Supervisors Meeting: From Supervisor Slawter's Passing to More Protection on Little League Fields, Gradyville Road Bridge Partnership and More

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Monday's Board of Supervisors meeting started off somber as Chairman George Wood announced the passing of Supervisor Bob "Parris" Slawter.

A framed photo of Slawter sat in the spot beside Vice Chairwoman Linda Houldin, where he usually sits on the board. Slawter passed away at 2 a.m. April 11 and is survived by his wife Gayle. He suffered from cancer.

Slawter was a real estate agent and a 40-year Newtown resident. He was elected in 2009 to serve as a township supervisor and had been previously appointed in 1999 as an interim replacement on the board. He was also the vice chairman of the town's municipal authority. Wood said details of his memorial service are forthcoming.

According to Bruce Irvine, township solicitor, the board will have 30 days to appoint a new supervisor. If the board cannot come to an agreement, the vacancy board will sit in to vote and an additional 15 days will be given to appoint someone.

Resident Concerned About Safety of Little League Field

John Donahue, a 14-year Hunter's Run resident, shared his concerns about the safety of the field #1, in which the outfield faces Bishop Hollow Road, as a "life and death" situation.

Donahue said that his car's windshield was once hit by a baseball and another two occasions where a baseball had hit a few other cars that could've resulted in a serious accident.

However, Supervisor Joseph Catania, who has been involved with the little league since 1963, said the little league has already set the poles by the field to set up a net that would catch any fly balls that were headed toward the road. According to Catania, the net is scheduled to be up by Sunday.

But Donahue suggested that field #1 be closed until the protective barrier has been completed and asked what could happen on the days without the net up.

Donahue said that although he is "100 percent in favor of the little league," he asked, "How many balls have to be hit before you're on notice?"

Catania said that the possibility of a ball hitting a car this week before the nets are up is "at best remote."

"Anything can be dangerous," said Catania. "For one week, by Sunday, the chance of a ball...the Minor B team that plays there...they don't have a chance. The outfielders are about 15-feet from the in-field. To hit that ball at the same exact time when a car is coming by, for one week, it's remote. I think waiting until Sunday to put that fence up is not putting anyone at risk."

Wood addressed Donahue and said, "You brought it to our attention and the little league's attention...it just hasn't been put up fast enough and it's a remote possibility that potholes out there could cause and accident. We're aware of those things and we take those chances everyday."

Wood asked Catania if it was possible to have a little league member stationed beyond the outfield by Bishop Hollow Road in case a flyaway ball were to make it over the fence during one of the games played this week before the nets went up.

Catania said it would be possible to have someone out there this week to watch for any balls that may go over the fence and into the road.

Township Partners With PennDOT for Gradyville Road Bridge

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a municipal authority resolution to accept the partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the improvement of Gradyville Road bridge.

According to Jim Sheldrake, township manager, this is a bridge that needs to be repaired and the majority of the funding will come from federal money. Sheldrake said the split will be 80-20.

Another Motion, Another Standstill on FedEx Case

Another motion was made by Catania and, once again, seconded by Supervisor Dr. Ross Lambert on Monday night's meeting to suspend without pay, and with the intent of termination, the racking up nearly $1,000 in delivery charges.

"Everyone has the right of a due process," said Houldin after she casted her vote against the motion.

No actions to the employee have been made at this time. At their last meeting, sanctions were made to suspend the employee for 20 days without pay, but an ordinance that dates back to 2000 took the township manager's authority away to terminate a non-uniformed employee.

Sheldrake said he looked to the board for direction, in which Catania made another motion to suspend the employee without pay with the intent to terminate and hit another standstill 2-2 with Wood voted with Houldin against the motion. An investigation is currently underway with the county.

New Police Officer Hire, Contract Updates

Another motion was carried towas made by Lambert and seconded by Catania. The vote came out the same when the motion was first introduced, 3-1 with Houldin voting with Lambert and Catania.

Lambert said the motion was made "because we were down a police officer and we had enough money in the second half of the year to replace him."

According to Lambert, the process has already been started.

"They've already gone through the process, they've already interviewed the individuals, they know who the individual is that's going to be hired next, and they're going to recommend that we hire him," said Lambert.

According to Police Chief Dennis Anderson, the department had a list of top candidates and the individual to be hired is the second person down the list.

Anderson said they had 17 officers on the force for six years and is down one due to disability. Currently there are two officer injured and only 14 officers in the field now. The new officer will start July 1.

Catania said the contract with police should be finalized by the end of this week. The officers have agreed to contribute more towards their co-pay from $5/$10 to $10/$20/$35 co-pay which would come out to $40,000 in savings for the township.