The Bucks County Commissioners on Wednesday gave the county's struggling rescue squads a financial shot in the arm, voting unanimously to allocate $5.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to 13 county squads.

The funding, which will be provided over a three year period, will be used to support emergency medical services, to provide education and to offer recruitment and retention incentives.

Evan Resnikoff, the president of the Bucks County EMS Chiefs Association, expressed gratitude to the county for the financial support.

"This is going to do amazing things for emergency medical services. It's unprecedented support for EMS in Bucks County and we cannot be more thankful," he said.

"I can tell you personally from experience we just successfully won a referendum in Newtown Township to increase our tax revenue," said Resnikoff.

In November, voters in the township approved increasing the millage for EMS from .5 mills to one mill [approx. $700,000 per year], which Resnikoff said will keep the squad operating and will save the township in the long run.

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Newtown EMS Inc., Newtown, (Newtown Ambulance Squad) $245,574.97 (funding to support EMS); $30,696.87 (recruitment and retention incentives); and $30,696.87 (education support).

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“Between the ARPA funding and the new tax revenue next year we're going to be a very strong organization and help to support area organizations around us."

The ARPA funding, he said, will provide squads with more time to approach local municipal governments and ask for similar referendums and millage increases in support of emergency medical services.

[Guest Opinion by Joshua Hogan.]

Bucks County is now suing Jamie Walker in the Court of Common Pleas to try to hide emails which the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has determined Mrs. Walker is entitled to. As the Bucks County Board of Commissioners is currently majority-Democrat, I find this to be a stain upon the Democratic Party’s long-standing tradition of favoring transparency.

Historically speaking, efforts to achieve governmental transparency have always been championed by Democrats. The best example of this is how the U.S. Department of Justice has managed the Freedom of Information Act differently depending on whether the president is Democrat or Republican. Democratic administrations have always favored openness. Republican administrations have favored secrecy.

In 1977, United Stated Attorney General Griffin Bell, serving under President Jimmy Carter, released a memo stating: “The government should not withhold documents unless it is important to the public interest to do so, even if there is some arguable legal basis for the withholding.”

The current Bucks County Board of Commissioners, which is majority Democrat, has spent large sums of taxpayer money finding creative legal maneuvers to withhold information from Jamie Walker and Megan Brock.

The Office of Open Records, which was created by Democratic Governor Ed Rendell in 2008, has determined that Mrs. Walker is fully legally entitled to the emails she seeks.

Stunningly, rather than follow the well-established Democratic tradition of supporting transparency, Commissioners Bob Harvie, Diane Marseglia, and Gene DiGirolamo have instead decided that they will sue Mrs. Walker in the Court of Common Pleas, as a feeble attempt to keep their own emails secret.

In doing so, they show a clear fundamental difference between themselves and President Barack Obama, who said the following in a presidential memorandum entitled "Transparency and Open Government":

“Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government. Government should be transparent.”

As a plaintiff in a nationwide lawsuit, Bucks County expects to receive around $44 million in settlements over the next 18 years.

A new Chairman's Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee comprised of experts will advise local authorities on appropriation of opioid settlement funds, Bucks County Commissioner Chair Bob Harvie announced Tuesday.

The committee's advice will inform the allocation of funds received as part of this settlement, as well as the use of future recoveries obtained through the nationwide opioid litigation.

All funds must be used in ways that remediate the opioid epidemic, according to the terms of the settlement. The advisory committee will review and make recommendations on applications for funding, receiving input from members of the public and providing recommendations and feedback to the Chair on a regular basis each year.

The advisory committee will be chaired by Diane Rosati, Executive Director of Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission. She will be joined by the following members:

• Rachael Neff, LSW – Director of Human Services, County of Bucks
• Timothy Wynn – Director of Veterans Affairs, County of Bucks
• Alana Hardison – Prevention Specialist, No Longer Bound
• Ryan Schweiger, CPS, CRS, CPRP – Community Outreach Specialist, Penn Foundation
• William McVey – Director of Public Safety, Bensalem Township
• Micki Kaisinger – Founder, Emilie House

With coronavirus cases surging and some mitigation measures beginning to return, Bucks County finds itself in the "high" transmission category of the virus, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Bucks County has already spent the prior two weeks in the "substantial" transmission category. Residents in counties in both the substantial and high categories are recommended to wear masks indoors in public, even if they're fully vaccinated.

To reach the high designation, a county must have either more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, or a positivity rate at 10 percent or higher.

As of Tuesday, Bucks County has 112.85 cases per 100,000 residents over the prior seven days, CDC data shows. Its positivity rate over that period sits at 4.93 percent. The county has seen 29 new hospital admissions over the past week according to the CDC, and has seen 740 new cases between Aug. 12 and Aug. 18.

The Bucks County Planning Commission is seeking feedback from the public on possible trail routes connecting the Newtown area to the Delaware Canal Towpath.

In a feasibility study completed in April, the planning commission identified 11 potential trail routes connecting the communities of Newtown and Yardley boroughs and Lower Makefield, Middletown, Newtown and Upper Makefield townships. Information was incorporated from the study’s initial survey and outreach effort in fall 2020.

The planning commission now would like stakeholders and members of the public to review and comment on the potential trail routes. Anyone interested can visit the plan’s webpage at www.tinyurl.com/N2DStoryMap and provide feedback through the webpage’s comment feature. The webpage also provides considerable background on the project, trail types, and a detailed map of each segment.

The comment period for the proposal will last from July 5 to July 23.

On May 4, 2021, Doylestown Township passed a resolution that designates June 19th, as "Juneteenth Freedom Day" (read “Doylestown Township Passes Juneteenth Freedom Day Resolution”). This is in recognition of date in 1865 that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and enforced President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation order, freeing the slaves in Texas two and a half years after it was first decreed.

I was told by Kevin Antoine, Chief Diversity Equity Inclusion Officer at Bucks County Community College and Chair of the Newtown Township Human relations Commission, that down south where he grew up, he and other black people celebrated June 19th as their equivalent of the 4th of July.

On June 19, 2019, PA Governor Wolf signed legislation that designates June 19 as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day” in Pennsylvania. So why the Doylestown resolution?

Most importantly, the Doylestown resolution offers a bit of local history. It states, for example, that the last people legally enslaved in Bucks County were freed from slavery in Doylestown Township in 1824 only to be transitioned into “indentured servitude for decades longer.”

Questions
This was a bit of history I did not know about until I read the resolution. But I had questions: Were slaves “freed” in other townships prior to and after 1824? Who owned slaves in Bucks County? Where did they live in Bucks County? How many slaves did they own?

Find some answers here...

UPDATE: On June 29, 2021, Newtown Township received $1,024,920.93 from the American COVID Relief Fund.

The money is in the bank. Bucks County has received $61 million, the first half of the $122 million it has been allocated by the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

County Chief Operating Officer Margie McKevitt said Wednesday during a commissioners meeting that the coronavirus relief money had been transferred to the county and now officials will determine how to best spend it.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will pump the largest sums yet in federal COVID-19 relief into the county — an unprecedented $298 million combined for Bucks government and the 54 municipalities here, as well as the area's 13 public school districts.

All entities were due to start receiving the money last week. The balance of the funds will be sent a year from the first distribution, but no sooner.

McKevitt said the county will hold a roundtable Zoom discussion with social service agencies early next month and is sending a survey to county businesses to determine their needs.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT?

TAKE MY SURVEY

How Bucks County government, towns and schools can spend the nearly $300M coming under the American Rescue Plan

Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funding will begin pouring into Bucks County this month.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will pump the largest sums yet in federal COVID-19 relief into the area — an unprecedented $298 million combined for Bucks government and the 54 municipalities here, as well as the area's 13 public school districts.

State and local governments are expected to receive the first distribution of funds no later than Monday. The balance of the funds will be sent a year from the first distribution, but no sooner.

How can the money be used? Rick Schuettler is executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for policies and programs that benefit third-class cities throughout the state.

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How Should Newtown Township Spend the $1.94 Million It Will Receive? TAKE MY SURVEY

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“This level of direct funding to municipalities is something that’s unprecedented in today’s political environment,” Schuettler said. “For those who weren’t in a great (financial) position when the pandemic hit, this is a tremendous boost to them.”

While the U.S. Treasury is finalizing American Rescue Plan guidelines, Schuettler said some eligible uses for the funding are already clear.

“Water, sewer and broadband projects appear to be eligible,” he said. “Some folks are looking at housing and funding for the homeless. There is money for assistance for small businesses, and it can be used for revenue losses. Those are things a lot of municipalities can start to look at pretty quickly in terms of using the money.”

David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, said there are "four pots" into which the money can be put: COVID-19 response, revenue losses, premium pay for essential government workers and infrastructure work.

Schuettler said PML planned tol host webinars to better explain the American Rescue Plan’s guidelines and nuances to officials from across the state.

“People are looking for that information,” he said. “We want to provide some clarity.”

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How Should Newtown Township Spend the $1.94 Million It Will Receive? TAKE MY SURVEY

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After a comparatively sluggish start to its vaccine rollout, Pennsylvania is slowly but steadily rising the ranks.

The state now ranks 12th in the nation for the percent of the population which has received one dose, which is 31 percent, they said Tuesday, citing recent CDC statistics. They've also improved to 22nd overall for percentage of the overall doses they have used; that number is now 82 percent, per a New York Times analysis.

At the February 3, 2021, Bucks County Commissioners meeting, Evan J. Stone, Executive Director of the Bucks County Planning Commission (BCPC), presented a summary of an Alternative Energy Ordinance that BCPC put forward as a model for Bucks County municipalities to use when adopting their own ordinances. Currently, only about 55% of Bucks County municipalities have some kind of alternative energy ordinances on the books.

Listen to the 7.5 minute audio recording of this presentation...

Download the Ordinance

The Newtown Area Jointure (the joint municipal zoning consortium comprising Newtown Township, Upper Makefield Township, and Wrightstown Township) would like your help in determining future planning needs for your community.

The Jointure is beginning the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, which was last updated in 2009.

The Comprehensive Plan is the Jointure's primary land use policy document that sets goals and objectives, and a vision for future development and growth. 

The Jointure would like to hear the views of as many residents as possible, and is committed to ensuring the community plays an active role in developing the policies that will help shape the development in the Jointure for the next ten years and beyond.

Questions include:

• Why did you choose to live in your township?
• What are the best characteristics of your community?
• What do you consider to be the most important problems facing your community?
• Overall how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the residential development within your community?
• Overall how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the commercial development within your community?

Take the Survey.