Featuring content curated from articles published in local newspapers and other sources. The insights/opinions expressed here are solely those of John Mack and do not represent the opinions of any other person or entity.

Update on Lower Dolington Road Trail - Why the Delay?

According to the Township Engineer, the contractor "encountered some unexpected utility conflicts during construction which impact the underground infiltration trenches designed as part of this project. We have been coordinating with the contractor regarding a redesign of the infiltration trenches in this area to avoid these unexpected utility issues."

I plan to get further information and will discuss this at my next Meet Mack Monday Zoom meeting, May 16, 2022, at 3:00 PM. Please register to attend and pass along this invitation to your friends who may be interested in attending.

From Bucks County Courier Times - May 12, 2022

The controversy surrounding the Wawa proposed for the Newtown Bypass and Lower Silver Lake Road in Newtown Township deepened, as developer Provco Pincgood, LLC backed out of a presentation before the Hoard of Supervisors just minutes before the meeting was to begin.

No reason was given. Was it a "poison pill" that that arose at the last minute? What's Next? Get the inside story.

Now, the project is in limbo and no one, including board chair Dennis Fisher and vice-chair John Mack, knows exactly what comes next , although Fisher said the public would be given due and timely notice of the next meeting in which the plan will be considered.

Newtown resident Bradley Cooper said during public testimony that the developer's last-minute no-show is "telling, on how they are treating you as supervisors, how they are treating the community and how they are treating" the people who live in Newtown, adding that the developer is "basically dictating" how the supervisors run their meeting. “They’re just playing games,” said Mr. Cooper.

View the video of Mr. Bradley's comments...

John Mack's Insights:
According to a letter received via email from John A. VanLuvanee, the attorney representing Provco Pinegood Newtown, LLC, who said that his client has “elected to grant the Township a 90-day extension of the time period within which the Board of Supervisors is required to take action on its pending preliminary/final land development plan application."

It's obvious to me that they are trying a couple of tactics. One is to postpone this until the summer months, maybe July, August, when there's less people and fewer residents to make public comment. The second thing is that the developer also has pending litigation against us, and maybe wants to use those against the township in this matter.
 
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From From patch.com - May 9, 2022

Residents claim that the Wireless Facility Ordinance proposed by the Newtown Area Jointure does not protect the health & safety of residents.

Township leaders in Wrightstown, Upper Makefield and Newtown townships [Jointure] are considering a Wireless Facility Ordinance [LINK: https://bit.ly/JZC_5G_Ordinance]. Small wireless facilities consist of a cell tower antenna typically attached to a pole on or near homes, schools, workplaces, and places of worship. The Jointure ordinance focuses on the location, maintenance and appearance of small wireless 5G antennas.

Wrightstown Supervisor Chairman Chester Pogonowski said that a goal of the ordinance is to prevent an “eyesore” [LINK: https://sco.lt/972V4C]. Many residents and experts, however, feel that 5G wireless antennas pose a health risk, which the ordinance fails to adequately address. According to Pennsylvanians for Safe Technology, this risk is something that governmental entities and medical advocacy groups have begun to recognize in public meetings and published reports.

Many local Newtown area residents made public comments regarding safety of 5G antennas before the Newtown Board of Supervisors (BOS) on 27 April 2022 and before the Newtown Planning Commission (NTPC) on 3 May 2022.

Read More...


The 20022 BOS Chronicle offers up-to-date summaries of every Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting held in 2022. These are my personal notes about the issues discussed and voted on at each meeting. Included are links to background information.

Contents:
  • All Meetings From January 12 through May 11, 2022
  • 2022 BOS Voting Record
  • Mack’s Newtown DataBank
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Index
Access the 2022 BOS Chronicle...
From www.inquirer.com - May 5, 2022

KVK, far from embracing the community, has clashed with local, federal and regional officials over its mobile trailers, parking, worker safety and its main plant’s waste water.

In 2015, when the small but fast-growing drug company KVK Tech Inc. began preparing to buy the vast Lockheed Martin site in Newtown Township, there was soaring hope in the community that the dynamic generic firm could restore the modern 52-acre corporate campus to glory. The town faced a massive loss of tax revenue as Lockheed, the big defense contractor that once employed 1,200, was shutting down.

Supervisors' questions at the time] didn’t stop KVK Tech from buying the campus for $12.5 million. But seven years later… Under KVK, the Lockheed site -- which local officials once hoped would anchor a high-tech corridor -- is barely used with nearly empty parking lots.

The FDA’s concerns with Vepuri go back decades, spanning allegations over unapproved drug ingredients and repeated findings of flawed drug-manufacturing processes that could threaten public health.

Last summer, federal agents swarmed over KVK facilities in Newtown as part of a six-year global investigation. The agents said they carted out 30 terabytes of digital information and 500 boxes of company records. [Read “Federal Agents Raid KVK Tech Locations at the Crack of Dawn!”]

The executives each face a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. KVK Tech, which remains a prominent generic drug maker, could be fined up to $4 million.

John Mack, vice chair of the Newtown Township board of supervisors, has posted concerns online about KVK Tech for several years. When campaigning in 2017, [Mack] spoke out against the company’s request for a zoning variance at its headquarters plant that would add parking. “You have to prove you have a hardship [for a variance],” Mack said. “I said they did not have a hardship” because they had so much room at the Lockheed plant on the Newtown Bypass." The variance was approved.


From buckscountycouriertimes - May 13, 2022

Bucks' commissioners recently approved installing electric-vehicle charging stations at Peace Valley Park in Central Bucks. Some municipalities, such as Middletown, Wrightstown and Quakertown, also are getting on the electric vehicle charging bandwagon, with charging stations already available or in the works.

[Read “Newtown Township's Planning Commission Discusses Electric Vehicle Charging Stations”. Some charging stations, however, include electronic message signs (ads) that are not permitted in the Jointure, comprised of Newtown, Wrightstown, and Upper Makefield. Fore more about that, read “Volta's Plan for (FREE) EV Charging Stations” and see “Insights” below.]

Middletown Township recently received a $215,000 grant from the Department of Environmental Protection for the installation of four DC fast charging stations at municipal building. The grant was part of $2.1 million in state Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants to municipalities and businesses for 99 electric vehicles and more clean fuel transportation projects across the state.

John Mack's Insights:
Volta is applying for a variance from the Newtown Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB) to allow it to install 2 of its charging stations in the ACME parking lot in the Newtown Shopping Center. The hearing is scheduled for June 2, 2022. The Board of Supervisors will send its solicitor to oppose this variance because of the electronic messaging.

My opinion is that the Jointure needs to carve out a special exception in its signage ordinance to allow these types of charging stations in certain off-road specific locations. Either that, or draft a EV charging station ordinance that allows such a use.
 
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