Shooting a Concern for Royersford Residents

Royersford held its Borough Council meeting Tuesday night and touched on some hot topic points, while creating heated debate between the council and residents.

The debate was sparked over recent heated issues in the borough. The Royersford police department was a trending topic of discussion in many realms at the June 14 meeting. Other business included the usual discussion of checks and balances for billing, as well as an increase by the sewer department to $4300 for tapping fees.

The recent in Royersford last week was also discussed. Suspect Jolene Swenda was accused Monday night of threatening to shoot dogs of local residents, which  brought about a discussion between the Council and concerned residents over the local gun ordinances.

Questions of concern from local Royersford resident Randy Mallard regarding the safety and current ordinances and the current gun laws sparked the council to make it a top priority on its future agenda.

Mallard said that one of the local newspapers said residents heard three shots fired in the air, yet was bewildered as to why Swenda was released from police custody.  Later stated Swenda has a valid permit to carry the weapon and in fact felt threatened by the unleashed dogs.

The council unanimously agreed to set a date for July 12 at 7 p.m. with plans to look at the gun ordinance. They will discuss whether or not the current gun ordinance can allow for implementation of tighter restrictions in accordance with current local, state and federal laws.

The current municipality ordinance states you can openly carry a licensed firearm as long as you hold a valid permit. However, you are not allowed to openly discharge your weapon, unless you are in a situation deemed threatening.

Following the meeting, Mayor David Urner said he couldn’t directly comment on the current ordinance until it was reviewed and all the facts were on the table.

The Royersford Police Department seemed to be an issue with the council and visiting residents as they expressed concern over recent vandalism and drug and alcohol abuse at Victory Park.

Director of Public Works and Park Director Conrad Bowers said he felt there is a lack of patrol or possibly not enough on-duty officers to monitor the park. Bowers stated that between the hours of 5 and 10 p.m. each night he never sees any officer present in the park.

The council unanimously agreed with Bowers' suggestion that on-duty officers should be making rounds at a minimum of four to five times per shift. The recent vandalism is costing taxpayers more money to repair the damages at an estimated $5000 or more and 100 man hours yearly, according to billing reports.

The council discussed an idea for discussion at a future meeting regarding looking into implementing video surveillance throughout the park and other areas subject to vandalism.

In budgetary news, the council made note of the upcoming 2012 budget. There is a necessity to make room for the upcoming FCC regulations, requiring re-banding of radio communications to the 700 mhz system for all police departments. The Royersford Police Department currently employs seven fulltime and three part-time officers, which requires 10 radios from the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety. Each radio unit will ultimately cost the police department $7,000, which would be fronted in the full amount of $70,000 by the public safety department. That means there would be a payback of $850 per year per radio for 10 years.

The borough will be scheduling a hearing to discuss wastewater funds on July 12. The council unanimously voted on an increase of a standard flat rate of $4300 for sewer standard tapping fees. The wastewater committee stated as soon as the concrete pads come in for the site of the new tank they have acquired, it will be installed immediately.

The sewer committee said they cleaned all sewer drains this past month, painted 23 handicapped spaces and repaired a broken grate on Main St.  Replacing the concrete in the sewer walls was an estimated cost of $639. The Committee also estimated 161 tons of waste was collected from Royersford over the past month. 

Finally, Mayor Urner encouraged all residents to check out the new World War I monument at that was recently completed by eagle scout Kyle Thorpe. He spent countless hours with help from family, friends and the council to erect two statues at the main wall, as well as a seating area. The Monument is in remembrance of the death of those who served our country at war.

The next Royersford Borough Council Meeting is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on June 28.