Summary of 22 January 2025 BOS Meeting
This is my personal summary of the January 22, 2025, meeting of the #NewtownPA Township Board of Supervisors (BOS). This is not a complete nor an official summary.
Agenda Items, Discussions, Decisions, and More
- Public Comment
- Engineer’s Report: Newtown Bypass and Summit Trace Road Pedestrian Crossing
- Other Items of Interest
Public Comment
Barbara Simmons: Mural Project Request
On January 15, 2025, Barbara Simmons – a member of the Executive Board, NAACP Bucks County and Co-Chair, MLK Peace & Justice Summit – sent an email to the BOS members in order to gain their support to “coordinate a mural that connects Middletown Township to Newtown Township using the foot bridge from George School to Newtown. We have met with the Human Relations Commission of Newtown to discuss the many possibilities. One of the ideas is to honor Officer Brian Gregg, who lost his life when intervening in a domestic violence situation.”
Permission is needed by PennDot in order to create a mural on the bridge. Ms. Simmons suggested Chain Link Fence Art similar to these:
“This would involve George School students count Rock students, Bucks County Community College students and law enforcement in three different areas,” said Ms. Simmons, “It would be Newtown Township, Newtown Borough, and Middletown Township. I've been working with the Department of Justice on this.”
One of the first steps is for the municipality (e.g., Newtown Twp) involved to submit a formal request. She asked if Newtown Township would be open to being the group that submits the application to PennDot. Supervisor Snyder said “I'm sure we can discuss that amongst ourselves and give you an answer at some point. I think it's a beautiful idea and I'd certainly like you sent me a link with a lot of the chain link designs and uh and I can send those to the Board of Supervisors as well.”
Further information:
- I brought up the idea of such a mural project to the BOS most recently at the 11 September 2024 meeting
- Ms. Simmons was a guest on my February 26, 2024, Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting
Resolution of Appreciation for Dr. Kevin L. Antoine
I attended the 15 January 2025 Human Relations Commission (HRC) meeting. The HRC can investigate complaints of discriminatory action involving discrimination in employment, housing and the use of public accommodations. At that meeting, newly elected chair of the Commission, John Gyllenhammer, read a “resolution” honoring Dr. Kevin Antoine who was Chair of the Commission from February 2021 through January 2025. Find the resolution here...
Ray Post: Effluent from Proposed #NewtownPA WWTP Will Further Impair Lake Luxembourg
Middletown resident Ray Post - a professional engineer with 49 years of experience in water treatment - commented on the amount of Phosphorus and Nitrogen that the proposed #NewtownPA Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) will release into the already environmentally "impaired" Lake Luxembourg. Mr. Post used numbers from the Wolcott WWTP to calculate his estimates for the Newtown plant, which is intended to be patterned after the Wolcott plant.
Gloria Post Comments on PFAS in Effluent from WWTP
Middletown resident Gloria Post - a board certified PhD toxicologist with 39 years as a research scientist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and who is the author of 10 scientific articles on PFAS - commented on the potential for releasing PFAS - aka "forever" chemicals - into Lake Luxembourg via the effluent of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) proposed by the Newtown Sewer Authority.
Jim Walsh Comments on Rates for WWTP vs BCSWA
“What I'm here to talk to you about is something that's been purported to be facts unsupported by sound data and wholly insufficient and that is the cost benefits analysis that the Authority is using to convince this board, Middletown Township, citizens of Newtown Borough and Newtown Township that this is a great economic decision.,” said Jim Walsh, a resident of Middletown Township. Read an edited transcript of his comments here…
Engineer’s Report
Engineer’s Report: January 2, 2025
Prior to the meeting, I reviewed the January 2, 2025 Engineer’s Report and requested an update regarding the following:
- Newtown Bypass and Summit Trace Road Crossing
The Newtown Engineer responded to my inquiry via email: “After discussing this crossing with PennDOT, it was determined that a pedestrian study would be required to be completed for PennDOT to review. While it is possible that there is less likelihood of pedestrians utilizing the crossing in the colder months, in discussing with our traffic professionals, there are certain other pedestrian generators (such as the active SEPTA stop) that would less likely be affected by the weather. Additionally, the study is not solely based on the number of pedestrians. Other factors taken into consideration that are not weather related include signal clearance timings, sight distance, and other geometric features. All of these factors will be investigated and included in the study to submit to PennDOT.”
Also when asked “Did PennDOT require a pedestrian study for this crosswalk?” the engineer responded: “As part of the land development and traffic signal process for the Wawa development, the applicant was required to prepare a Transportation Impact Study and a Traffic Signal Design Study at that time. This included a pedestrian analysis. The traffic signal report was reviewed by PennDOT. The Traffic Signal Design Study is attached for your information.”
The engineer referred to this “Pedestrian Impact List” that is included in the Traffic Signal Design Study.
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