During the November 20th meeting of Conshohocken’s Borough Council, Borough Council voted 5-1 to extend the agreement with Covanta for two years. Voting against it was Robert Stokley (R) and not present at the meeting was Ike Griffin (D).

Prior to the vote, Borough Manager Stephanie Cecco explained why the staff recommended this to Borough Council. Research completed by the Borough’s staff showed it would cost more to utilize a landfill. In addition, Cecco stated that by remaining a customer of Covanta, the Borough would have “leverage” a non-costumer wouldn’t have to hold Covanta’s accountable. Over the past year, there have been a series of malfunctions at the plant that has led to neighbors being concerned about the plant’s operation. The plant burns trash as part of a process to generate electricity.

You can view Cecco’s complete explanation here (forward video to 33:31).

During public comment, a woman asked a question about the use of the word “leverage” by Cecco. She wanted to know what that specifically meant? She didn’t get an answer.

What you can’t see in the above video, because she is off-screen to the left, our impression was Cecco actually leaned to the microphone to answer the question. She is then waived off from doing so by Council Member Jane Flanagan (D) who after conferring with Council President Colleen Leonard (D) states to Cecco “we don’t do that.”

Legally they do not have answer questions. But it is a choice. There is nothing that prohibits them from answering your questions.

Borough Council won’t answer questions asked by MoreThanTheCurve.com. They won’t answer questions posed by the public during a meeting. How exactly is the public expected to get answers? Individually by email? Or in the aisle of a grocery store?

Let us know what you think in the comments.