Fence issue causes stir in Yardley Borough Council

An extended debate over some trees and a fence led to some heated exchanges at the Aug. 17 Yardley Borough Council meeting.
Council voted 4-1 to allow a section of fence surrounding some trees at Fitzgerald Field to be temporarily removed. The measure is to make way for an attraction at the borough’s Harvest Day on Sept. 18, and the section of fence would be put back soon after the event.
Harvest Day Committee Chairman and former borough councilman Rich Wayne appeared at the meeting to make the request. The vote to approve it came after some testy back and forth between him and Shade Tree Commission member Leanne Poffenberger. She and fellow commission member Derek Bilcik objected to the fence removal, saying it would compromise protection of the trees and might negatively affect the borough’s ability to receive donations of trees in the future.
“Removing the fence seems like a little bit of overkill,” Bilcik said. “Trees have lasting impact long after we’re all gone.”
Poffenberger agreed, but Wayne reiterated the fence removal was temporary and said not doing it would cause a negative “chain reaction” in the layout of Harvest Day attractions.
Council President David Bria had to bang his gavel several times and at one point shouted “Rich” in an effort to stop the arguing between Wayne and Poffenberger.

“It’s absurd we’ve spent the first 20 minutes of this meeting talking about a fence and some trees,” Bria said. He ended up being the only vote against the fence removal.
“This came up several months ago and council’s decision at the time was for the Harvest Day Committee to talk to the Shade Tree Commission and if it was okay with the Shade Tree Commission, it was okaywith us,” Bria explained after the meeting.
“I guess they didn’t get the answer they wanted from the Shade Tree Commission, so it came back before council.”
Council Vice President Caroline Thompson also expressed some consternation over the issue.
“I’m a little frustrated this is happening three weeks before Yardley Borough’s biggest event,” she said at the meeting.
Yardley Borough Council approved the temporary removal of a fence as part of the preparations for Harvest Day on Sept. 18.

---

Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.