“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.” Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution.
PennDOT has updated their website for planned projects on Route 41: www.pa41.com
Projects include plans for a roundabout at the Route 41/926 intersection, as well as a roundabout option at the Route 41/841 intersection in Chatham where the Section 106 process is still underway.
In 2022, the Chester Water Authority (CWA) learned of an Asset Purchase Agreement that involved the Governor’s Office, the PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED), the DCED appointed Receiver, the City of Chester, and Aqua. Two months later, the PA Supreme Court agreed to hear the CWA’s appeal of the lower Court’s decision about who owned the assets of the CWA. Oral arguments were scheduled for November 30, 2022.
Early in November of 2022, the DCED appointed Receiver for the City of Chester filed an Amended Recovery Plan for the City of Chester which included monetizing the assets of the CWA and asking the PA Commonwealth Court to give him sole control over the City’s municipal authorities. Two days later, the Receiver filed Bankruptcy in the Federal Court, which put a hold on all Court cases, including the CWA’s appeal scheduled for November 30th before the PA Supreme Court.
In August of 2024, the DCED appointed Receiver filed to dissolve the CWA Board of Directors and enable him to control and sell the assets of the CWA. Then in September, the CWA filed a request with the Federal Bankruptcy Court to remove the hold on the PA Supreme Court’s hearing of the case about actual ownership of the assets of the CWA.
Ironically, the DCED has been monitoring the financial distress of the City of Chester for nearly 30 years. They engaged consultants to manage the finances of the City, which set the stage for this hostile takeover. Governor Shapiro has the authority to reverse the actions of this DCED appointed Receiver, but yet he refuses to answer to the ratepayers of the CWA and their elected representatives. Governor Shapiro: 717-788-8990.
Approximately 1,700 acres of land that straddles the Big Elk Creek in New London, Elk, Franklin Townships in southern Chester County were carefully transferred to the State of Pennsylvania through The Conservation Fund over several years beginning in 2009. The final phase of funding and property transfer occurred in 2020 for the specific purpose of preservation. More specifically, the parcels were to be added to the White Clay Creek Preserve (see map), which includes land in Pennsylvania and Delaware, and are adjacent to the Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area.
After reaching out to the public for assistance with how best to manage the newly acquired lands, the outreach was less public until the fall of 2022, when Governor Wolf announced that the lands were being declared a State Park. This seemed to be a formal announcement of the property acquisition. The next public announcement was for a meeting to be held in November of 2023, where plans for active outdoor recreation were shared with the public and included infrastructure for motorized overnight camping.
A town hall meeting was held in January of 2024 in reaction to the conceptual plans. This led to the formation of a Master Planning Task Force. Five of six meetings have been held, but the sixth meeting is now expected sometime in 2025, after Task Force members requested that Secretary Cindy Dunn be present.
