Meeting Calendar and Agendas

The scheduled meeting times for many of our Doylestown Borough Council committees have changed. To best serve residents and my constituents, I have made my schedule available online at the following address.

http://ical.mac.com/detansinn/Doylestown

The calendar is "spartan" at the moment, but I will be updating it to include additional scheduled meetings and agenda as available. All meetings are at Borough Hall unless otherwise noted.

Please be advised that Borough Council committees do not meet if no agenda has been identified. As always, summaries and meeting synopsis are provided for informational purposes. Please contact Doylestown Borough Hall if you would like a copy of the formal agenda for a particular meeting.

Thank you!

February 8th Town Meeting

A town meeting has been scheduled for February 8th. Given the large public attendance at last night's session of the Doylestown Borough Council, the venue for the town meeting has been changed.



Public Safety Committee:
Town Meeting for Teen Issues and Proposals
Lenape Middle School Auditorium
February 8th at 7PM
If you are concerned about the safety of our teens and our community, please come and participate. All residents are invited.

Your feedback and comments will be invaluable as our borough government faces these difficult decisions.

Thank you!

Parking and Voting

With limited committee meetings in January as a result of the re-organization, the rest of the Doylestown Borough Council agenda was relatively limited. That said, there were two decisions that may be of interest to residents.

Parking
An advertisement will be issued for a proposed ordinance change that elevates relief from building parking requirements to a variance from a special exception.

Voting
The voting integrity resolution passed with a strong bi-partisan vote. It establishes Doylestown Borough support for voter-verified paper ballots. Specifically, it expresses support for both the PA Senate Bill (SB977) and PA House Bill (HB2000).

Full House for Teen Issues

Last night, it was a full house for the first meeting of the new Doylestown Borough Council. With teen issues being a prominent part of the agenda, more than 50 people attended the meeting to voice their concerns and/or support for the proposed initiatives. The significance of the meeting attracted a FOX television camera -- extremely rare for a council session.

Public comment was both strongly worded and empathetic to the needs of the community and our teens. Concerned citizens, borough residents, and business owners spoke passionately to both the overall plan and specific initiatives. Within this preliminary discussion, the curfew emerged as one of the more controversial proposals. Conversely, the town watch received very strong support with citizen volunteers already emerging. Uniformly, we heard thoughtful perspectives from a diverse audience.

With the excellent public participation, it also became clear that a larger venue would be required for an effective town meeting on February 8th. Our Borough Manager, John Davis, has begun to investigate an alternate venue. I will post that information as soon as it becomes available.

Thank you for your participation and terrific comments.

January Monthly Meeting

On Monday at 7PM, the Doylestown Borough Council will have its monthly meeting. It will be the first time the full council has met since the January 3rd reorganization meeting. Two important issues will be discussed by the council.

Teens and Public Safety
The proposals from the Public Safety committee will be presented. This will include the components of Chief Donnelly's plan as well as the controversial teen curfew. As always, there will be an opportunity for public comment. While no decision will be made on the proposals this month, feedback and comment from residents and business owners is very important. Next month, a special public town meeting will be held on February 8th for further input from the community. I will post details for this town meeting as soon as they are available.

Voting Integrity Resolution
Members of the full council will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed voting integrity resolution. The resolution will demonstrate the borough's support of a paper-based audit trail for the new voting machines. Similar resolutions have passed in Doylestown Township and elsewhere. If this issue is important to you, please come out and show your support.

If these issues are important to you, please come out and show your support and/or opposition. Public comment is critical for the effectiveness of our local government.

Thank you!

Texas Hold'em

Last night, I attended the Zoning Board Hearings at Borough Hall. Several Ward 2 residents had alerted me to a proposed expansion of the Amber Inn bar at Doyle St/Shewell Ave. The proposal would expand the Amber Inn into a second floor space to create a "Texas Hold'em" poker parlor and bar.


A non-conforming use as a poker parlor/bar is a difficult sell for the neighbors. The expansion on the building zoned "CR" (Commercial and Residential) could directly impact residential housing next door and across the street. Per vocal resident comments, there are already problems related to the existing Amber Inn and the proposed changes would simply be unacceptable. Underscoring these considerations, the hearing itself was actually an appeal of a prior Zoning Board decision. The proposal had already been rejected and the owner had failed to build community support.

I was encouraged to see such strong and spirited participation by residents. This feedback is critical in the context of Zoning Board decisions. Often the absence of the public comment is perceived as "support". Last night, the Shewell Ave residents made their voices heard. While the Zoning Board decision is still unknown, the public comment demonstrated a clear lack of support for the proposal.

For future Zoning Board Hearings, I will post agendas on the web site. I will also work to notify Ward 1 residents of development that may impact the character and fabric of our community.

Councilman meets Congressman

Today, Mike Fitzpatrick presented a check for $220,000 in support of a Delaware Valley College biotech research incubator. As an elected official, I was proud to represent Doylestown Borough at the ceremony alongside our Mayor and Council President.

Following the ceremony, Delaware Valley College President, Dr. Thomas Leamer, hosted an intimate lunch for local officials and the congressman. In addition to discussing recent developments on campus, we addressed a range of topics affecting business and academia in Doylestown and Central Bucks. Importantly, we also discussed ways to keep Central Bucks attractive for graduates and would-be entrepeneurs.

As a former County Commissioner, the congressman was very interested in the specific challenges faced by Doylestown Borough, the county seat. After hearing our issues, his helpful advice ranged from funding sources for borough initiatives to simply "getting out and meeting the people". While Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick and I have some significant political differences, we found common ground on local issues being faced by Doylestown residents.

I would like to thank the Delaware Valley College and Dr. Leamer for their hospitality. They are a great local resource. I extend my congratulations to the school on receiving this recognition and important funding.

A History of Problems

While our residents are very familiar with the collections of teens on our sidewalks, the gatherings of young people in our town's parks are proving to be a serious problem. At the meeting of our Public Safety committee, the public highlighted significant teen-related issues at Doylestown's Historic Park.

Residents report the park is a host to a large amount of drug activity and vandalism. Just last week, the park was the site of a drug-related arrest involving a 14 year-old and 13 year-old. The alarming arrest received coverage in our local paper. Unfortunately, it is not an isolated incident.

"Drug deal at downtown park: Two boys are facing charges after a drug deal Friday afternoon at Historical Society Park on South Main Street, police said. An officer saw a 14-year-old boy from Augusta Drive in Warwick take money from his pocket and hand it to a 13-year-old boy from Mead Drive in Buckingham at about 4 p.m., police said. The 13-year-old then gave the other boy a bag of suspected marijuana. Police did not release the boys' names because they are minors."

--Intelligencer, January 11, 2006

Everyone should be able to enjoy Doylestown and feel welcome. There are great teens that live here and others that visit our fine town. Unfortunately, with the success of the borough as a destination, we must now deal with challenging problems. In the coming months, our borough government will be making difficult decisions and taking action to maintain the character and livability of Doylestown. I look forward to your feedback and support on these initiatives.

Thank you.

Teens in Town Center

This evening's Public Safety committee was well attended by residents who actively participated in the discussion. The meeting was dominated by the critical teen issue in our town center. It is clear that both residents and business interests want Doylestown Borough to take a leadership position to address the problem.

Police Chief Donnelly prepared a three year historical report of complaints and arrests that demonstrated a dramatic increase in incidents for Doylestown Borough. Using this data, the Chief presented a law enforcement proposal that included the following components.

• Education
  Notification letters to parents when a teen is engaged in unlawful and disruptive activity (first time response, preceding a citation)
  
• Citations
  Increase the number of citations issued to teens
• Town Watch
  Start program of adult volunteers
  
• Surveillance
  Security cameras to record video in Parks and Public Areas
• Personnel
  Hire an additional full-time Police Officer to work during the peak and critical hours
  

Based upon feedback from residents and discussion within the committee, members also proposed the addition of a curfew. The graduated curfew would feature steps for 18-under and 14-under (ie. 14 year olds would have an earlier curfew). Citations would be issued to teens who violated the curfew. As a result of this discussion, the borough will consult with its solicitor and develop an advertisement for such an ordinance.

Both the public and committee members were supportive of the overall comprehensive plan, but there was some dissent regarding the hiring of a Police Officer. Hiring an additional officer is a serious commitment for our borough and not to be approached lightly. If a full-time officer is not hired, the borough still incurs large overtime expenses and the costs associated with training and utilizing high-turnover part-time police officers.

I support hiring an additional officer to help address our current law enforcement challenges and improve the safety/security of our residents.

Hiring an officer is a time consuming process. If Doylestown Borough does not start the civil service process now, we would be unable to hire a full-time police officer in time for the spring/summer season. Understanding the dissent over a full-time resource, I made a motion this evening that Doylestown Borough begins the civil service process. If council can establish agreement on the hiring of an officer, we will have a head start on the hiring process without delay. The motion passed with strong support of the committee.

The recommendations of the Public Safety committee will be presented to the full Doylestown Borough Council at its next session. Further, a large public meeting will be conducted in February to review the overall plan and get the feedback of the public. I will post those dates as soon as they become available.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in tonight's meeting. It was great to see so many familiar faces and receive such great comments and feedback.

Thank you for your support!

Voting Integrity Resolution

This evening, the council committee for Community and Government Affairs reviewed the proposed Coalition for Voting Integrity resolution. After some discussion that included supporting public comment, the resolution was unanimously approved for a vote by the full Borough Council on January 23rd. If approved by the full council, the resolution will demonstrate Doylestown Borough support for a voter verified paper ballot.

The meeting was well attended by both residents and non-committee members of the council. There was a strong show of interest by the public and a keen eagerness by the committee to better understand the issues. The combination made for a very productive committee meeting.

If you are interested in the resolution, it will be important to attend the full meeting of the Doylestown Borough Council at 7PM on January 23rd. Your public support and comments have a real impact on the actions of our local government.

Thank you.

Public Attendance

Many residents are not aware that the council committee meetings are open to the public. In fact, residents are permitted to attend all meetings with the exception of Personnel and Executive Sessions. If you see an interesting topic being discussed, I encourage you to show support and/or offer public comment. It's an important part of our Democracy and the transparency of our government.

Thank you for your support!

January Committee Meetings

With the re-organization of the Borough Council, several of the meetings have been cancelled for the month of January. However, there are meetings in January that may be of interest to residents.

Tuesday, January 10th, 7:00PM
Community and Government Affairs
Members of the council will be reviewing a proposed resolution submitted by the Coalition for Voting Integrity (http://coalitionforvotingintegrity.org). This resolution would establish support by the Doylestown Borough government for voter-verified ballots with paper-trail. Doylestown Township passed a similar resolution last year. The license agreement for the Doylestown Farmer's Market is also on the agenda.

Tuesday, January 10th, 7:30PM
Zoning and Planning Committee
There is a proposed lot line change for a property at 421 North Street. An amendment to parking requirements for the "CC" Zoning district (town center) will also be discussed.

Wednesday January 11th, 7:00PM
Public Safety Committee
Teen issues and complaints continue to be a hot topic for the Public Safety committee. Possible policy and enforcement changes are being discussed for the New Year. Directly impacting Ward 1 residents, Maple Avenue speeding remediation with also be scheduled for a future meeting. When scheduled, it will be extremely important to demonstrate your public support.

All meetings are held at Doylestown Borough Hall. Official agendas are available from the Doylestown Borough administrative personnel. Synopsis and anticipated discussion topics are provided here for informational purposes.

Committee Appointments

Borough Council President Chip Thome has announced the committee appointments for the 2006-2007 session. I have been appointed to following committees.

• Streets (Chairman)
• Finance
• Police Pension
• Public Safety

With the above assignments, I will be able to make a direct contribution to the safety of our borough and the management of its resources. Further, these appointments do not preclude me from attending other meetings such as Zoning/Planning where the interests of our residents may be at stake. I will work hard to ensure that your voice is heard.

Swearing In

On Tuesday, January 3rd, I was sworn in as a member of the Doylestown Borough Council. There was a tremendous public showing by family, friends, and supporters. I look forward to the work and challenges ahead.

Thank you for all of your encouragement and support!