THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, PILEGGI AND RAFFERTY, MARCH 29, 2012

REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 29, 2012  

AN ACT

Designating a portion of State Route 3 in West Chester Borough,

Chester County, as the Senator Robert J. Thompson Highway;

and designating the Pottstown Pike Bridge over the French

Creek in South Coventry Township, Chester County, as the

Representative Sam Morris and Eleanor Morris Memorial Bridge.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Senator Robert J. Thompson Highway.

(a)  Findings and declarations.--The General Assembly finds

and declares as follows:

(1)  State Senator Robert J. Thompson served the 19th

Senatorial District between 1995 and 2006 with honor and

ability and rose to chairman of the Senate Appropriations

Committee prior to his passing in 2006.

(2)  The contributions of Senator Thompson were not

limited to the public arena but included service to his

community as well. Senator Thompson was the founding

executive director of the Chester County Chamber of Commerce,

a member of the Chester County Hospital Board, a member of

the Immaculata College President's Council and was an elder

at the First Presbyterian Church of West Chester.

(3)  Senator Thompson was a resident of West Goshen and

benefited the township and the entire West Chester community

through his service on the West Goshen Board of Supervisors,

the Chester County Historical Society; the Westtown-Goshen

Rotary Club, and the West Chester Area Day Care Association.

(4)  West Goshen Township is connected to the Borough of

West Chester, the county seat for Chester County, by State

Route 3.

(b)  Designation.--The section of State Route 3 that is

situated between U.S. Route 202 in West Goshen and Adams Street

in the Borough of West Chester, Chester County, is hereby

designated as the Senator Robert J. Thompson Memorial Highway.

(c)  Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and

maintain appropriate signs to indicate this designation.

Section 2.  Representative Sam Morris and Eleanor Morris

Memorial Bridge.

(a)  Findings and declarations.--The General Assembly finds

and declares as follows:

(1)  State Representative Sam Morris and Eleanor Morris

dedicated their lives to community service and were

particularly active in Chester County's conservation

movement.

(2)  Married in 1941, the Morrises in 1945 purchased the

400-acre farm in South Coventry, Chester County, that

remained their home until Mr. Morris' death in 1995 and Ms.

Morris' death in 2011.

(3)  In 1967, the Morrises founded the French & Pickering

Creek Conservation Trust. Ms. Morris served as president of

the trust from 1972 to 2000, during which time the trust

permanently preserved more than 6,500 acres.

(4)  State Representative Sam Morris served the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 155th district from

1971 to 1978 and again from 1981 to 1990 and was instrumental

in several farmland preservation measures, including the act

of December 19, 1974 (P.L.973, No.319), known as the

Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974

(Clean and Green Act of 1974), the act of June 10, 1982

(P.L.454, No.133), referred to as the Right-to-Farm Law, and

the 1988 bill providing $100 million for the purchase of

agricultural easements.

(5)  In 1975, State Representative Morris testified in

support of the establishment of the Valley Forge National

Historical Park before the United States Congress' Sub-

Committee on National Parks and Recreation.

(6)  The Morrises were leaders in the preservation of the

beauty of Chester County and its agricultural heritage, so

exemplified by their Lundale Farm in South Coventry Township.

(7)  The French Creek winds through the Lundale Farm and

beneath the Pottstown Pike Bridge on State Route 100.

(b)  Designation.--The Pottstown Pike Bridge over the French

Creek in South Coventry Township, Chester County, located

between Prizer Road and Pughtown Road, is hereby designated the

Representative Sam Morris and Eleanor Morris Memorial Bridge.

(c)  Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and

maintain appropriate signs to indicate this designation.

Section 3.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.