Mayor's Message - 10/18/2023 Council Meeting

Good Evening Everyone!

Tomorrow night, the Stonehurst Hills Community Association will hold a meeting at 6 pm at the Holy Ghost Jesus House of Prayer located at 434 Millbank Road as part of their National Wildlife Grant to reforest the Stonehurst Hills neighborhood. There will be information on free rain gardens, trees and lawn meadows whether you rent or you own. So, if you are a homeowner, a renter or a landlord, this program is for you!

Also tomorrow evening, at our One Center, Delaware County Council will hold a Town Hall on the use of the multi-state opioid settlement.  The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 pm.

This season’s leaf collection schedule is posted on our website and our Facebook page. Also in recycling news: we are working with the Pennsylvania Resources Council, the PRC, on their glass recycling pilot program. The PRC will drop off a recycling bin at Naylors Run Park to collect glass for one week. This is a glass diversion project, it does not replace our single-stream recycling program. For one week and for FREE, the PRC will collect glass recyclables of all colors in a bin located at Naylors Run Park, near the tennis courts. There will be a video camera, so please, only drop off glass recyclables. This program is free and open to the public.

I would like to make some clarifications regarding our Recreation Department. The department  does not function in a silo; we partner with many entities and our own departments to create programming for residents of all ages.

• We began and continue to offer free Summer Stage programming for any and all Upper Darby youth ages 10 to 18.  Over the last two years of this program, over 600 of our children have experienced the magic of Summer Stage at no cost to their families.
• Two recreational trails have been built here, the first two ever in our township, and both during my administration. One trail includes a bridge that spans Darby Creek near the Swedish Cabin. This trail is part of the larger Darby Creek Trail. The other, which is nearing completion, runs along the former Cardington-Newtown train line from Chapman Park towards Marshall Road and has a spur which connects to Long Lane. This trail is the first segment of the Naylors Run Trail.
• The township funds over 85% of the budget for our three libraries and, in turn, each of the libraries have a slate of wonderful programming for people of all ages. 
• We just started an after-school program in the new Community Policing Office at Barclay Square.
• Summer youth programming is funded by the township and run by the YMCA
  The Watkins Senior Center is also part of Recreation, 50% of funding comes from COSA, 50% from the township.  
• We’ve hosted a variety of pop-up programs: goat yoga, bike ride with a cop, the skateboard pop-up as we continue work on a Master Plan for our Parks and Open Spaces. We will have a public meeting on the plan next month. 
• USA Sport Group is hosting a basketball skills clinic (not a league) for girls and boys ages 4-11.  Sign-ups have opened up and the 5-week program will begin in the new year. 
• This would be a good time to give an update on our PAL program:  contrary to statements made many times at public meetings. Mayor Keffer did not “end the PAL program”.  People in our finance department have been working for months and months with Superintendent Bernhardt and his team to reinstate the non-profit status of the PAL organization. PAL’s tax-exempt status was automatically revoked in May of 2020 because for the 3 prior years, required paperwork had not been filed, 2017, 2018 and 2019. We expect PAL to regain its tax-exempt status next year and we look forward to rebuilding the program.
• Under the leadership of Superintendent Bernhardt, we offer the TAPS program at Bonner-Prendie and Upper Darby High Schools and at the Municipal Library on Bywood Avenue.
• We have also made upgrades at many of our parks and playgrounds: 4 new basketball hoops, the rusty chain link fence at Sellers Playground was removed and the barn on that property was repainted and the squirrels evicted from the cupola hotel there.  We completely renovated the new Stonehurst Hills Recreation Area.
• The Police and Fire Departments hold a joint summer camp which is a brand new program begun during this administration.

I do encourage you to either like the “Upper Darby Township Recreation” Facebook page or go to our website www.upperdarby.org for more information about Recreation and other township news. Also, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter at upperdarby.org/newsletters to receive our brief but informative e-newsletter.

Have a great evening!

Mayor Barbarann Keffer