Police Racism Probe, Quarry, Town Center, Were All on New Hanover Supervisors' Table Thursday

Photos by Evan Brandt

Land development, and developments (or lack thereof) of racism in the township police department are the items to come out of last night's township supervisors meeting.

Gibraltar Rock

One long-standing land development that has captured the attention of New Hanover residents is the Gibraltar Rock Quarry.

Township Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar updated the supervisors, and the public, noting that the to the massive project.

township -- and Paradise Watchdogs/Ban the Qaurry -- challenged the issuing of mining permits

He said there was recently a five-day trial before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board and briefs from all sides were filed. In the meantime, additional well and soil tests are being required at the adjacent hazardous clean-up site where groundwater pollution has added to concerns about the quarry.

The site south off Hoffmansville Road is a proposed 241-acre rock quarry and crushing operation on 302 acres of land.

In 2015, Gibraltar Rock purchased 82 acres adjacent to the Good's Oil site, moving potential quarry operations even closer to the site of the groundwater contamination which ultimately resulted in a $2 million extension of the public water system to 27 homes whose wells had been contaminated.

Township Manager Jamie Gwynn's spreadsheet of various changes made to the Town Center project.

Town Center

Township Manager Jamie Gwynn said a request by Supervisor Marie Livelsberger -- for a review of all the various variations of the New Hanover Town Center project -- revealed a whole set of inconsistencies.

Town Center is proposed along Swamp Pike where the
New Hanover Airport was once located.

In fact, there were so many, that he had to put together a two-page spreadsheet, show how, since the project received preliminary site plan approval in 2007, the acreage, the number of housing units, the square footage of commercial property, the number of parking spaces and even the amount of open space, have been inconstant flux.

"The numbers keep changing," he said. "There are math errors," some of which seem to be driven by the fact that the developers are not always counting "flex units," which have commercial on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors, when they calculate the number of housing units.

The crowd at last week's joint meeting.

"Our consultants have to keep navigating all these changes in the plan," said Gwynn, noting that the plan is now on its eighth revision. The latest version, said Gwynn, has a total of 779 housing units and eight fewer acres of open space, among other changes.

More than 100 people attended a joint supervisors and planning commission meeting last week where requests for 28 variances from township requirements from developer R.P. Wynstone were reviewed.

Supervisor's Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. urged residents to stay involved and said Gwynn's analysis shows the complexity of the issues with which the township is contending.

"It's difficult for the five of us to get our arms around something that has been around for this long," said Garner. "We all know that this is an important project and I urge people to attend meetings where it is formally discussed."

Romig Road

The supervisors also approved a two-year extension for the preliminary approval granted t the project at 2481 Romig Road, but only after a robust discussion of stormwater issues.

I would give you the basics on this, but I can't find it anywhere on the township's most excellent website. And since everyone in the room seemed to know what it was but me, they never bothered to say how many acres, how many units or any of that quasi-important stuff.

What was clear is that neighbors of the project are worried about what impact the project will have on their wells, on stormwater and, of course, on traffic.

You'll all have to wait for The Mercury story on this one after I get the lay of the land.

NAACP and Investigation of Racism in the Police Dept. 

Tyrone Robinson, standing, reads a statement from the 

Pottstown chapter of the NAACP regarding its

involvement of the investigation of the police department

Yes, I admit, I "buried the lead," as they say in my business. But I had to keep you reading didn't I?

For those of you who have been asleep for the last five months, New Hanover made headlines in a bad way in when a Sept. 12 expose in Philly Voice magazine reported accusations of racism by Police Chief Kevin McKeon and Sgt. William Moyer.

The township launched an investigation and hired an outside attorney to conduct it, but almost immediately confirmed the results may never be known.

This is due to both the confidentiality of personnel matters, and of investigations. The only thing likely to become public is if disciplinary action is taken.

But that dynamic was disrupted the following month when the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP showed up at the meeting and offered to help with the investigation, noting that some potential victims might be more willing to talk to them than to someone representing the township.

Last night, several members showed up and Tyrone Robinson read a statement from the chapter complaining, among other things, that while they had provided information to the township, the flow of information had been mostly one way.

Robinson said Township Manager Jamie Gwynn and Solicitor Andrew Bellwoar had visited the chapter in Pottstown once, and chapter members had been to the township twice.

"But the township has given us nothing," said Robinson. "We asked to see a video we were told shows something of the alleged effromm incident, and we wasked for two other documents. We received no response to our request of Nov. 13 for those things and no response to two follow-up calls" to Bellwoar.

In that same Nov. 13 "private meeting with two supervisors, the solicitor and the township manager, we reported that it had been brought to our attention that racial slurs were allegedly used by police officers. That is of great concern to the Pottstown branch of the NAACP."

Here is video of the full statement:

"We have read the New Hanover Police Department mission statement, and we expect the township to live up to those ideals," said Robinson.

Township Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. assured them that the board had not lost sight of the issue. 

And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.