Council orders temporary shutdown, wins written limits on start times at school construction site

Clifton Heights borough officials said they issued a temporary shutdown order for work at the Upper Darby School construction site after multiple resident complaints about early-morning starts, noise and large crews. The borough manager told council the order was issued "on Friday at noon under stipulations" tied to the borough's noise ordinance, and that citations had been issued during earlier warnings. Nut graf: The move was intended to enforce local ordinances that prohibit construction starts before 7 a.m. and to reduce disruptive noise for homes immediately adjacent to the site. Borough staff and the solicitor negotiated written commitments from the contractor and the school district that a single on-site manager would open the gate no earlier than 6:45 a.m., allowing work to resume the following Monday under daily monitoring. Borough manager said council authorized the manager and the mayor, in coordination with the solicitor, to issue the shutdown after residents submitted letters, emails and calls about early starts and loud activity. The manager said crews were observed arriving as early as 5:20 a.m.; crews corrected one early start to 6:00 a.m. on a subsequent day, but the borough said a later surge to roughly 60 workers in one morning prompted the enforcement action. Solicitor John McLean said the borough sought written confirmation from Rycom, the contractor, and from the school district that "one individual would be tasked with opening the gate, no earlier than 06:45AM," and that both parties provided the requested written assurances. Council members and staff described a sequence of warnings and citations before the shutdown. The manager said the borough gave the contractor a September 11 deadline related to permitted work hours; when crews continued to arrive earlier than allowed, the borough moved to issue the shutdown order and associated penalties should inspections or limits not be followed. Officials said the shutdown was intended to balance residents' needs and workers' pay; the manager noted that resolving the matter over a weekend avoided a Monday stoppage that would have affected pay for dozens of workers. The police chief and borough staff said they will monitor the site daily going forward. Ending: Borough officials said they will continue follow-up meetings with the district and contractor and will enforce the written start-time procedure; they said the contractor remains responsible to the district and the district is responsible to the borough to ensure compliance with the written commitments.