2008 News
June 19, 2008
“History with A Modern Beat”
Pennsbury Manor, William Penn’s Reconstructed Bucks County Home, Hosts Commissioners’ Meeting, Bristol Township’s Unique “Drummers with Attitude”
The sparkling new Visitors’ Center at Pennsbury Manor provided the perfect acoustic backdrop June 18 for the Bristol Twp. School District-based Drummers with Attitude, an after-school percussion and dance program administered at Ben Franklin Middle School by faculty advisor and teacher Kevin Travers. As a prelude to the Board of Bucks County Commissioners’ bi-monthly meeting, Drummers with Attitude performed with the accompaniment of several guest drummers, including Commissioner Chairman James F. Cawley, Esq.
“These young men and women have made a positive choice to get involved,” Travers told the gathering after his students made sweet music on four-gallon sour cream buckets. “This is Bristol Township at its finest.”
Waking the echoes of Pennsylvania’s founding father, 17th century statesman William Penn, Drummers with Attitude also was the recipient of a $3,500 appropriation from Commissioners Cawley, Charles H. Martin and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW. Commissioner sMarseglia-Ellis subsequently challenged the Bristol Twp. School Board to match the commissioners’ donation.
Drummers with Attitude, which consists of middle school and high school students as well as recent graduates, certainly has captured the imagination of the community, performing before 20,000 fans at halftime of Philadelphia Sixers’ NBA basketball games and earning an invitation to serve as an honorary group for the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul.
“It’s really tough to follow an act like that,” observed Pennsbury Manor Historic Site Administrator Doug Miller as he welcomed the commissioners. Mr. Miller went on to share three symbolic quotations from William Penn, whose Bucks County home represents “his idea of what a home life should be.”
The ceremonial portion of the meeting included a pair of proclamations, one celebrating Naval Special Warfare Day and the service of the Navy SEALs (June 28) and the other supporting the Bucks for Kids program (“Graduate Month”) for its funding of unmet needs.
Ron Workman and Garney Morris of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra presented a plaque to the commissioners for their ongoing support of the organization. The philharmonic is about to embark upon its 55th season, a milestone the commissioners recognized through a $2,000 appropriation to support its upcoming concerts.
The business resolution portion of the agenda included approval of items for 13 departments, although the board tabled a pair of items regarding medical supplies for Neshaminy Manor, and Commissioner Ellis-Marseglia cast a “nay” vote for four insurance contract extensions for the Emergency Services/911 Center and the Quakertown Government Service and District Justice buildings and a professional services contract with Harrisburg’s Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney law firm for environmental counsel.
The commissioners unanimously approved a $30,447 purchase of a mobile evidence presentation system for the courts department, a $281,638, three-year contract for bedding and linen for the Bucks County Correctoinal Facility and Neshaminy Manor, and a $212,586 contract for maintenance of the Neshaminy Creek flood control dams (eight dams that are monitored by the Department of Environmental Protection).
During his bi-weekly report, Chief Operating Officer David M. Sanko touched on multiple items, including a letter the commissioners sent to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell and members of the Bucks Count legislative contingent imploring them to restore funding levels for district attorney salaries across the commonwealth. In the letter, the commissioners wrote, We urge you to “appropriate funds to cover 65 percent of full-time district attorney salaries as part of the Commonwealth budget, as stipulated by Act 57 of 2005.”
Mr. Sanko also reminded residents that the third of six annual county Household Hazardous Waste and Computer Recylcling collection sites will take place on Saturday, June 21, form 9 a.m.-3 p.m. - rain or shine - at the Upper Bucks Area Vo-Tech, 3115 Ridge Rd., Bedminster Twp. For more information about the program, please call the Bucks County Planning Commission at 215-345-3400.
The COO also reported the successful resolution of bargaining with the county’s largest unit, AFSCME, which represents Emergency Communications, Neshaminy Manor and clerical/administrative employees within the row offices.
In keeping with Bucks County’s ongoing “green” initiatives, Commissioner Cawley announced the first 10 appointees to the county’s Bicycle Advisory Task Force, which will formulate a mission statement and bi-laws for the future of bicycle transportation/commuting in within the county.
Long-time county United Way contributor Barbara Kalin of the Information Technology department received a “Community Impact” award from Bill Schofield, president of the Lower Bucks United Way, and Jeannie Foy, director of workplace campaigns. They were joined for the presentation by Michael Bannon and Randall Miller, co-chairs of the Bucks County government United Way campaign committee.
For a full audio account of the June 18 meeting, please go to the link on the commissioners’ meeting page.