Developer contradicts Bateman: Buckingham land swap ‘never agreed to’ – Bucks Round-Up – October 30, 2025
Developer contradicts Bateman: Buckingham land swap ‘never agreed to’
This week, developer J.G. Petrucci Company, Inc. released a statement belying assertions by the No Buckingham Warehouse Committee, a local nonprofit chaired by Democratic township supervisor candidate Mike Bateman. At issue is the 150,000-square foot warehouse the company proposed and fought a legal battle to build just northeast of Doylestown Airport. A majority of the Township Board of Supervisors voted in July 2024 to forbid the warehouse’s construction.
The supervisors recently secured J.G. Petrucci’s agreement to an alternative proposal entailing limited residential development. Last Thursday, Bateman’s organization issued a press release boasting that it “secured significant new concessions” from J.G. Petrucci including a land swap to facilitate open-space preservation. All that was needed, suggested Bateman’s group, was agreement by Buckingham Township itself. Yet the township’s plan would not compromise the 68 acres on the tract that are already preserved and the developer itself said in its press release that a land swap would “cost the Township taxpayers millions of dollars.” According to the company, “While No Warehouse’s land swap idea was discussed, it was never agreed to.”
In next Tuesday’s election, Bateman is attempting to unseat Republican Supervisor Paul Calderaio, an opponent of the warehouse idea who Bateman has nonetheless tried to depict as a supporter. A Bateman campaign mailer said Calderaio “jumped ‘on board’” with the warehouse, though that 2023 quote came not from the supervisor or any of his fellow Buckingham officials but the developer’s attorney during the proposal’s early stages. Throughout the process, Calderaio said, many people allied with Bateman’s No Buckingham Warehouse Committee in good faith on behalf of their town, though the supervisor took exception to the way Bateman has helmed the organization. “There’re people in the No Warehouse group who are truly doing it for the community,” he said. “Mike Bateman, instead of working with us, is working against us, which means he’s working against the community. But I don’t want to cast all the people in the No Warehouse group like that; there’re people in the No Warehouse group who want to work with the community.” Bateman did not return a request for comment.
Cold case solved: DA links 1962 Bristol church murder to deceased suspect
Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced at a Wednesday afternoon news conference closure in one of the region’s oldest and most haunting cases. A grand jury has determined that William Schrader, who died in 2002, raped and murdered nine-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty inside St. Mark’s Church in Bristol in 1962. At the time of the murder, on October of that year, Schrader lived on Lincoln Avenue, a block and half from the church, which is located at 1025 Radcliffe Street. A witness reportedly saw him outside the building around the time of the homicide. Following the crime, he was questioned by police, provided a pubic hair sample, and failed a polygraph test. He was also found to have lied about his alibi, with time cards proving he was not at work on the day in question. Shortly after authorities interviewed him, Schrader fled to Florida, where he lived for a year before bouncing around Texas and Louisiana, eventually settling in Houma, Louisiana, where he lived most of his life. Decades of forensic evidence, including matching hair samples and a confession relayed by Schrader’s stepson, confirmed the finding. Schrader’s history of sexual violence against children across several states including Louisiana, Texas and Florida, supports the grand jury’s conclusion.
“Justice delayed is not justice denied,” Schorn said, praising investigators who refused to let the case fade from memory. Schorn commented further on the incident about Schrader. “What this little girl didn’t know is that this predator was living just down the block on Lincoln Avenue.” Dougherty’s only living family member, her sister Kay, attended Wednesday’s news conference, providing an emotional outpouring and thanks to investigators in the commonwealth, Bucks County, and Bristol Borough, along with reporters J.D. Mullane and Mike Missanelli, for their efforts in keeping the victim’s story alive through numerous articles and podcasts over the years.
Haycock Township secretary resigns after 22 years amid resident complaints
A turbulent chapter in Haycock Township government closed this week with the resignation of longtime Secretary-Treasurer Chris Bauer. The Board of Supervisors accepted Bauer’s resignation Monday night during a brief five-minute special meeting that drew a packed crowd but little public comment. Bauer, who served more than two decades in the township office and remains a candidate for tax collector, was not present. Supervisors Henry DePue and Linda Levinski voted to hire DePue on a per diem basis at $26 an hour to handle clerical duties until someone else can be hired for the position. Solicitor Scott MacNair will serve on an interim basis as open records officer. Bauer’s departure follows a year of resident complaints over denied Right-to-Know requests, missing records, and alleged misconduct. Critics accused him of placing his girlfriend on a township insurance plan for spouses and dependents, an act that could have cost taxpayers roughly $75,000, and of recommending the hiring of a friend with a criminal background. A bipartisan town meeting organized by outgoing Republican Chair Mary Gerhart is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Haycock Community Center to discuss the township’s next steps.
Bensalem Police arrest suspect in home invasion attempted rape
Bensalem Township Police swiftly arrested 45-year-old Louis Sophie after a home invasion and attempted sexual assault at Lafayette Gardens Tuesday afternoon. Sophie, a registered sex offender from Florida, allegedly entered an unlocked apartment, attacked a woman, and fled toward Philadelphia before being apprehended. He faces charges including burglary, attempted rape, and assault. Held on $1 million bail, Sophie’s arrest underscores both the vigilance of law enforcement and the importance of citizen alertness.
Joe LeCompte hosts LeCompte in the Morning on WBCB 1490. Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.
