Chadds Ford, PA is actually Delaware County, PA but to me has always felt more Chesco than Delco. Chadds Ford has beautiful twisty roads, some gems of homes and estates, and used to be quite understated. I say used to be, because like every other slice of heaven between Devon and Wilmington….there is development.
Anyway in April, 2024 an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by a reporter whom I respect and follow caught my eye:
So it looks like Smithbridge Partners (or maybe their lawyers since do we think the owners will go to court?) has put off their court date until after their zoning hearing board hearing event which looks like October 22? Now zoning hearing was put off from September, correct? When I last looked they were supposed to go to court this week on the fine stuff, and now the dockets read November?
And what is it to be at zoning October 22nd? If it reads like September 4th which was postponed it will be “1465 Smithbridge Road – Appeal of Zoning Code Enforcement/Variance to operate B & B”?
So are the owners going to be ON PREMISES to run a B&B AKA Bed and Breakfast Inn? It’s kind of 24/7/365 as I have known people who have operated B&Bs and one who still does? As a matter of fact, one person I know operates a B&B in PA and has a separate Air BnB in another state which is professionally run by a real estate company with strict rules.
So how come that Air BnB became such a mess? Did the property owners think neighbors would just give up their personal reasonable expectations of quiet enjoyment for the profit of others? I mean if there is the money to do things right, why not do just that?
So would you want to be known as the people who purchased part of a former Du Pont property and then was all over media for this? Supposedly, these folks own about 400 acres of land in Chadds Ford between Smithbridge and Ridge Roads? Below is what I found on various properties under or affiliated with this entity:
Now with regard to the Air BnB at 1465 Smithbridge Road I have to ask, what is currently going on? Is it now empty or is it still being rented out as an Air BnB? Another wrinkle is a conservation easement on the property perhaps? It is (and already was when they bought it) under conservation easement with Brandywine Conservancy, correct? The easement states, “No industrial or commercial activities shall be conducted or permitted on the Property, with the exception of agricultural and livestock activities.” The conservation easement is copied below.
How is either an Air BnB or a B&B not a commercial activity? What does the esteemed Brandywine Conservancy say about this? And if there is an easement, can you use the easement as in is there a trail? if so, is it maintained and by whom? I ask not because I know anything suspect, I ask because we have all heard of properties out here with conservation easements and I am guessing someone does maintenance so they can be used the way they are supposed to be used, right?
So the Air BnB of it all got a cease and desist letter in 2023:
So what is the end game with the thing going to zoning later this month about being a Bed and Breakfast? Is this just to wiggle a door back to Air BnB? And given the other properties they own are any of them regular rentals? If so why can’t 1465 Smithbridge just be that? Or don’t they have any relatives who could live there and just let it be a normal property in a beautiful area with a conservation easement? And again where is the Brandywine Conservancy on this?
Now I asked around to those who know more than I and they came back with a famous court case that seems similar. There’s is interesting and relevant legal precedent for this case. The “Slice of Life” case was heard by the PA Supreme Court in December of 2018.
In its opinion, the Court concluded that even though the applicable zoning ordinance did not specifically prohibit the short-term rental of residential homes, such use was nonetheless prohibited. The Court stated that prohibited uses of real property do not have to be expressly excluded on a zoning ordinance.
The critical inquiry for the PA Supreme Court was the interpretation of the term “single housekeeping unit.” Past court decisions in PA have consistently applied this functional standard in its analysis to cases with similar facts. For example, courts have allowed the use of a residential home by a homeowner to provide lodging, meals, and care to physically and mentally disabled persons in their home. Conversely, courts have determined, under the same standard, that a residential home is not allowed to be used as a half-way house or a group home for foster children. These decisions turned on the fact that the average stay at a halfway house (2-6 months) and at a group home was too short to be compatible with the single-family concept.
Now the Slice of Life of it all came up again in a New York Times article this past spring about a community in the Poconos. I have been to one of the fancier of the cabins/lake of it all communities up there years ago now. It was beautiful and closely held to keep out short term rental issues. It was so beautiful and natural. It was a delight. And tiny Medford Lakes, NJ has legislated against Air BnB type short term rentals in their community to preserve it’s character.
Air BnB rentals have created controversy in all sorts of communities in Southeastern PA, and in Chester County I can think of West Vincent and Willistown and West Chester Borough. I still do not know who is on first where.
Now one of the other properties these Smithbridge People own is of interest to me. And octagonal house.
Has anyone been by this lately? What’s the current condition? Now that could make a great long term cottage rental couldn’t it?
I don’t really have much else to say on the topic. I definitely don’t have a horse in the race, except I have to say while I would not mind a traditional actual owner operated Bed and Breakfast Inn in my neighborhood, I can say the big old no to the Air BnB of it all.
This is still a situation to watch. I will be curious what happens to 1465 Smithbridge and the cool little octagonal house.
Giant college party going on in Mt. Pleasant since 1 PM. Kids keep ubering in. Police as per residents have been called at least 5 times, and well here, read the screen shots off of social media:
Tredyffrin Police? Are you so busy you can’t deal with this, or is it you do not want to deal with it? Tredyffrin Supervisors? Do you have a collective pulse?
So Tredyffrin we KNOW you like to pretend Mt. Pleasant doesn’t exist, except when you and Upper Merion approve ridiculous land development that is. And is that development for college student rentals? Seems a little overpriced for that maybe?
I don’t want to say Tredyffrin is prejudiced or biased against some residents, but hey the optics? Sleazy at a minimum here? These people aren’t good enough to care for or something?
These people, as in the people raising kids and living like normal people in Mt. Pleasant have an expectation of quiet enjoyment legally, correct? I don’t think that includes blue tarps to block keg view for the neighbors etc is part of quiet enjoyment?
How about do your damn jobs Tredyffrin? And media? If you are interested in Mt. Pleasant I can hook you up. It is actually in Chester County, PA.
For years, virtually throughout it’s history, Mt. Pleasant is treated poorly, and poorly is a polite descriptive adjective.
Oh here’s a blue tarp party photo from September. Tredyffrin quite a few OUTSIDE of Mt. Pleasant have been keeping tabs. We want better for them. Even if you don’t give a good god damn.
I woke up thinking about Marsh Creek again this morning. I will preface this post with did you know the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in July?
By Erin Cox and Gregory S. Schneider July 5, 2020 at 7:07 p.m. EDT
So if the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline have been stopped, why not Mariner II?
I do not know how you could have missed the news this week. It started when Sunoco/Energy Transfer breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday on Shoen Road. This is where my friend Ginny lives. I will let her words from five days ago be heard now:
It was a rough day y’all. Started before 6am with Sunoco violating our township noise ordinance. Then at 1:40pm I sent an email to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection staff in charge of Mariner East informing them that Sunoco’s plan to handle a frac-out of drilling mud on our property was failing and instead of Sunoco stopping drilling as required or the DEP forcing them to, they all did NOTHING. Two hours later there was a river of drilling mud flowing across our property. All this while an estimated 250,000 gallons of formerly pristine groundwater pour down the drill hole every 24 hours to be hauled away as residual waste….. enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every two days. This is expected to continue for a few months.
The upside of all this: As I stood at the road, amongst a crowd of township police and glaring workers and security, and with the support of friends, people from our community driving by gave thumbs up and bold raised fists.
Community power. Defend what you love.
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/10/2020
And I watched live videos where it looked like my friend Ginny was being menaced on her own property? It has been crazy. My friend Ginny, however, is grace under pressure. And she pointed out on Tuesday:
As an estimated 250,000 gallons of ground water per day gushes down the borehole from the Mariner East HDD on Shoen Road in West Whiteland Township to be hauled away as waste, after Sunoco beached the aquifer yet again, let’s look at the situation in Edgemont, Delaware county where Mariner East drilling also destroyed private wells. But unlike in West Whiteland, THERE IS NO PUBLIC WATER OPTION.
Erica Tarr’s family has been without clean running water for several months. They have had to dig a new well and put in expensive filtration devices to no success and at great expense to them. Aqua PA has quoted them $500,000 to extend a new public water line to their home. Sunoco had done nothing for them. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has done nothing for them.
Where’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro? He has been investigating Mariner East for over a year now. Meanwhile this family is denied our constitutional right to clean water. So many families have been denied this right along this egregious project and in Western PA due to fracking, many without the resources to fight or fix, or without even knowing their water was contaminated. Where’s Governor Tom Wolf?
A reminder of Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment, proudly passed in 1971:
“The Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA), (Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution), states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”
What’s there to be proud of Pennsylvania?
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/11/2020
Would you want to bathe in that water?
Ginny had this to say today:
As the DEP investigation into and cleanup of the drilling lubricant spill into Marsh Creek continues, so too do the investigations at Shoen Road where Sunoco has breached the aquifer and mud emerged from the ground while drilling on Saturday.
In a bold-faced life Sunoco claims they did not breach the aquifer, though they did it in 2017 and 2019 in their previous failed attempts and 250,000 gallons of water has been flowing back through the pilot hole and is being pumped 24/7 from drill pit.
And why isn’t the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection doing the appropriate analysis to determine an inadvertent return?
Time for the DEP to pull the permits
“This is an example of the crisis of our time. The people of Pennsylvania have a right to clean air and pure water, public health, safety and private property.
“Yet the priority seems to be protecting a multi-national, private, for-profit corporation, which then exploits and degrades our resources, our quality of life and our health and safety. Who does our government work for?”
~ Ginny Kerslake 8/14/2020
So what is Ginny talking about? Why the fouling of Marsh Creek by Sunoco/Energy Transfer this week. Lots of us, myself included have kept kids away from beautiful Marsh Creek since the polluting event this week.
Marsh Creek. A simply beautiful place loaded with wildlife. Where drinking water lives.
I first learned about Marsh Creek in my early 20s. I had a roommate back then who had grown up in the Downingtown area. Her mother worked for the EPA, so they were a family who completely respected the majesty of nature and were pro-environment back then.
Marsh Creek State Park was developed to help manage the water resources in the Brandywine Creek Watershed. Frequent flooding, water shortages, and lack of recreational opportunities were problems in the watershed.
The park was formerly a combination of rolling, wooded hills and small farms located on both sides of the Marsh Creek valley. The former village of Milford Mills is now under 30 to 50 feet of water. All of the buildings were removed; leaving only a few roads, foundations, and the embankments to the Larkin’s Bridge under the lake.
The lake was created by the damming of Marsh Creek. Construction of the dam occurred between May 1970 and June 1973. The impoundment is a 90-foot-high, 990-foot-long earth and rock fill dam on Marsh Creek, a tributary of the East Branch of Brandywine Creek.
On November 16, 1973, the gates of the dam were closed. The lake reached normal pool stage 218 days later on June 21, 1974.
At normal pool elevation of 359.5 feet above sea level, the impoundment covers an area of 535 acres plus a 25-acre wetland. The lake volume is 13,000 acre-feet (4.4 billion gallons) with a maximum depth of 80 feet at the dam.
The Marsh Creek watershed comprises 20 square miles of the Brandywine Creek watershed, which is part of the Delaware River Basin.
~ Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
My friend historian Catherine Quillman wrote a book about Milford Mills.
Way back in the first half of the 19th century, there was the tiny town of Milford Mills. A little village, really.
Little houses in the midst of sprawling farm country. A one room school house, a bridge, a general school.
Only in Your State says “Local legend also tells of a majestic mansion with 44 rooms. It was here, so goes the story, that supposed gangster Max Boo Boo Huff spent five years – from 1930 to 1935 – in the mansion, running a modern-day bar during Prohibition. Huff’s departure gave way to a new owner who turned the mansion into a resort.”
The village of Milford Mills existed until around 1970 when federal and local authorities decided a dam and a reservoir would be built there. The plans for Marsh Creek Dam meant the end of Milford Mills. I am told residents tried to fight it, but they lost and the village was razed. The dam was built and the man-made lake began to fill up with water. In 1974 or so the Marsh Creek Lake had a reported 100,000 fish added to it. The remnants of Milford Mills became the ghost town under the lake.
Marsh Creek was built to address water issues. It was built to provide drinking water for the Chester County Resources Authority. Apparently, previously there had been shortages. Also addressed by the creation of Marsh Creek? Alleviation of seasonal flooding. Of course I have to wonder given the intensity of infill development including around Marsh Creek if that still helps as much as they had thought it would. The park was also created and there are all sorts of things to do there. You can hike around and look at the ruins of Milford Mills, picnic, swim, sail, fish.
So when I first saw Marsh Creek it was I guess the late 1980s. I was in awe of how pretty it was plus fascinated by the mob stories and probable urban legend of wise guys ending up in the lake.
But now what lies ahead for Marsh Creek? How fouled is the water? Will we ever really know? What we do know is thanks to the brilliant activists.
Plume of pollution out at Marsh Creek thanks to Sunoco/ Energy Transfer Partners.
I just. Can’t. Even. What in the hell has to happen to be enough? Is this enough to get these people out of our communities? These pipelines are the things you hear about, but if you don’t live close enough to a pipeline site you think we are all a collective of drama queens.
I used to think that it was mostly drama before I moved to Chester County. I thought “oh it can’t possibly be that bad.” Then there are the moments that stick in your head. One such moment occurred for me a couple of years ago. We invited Adelphia Gateway which wishes to do Sunoco-like projects to a parlor meeting in my living room. My friend Ginny sat on my sofa with tears in her eyes as she recounted what had happened to her and her family at the hands of pipelines at that point.
This parlor meeting was July 25, 2018. I will note that questions we gave to the PR talking head sent to handle us have to date never, ever been answered. Adelphia Gateway will have my entire neighborhood within a blast zone if they proceed, and we are on wells. There is not public water for us so what has happened this week on Shoen Road and at Marsh Creek is EXACTLY what I worry about along with the sinkholes and well, the very real fear of any of these lines blowing up.
Anti-pipeline activists are still painted as these awful people. Ladies and gentleman, they are your neighbors. People you socialize with. Go to church with. Your friends. My friends.
For the recent primary election, the pipeline proponents, supporters, etc spent a crazy amount of money to try to still our voices by attacking candidates who speak for us. Ginny Kerslake did not prevail in the end in the primary against sheeple Kristine Howard, but my other friend Danielle Friel Otten did survive and crushed her opponent. If that pro-pipeline money had NOT been spent, I believe Kristine Howard would have gone down in flames. She still can if people are now smart and get behind a third friend, Wendy Graham Leland. I know it is only a matter of time before Camp Lameass Howard starts in on her. I wish them luck there, but I digress. I know some amazing women, but I digress again. (Sorry I do that sometimes.)
Lookee here however, remember that the politics intertwined in the pipeline issues are very important. It’s a ridiculous game of who is on first.
People, we need to be first.
Please call on our leaders to demand Governor Wolf Pull the Mariner East Permits PERMANENTLY:
Sunoco/Energy Transfer, the company behind the problematic and controversial Mariner East pipeline project, is in business with Aqua America, which provides water service to thousands of residents in Chester County, state Sen. Andy Dinniman revealed Friday.
“It is important that citizens know the relationship between companies involved with the Mariner East pipeline,” Dinniman said.
According to Energy Transfer’s 2018 annual report, the company owns a 51 percent stake in Aqua – ETC Water solutions, characterized as a “joint venture that transports and supplies fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.”
~ Daily Local News 6/28/2019
Talk about an unholy alliance, right? So Sunoco/Energy Transfer fouls the water. AQUA PA is public water and they are trying to take over the Chester Water Authority ? So that also guilt by association (or investment) means they are fouling Marsh Creek and so on but then they would have control over our water if AQUA PA takes over CWA?
Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. (Yes I am an Outlander fan.) But seriously? You can’t make this stuff up! We are living it! And to what end? The destruction of where we call home and our water resources for freaking corporate profits?
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has responded to several reports of fluid discharges at construction sites for the Mariner East pipeline system in Chester County, including a confirmed spill at a state park.
Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.
Harrisburg, PA — The Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Environmental Protection (DEP) assured Marsh Creek State Park supporters that concerted efforts are underway to safeguard visitors and park resources in the wake of Monday’s pipeline drilling fluid spill affecting the lake; and that Energy Transfer will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.
“We are deeply concerned and troubled over this significant resource and recreation impact at Marsh Creek that comes at a time when that park, as are all our parks, is seeing incredible visitation rates amid the pandemic,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “Drawing more than 1 million visitors a year, Marsh Creek is among our most visited park, and water-based activities are the catalyst for that draw.
“The popularity of paddle-boarding alone is phenomenal at Marsh Creek Lake, and anglers and other boaters can be found daily on the lake. Containment, water testing, and remediation are underway, and access to affected water and shoreline will be restricted.”
Noting the park’s connecting trails and other strong ties to surrounding communities, Dunn said, “DCNR recognizes this park is beloved by those who live nearby and is an important resource to the people and businesses of surrounding communities. I feel it is important to let them know we’re standing by them on this.”
What Happened
On Monday, August 10, DEP responded to a report from Sunoco of a potential inadvertent return at HDD 290, a drill site off Green Valley Road in Marsh Creek State Park in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County. Operation at the drill site has been suspended indefinitely.
Used in Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East project in Chester County, an estimated 8,100 gallons of drilling fluid (mud and water) leaked into wetlands off park property and into a tributary to Marsh Creek Lake. The spill is affecting the lake’s cove area along Park Road.
What’s The Status
Buoys will be used on the lake to delineate the affected area.
Approximately 33 acres of the 535-acre lake is now off-limits to boating and fishing.
Offering a swimming pool, the park does not permit beach-based swimming. Boating and fishing still is permitted on the rest of the lake, and the park remains open to all other activities.
“With the assistance of DEP, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, private contractors, and our park personnel, we are focusing on containment, cleanup, and remediation, and we need the public’s cooperation,” Dunn said. “Aiding that effort are DCNR park managers and rangers, as well as our aquatic specialists who will be gauging the spill’s effect on water quality and lake aquatic life.”
What’s Being Done
DEP, along with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), continue to investigate and oversee the cleanup of the inadvertent return into Marsh Creek, said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
At the conclusion of the investigation, DEP anticipates that there will be civil penalties and potentially other regulatory ramifications.
Drilling activity at the site has ceased until further notice.
“Since the spill occurred on Monday, clean-up crews have made significant progress in collecting and containing spilled material. DEP aquatic biologists have been onsite since the beginning of the incident to assess the spill and ensure that cleanup activities are conducted properly. Downstream drinking water intakes have been notified and there are no concerns about drinking water safety. There have not been any complaints of impacted private water wells,” McDonnell said. “DEP is also actively coordinating with experts at DCNR, Department of Health, Army Corps of Engineers, and Public Utility Commission to ensure that the ongoing situation is managed consistently and safely. DEP has consistently held Sunoco accountable for violations and will do so in this instance as well.”
Located in northcentral Chester County, Marsh Creek’s lake and 1,784 acres offer a refuge for migrating waterfowl and also are popular with hikers, hunters, and picnickers.
More information about Marsh Creek and Pennsylvania’s other 120 state parks is available on the DCNR website.
MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Brady, DCNR, 717-877-6315; Virginia Cain, DEP, 484-868-2452
So…who was NOT there at Marsh Creek today?HOW ABOUT STATE REPRESENTATIVE KRISTINE HOWARD? KRISTINE, IF IT ISN’T A PHOTO OP WITH GOVERNOR TOM WOLF AND CAROLYN COMITTA YOU CAN’T BE BOTHERED?
While we are on the topic of who has and has not been to Marsh Creek can we mention that Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro should have been there over the past few days?
Enough is enough #WaterIsLife #DefendWhatYouLove
I do not know about you but I am over this pipeline bullsheit. Over it. Ever new adventure in the land of pipeline drama is worse than the last. These pipeline companies are destroying where we live and don’t try to spin the crap that they employ locally unless Oklahoma and all the other states that make up the out of state license plates are suddenly IN Chester County?
We put our lives and sweat equity into where we call home. So why is it government is just allowing it all to be destroyed? Systemic corruption? Greed? What?
I don’t know where to go in my head. I grew up around oil companies. My father did PR for one for years. Years. But all the pipelines I ever knew about then were petroleum. Like the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which started operating in 1977. Of course in that same vein, I remember the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989. And I remember how the guy driving the tanker (while drinking) got off without felony charges.
As my friends from Just The Facts Please said regarding this latest jackassery word puzzle from Energy Transfer:
These [idiots] just can’t help themselves with their lies and stupidly worded statements. Marsh Creek IS an important drinking water source for this region. But I guess Kelcy Warren wouldn’t know that from his tower in Texas.
ETP states, “As a clarification to some public statements that have been made, no public drinking water has been impacted.”
So where in the Sam Hell do we go from here? I don’t know about you but I want these pipeline operators GONE. As in FOR GOOD. #SafetyOverSunoco #SoOverSuNOco
I know this is a ridiculously long post and I have meandered like a stream. But this Marsh Creek thing makes my head spin. This has to stop. Our elected officials need to man and woman up and kick the pipelines the hell out of Pennsylvania, starting with where we call home, Chester County, PA.
Keep the faith Mama Bears. #DefendWhatYouLove
Source: Facebook West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety
We are all being introduced to coronavirus. Our pandemic for modern times. A reminder that while we have come so far in many aspects in society, we as humans are still vulnerable to disease and pestilence. Hunker down, it’s a global pandemic. Literally.
Now we know why things like the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Philadelphia is cancelled. In Philadelphia pretty much all big events are being cancelled. All colleges and universities seem to be going to virtual/online learning modes and emptying schools. Some school districts are closing schools. This is also why annual traditions to us in Chester County like the Chester County Antiques Show which was to open tomorrow with a special preview party.
I received notice of other things being cancelled that I was attending. My friend Andy King had a show scheduled at The Living Room in Ardmore. He’s been postponed until June, and the venue is closed until May 1st . A pop-up dinner by Peachtree Catering we were going to at the end of this month is also postponed indefinitely.
Last night it was announced flights from Europe weren’t coming to the U.S. for 30 days – a 30 day ban starting Friday I think it is. Ban thus far doesn’t extend to the U.K. as of now. Unless passengers were U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents. Residents returning to the U.S. will be expected to self-quarantine upon return for about two weeks. It’s all very confusing, even to CNN.
Our financial markets are having big time issues. The U.S. markets have always been driven in part on emotion, and it’s 2020 but starting to feel like 2008. And people can weather that, what we don’t want is 1918.
I was doing a little gardening event and that is being postponed too. I can’t help it. I am still a cancer patient, which means I am in that lovely class of the immunocompromised. We are all supposed to practice social distancing – AKA minimizing close contact with people.
People, for the time being, it’s time to practice our nesting instincts and just stay home and enjoy each other’s company. Even Broadway, yes as in New York City, is going dark for a couple of weeks:
This is actually no joke, yet on social media I see otherwise intelligent people saying that coronavirus is a “liberal conspiracy”. Seriously.
I am not in the mode of panic, but honestly? I am concerned. It’s taking people down in Europe and elsewhere and there seems to be no solution. It seems like pandemics before it, it must run it’s course?
But what really gets me other than the mass confusion is how will this affect small businesses and hourly workers? Our economy is not as dandy as everyone would like to play make believe about. A friend of mine with a small business recently posted the following:
Governor Tom Wolf…now that you have taken our kids out of school, how are you going to help all the parents who work full time and have to work full time but have kids in school? How are you going to help small businesses who have moms or dads as employees and now they can’t come to work? What are you doing for the 1,000,000 small businesses in PA that are losing work but still have to pay mortgages, bills, employees?
What’s your game plan? You wanted to be our leader and I respect your position…I just need answers on what your are proactively doing for us.
For a lot of us if we don’t work, we don’t get paid. Those in the millionaire category will grumble about their various inconveniences… and survive.
Another thing that bothers me is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cardiologist who is last media report in really bad shape in the hospital with Coronavirus. I really hope he recovers as he has a family and friends and colleagues who love and care about him. BUT….what the HELL was he thinking? He knew about Coronavirus and he saw patients? Children under the care of a cardiologist? So he’s sick, someone else in his house is sick, and so many schools and school districts had to close because of virus fears and why? Because he saw patients when he came back. He’s a DOCTOR. Shouldn’t he have known better?
Sorry not sorry, it really bothers me.
And oh this:
I am so at sixes and sevens about this. I don’t know what to think. As far as society progresses, we can’t escape the natural correction caused by disease is what keeps floating through my brain. I know, I am being repetitive.
MARCH 10, 2020 Yascha Mounk Contributing writer at The Atlantic
Well it’s a good thing I like being home I suppose. But then there is the other thing: you can’t even get food/pantry basics in some places because people are just wiping out stores. Some hoarding and I am sure the people who will re-sell at astronomical levels will surface more and more (Just look at trying to get supplies on Amazon.)
My mother just called me. She lives in Philadelphia. My stepfather had just gone to Trader Joe’s for some basics. Their shelves are literally bare, and not just for toilet paper.
One of my friends has a husband who is very immunocompromised – she’s been buying cases of rubbing alcohol.
What is the right answer? Everything in the US is a study in confusion. To me it feels like a somewhat rudderless ship. (See CNN)
Vox has this interesting chart and notes the following:
The Spanish flu of 1918-’19, the most horrific pandemic in modern times, focused mainly on the young. It had biological similarities to a flu pandemic in the 1830s that gave some older people in the 1910s limited immunity.
So PhillyVoice had this amazing article in 2018 about the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia:
We need to learn from the past. But it would help if information wasn’t conflicting or seemed to omit things wouldn’t it?
Government does not want full scale panic.
Hell, no one does. It won’t kill us to practice “social distancing” but we need to live our lives.
And I don’t think individual people should be able to clean stores out of cleaning supplies and more, do you?
I guess there is a reason we didn’t have any snow days with schools this year other than global warming, right? Because snow days are becoming coronavirus days but what of the parents of all these kids being told to stay home? Are we all supposed to stay home?
I was told this afternoon all of the schools and colleges/universities in Ireland had closed down.
So our ultimate takeaway? Hunker down I guess.
But I still do not know how I feel about this. Other than don’t hug, don’t spit, and PLEASE wash your hands.
From PhillyVoice via U.S. NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND/VIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
West Goshen is one of those Chester County municipalities that seems to like to stay below the radar. We heard a lot about them in recent years because of the Sunoco pipeline. But you don’t hear about them very often overall, do you? I don’t think so, unless I am missing something?
West Goshen also seems to outsiders and residents to not be so open and transparent a municipality, and maybe there is good reason for such opinions? The Board of Supervisors Meetings are neither televised nor videotaped for replaying later (even East Whiteland has joined modern times with that!) and their meeting minutes are not current and the most recent I could find was from July 2016, and they are draft minutes, not finalized (don’t they finalize at next subsequent meeting and post?). Oh and this Sewer Authority Meeting Minutes from June makes interesting reading but nothing more current?
I found this letter in the Sewer Authority Meeting Minutes so interesting, I thought I would share with the class. This is something one would think the local papers would perhaps be clued into and report on? What the heck is going on???
I don’t have a clue but damn…. that is one scathing letter, isn’t it?
So I found this thing on the court records after someone said there was some kerfuffle at summer meetings.. West Goshen is embroiled in some new litigation…and it’s new, very new.
I sense a Nancy Drew Mystery….and I predict this is something to watch….
A resident is suing West Goshen Township. People do not take those actions lightly. And it is over a lack of “sunshine”. Yep. Open Records. (I have friends who did this and prevailed in Radnor Township some years ago now and this is not an easy thing.)
“CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE OF PETITION FOR REVIEW TO OVERTURN THEFINAL DETERMINATION OF THE OFFICE OF OPEN RECORDS (OOR) FINAL RULING AND TO COMPEL THE DEFTS TO PROVIDE ALL INFORMATION REQUESTED UPON”
Municipalities and sunshine and transparency do not necessarily go hand in hand do they?
I notice that West Goshen has TWO lawyers representing their interests versus one resident pro-se (representing himself) at this point.
Hmm that Camp name was familiar, so I asked a friend who lives in Easttown Township and they said Kristin S. Camp was their solicitor didn’t I remember the articles about Devon Yard the hideous Eli Kahn/Wade McDevitt/Old Waterloo/Devon Horse Show/Devon Drama plan?? (Well who could forget about that looming monstrosity?) They sent me a link to a February 2016 article written by Main Line Media News Reporter Linda Stein titled Easttown Township: More than 200 residents pack meeting about Devon Yard plans .
It always amazes me how many municipalities municipal lawyers have – Ms. Camp is no exception and she has a few. I don’t know if this list is completely 100% current and if not I apologize to the solicitor but I have: West Goshen, Easttown, West Nantmeal, Birmingham, and Pocopson all in Chester County? Wow, and she is a partner in her law firm? Busy busy busy.
But West Goshen is spending money on two lawyers to defend against one small resident? Are they nervous or something?
As a completely unrelated aside, Judge Royer has an amazing Pennsylvania political pedigree. Her grandfather was legendary State Senator Clarence D. Bell, who I think still holds the record in the Keystone State for being the longest serving public official in Pennsylvania – almost 50 years! (48 to be precise). Judge Royer’s dad was no slouch either. If you wonder what propels people towards public service, look no further than the examples Judge Royer had growing up. When Judge Royer was running I was new to Chester County, so I did a little research to decide if she was someone I wanted to vote for since women on the bench is still not an every day occurrence and I think it should be (but I digress).
So back to this case. What does it all mean? I don’t know. Hopefully reporters will dig into it.
Seems there is a lot going on behind the scenes in somewhat normally sleepy West Goshen doesn’t there? I don’t have much of an opinion about West Goshen at this point, but I do find this somewhat intriguing, don’t you?
I found out the evening before last from a mutual friend, that Tom Hickey had died. Knowing him a little bit for eight years was a good thing. He was kind and loved animals. Now he and PSPCA’s George Bengal are fighting the good fight from heaven. Homeless pets have another guardian angel watching over them.
But darn it, I am sad.
I liked Tom a lot and before his first stroke we would speak every now and then. My cell phone would ring and I would get “Hey it’s Tom. Got a minute?” and then he would launch into whatever he was thinking. Or he would text me similarly and ask me to call.
I first met Tom on August 21, 2008. I met him through Bill Smith at Main Line Animal Rescue. It was when Bryan Lentz and others were presenting the PA Dog Law Puppy Mill stuff in Radnor Township. Tom Hickey was with the PA Dog law Advisory Board,and at the time Jessie Smith was with Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement.
From then on, I would keep in touch with him. He was funny, nice, an animal lover, and adored his family.
He could get controversial and would go to the mat for homeless pets. Animal Rescue is a tough business and he was one of the ones who gave it their all.
If you did not know him or knew that happened, you would never know he was the quiet force behind that. But he was.
In 2013 when Chester County was gripped with the horror of two family dogs being shot in West Vincent, in what became the movement called Justice for Argus and Fiona, Tom stepped up and rolled up his sleeves, and was a big part of justice actually happening in that situation. I was also as my readers know part of getting justice for the family in that case, and it was a pleasure to work with him on that. He was always positive and encouraging and said the right thing would happen, and it did.
He was also a former member of the board of the Chester County SPCA now known as the Brandywine Valley SPCA, and always, always was a champion of homeless pets. Tom was a board member during tumultuous times at the Brandywine Valley SPCA, but he should be remembered there for his contributions. He was passionate, and incredibly dedidicated. He was also just one heck of a good guy.
Tom was one of a kind. I enjoyed knowing him even a little bit for a few years. To his family I send prayers and hugs and condolences. He was one of a kind and a lot of use will miss him, but I know how much you loved him, and he you.
Good-bye Tom. You were way too young to go. Sigh. Now you and Sharon are together again.
In the end, it’s still that amazing love story between he and his wife. Good-bye Tom.
This is how Tom should be remembered- with his dogs. Hickey family photo
So if you don’t like tea partiers and question them and other political extremists, does that make you a bad Republican? Or a bad Democrat for that matter? If we can’t question politics are we truly free?
Well?
Why can’t I question what makes me uncomfortable along with what I do not understand? Why does that suddenly make me a political undesirable? As a woman am I supposed to walk ten steps behing, be barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen and MUTE?
Let’s review something – I blog for me first and foremost. I share my opinions because it is what I feel like writing about in that moment. It is not always going to be placid and necessarily comfortable for all. It’s not always going to be a pretty photo, or a fantastic recipe to share. Sometimes it will be topics like politics, from a localstage to a national level. It depends where the inspiration comes from at that moment.
I feel that the basic framework on which this country was founded is exactly why we should question things now. I feel that in an odd way certain groups in this country are trying to suppress some of the very freedoms and philosophies on which this nation was founded and grew.
That, dear readers, doesn’t make me a bad female Republican. It means I think about things.
I was a volunteer, a media relations volunteer at RNC2000. Twelve years ago I felt strongly enough about being a part of that to seek out friends in Washington who could help me get a better volunteer position. Truthfully, I was one of the few volunteering in my capacity that did not come out of politically connected PR and advertising shops.
I approached it all with an open mind and as a result, met some truly remarkable people. And I lent a Congressman at the time named Chip Pickering cab fare when he got off a train without his wallet and no one else believed he was who he was. (And yes he paid me back and my reward were invitations to some pretty awesome A list parties.) But what I noticed was at that time the Republican party worked really hard to extremists on the fringe so everyone felt honestly welcome within the party. Not so any longer. The extremists are being embraced at the expense of ordinary Americans in the middle. That is an act of desperation that I feel quite strongly will bite them in the rear.
Both political parties are guilty of the dumbing down of America and that bothers me. Washington is full of politicians spending our tax dollars to prove each side right and wrong. These politicians aren’t worried so much about the constituencies they represent, but seem to be constantly running for re-election. I think that is crap.
Truthfully, I have been reading up on things in Washington, and I think Democrats and their assorted pals are nervous about the upcoming election. I believe people should start paying attention to who is leaving what and taking what new job. Because face it, with a new administration a lot of people could find themselves on the outside looking in.
One example I see recently and locally to an extent is the latest headmaster appointed at The Haverford School. John A. Nagl. His experience and current responsibilities are truly remarkable. But a change of course to headmaster of the Haverford School? To me that might be commentary on the current political climate and fear of things to come. (of course what a lot of people are also asking is why Haverford is choosing yet another ex military to run a non-military school?)
Ok, so back to the topic at hand: questioning politics.
If we can’t question and discuss politics, let alone express our feelings as to what is bothering us, we are no longer truly free.
You can’t just drink the kool-aid in either political party and it would behoove more people to look at who they are voting for a little more closely. It would also behoove more to be of an independent mind.
And if you want to discuss with me what I am thinking about, that is fine, but don’t just tell me I am across the board wrong. I know I am not. Maybe I make some of you uncomfortable with my pondering, and I am sorry. But you have to think. You can’t just act like a Stepford wife or Moonie and pull the lever for any candidate. You need to ponder. You have to ponder. You have as a resident of the United States of America an obligation to carefully ponder as far as I am concerned.
Here are a couple of notes I received from people I know with regard to my blog post yesterday:
I LONG for moderate Republicans to take back their party from the crazies. Leave women’s bodies alone and focus on the types of spending reform for which the party is supposed to stand.
What makes me crazy is how many have signed a PLEDGE that makes them beholden to a LOBBYIST. They sold out their ability to compromise and act in the best interest of our country because Grover Norquist made them do it. To me, that is treason. When a leader like Mitch McConnell says that Congress’ goal for two years should be to unseat the President in the next election, ergo not pass any legislation that would seem like a “win” for the D side, regardless of how much it would benefit people and businesses that are hurting, where are we?
Stop worrying about who people are schtupping. Stop worrying about women who take a pill so that they have two children instead of 20, and pass the existing legislation that lowers corporate tax rates, invests in retraining for people in hard-hit areas that have been laid off. Stop blindly protecting the defense budget and question why we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars building up bases in the Caribbean to combat drugs.
Someone…please…take back the reins. When Reagan’s key tax policy advisor has said that the GOP has gone off the rails and is hurting the country, there’s a problem. I think we need a more-than-two-party system. But, at the very least, we need TWO functional parties that welcome debate and dissent, can compromise, and don’t accuse anyone who disagrees with them as being “un-American.”
Another one (ironically from a friend in DC who reads Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller):
