At its regular meeting Tuesday night, Malvern Borough tackled a longer-than-usual agenda in front of a larger-than-usual crowd. Roughly 20 people attended the meeting, which ran two-and-a-half hours and covered multiple topics.

Here are highlights from the meeting, some of which will be expanded in subsequent articles:

• Council adopted the 2012 Comprehensive Plan, a document four years in the making that lays out a vision of the borough over the next decade and beyond. To review the plan, visit the borough website, where it can be found broken into small, manageable chunks. (Chapter Two is a to-do list for the borough, according to Cecilia Oswald, one of the plan's authors.) The council approved the plan, allowing for small corrections to be made—for example, removing the photo of a certain borough employee...
• Termination of police chief—After being relieved of his duties last week and replaced by an acting chief, former Police Chief Michael McMahon was officially terminated. The council gave some context and explanation for its decision to remove McMahon.
• Trash and recycling contracts awarded, schedule maintained—After considering multiple vendors and the possibility of switching to a once-weekly pickup schedule, council decided to stick with Republic Services for twice-weekly trash pickup and Charles Blosenski for weekly recycling. Both were awarded two-year contracts. [See correction note below.]
• Zoning Hearing Board appeals period was changed from 10 days to 30 days.
• Planning Commission size reduced—Council voted to change the number of planning commission members from 7 to 5. The commission has had difficulty recently reaching a quorum at meetings due to open seats.
• Parks are tobacco-free zones—Council codified the statewide effort begun by Young Lungs at Play and discussed at its last meeting. The name is a bit of a misnomer—smokeless tobacco will be permitted.
• Powelton Avenue Streetscape contract, totaling more than a half-million dollars, was awarded to Road-Con Inc., of West Chester. There was some discussion about moving the roadway to accomodate resident concerns about sidewalk and curb size.
• Release of Escrow to East King developer—Council voted to release $113,505.70 to 237 King Partners LLC that had been put into escrow connected to demolition work.
• Traffic lights grant—The borough will apply for an ARLE grant to upgrade traffic lights in the borough, specifically at Warren Avenue and East King Street.
• County fee response—Council expressed opposition to the emergency services fee that Chester County intends to impose on municipalities. The council members agreed that, if a fee is put into effect, it will not affect borough funding of the Malvern Fire Company.

All votes appeared unanimous by the council—no "nays" were articulated.

[Edited 6/21/12 12:30pm to correct details about the trash and recycling contracts.]