East Goshen Township & Westtown Township Joint Board of ...

East Goshen Township & Westtown Township
Joint Board of Supervisors Meeting
October 2, 2000
On October 2, 2000 at 5:30 p.m. the Board of Supervisors of East Goshen Township and
Westtown Township met at the Westtown municipal meeting room at Oakbourne. Supervisors
Charles Scipione, Kenton Stokes and Victor Orlando and Township Manager Michael Cotter
were present for Westtown Township. Supervisors John Chatley, Mary Powell, Carmen
Battavio, Joseph McDonough, and E. Martin Shane and Township Manager Louis Smith were
present for East Goshen Township. Also in attendance were Police Commissioner Joseph
Reich and Thornbury Township Supervisor Ronald Giacinto.
Chief John Dumond presented awards to members of the Westtown East Goshen Regional
Police Department for actions by officers during the robbery at Genuardis, the attempted
robbery of the Citadel Federal Credit Union and the attempted robbery of Shop & Bag in
Westtown Township. The officers who received awards are Sgt. Robert Barton, Sgt. Rick
Gorman, Detective Glenn Bretz, Corporal William Cahill, Corporal William Doyle, Corporal
Michael Doyle, Patrolman Jason Large, Patrolman Timothy Hubbard and Corporal Guy
Rosato and Canine Officer Rikko, the Chief also presented a citation to and thanked Loren
McMillan who was present at the Market Place Shopping Center and alerted the Police about
the robbery at Shop & Bag. Chief Dumond noted that his quick notification allowed the
Department to contain the criminals in a small wooded area behind the shopping center from
which the ultimately surrendered in the early morning.
At 6:00 p.m. Supervisor Stokes thanked everyone for attending and noted that it had been two
years since the two Boards had meet. Supervisors Chatley and Scipione noted that the Police
Department had its inception at the PSATS Convention in Pittsburgh almost twenty years ago.
Michael Cotter distributed an October 2, 2000 memorandum (attached), which provided
information regarding the Westtown East Goshen Police Operational Costs, Proposed
Building Lease and Capital Financing. He advised those in attendance that he was concerned
about the effect the increasing police costs will have on Westtown’s budget for road and
facilities maintenance.
Operational Costs
Supervisors Battavio noted that the Department was playing “catch up” with regards to the
number of officers and that he expected the personnel needs of the Department to level off in
the future. It was noted that the Police Commission had just entered into a five-year contract
with the officers and that this effectively fixed approximately 60 to 70 percent of the Police
Department’s costs over that period. A general discussion ensued at the conclusion of which
the Managers where directed to prepare a 3-5 year budget for the Department for review by
the Supervisors.
Building Lease

Supervisor Scipione noted that Westtown Township was relocating their administrative
offices at the end of the year and that the Police Department would have the full use of the
building. A lease will be prepared which would result in an additional cost to the Department.
Capital Financing
Supervisor Battavio announced that the Commission is in the process of finalizing a contract
with an architect to prepare a needs analysis for the Department in order to see if their needs
could be accommodated in the existing building. Supervisor Shane suggested that it should be
a two-step process, with step one being the determination of the needs and step two
addressing the question of whether these needs can be accommodated in the existing building.
Supervisor Scipone noted that the Westtown Board would have to take a hard look before
expending monies for a new facility.
Michael Cotter noted that costs in his memo where merely to provide the Boards with an
order of magnitude on what the debt service costs would be.
The needs analysis is expected to be completed in 60 days. The Managers where directed to
review the needs analysis upon its completion and prepare a recommendation for the review
by the Supervisors.
Both the 3-5 budget and the needs analysis will be discussed at a future meeting which will be
held in mid to late January 2001.
Supervisor Chatley thanked Westtown for hosting the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
___________________________________________
Louis F. Smith, Jr. Township Manager
F:\Data\Shared Data\Minutes\Board of Supervisors\2000\10200 (joint mtg with Westtown).doc
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