Commissioners Meet Tonight to Discuss Bancroft

The borough Board of Commissioners will meet tonight at 6 p.m. at the municipal hall for a regular work session. The meeting was moved from Monday, the usual day, because of the King holiday.

Agenda items include an interview and discussion with Bancroft redevelopment planners Clarke Caton Hintz about public hearings. The lack of adequate public participation in the planning process was a key factor borough officials cited for the November firing of the previous Bancroft planner, Heyer Gruel & Associates, after nearly six years on the job.

A public hearing with the new planner is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at municipal hall. The 19.11 acres of the Bancroft property on Kings Highway is regarded as one of the last large open-space parcels for redevelopment in this 2.5-square-mile borough.

The site currently is occupied by Bancroft, an institution for the developmentally disabled. Bancroft has been on the site for 127 years.

Other agenda items include the 2011 municipal budget and a report from the Shade Tree commission.