Meetings, Contracts, and Parking Meters

The following report was taken from a video of the meeting.

Swarthmore Borough Council began the meeting on June 14 addressing the issues of reopening council meetings to the public. Since pandemic restrictions in the state were lifted on June 28, council’s next meeting on July 12 will be open to the public at Borough Hall. The public is asked to wear a mask, if not vaccinated, out of courtesy.

Council meetings will now be shown live on Comcast (channel 5) and Verizon (channel 30).

Council has also decided to meet only once a month for July and August, as long as there is a quorum present. 

Public Comment

During the public comment section of the meeting, the placing of a “plastic outhouse” at Little Crum Creek Park was address by several residents who live adjacent to the park. The nine speakers stressed their objections to the outhouse; one person cited public health and safety issues, as well as the outhouse being a few inches higher than the flood plain. A port-a-potty was installed in the spring of 2017 and removed in August of 2020. Residents are against an outhouse being placed there again, unless it’s necessary for construction work. Lauren McKinney, head of the Environment Committee, has tabled the discussion, citing that no port-a-potty would be place at the park.

Contracts

Council member Michael Carey, chair of the Finance Committee, announced that a Memorandum of Understand had been made with the Swarthmore Police Department for a three year contract extension.

Council also approved Resolution 2021-09 authorizing a Swarthmore College bond issuance through the Swarthmore Borough Authority.

Public Works chair Ross Schmucki stated that council has renewed the contract with BNL Disposal for trash, recycling, and yard waste collections.

Parking Meters

At the end of the meeting, Chief Ray Stufflet of the Swarthmore Police Department informed council that the parking meters in town will be checked for violations.