Category: Civics

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Northwood Civic November Meeting

At the Northwood Civic Association meeting on November 18th, President Joe Krause announced that the Association is taking steps to incorporate at a non-profit 501 (c) (3).  This step provides some tax benefits to donors and also allows the Civic to participate in certain programs only open to those types of organizations.

The civic also recently took nominations for the board.  As of November the board makeup is as follows:

  • Joe Krause, President
  • Tom McAvoy, Vice President
  • Mary Robus, Secretary
  •  Renee Hudson, Treasurer
  •  Ed Martin, Board member
  • Allen Jackson, Board member
  • Sonya Martin, Board member

Other news at the meeting:

The Civic will do a mailing to all Northwood residents in the deed restricted area give them information on the deed restriction.  Rep. John Taylor’s office will be providing assistance with this task.

NO TRUCK PARKING signs are going to be put up around Northwood Park.

The owner of 5050 Oxford Avenue has been cited by L&I for renting rooms.  The may be an illegal day care on the 5000 block of Oxford Avenue.

4834 Penn Street is ready to open as a 6 unit apartment house.  The property was the focus of protests when it was initially announced that it would be a recovery residence for 30 plus occupants.

The 900 block of Foulkrod continues to see parking of cars for sale by a local car dealer.  That is illegal but the dealer manages to stay one step ahead of the police by moving them almost every day to a different location.

The have been a number of burglaries in Northwood in recent months.  The perpetrator looks for open windows and unlocked doors as a point of entry.  Residents are advised to take precautions.

There has been no progress in making repairs to the Simpson playground building.  Estimates to fix it are in the area of a half million dollars which has to come from the district Councilperson. That area is going to switch districts next year and Darrell Clarke is reluctant to use funding source to repair a building that will soon be in Councilwoman Sanchez district.

Northwood Academy Charter School as asking the Civic to support their plan for banners along Castor Avenue identifying the school block.  There was no opposition to the proposal from the membership at the meeting and a letter of support will be provided.

Numerous complaints about the poor condition of Orthodox Street from Castor Avenue down toward Frankford Avenue came up at the meeting.  Residents are advised to call 311 to put it on the radar for the city to repair.  They will only recognize a problem if enough people complain.

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association will be held on December 16th at 7PM at St. James Lutheran church at Castor Avenue and Pratt St.

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Turning Points for Frankford!

IMG_6365As a St. Joachim parishioner, I’m glad an organization such as Turning Points for Children has rented our rectory for its programs. You can read more about their mission here. This is a good purpose for our now vacant rectory.

Bob and I recently attended the grand opening of the new community emergency food pantry for families living in the 15th Police District. Notice that it is for emergency needs mainly. It was my pleasure to meet two volunteers there when we went. One is Louise Bundy and the other is Latasha Sloan. These women are very happy to assist families and children who are struggling during hard times for many.

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(l-r) Pat Smiley, Louise Bundy, Latasha Sloan

FAWN also supplies nutritional information and infant formula and diapers for families meeting income guidelines. You can make an appointment to use the pantry by calling 267.236.1558. Use is by appointment only. Located at 4346 Frankford Avenue, Unit 2 (in the shopping center with Quickie Mart Express and PNC bank), FAWN is open Wednesdays, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Thursdays and Fridays, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM.

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Safecam Task Force Goes to Work

civic task force

Barbara, Veronica, Gary, Sandra and Jon at the initial meeting at St. Marks

As noted by John Loftus in the Northeast Times, the Frankford Civic Association task force on security Cameras has been meeting bi weekly to develop a program to encourage businesses to install and register security cameras on their premises.  They have been proven to be a significant crime deterrent and have also helped apprehend criminals.  The program, for businesses, may also be subsidized by the City Commerce Department.  Home owners are also encouraged to register their security camera system if they have one.

To learn more information about the Safecam program from the Police Department follow this link.

 

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Emergency Preparedness – the Time is Now!

IMG_6339If you and your family were faced with a real emergency, would you be ready? Would you know what to do? Our Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) wants you to be ready for anything. And they are doing their best to prepare us. In late September, a Ready Philadelphia or Not? workshop was held at Campbell AME Church on Kinsey St. Led by Joan Przybylowicz, Deputy Director for External Affairs, Emergency Management, Kelly McNamara and Detective Joseph P. Rovnan, Philadelphia Police Department, Counter Terrorism Operations this workshop informed us on preparing for emergencies – whether  they be the ones requiring us to “shelter in place” or to evacuate.  The good news is that many of the informative handouts and information can be found on the OEM’s website – Ready Philadelphia.

We were not able to stay for the entire presentation but here’s just some of the invaluable information that was shared and that we need to act on if we are going to be ready for unexpected events. Of course, we know that extreme temperatures (hot and cold), water pipes, droughts, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and outbreaks of disease can occur anytime. Hopefully, we receive warnings and have a short amount of time to prepare. But what if we don’t? Do you have enough cash money, food, water, medicine, etc. on hand if you would have to shelter in place? In the case of fires, explosions. utility outages, building collapses and heavy snow affecting the stability of roofs, do you know where you can go or where you would meet with your family members. If you have to evacuate from your house, where would you go? First choice would be to go to other family members and stay with them until the emergency is over. Schools are also the first places that are set up for neighborhood emergencies. All city shelters are pet-friendly.

The time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. Visit Ready Philadelphia where you can listen to an audio version of the emergency preparedness guide and download a print version of the Ready or Not? guide that includes activities and information for you and your family to use together to get ready for any emergencies you might have to face.

This information is not for “if you need it” but “when you need it”. You only need to pick up the paper, browse online or watch the latest news to see that many of us are experiencing real emergencies every day! Make sure you and yours are prepared. To schedule a workshop, contact oem@phila.gov or call 215.683.3261.

 

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Frankford Civic Association November Meeting

Twenty -Five people on a November night in Frankford was a good turnout at the Frankford Civic Association meeting held on November 6th at Aria Hospital.  There was no zoning cases to discuss but there was a lot of business nonetheless.

  • Residents of Church Street noted that parking has become a problem when meetings are held at Turning Points for Children on Griscom Street.  There is a large parking lot there but people coming to the meetings end up parking on the street and taking up residents spots in front of their homes.
  • The Arsenal boat ramp is closed temporarily while the construction for the new Dietz and Watson plant is underway.  Read more at this NE Times  link.
  • Although the Northwood/Frankford Community Y is now free of debt, it has not been able to find funding to reopen the public part of the building to the public.  Local attorney, Frank Bennett, leases the mansion section of the property for his business.  The remaining area is a gymnasium and pool which could be an asset to the community.  However the pool could cost as much as 80 to 100,000 dollars a year to keep in operation.
  • Pete Specos, president of the Civic, reports that there has been some talk of reopening the Salvation Army facility on Frankford Avenue.
  • A resident of Griscom street reports hearing that the old wine and spirits store on Oxford Avenue has been sold and it will be used as a day care center.  There is no record of the sale on the city OPA site so far.
  • From the recent PSA meeting – The Frankford Deli was raided.  Over $300,000 in marijuana was seized.  Read more about it at the NE Times here.
  • A fire on the 1300 block of Foulkrod Street was caused by high school students who hang there during and after school.
  • Vice is continuing to keep the pressure on prostitutes and their customers in Frankford.

A special task force was formed by several members to work on the issue of security cameras.  That group will meet biweekly and report back to the Civic.  The purpose is to make business owners aware of the Commerce Department’s program that subsidizes installation of security cameras for businesses.  Read more about that at this link.  Anyone who has security cameras installed is encouraged to register them with the police.  You can find more about that program at this link.  Recent events have shown  how these cameras can save lives.  Many experts also believe their very presence acts a deterrent to crime.

The next meeting of the Frankford Civic Association will be held on Thursday, December 4th at 7PM at Aria Hospital.