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Water Ice Coming to Northwood

At the Northwood Civic Association meeting on April 22nd, Bianca Reyes presented her plans for opening “Nini’s Sweets and Treats, Water Ice and More” at the intersection of Adams Avenue and Castor Avenue.  The location had last been used for water ice sales but has been closed for several years.  She said there will be water ice and ice cream from the take out window with no outside seating available and no outside music.  She anticipates an opening in mid May.  Neighbors expressed their concern about noise, traffic and lighting and she answered all questions.

water ice

“Nini’s Sweets and Treats, Water Ice and More”

Joe Krause, President of the Civic opened the meeting and discussed open issue the last month’s meeting.  The Civic donated $50 to the Lewis Family easter egg hunt at Northwood Park this year.  The event entertained about 250 kids and was the biggest one so far.  The could use more community support and the Civic would like to do more for next year.

The Civic also plans to make a donation to the Simpson Playground for much needed equipment.  That will be taken up at the next board meeting.  The board will also be looking into the possibility of getting a dog park established in Northwood in the hopes that it might curtail the dog dropping problem.

It is know that Wawa was interested in the former K Mart property as a new location for a new store and gas station to replace the one across the street.  The owners of the property however have a agreement with the Supreme grocery store to not lease to a business that would sell the same products which would seem to bar a Wawa at that location.  The Civic believes the community would benefit from the Wawa moving to the new location.

Stewart Graham, Chief of Staff for Councilman at Large David Oh was present and said he would be attending future meetings whenever possible to keep the Councilman advised of issues in Northwood.

Darrion Shuford, Chief of Staff for State representative Jason Dawkins announced that there is a financial Literacy Workshop Saturday April 25 at the Greater Olney Free Library at 5501 North 5th Street from 10 AM to 1 PM.  There is also a free health insurance enrollment event being held Saturday April 25th at the Northeast Baptist Church at 4744 Tackawanna Street from 11 AM to 3 PM.

As a result of Councilwoman Sanchez attendance at last month’s meeting, several city representatives were on hand to address issues raised at that time.

City traffic engineer Nicholas Cinciruk talked about neighborhood complaints about noise and traffic on Castor Avenue between Foulkrod and Pratt Streets.  He said that the Streets Department can erect signs controlling these issues but the police still will have to enforce them.  On the issue of truck parking in Northwood, he had a list of the streets where Councilwoman Sanchez has drafted legislation prohibiting parking as requested by the Civic and had signed off on the work orders for the signage.  He did say that work crews are behind schedule and it would take some time to get them put up.

Keith Lemchak, Engineering Supervisor for the city Air Management Services talked about the noise and vibration problems report by residents on Ramona Avenue near Adams caused by heavy traffic.  He told the group what testing could be done and was available after the meeting for specific questions.

There were four candidates for judge in the upcoming primary election on May 19th.  They introduced themselves and then waited until after the meeting to speak with all who were interested in getting their views and qualifications.

Betsy Wahl is running for the Court of Common Pleas.  link

Chris McCabe is running for the Court of Common Pleas.  link

Anthony Kyriakakis is running for the Court of Common Pleas.  link

Frank Bennett is running for the Court of Common Pleas and also Municipal Court.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be held on Tuesday, June 16th at 7 PM at St. James Lutheran Church at Castor Avenue and Pratt Streets. (No meeting in May since it falls on Primary election day)

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Northwood Civic Gets Good News About Simpson

The Northwood Civic Association meeting on March 17th got good news with the announcement that phase I of the rehabilitation of Simpson Recreation Center has been funded.  The required $250,000 for repairs to the building is available and that part of the project is scheduled for completion in the Spring of 2016.  Phase 2 of this project will require a lot more money and no time line on that has been set.

That news was delivered by Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez when she appeared before the group of over 60 residents.  This is her first appearance at the meeting since Northwood became part of the 7th Councilmatic District.  Also specific to Northwood, she committed to introduce legislation to make large truck parking illegal on Northwood residential streets.

She ran down her list of accomplishments over the last 7 years: Frankford CDC is now financially stable, new pop up park on Frankford and Paul this Spring, Facade improvements on Frankford Avenue, working with SEPTA on safety issues, keeping the Mater Dolorosa and St. Joachim School buildings occupied, support the local parks and recreation centers, the new play space to be built at Griscom and Church across from Frankford Friends School.

She opened it up for questions and showed her mastery of the issues confronting the city.  At the top of the list was taxes and she discussed the realities of the AVI (Actual Value Initiative) on homeowners; Tax Abatement and who needs them and why the rich are still getting them; funding the schools and how we are still 3 years away from a Fair Funding Formula for the schools in Pennsylvania.

Non policy questions that were asked were:

  • Castor Avenue traffic between Foulkrod and Pratt is horrendous.  She offered to have the streets department do a traffic study and make recommendations.
  • We can’t find the owner of the burned out garages at Rutland and Fillmore.
  • Traffic vibrations on Ramona Avenue from speeding buses on Adams Avenue.  Suggested having SEPTA come to a Civic meeting to address the issue.
  • Numerous other questions that were best handled by the Civic.

I have to note that 60 people attended this meeting but you do wonder where they are for the other meetings when some of these issues can be addressed.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be held on Tuesday, April 21st at 7PM at St. James Lutheran Church at Castor and Pratt St.

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Councilwoman Sanchez to Appear at Northwood Civic Meeting

MEETING NOTICE

Northwood Civic Association

Tuesday March 17th 2015 @ 7:00PM

St. James Church – Castor Ave. & Pratt Sts.

 

Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez

will be a guest at our March meeting. Please attend for an opportunity to ask questions and stay updated on what is going on in our neighborhood. Subjects to be discussed-Simpson Playground, Tractor Trailer Parking, Illegal vehicle parking, among others. We look forward to seeing everyone at this meeting and hearing your questions so we can have a better understanding of what our neighbors concerns are for the future of our Community.

Refreshments will be available.

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Time To Buy Your Tickets!

Ten days and counting down to what will be a fun-filled, music packed, foot stomping and energetic afternoon at The Philadelphia Ballroom! Keep the Faith in Frankford is holding their annual fundraiser to support our efforts to reopen St. Joachim Church in Frankford (there is no Catholic Church in Frankford after St. Joachim and Mater Dolorosa were closed). Our Church is rooted in the teachings of Jesus with a strong emphasis on social justice. We still meet weekly (after 20 months)  to provide programs and

Yardley United Methodist Church Youth Group helps us the Dining with Dignity program feed the hungry in Frankford.

Yardley United Methodist Church Youth Group helps us the Dining with Dignity program feed the hungry in Frankford.

activities for our community in Frankford. All are welcome at our meetings. We honor all religions that honor and respect each and every person. Some of our community events include – we participate in the Dining with Dignity program and serve 80-120 community residents with a hot meal and a bagged 26 Picturedinner. We do this every 6-8 weeks. We also do community events like a holiday party for single mothers in a local transitional home. I was so surprised thinking the kids would be older – they were infants up to 3 years old. Some of you even donated toys. We also did a community fair for local residents. We brought textbooks and materials from St. Gregory the Great Catholic School in Virginia Beach, VA to the Stearne School here in our community. We are the Catholic presence in Frankford, which we will continue whether our church reopens, or not.  We want to be able to expand our programming this year, too!

But it takes your generous support. We are very pleased to be able to have The Heartbeats band as our “star attraction”. Won’t you be a “star”, too, and support our worthy cause. See you on Sunday, March 22.

 

Microsoft Word - Dance Party Flyer.docx

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Frankford Civic Association Meeting

The Frankford Civic Association meeting scheduled for tonight has been cancelled due to snow.  The next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 2nd at 7PM at St. Mark’ Church at 4442 Frankford Avenue.

If you would like to receive the most up to date notices about meetings and events by text message to your cell phone, email us with your cell number and carrier (AT&T, Verizon, etc) to gil@frankfordgazette.com