Kennett Square Borough Council is in the enviable position of deciding what to do with an unexpected repayment of funds, writes Steven Hoffman for the Chester County Press.

This meant that the main focus of the March 7th council meeting was the administration of its revolving loan fund. The funds came about after the borough managed to secure a $500,000 economic development grant from the state with restaurateur Jack McFadden nine years ago, for refurbishing the former Kennett Cafe site at 120 East State Street. At the time, McFadden was planning to open an upscale restaurant at the location. The restaurateur did major renovations on the building, but the planned restaurant never materialized.

Today, the building is under an agreement of sale, with the potential new owner also considering the possibility of opening a restaurant at the location. Under the rules of the grant, the developer is required to repay the grant money to the borough, which would leave Kennett Square officials with funds to invest in other economic development projects.

“As we get the money back, we have to find something to do with it,” said Borough Manager Joseph Scalise.

Together with representatives from Historic Kennett Square, borough officials are considering the option of forming a loan review committee which would evaluate and recommend how the funds would be best distributed for future economic development projects.

The Executive Director of Historic Kennett Square, Mary Hutchins, has already started researching the ways in which other municipalities in the state have handled similar situations with revolving loan funds.The proposal at this point, is that the committee could be made up of eight people who would include representatives from the borough council, the borough’s administrative team, Historic Kennett Square, and the community.

However, several concerns were raised by council members regarding this solution, including whether the committee would answer directly to the borough council or if it would be formed under Historic Kennett Square, as well as whether the members of the new committee would have adequate expertise to make the necessary decisions.

Read more about the Kennett Square council meeting at the Chester County Press here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Kennett Square here.