Chester City Council Meeting | October 14, 2026

The City of Chester, Pennsylvania, City Council meeting was held October 14, 2026. Council unanimously advanced two ordinances on first reading: B10, zoning amendments intended to reduce barriers to new housing, including changes to ground-floor commercial, highway-buffer, parking, and loading requirements; and B11, a recycling-ordinance amendment adding a definition for “community activities,” noted in connection with a Section 902 grant before the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Council also acted on a coastal zone management grant submission of up to $50,000 for a feasibility study of a waterfront park linking Penn Street and the William Penn monument to the riverfront. A resolution concerning the end of the Bradell Maintenance agreement for the Chester Cleanways ARPA project, effective October 31, 2026, and a resolution ratifying a $13,200 agreement with the Delaware County Workforce Development Board were also considered and passed by recorded unanimous votes where shown in the transcript.

Resolution 129, also passed unanimously, advanced four firms to contract negotiations for lead inspection and risk-assessment services under an initial one-year term, with options for two additional years subject to performance and city approval. The discussion clarified the city expects to contract with all four firms; the transcript clearly identifies Bay Hill Environmental, Center Tech Environmental LLC, and Brightfields Incorporated, but garbles the remaining firm’s name. Officials cited an estimated budget of $2,100 per home for assessments and funding sources of $350,000 from EPA, $997,250 from the William Penn Foundation, and $4,398,296.30 from a third source that is unclear in the transcript. A CEDA presentation also described a Neighborhood Assistance Program offering up to 30 homeowner grants of no more than $10,000 each for roof or furnace repairs. Public comments raised continuing problems with the recycling and trash contractor’s service and handling of recyclables; no new recycling contract award was announced.