It seems things are just odd in Northern Chester County.  So there is this Federation thing – to me it sounds like a GIANT Federation of Civic Associations on a municipal level.  And when it comes to Federation of Northern Chester County Communities, they are a dropping like  proverbial flies:

E. Vincent and S. Coventry backing away from Chesco’s Northern Federation

Posted: 12/02/12

Two more towns are pulling away from the  Federation of   Northern    Chester County Communities.

On Nov. 14, the East Vincent Board of Supervisors voted 2-0 to formally withdraw from the 38-year-old cooperative municipal organization and at a Friday morning meeting, the South Coventry Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to “take a hiatus from participation in the monthly Northern Federation meetings for 2013.”

The actions follow on the heels a withdrawal vote by East Nantmeal on July 11 and geographically divide the organization into eastern and western halves, each with three townships remaining.

The result of the two votes this month leave Warwick, North Coventry, East Coventry, West Vincent, West Pikeland, and East Pikeland as the towns that remain in the Northern Federation.

In letters written to Charles Jacob, chairman of both the Warwick Board of Supervisors and the “Northern Fed” as it is often called, both townships expressed similar concerns about the organization’s lack of by-laws, stated goals and purpose and procedures regarding minutes, handling money and voting.

“We were one of the first townships to really questions the structure,” South Coventry Supervisors Chairman Tim Blevins said Friday.

The Northern Federation “seems to have its own agenda and God forbid you ask a question or have a different opinion, you get shunned or ignored,” he said……The Nov. 15 East Vincent letter noted that “the Federation has begun to take on very large projects involving large sums of money and continue to forge onward without proper controls in place, despite the fact that concerns have been raised. For these reasons, the majority of East Vincent Supervisors feel it is best to withdraw unless and until proper measures are put in place.”

In fact the money related to the Federation’s latest and most ambitious project — a new parks, recreation and open space plan, or PROS — is now also part of the debate.

Funded by grants from Chester County, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and a $2,000 contribution from each township, the plan was completed and adopted by all nine of the member towns, but $9,556.70 remains unspent……In 2010, East Vincent voted 2-1 to withdraw from the Phoenixville Regional Planning Commission. (READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE)

Now a lot of this is all Greek to me because I haven’t lived in Chester County for long, nor do I live out in any of those municipalities.  Admittedly I am a bit jaded and tend to raise an eyebrow at governmental pow-wow associations to begin with.

Obviously not all can do the municipal back patting any longer.

Can you blame them?

Things are always wonky in West Vincent and aren’t  there new  or new proposed development plans making people cringe in one or both of the Pikelands and aren’t people worried about some particularly large swaths of land in West Vincent? (Along with odd zoning, flower shops becoming restaurants and the like?)

Anyway, it seems very curious in these Northern Chester County Municipalities doesn’t it?

Santa Claus might have a big ol’ naughty list out there….