Latest News - NOVEMBER/08 Newsletter

TRAFFIC CALMING

Residential speeding has been one of my top priorities since I have been elected. I requested that Marple adopt a formal plan and policy to address neighborhoods that have this growing concern. Up until now there has never been a set plan to address the problem when neighbors complain about the speeding in their neighborhood. I have submitted a formal written policy to the Chief of Police for his review. Once he approves the plan I will submit it to the Board for their approval. This plan will give us a plan of attack that will be consistent across the Township.

VERIZON FIOS CABLE SUBSCRIBERS

It’s been a long time coming but we are now live on Verizon FIOS channel 24 for Township messages. Next week we should also be broadcasting the Board of Commissioners meetings. Once Verizon makes the final connections we will once again be able to communicate important township information to all our residents regardless of the cable service you use. As you know when we allowed Verizon into the Township our goal was to create competition resulting in lower cable cost to our residents. One negative was the delay in connecting the public service community channel. I am relieved that this has now been resolved.

LIBRARY GETS NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT ROOF

You have probably notice the construction going on at the library over the past few weeks. The board approved the repair and replacement of the roof with a new energy efficient system that will save energy cost in the future.

65 to 80 million$ School Renovation project

Please contact your elected school board members for full details and tax impact of this project.

Will the downturn in our economy affect the Township finances?

Over the last 3 year that I have held office we have been able to have a 0 percent tax increase. We have been prudent in our spending and able to maintain a balanced budget that has resulted in some surplus enabling us to not increase taxes on our residents. I am very proud of that record. We are now in the new budget cycle and beginning to crunch the

Numbers so I don’t have any hard data at this point to report to you. What I do know is that some our key revenue generators will be hit by the economy. Some of these areas will be reduced real estate transfer taxes. With Less homes being sold or homes being sold at reduced prices means less money coming into our general fund. Increased fuel cost for our vehicle fleet will be another area that will impact our budget. Our employee pension funds have also been hit hard. As in the past I have pledged to hold the line on taxes and I will be an advocate for this in the new budget if possible.

^{SENIOR CORNER}

^{Surrey Services for seniors}

^{Surrey services is a non-profit organization offering a variety of programs, activities and support services designed
to help older adults with homecare, transportation etc. Please contact Surrey should you need help or assistance right here
in Broomall at 610-325-2438or on the WEB at www.surreyservice.org}

SEPTA NEWS – SENIORS RIDE FREE PROGRAM ALL DAY EVERY DAY, take advantage of this program and save money on gas and wear and tear on your vehicle. For more information contact customer service 215-580-7800

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!!

MEDICARE “ What You Need to know”

I have arranged through Main Line Health a seminar for our seniors so that you are informed about the open enrollment period for Medicare.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008 from 10:30am – 11:30 am at the Marple Township Building 227 South Sproul Road. Please plan to attend this most important and informative meeting. You will here and discuss Medicare Part D along with other healthcare topics important to making informed decisions about Medicare during the open enrollment period Nov.15 – Dec. 31.

REDUCED MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION

Retired person can register their vehicle for $10.00 rather than the usual $36.00 fee as long as your income does not exceed $19,200 annually. Call 1-800-932-4600 for more information.

NO BENEFICIAL BANK

Some months ago representatives from Beneficial Bank proposed a plan to build a new bank on the Corner of Paxon Hollow and Springfield roads. You may know the property as the corn stand. The neighbors on Paxon Hollow road raised concerns to me about the quality of life on their street should such a project be approved. The current property is zoned residential and in order for the plan to move forward the zoning would have to be changed to commercial. This presented future commercialization and traffic congestion issues affecting the entire stretch of Sproul rd. properties should this be approved. I worked with the residents and after a prolonged fight we were successful in convincing the Bank officials this was not a good idea for Marple. Hopefully they will take some suggestions we gave them on sites that would be more applicable to their plans.

JOESPH FLICKER- TOWNSHIP MANAGER

As many of you may know we experienced the sudden loss of our Township manager. You may have worked with him or dealt with him on a residential issue. Joe was always a pleasant and fun loving man. I enjoyed the time I worked with Joe over the past 3 years and appreciated all that he did for me and the residents of Marple Township. Joe will be sadly missed.

GOODHILL CENTER- UPDATE

Due to the fact the owners of the building are now suing the Board for being too aggressive in our pursuit to get the burned out building demolished. I have been advised by counsel to limit all comments. This totally frustrates me but I must comply in order to not jeopardize the case in any way. What I will say is this issue can be summarized by one word “DELAYS”. Our Media Courts have delayed the hearing of this case once again. Our September hearing date was delayed until October 30 and when we approached the hearing date we were notified that the Judge moved the date again until sometime in November. I will also mention that we have filed a Federal court action seeking relief for our residents from this problem. The Board is doing everything legally possible to remedy the eyesore on our community. I wish I could say more but unfortunately this is the extent to which I can comment at this time. In closing please do not fall prey to rumors and misinformation about what steps the Board is or is not taking. For accurate information please attend a Board meeting for the up to date facts. Our meetings are held the 1^st and 2^nd Monday of the each Month. As of this writing I am being told the building is now up for sale.

NEWLY ADOPTED ORDINANCES

Many of these new ordinances have come at the request of residents. As chairman of the ordinance committee I have worked to adopt these new ordinances to protect Marple residents. Some of these new ordinances require permits so please contact code enforcement before you begin any projects.

POD ORDINANCE
CURFEW
HEIGHT RESTRICTION RMHD DISTRICT
SHED SIZE ORDINANCE
Under review – Neighbor v Neighbor dispute panel.
Under review- Commercial truck Parking
6^th WARD LEAF PICKUP SCHEDULE

The leaf pick up schedule will be as follow with the understanding that weather and equipment issues can cause delays. All leaves should be swept to the curb.

NOVEMBER- 10, 11

DECEMBER – 5, 6, 8, 24, 26

Curfew in Marple Township

I proposed this ordinance about 2 years ago when I was approached by neighbors asking that a curfew be considered in Marple. I did some research and brought the proposal to the Commissioners for a vote and it was defeated by a 4-3 margin. This summer our Police Chief asked again that I revisit the curfew based on some increased vandalism to public property. Many of our surrounding communities have passed similar ordinances. I brought this ordinance to the Commissioners for a vote at the September/08 meeting and it passed this time by a 6-1 margin. The ordinance was officially adopted at the October/08 meeting. The curfew is an attempt to set reasonable times that children should be out on the street in our Township. It is also about preventing them from becoming victims of crime like we have unfortunately read about so many times across the country. Adopting a curfew is by no means an indictment of our children or a statement that our children are bad. The vast majorities of our children are great kids and do very positive things in our town.

DON’T BE A VICTIM OF FRAUD

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “PHOTO ID REQUIRED”.

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number.

3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.
If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address.
If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address.
Never have your SS# printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.

Here’s some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.)

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my>>>
wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks…………

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if

it has been stolen:

1. Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2. Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3. Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
4. Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271