Time runs out on other big issues at CHCA’s board meeting

by MARY SUE WELSH

It might not be apparent from all the brouhaha that has surrounded the Chestnut Hill Community Association’s handling or mishandling of The Local, but other matters are also discussed at CHCA board meetings, and the board oversees many projects that are important to the community. At the November 17 board meeting, which was especially contentious with many charges flying back and forth having to do with the board’s treatment of The Local staff, so much time was spent on the matter that several projects currently being promoted by the board got rather short shrift.

“It’s not that I don’t think that this much time should be spent on The Local because it’s clear that things have happened that shouldn’t have in the past few weeks, and we need to talk about them,” Chris Kemezis said in a telephone interview after the meeting.

Vice president of the CHCA Operations Committee, Kemezis has often found himself running significant portions of board meetings lately because so many activities, including The Local, fall under the Operations Committee rubric. “But what I struggle with is that there’s also so much else that needs attention. I’ve had people tell me that they sat through a whole meeting so that they could speak about their projects and then found there wasn’t time to bring them up.

“It’s terrible when I have to ask for another 10 minutes at 10:30 at night when everyone’s tired and ready to go home so that we can talk about Teenagers Inc. or the Senior Center, when they really deserve more attention,” he said. “Now that we have an interim editor in place at The Local, I hope that things will settle down a bit, and we can go on with other matters.”

Among the community projects touched on at the November 17 board meeting was the Holiday House Tour, which will take place on Saturday, December 10, along Meadowbrook Avenue, a street that parallels the southern border of Morris Arboretum. Maxine Dornemann, CHCA president, distributed brochures designed by CHCA secretary Jane Piotrowski and urged board members to participate in the event and volunteer to help where needed.

Another upcoming project announced at the meeting was the CHCA annual tree lighting celebration in front of Christ Ascension Lutheran Church on Germantown Avenue on November 25, when Santa will come to Chestnut Hill. Jane Becker then spoke about the successful “Dine Around” event put on by Teenagers, Inc. on November 13 at Springside School and thanked the numerous community members and restaurants whose donations made it possible. Attended by nearly 200 people, proceeds from the event will help pay for weekend supervisors and equipment at the teen center.

In reference to the recycling efforts of the city of Philadelphia and those of CHCA’s monthly drop-off program, Stewart Graham introduced a resolution in support of the city’s Recycle NOW Philadelphia Campaign and the RecycleBanktm Program, which was passed unanimously by the board. Graham said that eventually RecycleBanktm activities will take over for the CHCA program, but when that happens, “good works funding through the RecycleBanktm program will be sought.” Over the years, Graham said in answer to a question, the CHCA recycling program has earned more than $75,000 for the Chestnut Hill Community Fund.

As the clock passed 10:30 p.m., there was little time left for a report on Commerce Bank’s latest plans for the bank it intends to build on Germantown Ave. at Evergreen Ave.

Richard Maloumian, chair of the Aesthetics Committee, had waited throughout the meeting to bring the board up to date on his committee’s efforts to get the bank to make adjustments in its original plans, but the late hour curtailed that. In a telephone interview the next day, Maloumian explained that his committee and several community architects had met on November 15, to review Commerce Bank’s latest plans.

After the CHCA got a cease and desist order to stop the bank from proceeding with its original plan because it exceeded zoning regulations for height and number of square feet, all work ceased at the site, leaving an eyesore in its place of bare girders covered with flapping blue plastic sheeting. Maloumian said that the bank’s latest plan is a step in the right direction, but his committee hopes that the bank will modify the plan further to make it a better fit with the surrounding architecture on Germantown Ave.

As the November 17 board meeting drew to a close, two board members, Ann Spaeth and CHCA President Maxine Dornemann, complained that they had been subjected to untrue accusations from those who opposed their points of view. This led Dornemann to raise the question of the Civil Code, which was passed by the CHCA board in 2000, and which she had put on the agenda for discussion that evening. Among its resolutions is the following statement: “We agree that it is important to have the expectation that officers and all board members set a positive tone and spirit of fairness for the entire community for resolving differences and disagreements.”

However, discussion of the matter had to be put off until a future meeting. Time had run out.