2010 News

June 17, 2010

Commissioners Conduct Bi-Monthly Meeting in a Repository of American History: Upper Makefield’s David Library

The spacious, wood-beamed converted barn of the David Library of the American Revolution doubled as a cathedral of Bucks County business on the morning of June 16. After a warm, informative welcome from Library Chief Operating Officer Meg McSweeney, Commissioners Charles H. Martin, chairman, James F. Cawley, Esq. and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW approved 39 contacts involving 13 county departments. The three board members also agreed to table a proposed Planning Commission contract to purchase signs for preserved Bucks County properties in order to give a local vendor an opportunity to consider the contract specifications.

The David Library was founded in 1959 by Sol Feinstone (1888 - 1980), a businessman, philanthropist and collector of Americana. He named the Library in honor of his grandson David Golub, who was born developmentally disabled. “We are here to help you learn more about American history, and to promote the study of the American Revolution through primary source materials,” McSweeney told the meeting attendees, who included David Library Board of Trustees member/former Bucks County Commissioner Sandra A. Miller. The Library is a non-profit education institution that features access to rare information, a lecture series with top scholars and even programs oriented to kids. For a complete list of events at the David Library, please visit the institution’s website at www.dlar.org. During the “other civics” portion of the agenda, the commissioners approved a $2,500 contribution to the Library to support its mission.

At the outset of the meeting, Chairman Martin asked the assemblage to remember county Recorder of Deeds Ed Gudknecht, who passed away on June 8 in the midst of 25 years of service to Bucks County residents.

Highlighting the list of approved contracts were a pair of Open Space acquisitions, the 47.56-acre Harhigh property on Richlandtown Pike in Springfield Township, and an 8.7- acre restoration plan along the Delaware River in Morrisville Borough. The Harhigh property is part of the Cooks Creek Watershed, within which the county has preserved nearly 3,000 acres. “I congratulate you, as these are critical preservation masses,” Jeff Marshall of the Heritage Conservancy told the board. The county will contribute $261,558 of the acquisition cost through a Natural Areas Grant, with Springfield Twp. contributing the other 50 percent. The Morrisville contract, of which the county will contribute $15,595.50 (or 75 percent), involves an area that has become overgrown during recent years, according to county Open Space Coordinator Kris Kern. The commissioners applauded Morrisville Borough for its legwork on the preservation effort.

For General Services, the board approved a $118,000 contract to inspect and manage rehabilitation of Bridge No. 239 on Branch Rd. in East Rockhill Township, and a $508.803.50 contract to refurbish the 96-foot steel truss bridge. The construction project, which involves a heavily traveled road between Callowhill Rd. and Rte. 313 that spans the east branch of the Perkiomen Creek, will require approximately six months to complete. In addition, the commissioners contracted to list the real estate sale of 515 S. West End Blvd. in Quakertown, which is the former home of a District Court 07-2-05 and the Upper Bucks Government Services Center.

The board also approved a three-year, $1.028 million Verizon contract with Information Technology to increase disaster recovery and survivability of data storage. The entire contract will be accommodated by bond funding.

Following discussion of a Corrections contract renewal with Keefe Commissary Network that involved Commissioner Ellis-Marseglia’s request to table due to disputed item prices, Commissioners Martin and Cawley approved the one-year renewal. Corrections Director Harris Gubernick explained that the contract provides inmate revenue that is used for programs and services within the Corrections population – at no cost to the county. Commissioner Ellis-Marseglia also voted “no” on a pair of Children & Youth contracts, one of which involves foster care services and the other, treatment, family care and foster care, “due to her continuing concern for placing children of Bucks County outside the area.”

Under other business, Chairman Martin, Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler and Chief Clerk Lynn Bush provided well wishes and congratulations to Office of Public Information Director Stacey Hajdak, who will be leaving the county this week to work for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The board presented a pair of proclamations, one declaring “Graduate Month” on behalf of Bucks for Kids and the other trumpeting June 16 as “David and Charlotte Steinbach Memorial Fund Day” throughout the county. Each year, Bucks for Kids provides more than $12,000 worth of scholarships for local students. Accepting the Steinbach proclamation was the Steinbach’s son, David. “When something like this (former county Chief Clerk Steinbach his wife passed away together in early 2005) happens, you pull from the people closest to you,” Mr. Steinbach told the commissioners. “You tell yourself this (memorial fund) is something you want to do, and act upon it.” In its first six years, the Steinbach Memorial Fund has raised more than $100,000 for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Noting his parents’ love for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Mr. Steinbach stressed the significance of “providing positives.” 

The next meeting of the Bucks County Commissioners, its annual night session, will be held at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7 at Core Creek Park, Middletown Township. For an audio account of the meeting, please visit the home page of the official county website, www.BucksCounty.org.