Skip to main content

Chester County Press

Weer, Scott-Harper elected as new London Grove supervisors

11/13/2013 02:03PM ● By Acl

Richard Scott-Harper, left, and Robert F. Weer, Jr., were both elected to the London Grove Board of Supervisors on Nov. 6.

By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

 

Former supervisor Richard Scott-Harper and Robert F. Weer, Jr., an 18-year member of the township, were elected to the township's board of supervisors during an election held Nov. 6. They will assume their six-year terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2014.

Scott-Harper gathered 667 votes, accounting for 42.78 percent of the vote, while Weer received 545 votes, or 34.96 percent of the votes tallied. Timothy Nelson, a third candidate and current member of the township's board of supervisors, gathered 343 votes. Nelson's term in the board expires Dec. 31, 2013, and he has publicly stated that he will not serve another term on the board.

In addition to Nelson, Weer and Scott-Harper, both Republicans, will also be filling the position on the board soon to be vacated by outgoing supervisor Bill Grandizio, whose term expires Dec. 31, 2013. They will be joining chairman David Connors and members Robert Hittinger and Mike Pickel on the board.

A previous member of the board of supervisors from 1999-2005, Scott-Harper has served on the township's Municipal Authority since 2001, and is currently serving as its chairman. Chief among his goals for his term will be to explore alternatives in the continuing development of the Route 41 corridor, in order to improve safety and manage traffic volume along the congested route.

"Something has to be done," Scott-Harper said. "It can't stay in the condition it is in now. After I hear ideas, I'll decide what is right and wrong."

Weer, an assistant roadmaster with the township since 1995, has been a member of the West Grove Fire Company for 18 years, and from 2009-2012, served as the company's fire chief. He presently serves with Scott-Harper on the township's Municipal Authority. The top priorities of his term will be to improve the township's emergency services capability through increased funding and meeting codes and standards; to work with its public works department  in order to continue to improve the township's infrastructure; and to help guide the township to make responsible decisions in the area of development, especially along the Route 41 corridor.

"The township has invested along Route 41 in order to help stimulate its tax base, but as we continue to do that, we need to make sure that the whole township prospers from it," Weer said. "There has to be a plan for development, and it has to be done with good guidance and judgment, rather than just throwing a building up here and there without any real plan for future growth and investment."