Delco Council Meeting: Historic Preservation Award and More

MEDIA–The 33rd Annual Preservation Awards presentation took place at a Delaware County Council meeting on Tuesday, in which the council also declared May as Preservation Month.

Chairman of the Delaware County Heritage Commission A. Richard Paul presented 13 awards this year.

"These people are really dedicated to preserving the heritage of Delaware County," stated Paul before the awards were presented.

Several Newtown Square residents received a Publication Award. Those included Christopher P. Driscoll, Douglas P. Hume, George D. Coon and Eric D. Gerts for Bartram Covered Bridge: Spanning History. Artist Carol Shaeffer for her collection of original paintings of Newtown Square in Scenes Around Newtown Square: From the Not-So-Distant Past. Michele S. Davidson also received an award for her work in Images of America: Nether Providence and Paul Dougherty's Growing Up in Aston Mills.

Another Newtown Square resident, Brownyn Livezey, a high school sophomore, received the Youth Award this year for her amount of time volunteering with the Newtown Square Historical Preservation Society.

Keith Lockhart received a Special Project Award for his dedication to the History of Delaware County website, while Mary Anne Eves won a Special Program Award for the Middletown Mondays Lecture Series which celebrates the township's 325th anniversary.

The Site Preservation Awards went to Michael and Patty Manerchia of Marcus Hook for residential rehabilitation, the Chester Heights Camp Meeting Assocation for non-residential rehabilitation of 11 Victorian cottages, Concord Township Municipal Building for adaptive reuse and theRobert McCauley for the preservation of the Darby Free Library.

Kathleen Wandersee received the Individual Achievement Award for her dedication in the preservation and promotion of the history and heritage of Delaware County for over 30 years. Twyla Simpkins won the Leedom B. Morrison Award for her Travelin' Black History Museum, which began in the mid-1990s to showcase the history of American Black History in Delaware County.

Capt. Galati Appointed as Liaison to Veterans Outreach in Delco

The Delaware County Council appointed Capt. Ralph Galati of Nether Providence Township to the brand-new position of working with military veterans and families in helping them receive benefits from the federal and state governments for which they are able, according to council Chairman Jack Whelan.

"We have a commitment to the men and women of Delaware County who served our nation in the military, who faced hardships and adversity to preserve our liberty and defend our heritage and often have been neglected or overlooked when they returned to civilian life," said Whelan at Tuesday's meeting.

Galati, who has served for eight years in the U.S. Air Force as well as a fighter pilot in Vietnam and a Prisoner of War who was repatriated in 1973. He has received distinguished military honors, including a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Valor and Purple Heart.

Some of the responsibilities in Galati's new position will include serving as an outreach and advocacy coordinator, directing the content of the Veterans Affairs website and overseeing a database of military personnel who have returned from deployment to assist them when they return home as well as representing the county with all levels of government at all events held for veterans.

Housing and Community Development Annual Action Plan Approved

The 2011 Housing and Community Development Annual Action Plan was approved with $4,109,651 towards the proposed use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, $1,372,456 towards the porposed use of Home funds, $258,439 towards the proposed use of Emergency Shelter Grant funds, $997,851 towards the proposed use of Affiliated Health Funds (AHF), $445,000 towards the proposed use for housing and supportive services for the homeless.

Among the 20 townships that were approved for CDBG by the council, two were from Media. One was for $231,500 for the Performing Arts Center's ADA-compliant exit improvements at the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology. The other grant was for $98,000 which will be used for the preservation of armory at the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum.

Another Media  site that received a CDBG was for the shelter services for the homeless at the Community Action Agency of Delaware County in Media for $32,000.

A countwyide CDBG was approved for $300,000 towards the rehabilitation of owner-occupied units for low/moderate-income households at the Office of Housing and Community Development. The office will also see an additional $590,000 towards their program administration and $10,633 for contingency funding for project cost overruns and standby activities, while the Delaware County Planning Department was approved for $125,000 towards planning activities, including comprehensive, community development, functional and historic preservation planning.

Haverford Township can also expect to receive a township-wide grant of $31,130 for their housing rehabilitation program.

Check out the full list of the funds in our photo gallery.