Dear Neighbors,
I hope residents had a chance to enjoy the 4th of July parade on Saturday July 3rd. Even though it was not as big, it still was great to have that tradition back. I want to thank Mary Kay Bowden of the Union AA, Vice President Magda Byrne and all the volunteers for all of their hard work putting the parade together. I want to thank everyone who was in the parade and who came out to watch. Speaking of the Union AA, it was sad to hear that they have disbanded and are no longer going to run the 4th of July Celebration. For over 100 years, the Union AA has brought wonderful and memorable 4th of July events each year for all Lansdowne residents to enjoy with their families. As a past President of the Union AA, I know how much hard work, commitment of time and money it took to put on this event each year. I want to thank all of the Union AA members past and present for their hard work in helping Lansdowne have such great memories. I also want to thank all of the residents and businesses who every year would support the Union AA financially and also in the gift of their time. I am sorry to see the Union AA go, but I understand that times are different and sometimes you just have to know when it is time to pass it on. I do believe that it will be passed on to the borough starting next year. I am confident that the borough officials will strive to continue the legacy of the Union AA and continue to have wonderful 4th of July celebrations for Lansdowne residents to enjoy.
I have received quite a few concerns about speeding in Lansdowne. We realize that this is a problem and Chief Rutherford and our officers are working hard to help with this issue. Unfortunately, this is not a problem just on a couple of the streets in Lansdowne. Chief Rutherford has implemented a speeding monitor program at different locations and times throughout the town. The police are giving out speeding tickets to these offenders. We have put up slow down signs at different locations and we have met with PennDOT to discuss possible solutions on their roads. We will continue to look at ways to help people obey the law and help keep our residents safe.
I’m very happy to say we are in the process of hiring two new police officers to put us back to a full complement of officers. We have been working short-handed due to injuries and retirement for a while now. We should have these officers in place in about a month. I want to thank Chief Rutherford and our civil service commission for all of their work on this process. We have also received our new body cameras for all of our officers. We are in the process of setting up the training needed and implementing a required policy. I feel that this is a great tool that helps our officers do their job and is also an asset to our residents.
The committee for our annual National Night Out is working on putting the event in October instead of August. Details will be forthcoming. I want to thank Officer Larry Albertoli, police clerk Bobbi Harris and Beth Harmer for all their work on this event.
I’m happy to say that the borough has begun working with the fire company to purchase a new ladder truck to replace the 15 year old ladder truck. The present truck has had frequent repairs and this apparatus is vital to our fire company in servicing our community. This is a costly purchase so the borough reached out to our state and federal officials to help with funding. I want to thank Chief Russell and the Fire Company President Mike Boyce for all their work with this. I also want to thank all our fire company volunteers for their commitment and dedication in helping protect all of our residents.
Our recent shredding and electronic recycling event was a big success. We had about 250 cars drop off items. I hope everyone who came out found this to be helpful. I thank Mayor John Dukes and East Lansdowne Borough Council for partnering with us again for this event.
I’m very encouraged that in the past year we have had 11 new businesses open up here in Lansdowne. This shows that we are slowly getting back on track and that development in Lansdowne is moving in the right direction. I hope everyone takes time to check out these new businesses and also continue to support all of our local shops.
As things get back to normal we still need to be cautious with the new variant of COVID popping up. The best way to protect yourself, your family and your community is to get vaccinated. I think the data shows that it makes a difference. I hope that everyone enjoys their
summer and stays safe.
See you around town.
Mayor Tony