The Chester County Commissioners honored those involved with a series of Western Chester County planning and growth initiatives — sparked in part by the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce as well as the creation of Council of Governments — Coatesville, the boroughs of Atglen, Parkesburg, Modena, South Coatesville, and the townships of Caln, West Caln, East Fallowfield, Honey Brook, West Brandywine, Valley and West Sadsbury.

SOUTH COATESVILLE — As road shows go, this one is starting to prove pretty popular.

The Chester County Commissioners held their fourth “road show” meeting Wednesday night at the Chester County Public Safety Training Campus and while they conducted only a minimum amount of formal business — approving Caln’s new tax incentive program might have been its most significant action — more than a hundred people gathered for updates on various subjects pertaining to western Chester County.

This was the fourth such meeting held, with previous meetings in West Nottingham, East Vincent and East Brandywine and appeared to be the best attended yet.

“When you look at the agendas of the meetings put together by our staff, all of the content was centered on the region that we had the meeting,” Commissioner Kathi Cozzone said. “The folks who attended tonight were very motivated and excited to see what was happening in their areas. And the same was true with the other meetings.”

While most of the official business pertained to mundane, normal county functions, the  Board of Commissioners did give final approval to Caln’s new Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) zone along Lincoln Highway in Thorndale. LERTA reduces real estate taxes on new buildings and major improvements, and requires the township, the Coatesville Area School District and the county to agree to accept reduced taxes for a decade on improvements. Wednesday night’s action was the final approval needed.

According to Caln Commissioner Joshua Young, the new LERTA district and revised zoning and new marketing efforts to brand Caln and Thorndale are intended to spark economic growth in the Lincoln Highway corridor. Attracting businesses has multiple advantages, he said, in addition to providing needed jobs and economic activity, businesses tend to use less in the way services, schools in particular, than residential development and can help stabilize property taxes.

Tied to that, Commissioners approved a resolution honoring those who have been involved with a series of Western Chester County planning initiatives — sparked in part by the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce. In addition, 13 municipalities have created a local Council of Governments — Coatesville, the boroughs of Atglen, Parkesburg, Modena, South Coatesville, and the townships of Caln, West Caln, East Fallowfield, Honey Brook, West Brandywine, Valley and West Sadsbury. South Coatesville councilmember Terry Bruno is the organization’s first president.

Additionally, there were updates on the status of the new Coatesville Train Station — some demolition work has begun, although there are still parcels needed to be acquired before construction can begin. The target to open the new station — and possibly rehab the nearby old station, currently not in use — is 2016.

An update was offered on current joint revitalization projects for Coatesville, South Coatesville and Modena.

Habitat For Humanity reported on 60 homes it is in the process of building in Cambria Heights, a project expected to be completed in 2018, as it builds six or so houses at a time. A number of the properties are complete and occupied and more are expected to be this summer.

Outgoing Brandywine Health Foundation board chairman Harry Lewis updated a number ongoing projects, noting that the Coatesville Youth Initiative would be spinning off BHF to become a free-standing non-profit in January, 2014. Lewis introduced James Manning who will become the new chair of the BHF board in July.

Regina Horton-Lewis gave an update on Community Dental and its ongoing dental sealant program, which has provided sealants — a way to prevent kids from getting cavities — to roughly 2,000 kids since 2008. Currently, Community Dental, she said, is on track to see 4,000 patients in 2013, and perform educational outreach to 4,600 people.

As featured on our content partner WCHE radio Thursday morning: Click here to listen