Frank Videon Jr. R.I.P.

Frank Videon Jr. R.I.P.Frank Videon Jr.

Frank C. Videon Jr. died June 12 at his home in West Chester following a long battle with stomach cancer. He was 70.

He was the proprietor of Videon Chevrolet in Newtown Square and was known for the friendly advertising rivalry with his brothers Wayne and Steve who had Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealerships in Newtown Square.

The ads would be full page on the back page of the County Press and often feature headshots of the other brothers on top of farm animals or childhood photographs of them.

As the advertising space rotated among the dealerships, Frank Jr. would find himself the subject of retaliation.

Frank ran the Chevy dealership until 2009 when General Motors forced him to close as part of the Obama restructuring.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carol; his mother,  Edna; daughters Tara, Tracy and Tami; and seven grandchildren.

His father, Frank Sr., died in 2011.

Visitation will be 12:30 p.m., Sunday, June 22, at Newtown Square Presbyterian Church, 3600 Goshen Road, which will be followed by a funeral at 2 p.m.

Donations may be sent to Newtown Square Presbyterian Church or the American Cancer Society, Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718.

 

4 Newtown Officials Face Charges

(From correspondent Pattie Price)

Criminal charges were filed Monday, May 9, against two Newtown Township employees and two township elected officials. All four are facing charges of theft by unlawful taking and theft of services in connection with the Federal Express investigation.

Newtown Supervisor George Wood, 68, of the 4000 block of Goshen Road; Newtown tax collector Marie Richards, 58, of the 300 block of Pomona Avenue; Newtown assistant to the township manager George Clement; and secretary Gwen Toyzer are charged with using the township Federal Express account of their personal business.

According to the affidavits filed by CID Detective Robert Lythgoe, an investigation of the alleged fraud revealed $1209.99 was paid to Federal Express for personal business.

Mrs. Toyzer sent seven packages totaling $1,086.57; Wood sent two packages totaling $21.45; Mrs. Richards sent two packages totaling $32.66; and Clement sent four packages totaling $90.76.

The affidavit also states that when the four were confronted with the allegations they all admitted the illegal use of the township’s Federal Express account and all made restitution.

A hearing scheduled May 26 in Newtown District Court will most likely be transferred to another District Court.

Why Traffic Jams Are Worse In Pa. Than They Have To Be

The Berwind Property Group plan for a development bordering state routes 252 and 3 in Newtown Township, Pa. remains on the drawing board with the new hurdle that those concerned about congestion at the intersection now run the township.

The township settled with BPG two years ago to develop the 219 acre site that was once part of the campus of the Charles E. Ellis School For Girls but a lawsuit by rival developer Claude de Botton stopped the project cold.

BPG has filed a right-to-know request hoping to find incriminating emails showing that members of the present board of supervisors had communication they should not have had regarding de Botton and BPG’s project.

De Botton is developing  a  town center a few miles to west similar to that proposed by BPG.

I’ve met de Botton and I have a lot of respect for him as a man and as a developer, and I’m sure BPG is a responsible developer as well although their people skills can use some improving.

While one can never be certain as to what another’s primary motivation is, the anti-congestion faction that runs Newtown certainly has a legitimate issue. The roads of Newtown– more often than not referred to as Newtown Square which is the post office address for most residents of the township — become almost a parking lot during the rush hours. This affects a rather large part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area since Route 3, aka West Chester Pike, is a feeder road for the Blue Route and Route 252 is one for routes 1 and 30.

The tragedy here is the remarkable shortsightedness shown by officials at the municipal and state level to make traffic flow a priority over commercial matters while there was a lot of open space and before anybody put any development plans on the table. The same can be said about the development of Route 322 and Baltimore Pike in Concord.

It’s still  not to late in Newtown for the state to step and make traffic a priority. The stores have not been erected and the parking lots have not been paved.

BPG’s tract is northwest of the intersection but it doesn’t include the actual northwest corner. That belongs to de Botton. For a bit of irony if the powers-that-be demand a widening of the intersection or an underpass, he would be the one more affected.