By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

Hugo Sandoval, owner of El Nayarit Mexican Store at 4 S. 3rd Street in Oxford, came before Oxford Borough Council to express his concerns about a political group that set up a table to hand out information in front of his store during the First Friday event planned by Oxford Mainstreet Inc.

OMI did not give permission to the group to set up during that event. The group then asked permission from the Borough of Oxford—and received it.

Council president Kathryn Cloyd thanked Sandoval for attending the meeting and explained, “We couldn’t refuse the group because of our ordinance. We checked with our solicitor who advised that the borough could not refuse the request.”

The group set up outside the footprint of the OMI event, which also drew questions from those attending the event. The political group set up directly in front of the El Nayarit store.

Sandoval explained, “The Republican committee had a stand directly in front of my store and I didn't think that was a good idea. My father has had this store for over 30 years. I didn’t see them setting up until it was done.  I called Raul Juarez, Jr. (a council person) and then talked to those setting up. They did move over. I respect everyone's position. I don't get involved in politics. They didn't have to move, but they did. My concern was that, if this was posted on social media, it could ruin my career. Hopefully this doesn't happen again.”

Sandoval ask council if they chose the spot where the political group could set up. The council president didn’t have the answer to that at that time.

Council member Peggy Ann Russell said, “Our solicitor will be handling this. We will convey your concerns to her. They are also our concerns. The solicitor is very aware of our feelings.”

Sandoval said, “I did not feel comfortable having to go outside and speak with them.”

Council member Bill Fitzpatrick said, “Hopefully we can find a place that will work for everyone.”
OMI representatives expressed the position they were placed in a difficult position because of the situation.

Catherine Miller, a Democratic Committee person, raised concerns about fairness. “I applied to OMI but was denied,” she said. “That was disconcerting to hear. I got a lot of angry phone calls. People were asking me why I wasn’t there. I will be at the next First Friday. This is an issue of fairness.”

Russell again stressed that the solicitor would want to hear from everyone regarding this.

Amanda Reynolds from OMI said, “The decision to not let political tables in was an OMI decision.”

Leslie Sleeseman, the interim executive director of OMI, added, “Our attorney advised us not to allow political groups.”

Mike Miele, East Nottingham Republican Committee person, agreed that the current loophole in the borough’s ordinance needed to be closed.

Russell said, “We will let the community know when we are dealing with this ordinance. We want all of you to have input and to make it relevant for our home town.”

Council thanked all who attended the meeting and invited them to continue to attend meetings in the future.

In other business, the topic of the stormwater ordinance was raised by Tim Art, a borough resident.

“Why is council punishing residents by making this ordinance stricter than the state?” Art asked.

“If the stormwater management ordinance is adopted, it will make it harder on us. Rumblings in the community are that we will have a tax increase, the water bill is going up, and a resident can't wash their car in their driveway.”

Terry Dugan, the borough’s Zoning and Codes Enforcement Officer, explained some details about stormwater management. A lengthy discussion ensued.

Cloyd said that the fact that the borough was discussing reducing the stormwater perimeter from the state’s ordinance of 1,000 feet to 500 feet was because of the lot sizes in the borough.

Russell suggested that the state ordinance on stormwater was addressing municipalities.

Dugan said, “Since we are a high density borough, most towns are adopting the 500-square-foot perimeter. There are smaller yards here in the borough. This change is so stormwater doesn’t run into the neighbor’s yard.”

Dugan said if anyone has more questions on stormwater they can come to her.

Dugan confirmed that surrounding boroughs such as Kennett, Parkesburg and Coatesville also adopted the 500 feet perimeter.

Russell invited Art to attend the Finance Committee meeting for more details about impact of the stormwater regulations.

“You have brought up some very good points,” she said.

 John Reynolds asked if that ordinance would apply to existing structures.

 Dugan confirmed that it would. 

In other business, borough council approved a motion to purchase a 2024 Ford F550 public works truck in the amount of $75,898.26, to replace existing model year 2000 vehicle.

Cloyd explained that the public works identified this need in 2022, but deferred the purchase for two years and saved $5,000. She also explained that the retired truck would be sold to recoup some of the money.

Council also approved the purchase of up-fitting the 2024 Ford F550 in the amount of $23,060.40. Public Works Director, John Schaible explained that it would be up-fitted in order to run the spreader and snow plow.

Council also approved a 3-year contract with Armstrong Business Solutions for telephone services at Borough Hall, the Police Department, the Water Plant, and the Public Works Plant, conditioned upon a solicitor review of the contract.

Borough council also held a public hearing to consider a motion to adopt an ordinance amending the Borough of Oxford Code, Chapter 19 Stormwater Management by repealing and replacing Chapter 19 in its entirety. 

Council member Luke Neidigh said, “Downgrading to 500 feet seems punitive, but you did a good job of explaining it. I do drains for a living.”

Council member Amanda Birdwell said, “When I came on council, we were not planning for capital expenses. This has been a mandate for a long time. We are catching up with it a bit, these are not new expenses. We have ignored them for a long time. Expenses and mandates don't go away because you pretend they aren't there. We will plan more thoughtfully, protect water and provide safe streets.”

Dugan continued to stress that this ordinance would simplify additions. She explained that anything that adds 2,000 feet or more requires an engineer.

Council member Robert Ketcham asked if someone went beyond 1000 feet, would they have to put in a trench.

Dugan continued to explain how the stormwater ordinance worked and welcomed anyone to visit her for more clarification.   

Russell explained that the Water Department would continue to perform hydrant flushing. She reminded the community to run their water for a while before using it after hydrant flushing.

Resident Danny Graham asked Police Chief Sam Iacono if there was an emergency plan if there were problems after the election.

The police chief confirmed that there is a county-wide plan.

The next borough council meeting will be held on Oct. 21 at the Borough Hall at 7 p.m..