Week in Review: Borough Garners National Recognition

It was another cold week in Newtown, but thankfully Mother Nature spared us from more snow. Locally, Newtown Borough made headlines this week as it came in seventh in a national competition by Budget Travel Magazine. Newtown Township officials decided to take advantage of energy deregulation with a move to switch electrical providers.

Here’s our recap of the past week (Feb. 7 to Feb. 12):

Monday: Patch debuted its Mom Talk feature Monday, asking parents to weigh in on the subject of teen bullying. Moms Talk is a new feature that is part of an initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families. Each week, we invite you and your circle of friends to help build an online community of support for mothers. Moms Talk will be a forum for parents to ask questions, give advice and share solutions. Be sure to check it out next week on Newtown Patch.

Tuesday: The Newtown Borough Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to sign on to the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement and be part of the Cool Cities campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now, Newtown is cool in more ways than one. In addition to being a part of the Cool Cities campaign, Newtown was just voted seventh in Budget Travel Magazine’s “Coolest Small Town” competition. (More on that later.)

Wednesday:  The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors on Wednesday decided to capitalize on energy deregulation in Pennsylvania by unanimously voting to switch electrical suppliers from PECO to Dominion Energy Solutions.  The switch represents a substantial savings over the township's current rate, according to Township Manager Joseph Czajkowski.  Currently, the township pays 11.7 cents per kilowatt hour but under the approved three-year agreement with Dominion Energy Solutions, it will pay 9.2 cents per kilowatt hour

Thursday: On Thursday, we reported that Newtown Borough is seeking volunteers for a few positions, including members for a new work group that will explore ways to update and upgrade the borough's Web site. The borough is seeking a volunteer grants facilitator. Residents who are interested in either of these positions should contact the borough secretary at 215-968-2109.

Friday: Online voting for Budget Travel Magazine’s “Coolest Small Town” competition ended Friday and Newtown took seventh place.  With 15,082 votes, Newtown came in ahead of towns in Colorado, Florida, California, and more. Newtown will now be photographed and featured in the September 2011 issue of Budget Travel magazine.