Paving the Way for a Smoother Borough

Swarthmore Borough Council voted at its Monday meeting to approve awarding of a seasonal paving contract to contractor Glasgow Inc., for just under $100,000. Although Glasgow was not the absolute low bidder, it was the “lowest responsible bidder” as required by code in awarding this type of contract.

Last year’s paving contractor had bid lower, but based on its erratic performance in 2018 and concerns about payments to subcontractors, borough manager Jane Billings recommended the awarding of the contract to Glasgow for $99,953.40. Public Works chair Ross Schmucki concurred, and the council approved the award to Glasgow.

Council also approved two ordinances. Ordinance 1085 is the codification of the borough’s long-considered approach to enable senior cooperative housing, which it hopes will be beneficial to seniors looking to open parts of their homes to live-in help who are not family members. Zoning committee chair Betsy Larsen noted that Delaware County government has already expressed interest in reviewing the ordinance as a possible resource for other municipalities considering similar approaches.

Council also approved ordinance 1086, which expanded the size of the human relations committee to seven members maximum.

Public safety chair Mary Walk received authorization to “advertise for examination for police officer,” the first step towards hiring an additional full-time officer for the borough.