the table’
‘Save CWA’ group, elected officials hold lobbying day at state capitol in Harrisburg By Gabbie Burton Contributing Writer Bankruptcy, legal battles and a potential $410 million sale. If all you currently know about Save Chester Water Authority (CWA) is through their blue lawn signs dotted across southern Chester County, you have some catching up to do. On Oct. 9, the grassroots organization traveled to
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Harrisburg for what they billed as an action day at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, with supporters arriving in buses from both West Grove and the City of Chester. The lobbying agenda, attended by about 50 supporters from both Chester and Delaware counties, included meetings with legislators and staffers and a press conference in the rotunda of the Capitol Building. The purpose of
the lobby day was to bring increased attention to the potential sale of the CWA Continued on Page 2A Photo by Gabbie Burton
Members of Save Chester Water Authority (CWA) joined with elected officials at the State Capitol in Harrisburg on Oct. 9 to further voice their opposition to the proposed sale of the Chester Water Authority to Aqua by the City of Chester.
Local business owner concerned about political group in front of his store By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer Hugo Sandoval, owner of El Nayarit Mexican Store at 4 S. 3rd Street in Oxford, came before the Oxford Borough Council at its meeting last week to express his concerns about a political group that set up a table to hand out information in front of his store during the First Friday event planned by Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. (OMI). OMI did not give permission to the group to set up during that event. The group then asked permission from the Borough of Oxford—and received it. Council President Kathryn Cloyd thanked
Sandoval for attending the meeting and explained, “We couldn’t refuse the group because of our ordinance. We checked with our solicitor who advised that the borough could not refuse the request.” The group set up outside the footprint of the OMI event, which also drew questions from those attending the event. The political group set up directly in front of the El Nayarit store. Sandoval explained, “The Republican committee had a stand directly in front of my store and I didn’t think that was a good idea. My father has had this store for over 30 years. I didn’t see them setting up until it was done. I called Raul Juarez,
FROM OUR LENS Carving into an annual tradition
Courtesy photo
The Great Pumpkin Carve 2024 will take place from Oct. 17-19 at the Chadds Ford Historical Society, 1736 Creek Road in Chadds Ford. The three-day Chadds Ford tradition will feature over 70 giant pumpkins that will be carved and lit by local artists on Thursday and displayed on Friday and Saturday. Visitors to the event can also enjoy a haunted trail, raffle prizes and live music from Kenny Thompson & Friends. Food, local craft beer and wine will also be available for purchase. To learn more, visit www.chaddsfordhistory.org.
Continued on Page 3B
Harris-Walz campaign canvases potential voters at Lincoln University’s homecoming By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Photo by Richard L. Gaw
The Harris-Walz campaign stopped at Lincoln University’s homecoming festivities on Oct. 12 as part of a tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities it is making around the U.S. prior to the presidential election on Nov. 5.
East Marlborough Township considers tax increases in 2025 If a tax increase is approved as a part of the budget, it could represent the first time in 27 years that general real estate taxes have gone up in the township By Monica Fragale Contributing Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
East Marlborough Township supervisors will look at raising the township’s general real estate taxes for the first time since approximately 1997.
It is one of three separate tax increases the township is considering in its 2025 budget, and the possible tax increase was a topic of the Oct. 2 budget work session. One possibility is for the supervisors to raise the general fund tax to 1.75
mills. They had discussed in their first budget work session increasing the EMS tax by 2 mills, and will consider an increase in the open space tax, according to East Marlborough Township manager Neil Lovekin. Continued on Page 4A
Currently dotting the roadsides in the immediate vicinity of Lincoln University, signs supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump for U.S. President outnumber those in favor of Democrat and Vice President Kamala
Harris nearly three to one, but to anyone with even a slim knowledge of Chester County politics knows, the western half of the county still leans heavily red in a crucial voting region that has over the past few election become progressively blue. In support of this changing Continued on Page 4A
Kennett Square Borough Council receives update from Houlahan’s office By Gabbie Burton Contributing Writer Kennett Square Borough council held a voting session meeting on Oct. 9 that included legislative updates from U.S. House Rep. Chrissy Houlahan’s office, approval of the consent agenda and proposed draft of the 2025 budget
presentation. The meeting began with Sue Walker, Rep. Houlahan’s deputy chief of staff, who joined the meeting on Zoom to update the council on legislative initiatives and developments. “The 117th Congress had a lot of really generational investments that Continued on Page 2A