2009 News

April 2, 2009

“Giving the Community a Hand”
Commissioners Visit Chalfont’s Habitat for Humanity, Witness Community Development Dollars in Action

The spacious office area of Bucks County’s Chalfont Borough-based Habitat for Humanity provided a welcoming location for the April 1, bi-monthly meeting of the Board of Bucks County Commissioners. Given a different set of zoning decisions, the facility would have been converted into 78 townhomes. Instead, it represents a shining example of structural reuse and revitalization.

Just on the other side of the meeting room’s walls, bargain hunters browsed Habitat’s Restore, which showcases 13,000-square feet of deeply discounted retail merchandise including desks, tables, building materials such as doors, windows and frames, mirrors, sofas, televisions and even entertainment centers.

Before touring the Restore for a first-hand look of the good work being done, Commissioners Charles H. Martin, chairman, James F. Cawley, Esq. and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW listened to a detailed presentation from Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County Executive Director Linda Andrews. She centered her remarks on the “adaptive reuse and green focus” projects her organization has undertaken. “If these items (many of the ones for sale in the Restore) hadn’t come here, they would have ended up in a landfill somewhere,” she explained. “In this economy, there are a lot of people who need a hand up, and that’s what we provide.”

By describing a multiplier system that has been applied to the Emerald Hollow development in Trumbauersville, Ms. Andrews told the board and a packed room of meeting attendees how $1.459 million of county investment turned into more than $22 million of benefit to Bucks County communities. “We are keeping the dollars local,” she noted before receiving a check from Chairman Martin in support of Habitat’s ongoing operations.

The Habitat for Humanity presentation preceded the Commissioners’ regularly scheduled business agenda, during which the board approved resolutions involving 11 separate departments. The county Parks & Recreation department added 31.96 acres adjoining Ringing Rocks Park in Bridgeton Township through a purchase from the Bridgeton Athletic Association. According to Parks and Recreation Executive Director Bill Mitchell, The Weather Channel plans an upcoming feature on Ringing Rocks Park, which showcases Bucks County’s largest waterfall and one of the largest diabase boulder fields on the east coast of the United States.

The Commissioners also approved a pair of contracts for replacement of the Core Creek Park Boat Storage Facility, which Mitchell noted as a “much needed improvement” for a lake marina that offers a multitude of community-friendly recreational opportunities.

The board approved six contracts for the Children & Youth Social Services Agency for foster, residential and emergency care services, although Commissioner Ellis-Marseglia voted against three items, each of which involved foster care services (Bethany Christian Services of Lancaster, Pinebrook Services for Children & Youth of Allentown, and The Bair Foundation of Pennsylvania, based in New Wilmington).

For Community and Business Development, the Commissioners unanimously approved a nine-month, $40,000 contract with the Bucks County Housing Group to provide first-time homebuyer and foreclosure counseling. The contract will be honored through the county’s Housing Trust Fund.

The board also approved contracts with the tax collectors of Riegelsville Borough, Richlandtown Borough and Warrington Township to establish a computerized tax billing system that will calculate and print tax bills. According to county Chief Information Officer Donald Jacobs, the system brings in $25,000-$30,000 of annual revenue from the municipalities and school districts that use it.

Chief Operating Officer David Sanko offered an extensive report that included several items, two of which focused on developments at the state level. The COO joined all three Commissioners at this week’s meeting of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP). Mr. Sanko mentioned potential changes in statewide bidding requirements and prevailing wage projects that may lead to the “quicker, more efficient” conduct of business. He also issued a note of caution about projected state budget shortfalls that could reach into the multi-billion dollar range over the next several years.

The meeting opened with a pair of proclamations, one of which declared April “Child Abuse Prevention Month” throughout the county and the other proclaimed April as “No Child Left Inside Month” in Bucks County. Michelle Glover of the Bucks County Children & Youth SSA thanked the Commissioners for the recognition, adding, “This is not the kind of agency where you come to work, do your job, and go home. It’s 24-7.” Accepting the No Child Left Inside proclamation was Stacey Mulholland, who referenced a Saturday, April 11 event that will be hosted by the No Child Left Inside-Bucks County Coalition at Doylestown Township’s Central Park. Representatives from different organizations, including the Bucks County Conservation District, the Doylestown and Plumstead Township Parks and Recreation departments, and the Heritage Conservancy, will set up stations throughout the park for families “to visit and learn about Bucks County’s many outdoor wonders.”

The board also commended longtime Mental Health/Mental Retardation Advisory Board member James Brownlow for his 29 years of service to the board. In part, the commendation read, we “offer our sincere gratitude for your time and efforts advocating for the thousands of individuals and their families who are MH/MR consumers. Your unwavering spirit of volunteerism has helped them to become active participants in their communities.” Mr. Brownlow, who also received a special edition Commissioners’ tile from the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, thanked the board, adding, “It’s a group effort, and at the top step is the Board of Commissioners. It’s been very difficult to increase the budget over the years, and the Commissioners have always offered their support.”

NOTE: The next Commissioners’ meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15, at the recently reopened Delaware Valley College Farm Market, 2100 Lower State Rd., Doylestown, PA 18901. To access a full audio account of the April 1 meeting, please go to www.BucksCounty.org and click on the link on the Commissioners’ meeting page.