At the Northwood Civic Association meeting on Tuesday April 17th, Vice President Frank Bennett proposed that the Civic look into establishing a Town Watch group for the neighborhood.  Member Paul Sager who had formerly headed up a Town Watch group in Northwood, volunteered to co chair the group with Bennett.  A proposal to fund the initial study with $300 in Association funds had to be tabled until next month’s meeting because a quorum of members was not in attendance to approve the motion.

Gina Panchella opened the meeting for President Joe Krause who was absent on personal business.  Panchella read the minutes of the last meeting.  Renee Hudson reported that there had been one small withdrawal from the treasury since last meeting.

A member reported on the status of the Edmund School charter meeting she attended.  That was followed by a discussion among the members of the pros and cons of the change.  The Philly2035 meeting was also discussed at length.

The Civic will continue to try to have the bus stop at the corner of Foulkrod and the Boulevard repaired by SEPTA.  It has become a hazard to residents who have to wait at the location for buses.  It need a concrete pad installed.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be held on May 17th at 7PM at St. James Lutheran Church at Pratt St. and Castor Avenue.

At the meeting on April 17th at St. James Lutheran Church at 7PM:

Update on Edmunds school
Update on Philly 2035

Ian Litwin - Community Planner

Frankford in 2035 was on the agenda at the Northwood Civic meeting on Tuesday with a presentation made by Ian Litwin, a community planner with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.  Litwin explained that the lower northeast planning district will now be the focus of the planning process for Philadelphia2035.  That process will begin with a meeting at Friends Hospital on April 3rd at 6PM.  Subsequent meetings will result in a draft plan for the district in the Fall.

During each district plan, a Steering Committee will help guide the plan, facilitate information flow and review outreach efforts.  Chaired by Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s Project Manager, a Steering Committee is comprised of leaders of neighborhood groups, business groups, and institutions such as colleges or hospitals.  Steering Committees will meet on a monthly basis during a district plan.

Three public meetings in total will take place during each district plan.  Public meetings are designed to be available to all citizens in a district.  Advertised through community organizations, flyers, direct mailings and internet postings, the public meetings will update residents on the progress of the plan and seek public input.

The opportunity to have a voice in a plan that will ultimately shape the neighborhood of the future does not often come along.

In other news from the meeting, Joe Krause gave a brief treasurer’s report and announced that Renee Hudson will be acting Treasurer until at least next month.  Some records need to be sorted out and then a report for the last two years can be made public.

Joe Krause Presdent of Northwood Civic

Committees are still being formed and volunteers are needed.  Come to the civic meeting to get involved.

The illegal parking problem on Bridge Street discussed at the last meeting seems to have been resolved but members should continue to keep an eye on the situation.

Joe has made contact with the Frankford Civic to offer to work together toward common goals.

Joe Menkevich was recognized to talk about the Burk Deed restriction and offered copies of the relevant documents.  They are linked on our history page where you can download the pdf files for viewing.

One person attending was recognized and raised the issue of the poor condition of Greenwood Cemetery.  Significant improvements were made to the cemetery over the last two years but in the back over along the Castor Avenue side, it is still overgrown and people are going in there at night.  This is a link to a slide show we did in the fall that shows some of those conditions at that time.

Another resident complained about the new Northwood Academy Charter School building on Castor Avenue.  He said it looks much larger than was originally planned and looms over the neighborhood.  There are traffic concerns too in that there is no safe place for students to be picked up and discharged from the buses.  Joe Menkevich noted the presence of a vacant lot at 4601-19 Adams Avenue that might be utilized for a bus loading area.  State Rep. Tony Payton offered to pass along this information to Northwood Academy.  Joe Krause said he had a meeting scheduled with them and would bring the issue up at that time also.

Attending the meeting were our two State Representatives, John Taylor and Tony Payton.  They both spoke briefly about what is going on at the capitol and the problems of being in the legislature in this period of financial crisis.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be on March 20th at 7PM at St. James Lutheran Church at Pratt Street and Castor Avenue.

I didn’t get to stay for the whole meeting last night but I was there for the intro’s, etc. There were between 150 and 200 people there; approximately 30 to 40 from Northwood as each person in the building stated their name and address. 15 minutes of the meeting for this. This was a 2nd district police meeting and there was no one there from the 15th district.

It was made clear in the beginning that it was not a Q&A session, but more of an informational and crime prevention function. Their main focus was to explain how the PSA system works and the usefulness of the program when more neighbors get involved. They handed out papers with the PSA next meeting schedule; 15th district included. I listened to 10 minutes of the history of the department and how the PSA system came into existence; redundancy at it’s finest from the last 2 years.

I couldn’t stay to hear if they ever did get forced into a Q&A session.  Overall it was more of the same and more confirmation that the PPD is way understaffed and the cops that are on patrol are just overwhelmed. They seem to make that clear at all of these meetings.  I was a little disappointed at the number of people from Northwood that attended, and did not recognize a single one from our civic meetings. I think I will get the word out at St. Martin’s that we still have a civic and a 15th district PSA that they would be welcome at.

The Northwood Civic meeting on Tuesday, January 17th had about 20 people attending.  The board is continuing to organize itself with the new officers coming in.  President Joe Krause led the meeting.

The board has decided that the issue of 950 Filmore Street is now closed.

Frank Bennett

Frank Bennett, Vice President said the board is looking toward organizing committees within the civic to deal with specific issues.  The committees will be initiated by member interest and willingness to organize one.  Examples might be neighborhood cleanup, town watch, vacant property, welcome to the neighborhood etc.  If you are interested in organizing a committee, come to the next civic meeting and talk to a board member.

Tom McAvoy had previously volunteered to serve as Treasurer and his offer was accepted.  Walt Melbourne has volunteered to serve as Secretary.

Joe Menkevich

Joe Menkevich, raised the issue of transparency and the board responded that although they are in the beginning of the process, they fully intend to be completely transparent in their activities.  Future meetings will include a treasurer’s report and minutes of the last meeting.  They also indicated that proper procedure will be followed for speakers to be recognized by whoever is conducting the meeting for asking questions or making comments.

Jason Dawkins

Jason Dawkins, representing Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez spoke about the recent redistricting exercise which resulted in the change of representation in City Council of Northwood from Darrell Clarke to Ms. Sanchez.

Jason also noted that the former Central United Methodist Church building will in all likelihood be demolished, possibly as early as this week.

Edgardo Gonzalez, Legislative Assistant to State Representative Tony Payton spoke about the fate of the shuttered former Frankford Community Y.  He said there is interest in the property by The Center for Urban Theological Studies which is presently located in Hunting Park.  They are still in the process of making a decision but there is hope that the deal might go through.

The meeting was adjourned at 8PM.