Attention all Ridley Township Business Owners:
You may have recently heard that Delaware County has recently established a Delaware County Health Department. While their intent may be admirable, their proposed application of services to Ridley Township may be far from what our residents and business community expect.
We expect that there may be a number of functions that a Delaware County Health Department may be responsible for including emergency preparedness and pandemic planning, infectious disease investigations and other serious county-wide services. On a local level, Township Commissioners take their responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community seriously. Essential to their responsibility to the community are the tasks performed by our own Health Officer. The Township has recently been notified that many of the important local health department inspections will be eliminated in favor of the newly formed County Health Department.
The Township believes that the newly formed Delaware County Health Department lacks the authority or the present ability to conduct those essential local health inspections and licensing procedures for our business community in an efficient and expeditious manner. Because the Township will not abandon its responsibilities to the Ridley Township community, we are writing to you with our concerns with the County’s ability to address local health issues within our Township.
Ridley Township, together with six (6) other Delaware County communities, have initiated legal action to ensure that these important health related services continue unabated by Township Officials. A hearing has been held and we are now awaiting the Court’s initial decision.
Consequently, the Board of Commissioners has decided to notify our residents and business community that during 2022, Ridley Township will continue, until ordered otherwise, to provide all of the health-related services we have always provided in the past. We remind you to apply for all of your licenses and scheduled inspections directly with the Township Manager’s Office.
If you are contacted by representatives of the Delaware County Health Department with regard to inspecting your establishment or for purposes of issuing an Annual Health License, you are urged to immediately contact the Ridley Township Manager’s Office at 610-534-4800 for assistance.
Very truly yours, Joseph A. Ryan Township Manager
