Uncle Irvin: Avondale boondoggle
10/17/2017 12:59PM ● By Richard Gaw
Uncle Irvin has preached many times that Avondale and West Grove boroughs are too small to be incorporated and should be annexed.
The latest example of ineptitude is the State Street Bridge in Avondale that has been closed since August and will not reopen until “early summer,” according to Chester County facilities head Stephen Fromnick, who is in charge of the project. The delay has been caused by the lack of maintenance over the years by Avondale Borough, which is constantly broke.
The bridge has also been delayed by the contractor, Mark Colona and his company, Column Construction, whose bid to replace the public water line was too high and was rebid by the county for a much lower price, and the work is now proceeding.
Avondale is so badly mismanaged that it sent an inexperienced worker to turn off the water line at the bridge. The maintenance man inadvertently turned the wrong valve and drained public water from the reservoir. Meanwhile, the county estimates that 3,500 people are inconvenienced for more than a year over a lousy two-lane bridge.
The citizens of Avondale and West Grove are deluding themselves that these mini villages can govern themselves. They would lose nothing important by being a village like Jennersville but lower taxes and better services by being annexed by New Garden or London Grove Township.
(This is part of an occasional column written by Uncle Irvin. As always, the column is the opinion of Uncle Irvin, and is not a news story.)
The latest example of ineptitude is the State Street Bridge in Avondale that has been closed since August and will not reopen until “early summer,” according to Chester County facilities head Stephen Fromnick, who is in charge of the project. The delay has been caused by the lack of maintenance over the years by Avondale Borough, which is constantly broke.
The bridge has also been delayed by the contractor, Mark Colona and his company, Column Construction, whose bid to replace the public water line was too high and was rebid by the county for a much lower price, and the work is now proceeding.
Avondale is so badly mismanaged that it sent an inexperienced worker to turn off the water line at the bridge. The maintenance man inadvertently turned the wrong valve and drained public water from the reservoir. Meanwhile, the county estimates that 3,500 people are inconvenienced for more than a year over a lousy two-lane bridge.
The citizens of Avondale and West Grove are deluding themselves that these mini villages can govern themselves. They would lose nothing important by being a village like Jennersville but lower taxes and better services by being annexed by New Garden or London Grove Township.
(This is part of an occasional column written by Uncle Irvin. As always, the column is the opinion of Uncle Irvin, and is not a news story.)
