John Welch resigns from Chester county commission

During the Chester County Commission meeting on Monday, May 10 at the Chester County Courthouse, Chester County Mayor Barry Hutcherson announced the resignation of John Welch of District 6 which became effective that day.
Welch was a commissioner for the last 15 years.
The commission did not speak of how they will fill the commission seat.
The Private Act has reached its final approval after months of planning, discussions and votes.
It was the county’s solution in keeping the Chester County Solid Waste Department funded after the funding from the selling of the nursing home expired.
Before the voting occurred during this meeting, Commissioner Joseph Melaro reminded his fellow commissioners what they are doing when they vote for the Private Act.
“Once you put this in place, it’s going to be in place… We’ve had many, many people ask us to go back to the table and do our job and find an alternate route in funding… I just need to plea that plea for the constituents.”
During the November 17, 2020 meeting, the commission approved the act to be sent to the state for approval, and Governor Bill Lee signed that approval on April 23, 2021.
Monday, three motions were placed in regards to the Private Act.
First there was the motion to end discussion on the private act. Two voted against the motion, Commissioners Jerry Lowe and Al Mckinnon, and the motion to end discussion passed.
Next, Commissioner Todd Lewis motioned to approve the Private Act as written, and Commissioner Carolyn Higgins seconded it. It passed with a voting of 15 for and two against. Commissioners Al McKinnon and Melaro were against it.
The last motion made by Higgins was to approve the Private Act fee at $7 a month, and Commissioner Ann Moore seconded it. It passed on a voting of 14-3 with Lowe, McKinnon and Melaro voting no.
Chester County Trustee Lance Beshires said that the county will collect the fee “by any means necessary,” meaning that residents must first pay the Solid Waste fee prior to paying their property taxes. He stated that if someone says they are not able to pay their taxes, it is because they did not pay the fee.
The fee will start to be collected in October.
The commission later hired Dionne Davis as the Chester County code enforcement officer.
According to both Hutcherson and Henderson Mayor bobby King, the hotel project is still moving forward.
At then end of the meeting, Hutcherson announced that the county is interested in purchasing the Regions Bank building at North Church Ave. and US Hwy 45. Regions plans to close the Henderson location on May 21. It was further announced that the county, through Mayor Hutcherson, has signed a non-binding letter of intent in purchasing the property.
Nothing will happen unless the commission approves it though in a future meeting.