Consent Agenda Bonanza

The consent agenda is a staple of local government.  It saves time and makes meeting that are already long shorter.  Without a consent agenda local government meetings could go on for weeks and never end.

Basically, the consent agenda is a list of actions that everyone on council agrees on, and instead of voting on each item one by one, council passes the items as one large block.

Every municipality has a different way of figuring out what goes on the consent agenda.  Most governments hold a separate meeting called a work session to figure out what items the whole council agrees on.

Obviously, if the whole council agrees on something it can't be that controversial; however, the things in the consent agenda are often the nuts and bolts that hold together the operations of local government. 

The consent agenda pays bills and makes appointments; it approves special events and accepts land development plans.

Here are the highlights of this month's West Chester Borough Council consent agenda passed on Wednesday.

• I've written about this enough, but the final development plan for 220 East Chestnut Street was approved.  I hope people know the story by now.  A developer wants to build an apartment complex.  The neighbors didn't want it.  With the final plan approved the complex will be built barring some kind of legal action.
• The borough also changed it's zoning code to regulate billboards.  According to council several municipalities have run into trouble with people posting unwanted billboards because there were no rules regulating them.  The borough now has rules.
• Miner Street at Poplar street will now be designated as a "stop intersection."  There have been two accidents on that block in the past 15 years, and according to council member Cassandra Jones, there are 16 kids living on that block.
• Council also approved a measure that would allow residents to purchase a warranty on their sewer systems.  For between five and eight dollars a month, residents can buy insurance against their sewer line breaking.  Bills for sewer repairs can range from $1,200-$5,000, and council member Jim Jones said that if you paid the five to eight dollars a month for 20 years it still wouldn't cost as much as if your sewer broke.
• Council accepted a bid from AllState Power Vac for $171,009 for the Market Street Storm and Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project.