May 11, 2023 - Last meeting of the civic year. Agenda: Recent tree plantings, plans for fall plantings in business district and Pencoyd Park, update on communications with Wawa re: bike rack and plantings, other Federation update, advocacy with TS re: business district (invitation to participate in active transportation plan), streambank restorations (briefly), spring bike ride, potential business district clean-up day, officer election, update on BH Library gardens/compost bin, treasurer report, traffic islands, other topics.
Meeting minutes:
A slate of officers was voted in for a new 2 year term. They include Michelle Detwiler, President, Steve Fillippone, V.P., Jen Kelly, Treasurer, and Fay Stanford, Recording Secretary. Kristina Chang is the liaison for our business district committee.
Jen alerted the membership that Michelle will be recognized with a Go for the Green Award by the township on Monday night. She has put endless hours into beautifying our community, and we are unanimous that the award is richly deserved.
The trees along Montgomery Ave. in front of Ginza, along with a couple of sycamores on Woodbine Ave. have been clearcut following the closing of the restaurant. A for lease sign has gone up. The loss of these trees is distressing. Dan said he will talk to the nearest neighbors to see what they may know about it.
Three trees were planted in Pencoyd Park by the Penn Valley Tree Tenders. They include a redbud, a heat-tolerant sugar maple, and a basswood. Penn Valley Tree Tender volunteers are looking after them. The new trees are in addition to five planted two years ago.
We would like to keep up the planting spring and fall. This would include plantings along Montgomery Ave. on both sides of the street. We need to get the Narberth Tree Tenders involved for that. Dan will contact the Shade Tree Commission.
Can the township help us get tree pits in front of the courthouse? We’d like to request tree plantings at the Wawa on Montgomery Ave. Steve Filippone has a contact with Wawa corporate and will ask about bike hitches which would cut down on traffic at that corner.
The Penn Valley sign at Mary Watersford and Centennial Roads needs to be replaced at the Civic’s expense.
There is a compost bin which we paid for at the Belmont Hills Library. This will be helpful in the upkeep of the gardens planted there last year.
We discussed a possible bike ride in June with the help of Main Line Cycles and a trash pick up day.
The issue was raised of very large new homes appearing where others have been razed. We need more information about sustainability in the building codes and Dan agreed to look into it.