Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 158, No. 46
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
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Expected to be given final OK on Dec. 16
New Garden approves preliminary budget for 2025 By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer As they prepare to give their final approval to New Garden Township’s fiscal year 2025 budget next month, the township’s supervisors held their fifth public budget discussion on Nov. 18. Just as he has done in previous budget meetings, township Manager Christopher Himes gave a broad overview of the town-
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ship’s fiscal picture for 2025 that provided a further glimpse into proposed expenditures, priorities and strategies for the coming year, highlighted by a proposed general fund budget that is projected to be $8,179,084, a $236,166 increase over the amended 2024 budget of 7,942.818. Of the proposed general fund expenditures for 2025, a little more than two-thirds will be spent on community development and
safety; public safety in the areas of fire and EMS services; the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department; and the Public Works Department’s highway and road maintenance and upgrade projects. The remaining third of proposed expenditures will be divided among 13 of the township’s service areas. “Everything we’re doing is moving toward making sure that the township is operationally in a strong position
to do those big-ticket tasks as well as making sure that we have a heavy hand in our other functions like roads and stormwater priorities for the township,” Himes said. A large driver steering the township’s 2025 budget, Himes said, will be to evaluate and prioritize areas of need that align with the township’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan’s objectives and give top priority to nine objectives: creating strong financial
management; stimulating economic development in the township; investing in infrastructure; addressing the rising costs of public safety; implementing technology and other initiatives to enhance township staff operations; enhancing community services; maintaining a commitment to preserving open space; expanding the New Garden Flying Field; and improving energy efficiencies throughout the township.
The township’s capital investment plan is projected to dedicate as much as 81 percent of its budget over the next five years toward Continued on Page 2A
Kennett breaks ground on new Greenwood Elementary School By Chris Barber Contributing Writer
the recent groundbreaking for the new Greenwood Elementary School, even as Officials and students of mountains of dirt and conthe Kennett Consolidated struction vehicles loomed School District celebrated around them.
The event marked the final approvals and permits needed to move forward on the project – a project that was slowed somewhat by tedious plans for the onsite
Kennett Square Life
FROM OUR LENS Hop aboard the Brandywine Railroad
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Children of all ages are cordially invited to enjoy the Brandywine Museum of Art’s Brandywine Railroad, a holiday favorite featuring trains running on 2,000 feet of track with more than 1,000 pieces that will be on display from Nov. 20 through Jan. 2, 2025. Also on view will be The Wonderful World of Wyeth Miniatures, an exhibition that highlights the miniature worlds created and loved by the Wyeth family. The first floor will have holiday trees decorated with Brandywine Critters -- ornaments made from natural materials. The Brandywine Museum of Art is located at 1 Hoffman’s Mill Road in Chadds Ford. To learn more about this and other upcoming exhibits, visit www.brandywine.org.
Photo by Chris Barber
Greenwood Elementary School Principal Bridgette Miles and her students dig the ceremonial dirt for the new school that will be built.
waste sewage system. The ceremonial digging along Greenwood Road proceeded on Friday, Nov. 15 under clear skies with students, board members, teachers and the high school marching band on hand. The school district’s new Superintendent, Kimberly Rizzo Saunders, was enthusiastic as she greeted her audience. Like the speakers who followed, she said she viewed the replacement building as the groundwork for support, encouragement, dedication and great futures for the students who will be occupying it. District CFO Mark Tracy helped lead the planning and development of the project. Not only did he direct the Greenwood operations, he also had to handle the plans for the replacement New Garden Elementary School building at the same time. Both buildings are sched-
uled to open in 2026, and their combined cost is expected to reach $120 million. Inasmuch as both buildings have onsite sewage systems, property size for the placement was an issue. New Garden presented little or no problems, since it occupies a larger land area. Greenwood, however, had to be planned so that the two-story education center is on the geographic slope that contains the current onsite waste disposal system. To solve the problem, Tracy had to obtain permissions to create a new area from environmental groups, Kennett Township and the Department of Environmental Protection as well as bringing in tons of dirt to build an actual land plateau to fill in where the slope has been for years. With all the details Continued on Page 2A
New playground slide at Anson B. Nixon Park receives official opening By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Over the past several years – due in large part to the work of the Kennett Area Park Authority (KAPA) – Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square has been an incubator of innovation, realized. Strengthened by a strong volunteer base made up of gardeners, painters, carpenters and nature lovers, the 106-acre park is home to a community garden, the Sounds of Summer free
concert series, the annual Trout Rodeo, The Kennett Run, Chester County Disc Golf and several events that honor the diversity of Kennett Square. In all, KAPA has invested nearly $500,000 in capital improvements to the park in 2024 alone. On Nov. 18, the organization celebrated another milestone -- the addition of a new, 30-foot-tall playground slide. Located near the basketball courts and targeted toward children from 5 to 12, the
project was completed in September and funded by a $155,000 grant KAPA received from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR) in January of 2023, thanks to the advocacy of State Sen John Kane. “A couple of years ago, I was invited to come out to Anson B. Nixon Park and I got to do a little touring of Photo by Richard L. Gaw the facilities and learned Elected and appointed officials joined with local chilthat some of the needs that dren at the official groundbreaking of a new play[KAPA] was looking into ground slide at Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square Continued on Page 3A
on Nov. 18.