Wallingford News

Wallingford Presbyterian Hosts Annual Strawberry Festival – Monday June 6 From 5 To 8

June 3, 2011 by admin

Wallingford Presbyterian Church will hold its annual Strawberry Festival on Monday, June 6, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Come an join the over 1,000 people who enjoy this much anticipated event.

At the center of the festival are strawberries, cake, ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries. Other food items include hoagies, hot dogs, roast beef and potato salad. There is a Book Nook to provide great buys in slightly used books and Attic Treasures for those seeking the perfect item to add to their collection.

For the children, there are games on the lawn. Plants to brighten the garden are for sale.

The Marple Newtown Community Band will play beginning at 7:00 PM.

Proceeds from the Festival will benefit local missions, including CityTeam Ministries and Chester Eastside Ministries.

The festival will be held rain or shine. The church office (610-566-1644, Ext 0) can provide additional information.

Wallingford Swarthmore Board Proposes 1.4% Tax Hike

May 10, 2011 by admin

During its most recent meeting, the school board backed a proposed 2011-2012 final budget, which contains a 1.4 percent tax increase, by a vote of 8-0. This vote reaffirms the plans to operate within the state mandated cap on spending. A final vote on the $65.8 million spending plan will take place in June.

The tax hike adheres to the Act 1 spending cap for the district which is a ceiling set by the state, using a formula tied to the rate of inflation. It also represents the lowest increase in recent memory and is part of steadily declining pattern of tax boosts in the district.

Superintendent Richard Noonan listed Wallingford-Swarthmore tax hikes dating back the previous five fiscal years.

2006 – 2007 8.0%

2007 – 2008 6.0%

2008 – 2009 5.8%

2009 – 2010 2.8%

2010 – 2011 2.9%

The district could have taken more than $1.9 million in exceptions to Act 1, but opted not to do so. Areas that qualify for these waivers include retirement contributions and special education expenses.

Board member Michael Rinaldi also said it was a “real accomplishment” for Wallingford-Swarthmore to stay below the index considering many other districts are struggling to do so.

In March, Noonan discussed how a reduction in state funding would impact the district. He cited those cuts again, pointing out the cuts would include a roughly $240,000 drop in the Basic Education Subsidy; about $200,000 less in Accountability Block Grant funds; and a reduction of nearly $200,000 in Social Security reimbursements for workers hired after July 1, 1994.

In addition, the spending plan would eliminate partial reimbursements for students who live in the district but attend charter schools. That would equate to a decrease of about $46,000.

One way the district plans to cope with the cuts will be to end an extended-day kindergarten program, which sought to target special-needs students at an early age, since it was paid for with Accountability Block Grant funds.

Strathmore Court Drainage Issue Resolved

April 26, 2011 by admin

An agreement to remedy the flooding caused by improper drainage at the new Strathmore Court development located off of Providence Road near the Middle School has been reached.

Several homes on the south side of Strathmore Court were supposed to be equipped with rain gutters that drain forward, to the street and, and in turn, to a storm water basin at the end of the cul-de-sac.

However, the homes’ gutters were installed to instead drain to the rear. The result has been excess storm water making its way into the yards of properties on adjoining Palmers Lane, causing flooding, harming plantings and doing other damage.

Under an agreement unanimously approved via a resolution on April 14 by the township Board of Commissioners, AG&B Builders, the developer of the street, and the owners of lots 9-11 consent to the installation of a piping system that will direct runoff from the homes to an underground pipe to be placed in their backyards. The pipe will then transport the water to the drainage basin.

The work will have to be completed within 45 days, and the township Engineer will conduct an inspection of the system afterwards.

Selling? – It Is All About The Timing

April 22, 2011 by admin

: When Is The Best Time To Get One Of These?

Home buyers are creatures of habit, and follow historically predictable patterns when looking to purchase a home. The decision on when to list a home for sale should take those numbers into account, and it is beneficial to understand what those patterns are, and how they affect the number of people who are actively in the market, and thus the number of potential buyers that will turn out to visit your home.

The following data represents the average percentage of settlements by month in Wallingford, Nether Providence Township, based upon the last 5 full years of sales activity. The raw numbers vary from year to year, but the pattern of activity is consistent.

Percentage Of Wallingford Settled Homes By Month

Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
6%	5%	7%	8%	10%	15%	11%	9%	8%	7%	9%	5%

The number of settled homes peaks in June – with 15% of the yearly total of settlements occurring during that month, followed closely by July at 11%. December and February set the lows for the year at 5%. Settlement data is a trailing indicator of buying activity, since it generally takes from 6 to 8 weeks from the execution of a contract to the settlement of the property.

This means in any given year the largest number of potential home buyers are out looking for homes NOW! In fact 62% of homes settle by the end of July, 26% of settlements on a average annual basis occur in June and July alone, reinforcing the fact that April through early June is the peak time for home seekers. In any market it seems wise to take advantage of the period of strongest demand.

As I mentioned earlier the numbers vary from year to year – this is a recap of Wallingford homes sold for the last 5 full years, dating back to 2006.

Wallingford Homes Sold By Year – 2006 thru 2010

2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
208	219	163	161	125

See Wallingford Homes Sold data back to 2008

Hampton Inn Hotel Plans Moving Forward

April 6, 2011 by admin

The Pinnacle Hospitality Group’s proposal to build a 107 room hotel with a small conference and meeting room accommodating 35 people, has cleared another hurdle. The hotel project was first proposed 5 years ago for the Beatty and Providence Road location, site of a former medical center. The proposal has faced numerous legal challenges .

The bulk of the site is located in Media, but the project still required approval from Nether Providence for a sliver of the property in the township. That area totals about 8,300 square feet and would be used for parking and trash-disposal facilities.

Last month, the township Board of Commissioners approved the preliminary land development plan for the project by a 6-0 vote. Pinnacle Hospitality would agree to the more than dozen conditions sought by the township, including securing land development approval from Media and designing light fixtures for use at the rear property line that would not produce light spill or glare on surrounding residential properties.

Pinnacle will also make a contribution to Nether Providence of $4,200 for every 1,000 square feet of the property in the township.

Pinnacle, represented by Weichert Realtors – Media, obtained the property formerly known as the Providence Medical Center, in July 2007 for a purchase price of $3,000,000.

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S. Clark Kendus