Next Meeting:
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NUISANCE TASK FORCEMNC Board members met with Assistant District Attorney D.M. Sammons of the Public Nuisance Task Force to discuss late night nuisance problems along Main Street. Mr. Sammons spoke of the new points system for liquor establishments in Philadelphia. Manayunk Development Corporation is setting up a meeting with the D.A.'s office, Councilman Nutter, and establishment owners so the Nuisance Task Force can explain the point system. The venue will also be used to set up a program to hire additional officers for late night patrols near Main Street. Residents will help define the locations, days, and hours for the officers. We will follow up with a presentation to the community at a future MNC meeting. DEVELOPMENTThe owner of Cadillac Tattoo, 4365 Cresson Street, requested our support to move the establishment to the corner of Gay and Cresson. He will attend our March 2 meeting to present his plans. Brandywine Realty would like to renovate the pool hall, 4258 Main Street, and build 10 apartments. They will make a presentation at our March 2 meeting. |
PRETZEL PARKThe Friends of Pretzel Park are working to improve the dog run, erect a large 'pretzel' sign, and install benches and picnic tables in the park. Funding for a park sign, picnic tables, and benches was obtained through a state DCED grant. Park volunteers will lead this project from design to implementation. Jennifer Brodsky, from Philly Green, explained recent changes in Philly Green. The funding we received in the past was from the William Penn Foundation. That funding is now limited to three areas in the city. Manayunk is not one of them. continued on page 2 Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 2 7:30 PM Venice Island Rec Center Agenda InterAc Housing Counseling Cadillac Tatoo Brandywine Realty Nuisance Problems |
VI RECREATIONThe Master Plan for Lower Venice Island is moving forward. The Water Department is reviewing multiple options for placement of the underground storage tank. One option places parking near Cotton Street providing a large recreation area from that site to the tip of the Island. Other options break recreation into two sections with parking in between. The Schuylkill River and the Manayunk Canal are great amenities to our neighborhood. The future of the island will be defined by the Master Plan. Residents can sit back and let it be defined by a few community volunteers and business and property owners or they can become active participants. HOUSING COUNSELINGA representative from Inter-Community Action, InterAc, will explain their new housing counseling service at MNC's March 2 meeting. This service offers several information and assistance programs for aging adults. They include help with home maintenance and repair, utility benefits and programs, deed related assistance, mortgage default and delinquency counseling and much more. |
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Please join or renew your membership for 2005 today! |
Development (cont.) |
Pretzel Park (continued) |
Umbria VillageRidge Park Civic Association approved a project for 213 apartments at 4862-1/2 Umbria Street. The project will have a maximum height of 80 feet and include a one-story parking garage and an open-air lot for a total of 305 spaces. It will also include offices, a community room, fitness center, a restaurant, and day care for up to 50 children.
If you've been down to Main Street recently, you should have noticed a change on the street. Cabs now line the street. More cabs on the street mean we have more transportation options. I don't know how it happened but it's a good thing. Residents can walk down to Main Street to check out "the scene" and catch a cab home for only a couple bucks. It's cheaper than parking! |
Jennifer is well aware of our
problems with the dog run and of the lack of volunteers. As an outstanding
advocate for the Friends of Pretzel Park, She found funding through a grant
from Lincoln Financial. However, the funding will only be available if volunteers
come forward to manage the project and organize the users of the dog run.
The group agreed to work together to bring dog owners to a March meeting to discuss improvements to dog run. Philly Green, with a grant from Lincoln Financial, will repair the eroded dog run and create a solution to reduce future problems. This will only be done with significant buy-in and support from the dog owners. Philly Green will work with the dog owners on a maintenance plan. There seems to be a lack of understanding about who owns and maintains Pretzel Park, and more specifically, the dog run. Jennifer will work with the group to provide dog owners with information about the park, the structure of the Friends of Pretzel Park, and the relationship with the Recreation Department. This will include the history and challenges of the dog run. Signs about and in the dog run could be part of the proposed work. |
Next Steps:
The next meeting is set for March 21, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. at Kildare's on Main Street. Eric Gartenberg will set up meeting with Kildare's, talk to the two pet stores on Main Street about our project and ask them to display flyers. He will also create an agenda for the meeting. Sandy Smith will work on the flyer and recruit dog owners to get involved. Jennifer will send Eric a description and image of proposed work. She will also email him information about getting wood chips delivered. |
A Bit of Park HistoryPretzel Park was built by the City of Philadelphia in the 1920's on the site of demolished houses. It was refurbished several times over the years but by the 1990's it was in poor condition. Several individuals tried to improve the park and the Canal Day Committee paid for some maintenance and mowing. In 1998, Manayunk Neighborhood Council started the Manayunk Garden Club. The focus of the group quickly turned to improving the long neglected Pretzel Park. In August of 1999, the Friends of Pretzel Park was formed as a coalition of three neighborhood groups, the Canal Day Committee, Mana-yunk Development Corporation, and Manayunk Neighborhood Council. We immediately began working with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Department of Recreation. The Canal Committee dropped out of the group and the Manayunk Development Corporation, although still committed to the park, can no longer remain as involved. Their staff continues to empty the trash on a daily basis. |
| JUST A FEW MINUTES . . . |
February 2, 2005 General Meeting |
| Kevin Smith called the meeting
to order at 7:30 PM. The minutes, printed in the newsletter, were approved
with no changes. The only financial change was $9,900 received from the
state Department of Community and Economic Development for Pretzel Park.
The funds will be used for a pretzel sign, benches, and picnic tables for
the park.
A plea for membership renewal was made and many people responded with payments. Kevin lead a discussion of last months presentation on 275 Leverington Avenue. The plans are for 30 condominiums on 3 floors, 10 units per floor. Each floor will be 18 feet high to include one loft bedroom. Kevin said he asked the developer, Guy Laren, to plant trees, install bollards, add watershed friendly landscaping, and use permeable pavement for the outdoor parking area. The glass-fronted industrial look of the building appealed to many people. Concern over the height of the building was voiced but most felt the project would be an improvement over the existing one-story cement block building. A motion was made and seconded to support the project with the landscaping guidelines presented by Kevin. It past with two abstentions. Main Street nuisance problems were next on the agenda. Residents said last weekend seemed like a riot and was the worst weekend in a long time. They complained of crowds from Kildare's and 105 Social. Someone suggested that outdoor cameras be installed. Another resident would like to see more bike police. Kevin explained that we met with a couple bar owners and they offered to help pay |
for additional officers between
midnight and 3:00 AM, Friday and Saturday nights. Kevin will ask the Manayunk
Development Corporation to initiate a program to handle the funds and contract
for overtime police.
A program to promote permit parking in the area around Shurs and Main was discussed. This will be a joint project with Wissahickon Neighbors Civic Association. A draft brochure was passed around the audience. The permit hours would be from 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM. Residents along Cresson Street that currently have permit parking would like to change their permit hours to the time on this plan. This would be beneficial to the Cresson Street residents and give the proposed permit area a head start. A meeting with the Parking Authority will be the next step. Kevin announced the upcoming February 8 meeting at Andropogon for the Lower Venice Island Master Plan. He encouraged anyone interested to attend. He then announced a February 7 meeting with the Friends of Pretzel Park and dog run users. Dog owners or anyone interested in the dog run was encouraged to attend. Residents interested in saving Turner's Funeral Home on Ridge Avenue were encouraged to attend the Central Roxborough Civic Association meeting tomorrow night, February 3 at 7:30 PM at Leverington Presbyterian Church. The meeting adjourned a little before 9:00 p.m. |
NEW LIBRARY HOURSThe Roxborough Library has new hours. They will be open from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Monday through Saturday. The new hours are in effect now. |
PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW"America the Beautiful" Sunday, March 6 - Sunday, March 13 Pennsylvania Convention Center 12th & Arch Streets Philadelphia, PA 19107-2299 Sundays, March 6 & 13: 8 am to 6 pm Monday, March 7- Friday, March 11: 10 am to 9:30 pm Saturday, March 12: 8 am to 9:30 pm (Best viewing hours are after 4 pm) Box Office closes one hour before Show closing on all days. |
MNC BOARDKevin Smith, President Charlie Hewins, Vice President Mark Turtle, Treasurer Joyce Finnen, Recording Sec. Jane Glenn, Corresponding Sec. Nancy Hudecki, Sgt at Arms Joy Griffin, Trustee Keith Newman, Trustee Sandy Sorlien, Trustee Susan Shimp, Trustee www.ManayunkCouncil.org |
