Delaware County has decided not to challenge a court ruling allowing 13 municipalities to continue conducting their own health inspections, writes Justin Udo for KYW Newsradio.
When the county lacked a health department, it was left to the municipalities to conduct their own health inspections.
“Municipalities did their own environmental licensing and inspections of food-serving establishments,” said Delaware County’s health executive director, Lora Werner.
When Delaware County created a county-wide health department three years ago, it wanted to take over those inspections as part of its mission and duties overseeing public health throughout the county.
“There was a subset of the 49 municipalities in the county that went to court to continue to have authority to do their own environmental health licensing and inspection services,” she said.
A court recently ruled in favor of those municipalities.
“Delaware County has made the decision to just move forward with working with these municipalities, thinking through how we can work together to serve county residents,” she explained.
The 13 municipalities keeping their own inspections are Clifton Heights, Eddystone, Ridley Park, Aston, Darby, Lower Chichester, Marple, Middletown, Ridley, Springfield, Tinicum, and Upper Chichester townships.
Read more about Delaware County’s decision to challenge the court ruling at KYW Newsradio.
