[WestGarrison]

Mrs. Burke wrote:

"DelcoBurbs, Once again don't you live in Brookhaven? Why so interested in the Parkside Police Department?"
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Yeh Mrs. Burke, I was kind of wondering the same thing about some other people. Some of the members of the so called "watchdog group" live in Aston. Why are they so interested in Parkside?

Bill C.

Click goes the Click

[Sandbagger]

Parkside takes action to skirt trash-fee hike
Published: Monday, October 26, 2009
By KENN STARK, Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Borough council unanimously approved a three-year trash collection contract renewal with Laxton trash haulers.

The new pact reduces service to residents, but will avoid a 2010 increase in the annual trash fee, despite rising trash-processing costs.

The Delaware County Solid Waste Authority will be tacking on another 50 percent to its dumping fee next year, bringing the surcharge up to $24 per ton. Many municipalities will be forced to pass on this increase to residents in the form of tax or trash fee hikes.

But Parkside council had made it a priority to break the cycle of rising trash fees that borough residents had faced over the last four years. The annual trash fee, now $160, has gone up every year since 2005, when it was only $60 per household.

Given the terms of the new contract, council is now projecting that by trimming bulk trash service down from monthly to just two pickups a year, the overall cost for trash collections can be stabilized over the next three years.

According to council President Shirley Purcival, Parkside’s $160 trash fee will not increase for 2010. There is even a chance the annual fee could be reduced by $5, pending further review by the borough treasurer, she noted.

In contrast to the current three-year trash contract with Laxton, which saw collection costs double in response to spiraling fuel prices, the new pact actually reflects a slight drop from the 2009 cost of $105,000.

Five collection companies bid on the Parkside trash contract, with none coming close to the terms offered by Laxton.

For the first two years of the approved contract, the borough will spend $99,900 for twice-weekly curbside regular trash pickups, twice-monthly newspaper collections, and a spring and summer bulk trash day.

For the third year (2012), the cost for these same services will rise to $102,600.

Another trash cost-cutting measure that will be instituted next year is a recycling program suggested by Councilman Douglas Bull.

Quarterly wood-chipping sessions will take Christmas trees and fallen tree branches out of the trash and turn them into mulch.

“This decreases the amount of trash that will be sent to the dump. It promotes green recycling through Doug’s program and allows the trash fees to remain the same, even with our dumping fees going up,” council Finance Chairman William Howell said of the trash disposal plans.

There is some concern on council over the drastic reduction in bulk trash pickups. Evidence that outsiders routinely bring bulk items into Parkside for disposal has heightened concern that borough residents could be left holding the proverbial trash bag, so a contingency plan has been adopted.

If twice-a-year bulk collections are problematic next year, the contract will allow the borough to add more bulk pickups (at a cost) for years two and three.

Residents do have the option of calling Laxton to arrange a special bulk pickup, at a cost to the homeowner of $20, or $25 if the appliance contains freon.

It was also suggested that residents could make removal of an old appliance part of the agreement for delivery of a new one.

[Spring7012]

Parkside leaf collections coming
Published: Friday, October 30, 2009
By KENN STARK
Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Borough work crews will be making curbside leaf collections in November, alternating on the east and west sides of Edgmont Avenue on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The dates for east side pickups include Nov. 4, 9, 13, 18, and 23. West side collections will be made on Nov. 6, 11, 16, 20, and 25.

Leaves should be raked to the curb, but not into the street, to avoid clogging storm inlets. Branches and rocks should be removed from leaf piles to avoid machine damage.

[Spring7012]

Extra patrols slated in Parkside
Published: Friday, October 30, 2009
By KENN STARK
Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Borough police officers will be making extra patrols in cars and on bikes on “Mischief Night” and Halloween night.

Trick-or-treaters can stop by the police department at 22 E. Elbon Road from dusk to 9 p.m. on Halloween to receive free candy scans that check for foreign objects.

[Sandbagger]

Parkside reschedules meeting
Published: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
By Kenn Stark, Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Borough council will be holding its next regular meeting one week earlier than usual at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The session will will be preceded by a Community Development Block Grant hearing at 6:45.

The date change is being made to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday and the mandated schedule for adoption of next year’s operating budget.

Council will have a first reading of the 2010 budget at the November meeting.

[Sandbagger]

Health care blamed for Parkside tax hike
Published: Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By KENN STARK
Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Borough council has adopted a preliminary 2010 budget that calls for a 0.7 mill property tax increase, but the annual trash collection fee will hold steady next year.

Next year would be the fifth straight year that Parkside residents have been hit with a tax hike.

The proposed real estate tax rate of 8.36 mills means that a property owner with a $100,000 assessment would pay $836 in borough taxes for 2010.

“We tried our best to trim this as much as possible,” Councilman/Finance Chairman William Howell said of the millage increase. “If you have a $75,000 property, it comes down to about 14 cents a day.”

According to Howell, the tax hike is mainly due to a 10 percent increase in health insurance premiums. Most 2010 budget line items are the same or less than this year.

The preliminary budget of $1,136,740 represents the second time in the borough’s 90-year history that expenditures are expected to exceed the $1 million mark, with this year being the first.

The budget total, if maintained in the final budget, would represent a $69,000 or a 6.5 percent increase over 2009 spending.

The greatest single expense in the 2010 budget is the $597,000 earmarked for police protection, representing 52 percent of the total.

The police department’s two full-time patrolmen will receive 3 percent raises next year, while the six part-time officers get 1.5 percent hourly rate increases. $25,000 has been allotted to purchase a new squad car next year.

The trash service fee will remain at $160 per family dwelling in 2010, breaking a chain of four consecutive years of increases. The annual fee was only $60 in 2005.

The borough has managed to keep the trash fee in check for 2010, despite a 50 percent increase in the processing surcharge levied by the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority.

To achieve this fiscal feat, bulk trash collections have been reduced from 12 down to just two next year.

Final budget adoption is expected at council’s Dec. 16 meeting, which has been moved up one week to avoid holiday conflicts.

[Sandbagger]

Parkside looking for volunteers
Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009
By Kenn Stark, Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — The annual Community Day block party was held just two months ago, but borough officials are already looking for volunteers to help organize next year’s event. Interested residents can contact any council member or call the borough office at 610-876-3659.

Persons willing to restart a Town Watch program within the borough should also come forward. A citizens anti-crime network existed several years ago, but was scrapped due to a lack of participants. Recent crimes in Parkside, including a mid-afternoon home invasion, have rekindled some interest.

[Sandbagger]

Chester man facing theft charges
Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009
By ROSE QUINN
rquinn@delcotimes.com

BROOKHAVEN — A 23-year-old Chester man was jailed Friday, charged with 38 thefts from vehicles in the borough and neighboring Parkside.

Jedidiah Boyle, of the 200 block of Parkway Avenue, was stopped by a Parkside officer while he was walking in the area of Forrestview Road and Edgmont Avenue, about 3:30 a.m., according to Brookhaven Chief John Eller and court documents.

The routine pedestrian stop was initiated by Officer Mark Marchesi and included a few questions, including permission to look in the man’s backpack.

Inside the backpack were a GPS and a radar detector that Boyle said he’d just purchased from a friend. There was also several dollars in loose change in the backpack.

Marchesi asked Boyle if he would return with him to Brookhaven police headquarters, to which Eller said Boyle agreed.

At Brookhaven police headquarters, Investigator Randolph McGoldrick read Boyle his Miranda Warnings and proceeded to conduct an interview. During that interview, Eller said Boyle allegedly confessed to 30 thefts and six attempted thefts in Brookhaven, and two thefts in Parkside.

Boyle allegedly said he left his Chester residence about 3 a.m. with the intention of coming to Brookhaven to steal from cars, according to the affidavit of probable cause for arrest.

He said he primarily took tools, electronics and change from unlocked vehicles. Most of the items, he said, were subsequently sold in Philadelphia to support his drug habit.

According to Eller, Boyle told McGoldrick he has targeted the Brookhaven and Parkside areas since Nov. 6.

Boyle’s parents agreed to a search of their residence, where about $15,000 in reported stolen items were recovered in the attic. Stolen tools were also found behind a bush in Chester Park, which borders Parkway Avenue.

Boyle is facing a total of 112 counts of multiple offenses, including theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, loitering and prowling at night, access device fraud and attempted theft by deception. His bail was set at $15,000 cash, which he failed to post. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 2.

Recovered items are at Brookhaven police headquarters. Eller said anyone who has had items removed from their vehicles during the month of November can call during business hours for information.

In addition to Marchesi and McGoldrick, Officers Gregory Martin, Timothy Habich and F. Scott Ely assisted in the investigation.

[Sandbagger]

Verizon seeks Parkside customers
Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
By Kenn Stark, Times Correspondent

PARKSIDE — Although Verizon service is not yet available in this borough, the communications company is already hard at work trying to enlist new customers.

While lines are being laid and junction boxes installed, Verizon is conducting a door-to-door campaign to introduce Parkside residents to FIOS fiber optic service as an option to Comcast cable.

Having two communications companies competing for Parkside customers is seen as a good thing for borough residents.

The borough has no official preference as to which company is chosen, since both Verizon and Comcast have non-exclusive franchise contracts, wherein the borough receives 5 percent of the revenue generated by Parkside customers.