By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

The newest member of the Kennett Township Police Department is 18 months old, stands three feet in height, weighs 70 pounds, does not walk upright, answers to the name Broc, and at the end of the month, he will officially join the department as an officer in training.

The black German Shepherd was introduced at the June 4 meeting of the township’s Board of Supervisors as a formal kick-off to the start of the department’s new K-9 unit that will be operated by Police Officer Brian Bolt, who has owned the dog since it was just nine weeks old. Bolt, who has been a certified K-9 trainer since 2018, provides in-service training for K-9 teams in Chester, Delaware and York counties. For now, the department’s K-9 unit – which is projected to begin at the end of June - will consist of Broc and Officer Bolt.

In introducing the new unit, Police Chief Matthew Gordon said that adding a K-9 unit to a police department is cost effective, deters criminal activity, enhances drug detection, improves police response times, benefits search and rescue operations and enhances a department’s relationship with its community.

“K-9 units are invaluable in search and rescue missions, especially in locating missing persons or individuals lost in wooded areas or difficult terrain,” Gordon said. “Their keen sense of smell and tracking abilities can greatly expedite search efforts, particularly in the saving of lives. 

“Our community has both elderly dementia patients and special needs children, who at times, can wander off. Having a K-9 unit will directly benefit the safety of our community.”

As a condition of the implementation of the new unit, the department will be required to operate the unit as a non-profit and fund it through independent sources, which will go to pay for Broc’s training and the purchase of a K-9 insert for a police vehicle, which is estimated at $10,000. To help defray operating expenses, the department has begun Friends of the Kennett Township Police, a campaign that will raise funding for the unit through public contributions. (To learn more about the campaign or to make a contribution, contact Officer Bolt at (610) 388-2874, ext. 311 or email [email protected].)

Wireless communication towers get OK in township

By a 3-0 vote, the supervisors adopted Ordinance 310, which will pave the way for wireless communication facilities to be built in the township, as a method of providing better cellular service to the police, first responders and the residents of the township.

According to background data provided by township Manager Alison Dobbins and Katelynn Morgenstern, the township’s director of Planning and Zoning, there are areas in the township that do not offer reliable wireless communication, an issue that has been raised by Police Chief Gordon and Fire Chief AJ McCarthy, as well as by emergency personnel, residents, and businesses who have been affected by inconsistent or unavailable wireless service. 

The amendment – which was reviewed by the township’s Planning Commission and the Chester County Planning Commission - establishes clearance and uniform standards to construct and place tower-based wireless communications facilities in the township, which will support one or more antennas. The installation of a cell tower will be up to the discretion of a township private property owner. Township Solicitor David Sander said that as part of the township’s Zoning Hearing Board process, all neighbors in the vicinity of the property owner will need to be notified of the application. 

“I hear often from residents that they can’t get service in certain areas,” Dobbins said. “We’ve heard from businesses who tell us that it causes real problems for them when they are not able to use their devices. There are a lot of people who choose not to have home phone [land lines] and are completely relying on cellular phones. Generally speaking, many people are really surprised to understand that wireless facilities are not permitted in the southern half of the township and are supportive of the idea that this [amendment] would help them received service in those areas.”

In addressing the possibility that these towers may detract from the aesthetic quality of life in the rural township, supervisor Geoffrey Gamble called them “a necessity.”

“I think we’ve come to an age where we’re going to have to put up with towers, hopefully in strategic locations and in not too many places in order to get the coverage that is necessary,” he said.

In other township business, Collis O. Townsend, a township resident and the President of the Kennett Library Board of Trustees, gave an update presentation about the library, which is now in its second year of operation after a $22 million capital campaign led to its construction on State Street in Kennett Borough. Citing the Library’s commitment to providing individuals in eight municipalities with classes in health, adult and financial literacy, Townsend said that these classes are intended to apply practical skills in several aspects of everyday life.

“We’re bringing in programs that the community is really responding to and we are responding to the community,” said Townsend, who cited several informational resources that the public can access to learn more about the library’s programs. He said that over the past year, the library has been experiencing “explosive growth,” referring to computer usage having increased 400 percent and the number of card holders rising 27 percent – all over the past year. In addition, the library now averages 17,000 visitors a month and averages 4,000 monthly visitors from Kennett Township, a 300 percent increase over last year. 

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].