April 8, 2021 40 pages, four sections including Homes Teacher of the Year B3 Volume 19 www.buckscountyherald.com Number 27 [email protected] Volunteers help stock trout in local waterways Bucks County Treasurer Kris Ballerini teamed up with volunteers and the Pennsyl- vania Fish and Boat Commission this week to help stock the Delaware Canal ahead of trout season. “COVID took so many things away from us in 2020, but our connection to the out- doors seems only to have grown stronger,” Ballerini said. “It’s great to see, more and more folks taking advantage of the beauty that Bucks County has to offer.” Fishing licenses and permits can be pur- chased through the Bucks County Treasur- er’s Office. A valid fishing license is required for anyone age 16 and over when angling for any species in Pennsylvania. A trout permit is also required to fish in stocked waters. The following Bucks County waterways are stocked with trout: • Delaware Canal (two sections – Upper Washington Crossing State Park and Lower Washington Crossing State Park downstream to Ferry Road in Morrisville); • East Branch Perkiomen Creek (Branch JAMES O’MALLEY Road Bridge (T-431) downstream through Sellersville) ; • Levittown Lake; Trout streams are stocked • Neshaminy Creek (two sections – Valley Road to Mill Road near Jamison, and from Bucks County Treasurer Kris Ballerini teamed up with volunteers and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to the dam at the causeway in Tyler State Park help stock the Delaware Canal ahead of trout season’s opening day on April 3. downstream to the bridge on Route 332); • Tohickon Creek (Dark Hollow Road downstream to mouth); and • Unami Creek (Milford Township Park down- stream to Trumbauersville Road (Route 4051). EPA starts groundwater treatment plant construction Freda R. Savana Work began this week on a equipment, including dump federal agency. two-story groundwater treat- trucks, excavators, tractor trail- The construction schedule, Doylestown Borough resi- ment plant, where pumps will ers and cement trucks into the expected to run through July, Owner donates dents and officials have been draw between 50 and 100 gal- area. A mobile crane will also be will begin at 7 a.m. and end at waiting years for the con- lons of water a minute, filter it used, the EPA said. Some tree 5 p.m., Monday through Fri- taminated groundwater at the and discharge it into a nearby clearing could be required, “but day and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 37.2-acre property Chem-Fab Superfund Site to waterway, said the U.S. Envi- only those trees directly in the on Saturdays. Teams are not be treated and removed from ronmental Protection Agency. path of the new access road, the expected to work on Sundays. for open space the former electroplating busi- Building of the 80-foot by new building footprint and the Traffic will run south along ness on North Broad Street. 110-foot facility will bring heavy laydown yard,” according to the Continued on page C7 Chris Ruvo More land in Upper Makefield appears to be on its way to being protected from large- Trail advocates celebrate scale development thanks to the generosity of a local landowner. Edgar W. Brick has opted to donate his Bucks regional destination 37.2-acre property on the 900 block of Mt. Joe Ferry area as a regional destination Eyre Road into a conservation easement with for recreational activity, then the township. On a sun-splashed Tuesday steers those visitors to down- On Tuesday, April 6, the Upper Makefield afternoon perfect for hiking town restaurants and shops. Board of Supervisors voted to authorize town- and biking, officials from sev- The state estimates consum- ship professionals to prepare the documents eral state, county, and local ers spend about $28 billion a required to allow the acceptance of the ease- agencies gathered at Veterans year on recreational activities ment, thereby ultimately making it official. Park in Richland Township to and the Quakertown area wants The resolution notes that the township has celebrate the region’s progress its share of the pot. identified the property as a “high priority” for toward using natural, outdoor “Communities that are walk- conservation. recreational resources to sup- able and bikeable with trails, Continued on page C6 port local businesses and im- green space, parks, and access prove the quality of life for res- to water not only create a rich- idents in a pilot program called er quality of life for their resi- Springfield rejects “Nature-Based Placemaking.” dents; they also have the poten- Standing next to the recently tial to draw visitors into their opened Upper Bucks Rail Trail, downtowns,” said Lauren Im- school sign payment speakers touted the benefits grund, deputy secretary of the Barrie-John Murphy of developing a strategic plan state Department of Conserv- that positions the Quakertown Continued on page C7 JOE FERRY Springfield supervisors may have paid for school speed limit signs in the past, but Above right, members of Quakertown Alive’s WalkWorks Com- they’re not about to do it now. mittee on a Conference Bike owned by Bob Swaim. They were Bedminster assures property Board members rebuffed a request by Pali- celebrating the opening of the Richland Township rail trail. sades District to pay $13,000 for two replace- maintenance with ordinance ment signs outside Springfield Elementary but Cliff Lebowitz Accordingly, culminating a did leave the door open for a partial payment Former officer charged with abuse two-year process, the board of at some point. Bedminster Township has supervisors has approved, for Township Manager Jason Wager told the Former Warminster Town- according to the DA’s office. recognized a need for “a advertising, a new ordinance to March 24 meeting Springfield may have paid ship Police Officer James Carey D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resis- mechanism to assure the prop- serve as that mechanism. The for the Route 212 signs back in the day but has been charged with sexual- tance Education) is an anti-drug er maintenance, care, and if action was taken at the March said there was no legal requirement for a sec- ly abusing four teen-age boys abuse program run by police in necessary, replacement” of 10 public meeting, and final ap- ond-class township to provide new ones. while he worked as a D.A.R.E. cooperation with schools. private-property roadside in- proval might be on the agenda “This is not our problem,” observed Super- officer two decades ago, the Carey was scheduled to be frastructure in its newly devel- for the April 14 meeting. visor Pete Kade. “If a board did it once in the Bucks County District Attor- arraigned before District Judge oped areas, as that infrastruc- The new ordinance includes past that doesn’t behoove us to continue with ney’s Office said Wednesday. Maggie Snow in Doylestown ture ages. It has also noted that ice and snow removal and re- it. The school district gets a lot of money in The arrest follows a lengthy in- Wednesday, prior to the DA’s it has already “experienced lated parking, which is cov- tax and we don’t.” vestigation by Bucks County De- afternoon press conference. situations in which property ered much more comprehen- “It’s a function of the school, and it’s some- tectives and an inquiry by a Bucks Details about the charges were owners attempt to avoid” re- sively than it was in a 2006 Continued on page C6 County Investigating Grand Jury, not available at press time. lated obligations. Continued on page C7 the county to tilemaker Katia McGurik’s facility and all its historic artifacts and Chatterbox A2 Crossword C7 County commissioners nonprofit stirred controversy in some “exercise robust oversight at all times okay Tile Works agreement quarters of the community, including the and appoint one of the nonprofit’s trust- Op-ed A6,7 Arts C8,9 Bucks County Historical Society, which ees,” McGuirk said. Sports B1 Entertainment Freda R. Savana hoped to have a larger role, the commis- TileWorks of Bucks County will have In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the sioners endorsed the plan. a license to operate the museum consis- Dining C2 C10,11 Bucks County commissioners signed a Following a number of residents’ com- tent with its historical purposes and as a Business C3 Police C12 30-year agreement with the newly creat- ments that both supported and objected National Historic Landmark. Two of the ed nonprofit TileWorks of Bucks County to the change, during the commissioner’s museum’s employees will remain on the Obituaries C4 Real Estate to continue the mission of the Moravian meeting, McGuirk presented the agree- staff, according to McGuirk, who served Calendar C5 Classified Pottery & Tile Works in Doylestown. ment that, she said, will preserve the as production manager at Moravian Pot- C6 Homes Section While the change in management of landmark as a working history museum. tery & Tile Works early in her tile mak- Classified the National Historic Landmark from Bucks County will continue to own the ing career. Page A2 (2) Bucks County Herald April 8, 2021 Dental clinic welcomes Clinic’s 2021 board of directors: theme, “Ending Hunger Together,” Rick James, Bernie Dishler, David serving as the backdrop, ShopRite new board member Dotson, George Dempster, Deborah associates came together last Sep- Hedrick, Michael Motte and Jo Ann tember (Hunger Action Month) to John O’Leary has been elected to Allen Nyquist. collect donations at check-out, help- the board of directors of HealthLink ing to raise $1 million for regional Dental Clinic in Southampton. food banks in several states.