Category: Civics

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Philly School District Embraces the Weeds

It has been years since the first neighbor on the 2000 block of Margaret Street came to the Frankford Civic Association meeting and complained about the maintenance of the Harding Middle School property on the Margaret Street side.

The School District mows the grass and keeps the weeds off the sidewalk on the property near the school but on that big section of the property closest to Margaret Street, it looks like a dump.  On the Ditman Street side you can barely walk on the sidewalk for the weeds that block the passage.  On the Margaret side, passersby are greeted by weeds on the lot that are three feet high or more.

In August when the neighbors on Margaret Street had a block party they cut the weeds on the lot closest to Margaret in order to make it look a little better.  They have made numerous complaints to 311 and nothing changes.

The most recent 311 case number was 10879517.  According to 311 records, an inspection was made on August 31st and a violation notice was issued.  A re-inspection was made on September 13th where no improvement was noted.  An inspection was made on September 23rd and the case was closed.  This would indicate that the problem was resolved however as you can see from the video below that these weeds did not grow this high in the last 2 weeks.

Do you think this would go on if this was private property?

 

When we finished the draft of this story we sent it over to the School District for comment and got an email back on Wednesday from Kevin Geary, Chief of External Relations who said ”

Thank you for sending this. We were closed yesterday due to the Jewish new year.

We will clear sidewalk and cut field today. Our field attendant has been out sick for 4 weeks…

Background: Our field attendant has been out sick for 4 weeks. Our supervisor should have caught and shifted resources but did not.

We went out to have a look on Saturday and true to his word, well take a look at the video below.

In Spring we’ll check back to see if is being maintained.  Thanks Kevin Geary for your help.

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Frankford Civic Takes on 311

The Frankford Civic Association met on September 1st with another group of new residents attending.

Franklin Daniel presented a first draft of the new mission statement for the group with discussion following.  More work is to be done before it is formally adopted.

The crime report for August shows an overall drop in crime in PSA1 but a significant increase in violent crimes and crime with guns.

311 reports:

  • Report made on 1841 Ruan Street.  the property had been sealed but vandals had taken off the covering on the second floor window for entry. 311 referred it to L&I who inspected it and found the report unfounded.  It has been resubmitted.
  • Report on the weeds growing 3 feet high on the Margaret side of the Harding Middle School property was made.  L&I did inspect and sent a notice to the owner.  A second visit has been made and the weeds continue to grow.  The next step is supposed to be compliance or court action.
  • Report on the property at 4101 Paul Street (formerly the Platinum Bar).  The property was cited for a violation.  This is a bar being renovated.  It has a pending liquor license which will become active when the renovations are complete.

New issues:

  • Car dealers on Torresdale Avenue park their cars for sale on the sidewalk. This has been an issue for years and will require a great deal of work to get corrected.
  • Partnership with the Ray of Hope project and working with Frankford Forward to do block cleanups.

The next meeting of the Frankford Civic Association will be held on Thursday, October 6th at 7 PM at St. Marks Church at 4442 Frankford Avenue.

 

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Water Woes on Adams and Traffic Problems on Castor

The Northwood Civic meeting on September 20th had a good crowd turn out to hear what is happening with the construction on Adams Avenue by the Water Department.

The Water Department is installing a new water main and replacing the existing water service on the route marked on map below.  This is being done as a result of a petition by the residents who have been having problems with the existing private sewer line that now runs behind their homes.

water-project

When the new line is finished, residents will then have to pay a private plumber to connect to the main at their own expense.  They will also be billed for a share of the cost of the installation of the main.  It is a very expensive project which began on August 30th and is expected to take until March of 2017 to complete.

The project is adding to the traffic problems in that area especially when Northwood Charter students are coming and going.  It is a good area to avoid at that time of day.

Also on the agenda was an update by Terry Heiser on the traffic smoothing project on Castor Avenue.  The Streets department has moved the scheduled completion date to Spring of 2017 which is not acceptable to the community. It was originally scheduled for completion by the end of the Summer.

Heiser also warned drivers that the police are now actively enforcing traffic regulations at Ramona and Adams.  This was at the request of the community to reduce the accidents and near misses that often occur at that intersection.

Marc Collazzo of Rep. Taylor’s office has been working with them to resolve this problem.  He believes an agreement can be reached.

Joe Krause, Civic President,  noted that burglary has now dropped from its high during the Summer.  The police had previously indicated that an arrest had been made.  However, there was a purse stolen from a residents home on the day of the meeting so the criminals are still out there waiting for an opportunity.  Lock your doors and stay on guard.

The dumping at Frankford High’s Baldwin Field continues although the dumpsters have been removed.  The Civic knows the identity of one of the individuals and is working on the issue.

The conservatorship of 1301 Wakeling continues to work its way through the court system.  The owners have been granted an extension of time to complete the work, so the take over by Northwood’s conservator is on hold.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be held on October 18th at 7 PM at St. James Lutheran Church at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street.

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PSA 1 – Facing Tough Issues With a Lot of Heart

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L-R Pete Specos, Co-ordinator PSA 1, Lt. Duane Gordon, Capt. Anthony Luca and Ronald Ryan, WalkSafePHL and Town Watch Integrated Services

 

Captain Luca and Lieutenant Gordon from the 15th Police District met with Frankford, Northwood and Bridesburg residents last Thursday, August 25 at Aria Frankford Hospital. With a standing room only crowd, residents listened to the litany of the crime statistics which they know all too well since they live them. Several residents reported drug houses, prostitution activity, problems with halfway houses, etc.

Burglaries are up in Northwood, shootings and stabbings continue in Frankford and Bridesburg continues to work for more police presence from a District that is the largest in the city and uses what officers and resources they have as strategically as they can.

The police continue to remind us to lock windows and doors to prevent easy access. They do have a suspect they are watching but you have to do more than just arrest them. You need proof and that takes police work and neighbors’ help. A local 7-11 has been robbed 4 times during the overnight hours and most crimes are crimes of opportunity. Police use “Leads on Lines” where pawn shops now have to id those wishing to do business with them and that is sometimes a help. Captain Luca is very much aware of the drug dealers – who they are and where they are. Some recent staffing issues have been, of course, the Democratic National Convention, nationwide police shootings, where for our officers’ sakes, they’ve been assigned 2 to a car so some plainsclothes officers were temporarily reassigned.

Change won’t happen overnight. Many residents realize this and that’s why our civic groups have gotten more active and involved. Town Watch Eyes and Ears – you don’t patrol – you just observe and then call in what you see. We’ve been told if you identify yourself as a Town Watch member calling 911 – that helps. Lt. Gordon promised to come up with a different way to help us report and get action on what we see more quickly. Get trained with your neighbors. Ronald Ryan, Recruiter, for WalkSafePHL and Town Watch Integrated Services, offered to help train residents. Frankford Forward, our community group focused on issues causing violence, can provide meeting space for ongoing training.

Relations between Police and citizens have been in the news consistently. Captain Luca says his officers are motivated and he works to deploy them so they are most effective. Change won’t happen overnight.

But there are signs of hope. Aria Frankford has donated space to have a Police substation located there. This will be used for bike cops to ride up and down Frankford Avenue and some side streets. The current grid is from Penn to Duffield Sts. and from Arrott to Brill Sts. One of the areas of concern had been Margaret and Worth – site of a former drug rehab center. Bob Smiley and I were out delivering The Frankford Gazette and we saw two bike police officers pull up there and just get off their bikes. I don’t think the people there knew what to do. The bike cops have a specific route and so far they have made quite a few arrests – for guns, in particular. One of the guns confiscated was found to be involved in multiple shootings.

The meeting took an interesting turn as the people gathered started talking about what we needed to do to take back our community. The Police alone cannot solve the problem. One resident, Josue, says he comes out and talks with his neighbors. Other residents wanted to see more officers representing the ethnicities of our community. Lt. Gordon and Capt. Luca understood that but they have no control over how officers are assigned. Captain Luca recalled that the role of police officers has changed from a “warrior mentality” back in the 70’s and 80’s to a “guardian mentality” today. Who wouldn’t agree that a police officer is taking his/her life in their hands every day? We would have to admit it can very much be the same way for some of us!

There used to be several places youth could go in the community that are no longer there. Everyone agreed that there was respect for your elders. Parents were concerned that their children’s activities in the neighborhood would reflect on the family and, as a kid, you didn’t want to be guilty of that. Neighbors would tell your parents/grandparents what you were up to and then it all hit the fan. Today, parents are using their children to sell drugs to help support the family. No one really wants to live that way has been said at a few community meetings by people who know. That realization is why the Frankford CDC is working hard to bring more economic development to Frankford Avenue.

Another positive development is that the Police are looking to re-establish a PAL Center in the neighborhood and have the funding to develop and maintain it. A future police vs. youth softball game is in the works, too!

Everyone realized that it must be a “grassroots” effort that takes a community and its people. Would you like to get involved? Here’s just a few of the groups that would warmly welcome you, your friends and family to support their efforts:

  • Neighborhood Advisory Committee Meeting (Zoning), Thursday, Sept. 8, 7 PM, Second Baptist Church, 1801 Meadow St., 19124
  • Frankford Forward, Meets every 2 weeks, Monday, Sept. 19, 6 PM, Presentation on Mental Health First Aid and training that we may be interested in, St. Mark’s Church, 4442 Frankford Ave., 19124
  • Northwood Civic Association Meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7-8 PM, St. James Church, Castor Ave. and Pratt St., 19124
  • PSA 1 Meeting, Thursday, Sept. 22, 7 PM, Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club, 2901 Bridge St., 19137

There will be a Community Bike Ride in Frankford on September 24 beginning at Aria Frankford Hospital. All are invited! Details below!

Bike Rally Frankford