Underground Railroad Center poised to move into Barnard House
By Karen Cresta, Staff Writer, The Times
Sheila Fleming of the Brandywine Conservancy reviews options for the Brandywine Creek Greenway, during Monday night’s Pocopson Township Supervisors meeting.
POCOPSON – The Brandywine Trail Project came seeking a cooperative relationship with the township at Monday night’s board of supervisor’s meeting, in hopes of realigning the existing trail to follow the Brandywine Creek to make it more safe and scenic.
Sheila Fleming, a senior planner of 17 years with the Brandywine Conservancy, presented to the board the history of the concept plan of 30 miles within 25 municipalities on the Brandywine Creek Greenway for a conservation corridor that includes a recreational component of trails. A part of the trail extends from Routes 52 and 926 in Pocopson Township.
Currently, 40% of the trail follows the roadways according to Fleming. She informed the board that it is beneficial and ideal to redirect the trail off the road. The conservancy has been negotiating an easement with Lenape Forge with no successful deal as of date. Fleming looked to the board for a nod of approval to continue efforts with the needs and interests of the township in mind. A meeting with Lenape Forge that included a township board representative, according to Fleming, would be helpful.
Once easements are obtained, it becomes the township’s responsibility to maintain the trails when they are completed. In addition, any costs to build boardwalks or bridges necessary in swampier areas is incurred by the township.
“I would like to know I am on the right track.” Fleming continued.
The next step according to Fleming is to have the township solicitor review the documents for the easements when and if approved by Lenape Forge and to split the cost to do so. If no agreement is reached with Lenape Forge, Scott Kirkland, president of the Homeowners’ Association at Riverside at Chadds Ford, offered an alternative and existing trail along Pocopson Road. This alternative is not along the creek.
“We are grateful for the partnership with Pocopson Township to continue working on the easements,” said Fleming.
In other township news, the Barnard House is closer to obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC) as security initiatives are being completed. A lock is in place to divide the offices slated for the township and still under renovation – and experiencing issues with costs and layout.
Public Works Director Mark Knightly informed the board that the final requirement for a bid on the security system will be given later in the week.
Shoddy workmanship complaints about the roof and the flashing not matching as well as other concerns presented to the board last year still need to be addressed and corrected. Although the issues don’t present safety problems for the KURC occupancy, they still need to be corrected. Kirkland suggested that the manufacturer of the roof could pursue the contractor who installed it improperly to ensure the warranty would be effective.
Supervisor Elaine DiMonte reminded the board that a grant deadline is upcoming in April and decisions on the replacement or repairing of the windows needed to be made. She mentioned that an update would be given that most likely would result in an extension.
The Historical Committee chair Kris Firey-Poling presented several fundraising ideas to be used for the historic Locust Grove Schoolhouse renovations. The board was more open to some of the ideas such as a garage sale and a possible silent auction to be held at the Pocopson Founder’s Day. They were less open to a breakfast fundraiser at Applebees due to food handling issues and Cow Pie Bingo due to gambling issues.
Other efforts to raise funds included selling two different sized slates from the leftover schoolhouse blackboard. The larger design included a sketch of the schoolhouse with its name and established date of 1870 and the smaller included the name and date. The committee would decide on an appropriate price to sell the 50 pieces. Poling will update the committee and move forward with possible fundraising efforts.
Preliminary development plans for the Ducklings Early Learning Center on Winston Lane will be on the agenda at the next supervisors’ meeting in April. According to the chairman of the Pocopson Township Planning Commission, Gary Summers, a meeting with Riverside’s HOA needed no further review and a revisit with the attorney was not warranted.
“We’ve done our job. It’s back to where it was before,” said Summers.
The board had several announcements at the end of the meeting. Firstly, Chair Stumpo will be conducting interviews for the five residents seeking the township representative seat on the Kennett Public Library’s board of trustees. Simone will be requesting a job description and frequency and duration of meetings from the director of the library, Donna Murray.
Secondly, the board is seeking a liason who is experienced in communications and social media to implement and post communications for the township.
Thirdly, Stumpo announced that the Park, Recreation, and Trails Committee of 27 years was suspended due to the lack of an appointed chairperson and lack of interest. She urged residents to take into consideration filling the positions on the committee so that it may continue its good work since 1989.
Finally, Stumpo announced that PennDot will be holding a meeting at Pocopson Elementary School regarding the 926 bridge replacement on March 30, at 5:30 p.m. She urged residents to attend and to voice their concerns.
All meeting minutes, announcements and pertinent information can be viewed on the township’s website at www.pocopson.org.
