February Board Meeting
The Board of Commissioners' monthly meeting was held on February 8. The meeting began with the swearing in of Pat Molloy as the Abington Police Department's new Police Chief. Chief Molloy has served in the Police Department since 1994 and is dedicated to community policing. I am confident that Chief Molloy will lead the department well, and I look forward to working with him in his new position.
In addition to Chief Molloy's swearing in, the Board appointed Amy Montgomery as the new Township Engineer. Amy takes over for Mike Powers who retires after many years of service to the township. The Board also appointed Ward 12's Jose Casalina as the newest member of the Zoning Hearing Board. Jose has extensive experience in zoning matters. Moreover, Jose's appointment brings much needed geographic balance to the Zoning Hearing Board. Currently, the Board consists entirely of residents from the Northeast quadrant of the township. As the ZHB is the final authority on certain zoning matters, I thought it was important to make sure that one of our Glenside neighbors has a say in those deliberations. I am thrilled that Jose will be that voice.
The big item on our agenda was the approval of the land development application submitted by Abington School District for the construction of the addition to the Senior High School. This addition will facilitate the realignment of grades across the entire district. The Senior High School will become a traditional high school housing grades 9 - 12. Grades 6 - 8 will attend the junior high school and our Kindergarten through 5th grade classes will continue at the district elementary schools. The expanded high school is expected to be completed by 2022 with new facilities focusing on science and technology. As a father of two Copper Beech students, I enthusiastically supported this proposal.
The Board also approved a new stop sign at Highland and Caterbury Road - a major crossing for the High School. As you may recall, a student was struck by a speeding motorist over the summer at this location. I believe that this stop sign was necessary safety improvement, and I was happy to support its approval.
The Board approved several other measures including:
A zoning amendment which clarifies the types of cell phone antennae which are permissible under our zoning ordinance.
A motion to accept the transfer of a deed from the Audubon Society of Abington. By accepting this deed, Abington is adding 13 acres to our protected open space.
A new policy to secure the township's interest in properties improved by HUD funds administered by the township.
An ordinance establishing Board supervision over certain settlements of tax assessment appeals.
You can read the full agenda for February's meeting here. You can also watch the full video of the meeting below.
