Oxford Borough Council recently awarded a $387,125 bid to Eagle Contracting and Landscaping, Inc. for a 2021 water main replacement project for Hodgson Street. Public works supervisor John Schaible also reported that paving for Franklin, Garfield, and Broad streets and Nottingham Avenue is complete, except for the pavement markings. 

The Second Street Project and Octoraro Alley progress was updated as well. Borough Manager Cary Vargo told council that the paving and completion of that project rests with Ware Village. Vargas said he will be following up with Ware to schedule a meeting so they can finish the project.

John Reynolds, spoke to council about the Oxford Area Recreation Authority.

“We didn’t have a good year due to the pandemic,” Reynolds explained. “We were shut down from March of 2020 and just recently re-opened. We are in need of volunteers and money. We were not able to have our fundraisers, and we were hit by vandalism that caused severe turf damage to our property. We plan to start working on Parcel 2 across from the Moran Farm Development. Our plans there include an amphitheater, large picnic area and a playground.”

Borough council president Peggy Russell asked if there were any thoughts about including a skateboard park. Reynolds said they had talked about that, but funding that would be an issue.

Council member Ron Hershey asked Reynolds if the recreation authority was able to get funds from the government for COVID relief. Reynolds said he hadn’t heard from the municipalities on that, but they haven’t delved into that yet.

“We are always looking for funding,” Reynolds said.

Schaible told council that the fire company had completed a training exercise in the municipal parking garage. They drilled on hose stretches in the facility. The garage is equipped with a system of pipes and outlets within the structure that carry water to various points on each floor. This system is called a dry standpipe. When a fire engine flows water from a hydrant into the pipes, firefighters can carry hose into the building and connect to the standpipe outlets to fight a fire. The crews ran numerous rotations of operating off the standpipe and running a hose line directly off the fire engine and up the stair well.

“We’d like them to do that again. Everything went well,” Schaible said.

Schaible also thanked council for the garage sweeper that council had approved. He said it made the job much cleaner for everyone and reduced the work from two employees to one, and the hours required from four to one.

Council approved retaining the Rodgers Group to provide police accreditation consultation services at the cost of $10.000. Funds for that will come from the available interest in the Council Endowment Fund.

In other business, council approved the motion to grant an extension request for Sycamore Crossing Phases 6 and 7. The extension runs through Sept. 21, 2021.

Council approved a motion to authorize advertising of Ordinance Amending Section 1-901, Anti-discrimination, to include consulting and members of any advisory board or commission.

A motion to adopt Resolution 1314-2021 regarding appointing an open records officer for the police was approved. Police Chief Sam Iacono will hold that position.

Council member Robert Ketcham updated council on the Transportation Improvement Inventory to Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC). Ketcham said the six Oxford Regional Planning Commission members will send a letter to Chester County which will get brought before PennDOT, then forwarded to the DVRPC. The letter will recommend a safety study on Baltimore Pike and a safety study on Route 272.

Council member. Dick Winchester brought up some governance issues he would like to see addressed. 

“I think understanding how to make our meetings run more efficiently could help us greatly,” Winchester said. An orientation for new council members was also mentioned. It will be discussed further.

Mayor Phil Harris thanked the Union Fire Company and the Oxford Borough Police Department for their participation with the State Police in a softball game to raise funds for local resident Jacob Yoder, who was injured in an automobile accident. Approximately $15,000 was raised from the event. Harris also thanked Leda Widdoes and Oxford Mobil for their tremendous assistance with the fundraiser.