February 2, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Give praise when it’s due

Recent controversy surrounding the future of the publisher’s committee has compelled me to reiterate and express my sincere gratitude to Joe Pie for all that he has done over the last six months to help the Local through an incredibly difficult time.

Betty Brady
Community Manager

A former editor of the Local weighs in

Permit a former editor of the Local to weigh in on the discussion in re its future. A major factor, the elephant in the living room, is forever overlooked. The Local is not a newspaper as is generally understood by that word. The Local was created to be a forum, a vehicle for discussion, a paper facsimile of the Roman Forum where people can “meet” and exchange views on the needs of the community that is Chestnut Hill and its environs.

I sympathize with the anguish that Mary Sue Welsh so beautifully expressed in her forum piece of last week, but I must disagree that the answer is to sell the paper. It is up to community members to continue to demand that the Local fulfill its mission as a meeting place for ideas to be expressed, challenged, developed. If the leadership continues to show its ignorance of this basic principle, then people must vote with their feet (and hearts) at the next election for the board. I fear that selling the paper would mean an end once and for all to the remarkable concept of a contemporary forum. New owners would doubtless understand their purchase to be the old black and white and red all over newspaper, meant to return a profit as its basic raison d’etre.

It seems to me that The Forum is fulfilling its mandate right now with so many people expressing their thoughts, hopes, defenses and disagreement. I congratulate the management for apparently not holding back on printing the letters coming into them.

Parenthetically I have been reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton in which the furious discussions about his ideas for a national bank and centralized government were aired in the many newspapers of the time (Philadelphia had nine papers in 1790). The articles and letters around and in the Local have certainly been disputatious of late, but they pale in comparison to the kind of stuff that was then printed daily. Freedom of the press is now such an understood right that we are apt to take it for granted until we see what its absence can do to stifle and stultify citizens in totalitarian regimes.

The anger and divisions in Chestnut Hill will eventually resolve themselves. In the meantime, I’m admiring the energy that seems to be generated by and in the kaleidoscope of ideas that are spinning around your community. I believe that all that heat will eventually produce some light.

Ellen Van Pelt Wells
Falmouth, Maine

Toy drive

We wish to express our sincere appreciation for the many gifts donated to the 27th Annual Weichert, Realtors Toy Drive to benefit needy children.

The kindhearted generosity of the public this year helped us brighten the holiday season for many underprivileged children. We thank the communities that the company serves which generously contributed nearly 35,000 toys and other items to local charities.

We extend our warmest thanks to the people of the greater metropolitan area, and your community, for their continued support.

James M.Weichert
President, Weichert Realtors

Easier for staff

As the business manager of the Local, I feel obligated to express my genuine appreciation to Joe Pie for all his help over the last several months. He made it easier for us to go through these tough times.

Kari Ghezarian
Business Manager

Volunteers were great help

Thanks to the generous efforts of more than 100 volunteers, several businesses and organizations, who braved cold weather during the recent Martin Luther King Day of Service, Pleasant Playground and Recreation Center received a much needed cleaning, beautification, and facility “tune-up.”

The clean up of Pleasant Playground, located at the intersection on Chew and Pleasant Streets, was a huge success. Volunteers cleaned up trash and debris, removed graffiti from the grounds, discarded a garbage truck full of unused material and furnishings, installed new shelves, corrected and installed new electrical wiring and cleaned and painted the interior of the recreation center.

In addition, because of sizable community turnout and limited space in Pleasant Playground Recreation Center, volunteers from the Unitarian Society of Germantown graciously agreed to remove trash and clean Germantown Avenue from Washington Lane to Allen’s Lane.

We wish to thank everyone who made the clean up of Pleasant Playground and Germantown Avenue a success. Special thanks go to the following businesses and organizations for helping to make the event possible through their generous contributions:

Acme Market – Mt. Airy (refreshments and cleaning supplies),

Bitar’s Eastern Mediterranean Grill (sandwiches, side dishes & salad)

Brewer’s Outlet (soda and bottled water),

Electrical Wizardry - John Siemanowski (electricians),

Home Depot (hardware and building supplies),

Houston Smith Real Estate Services (carpenter),

Infusion Coffee & Tea Gallery (coffee & condiments)

Lankenau High School (group volunteers),

McFarland Tree & Landscape Services (landscape staff & equipment),

Neighborhood Interfaith Movement (publicity),

Pathmark – Cheltenham (paper goods and cleaning supplies),

Staples (event posters),

Tague Building Materials (lumber),

Trio Delight Café (sandwiches), and

Unitarian Society of Germantown (group volunteers)

Again, thank you to everyone who honored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped make Mt. Airy a better place for our kids to live and play!

Vernon Price, 22nd Ward Leader
Ken Weinstein, Co-Owner
Trolley Car Diner

Good for the soul

Thank you for your humility and your honesty....in these days when it’s CYA mode all the way, it’s refreshing to hear someone say the ‘s’ word and mean it sincerely. As you pointed out, the older one gets, the easier it becomes to get totally honest with yourself and the world around you.

Dina Hitchcock
Chestnut Hill

A sincere thanks

Many Chestnut Hill and local business go out of their way to support the community. The Dec. 19 post-caroling treats at the Chestnut Hill Library was no exception.

After a wonderful round of carols, singers trooped to the library and enjoyed refreshments donated by Acme, Baker Street, Bredenbeck’s Bakery, Cake, Caruso’s Chestnut Hill Women’s Exchange, Genuardi’s, Metropolitan Bakery, Night Kitchen, Roller’s, Taste of Philly, and Wawa.

Thank you all very much for all your support.

The Hospitality Committee of the Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library.

Where are the priorities?

It was unconscionable. While community members waited for their issues to be discussed at the Jan. 26 meeting of the CHCA board of directors, the board secreted itself in a separate room guarded by two police officers for three hours and 15 minutes! No community business could be done until the board took care of its internal business, which was the ouster of a board member deemed unacceptable by the CHCA leadership.

Where are the priorities of this leadership? Serving the community or silencing the voice of opposition, whether it comes from the pages of the Local or a recalcitrant board member? I have to conclude they are in silencing opposition. When a board meeting begins at 10:45 p.m., after weary community members have tired of waiting to present their cases and gone home, how can this board pretend that it is serving the community? How can it do any serious business at that hour? The members of the CHCA should not stand for this kind of representation.

Mary Sue Welsh
Chestnut Hill

Peace and quiet

We would like to thank the Board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association for passing the motion that would recommend the traffic quieting measures as proposed by PennDOT at the intersection of Mermaid Lane, Winston Road and Germantown Avenue. The traffic calming measures are fundamental to allowing our streets to be neighborhoods and not a commuter’s thoroughfare

We would like to make it clear that the opinions expressed by Mr. Melton are not those of the near neighbors on Mermaid Lane. It seems that the majority of the signatures to Mr. Melton’s petition were not from the homeowners and inhabitants of Mermaid Lane and Winston Road but, in fact, from the commuters who pass through our neighborhood and contribute to the speeding and traffic. The traffic studies confirm that the majority of drivers do not obey the speed limit when driving on Mermaid Lane and Winston Road. The CHCA, the near neighbors and PennDOT, together, created a solution. We merely request that this previously agreed upon solution be implemented.

The neighbors of Mermaid Lane and Winston Road are united in our desire to have the traffic quieting measures implemented as soon as possible. We are appreciative of the Board for supporting our need for a less trafficked street, as it will have a great impact on the quality of all of our lives.

Camille Peluso Martenson
Douglas Martenson

Pleased with CHCA board

I wanted to send my thanks to the Chestnut Hill Community Board of Directors for approving the TTP recommendation for a standard 90-degree intersection with a traffic light at the intersection of Germantown Avenue, Winston Road and Mermaid Lane. My husband and I live in the vicinity of that problematic intersection with our two young sons (we actually live at the intersection of Winston Rd. and Willow Grove Ave., which is another highly dangerous intersection). We are very concerned about the traffic situation in our neighborhood. We watch cars continually run the stop signs at our corner and my husband’s parked car has been hit five times in front of our house. It is unsafe to cross the street at that intersection. Much needs to be done but the measure approved on Thursday is one step towards improving the situation.

Amy Clark
Philadelphia

Unsafe intersection

We are very happy that the Chestnut Hill Community Board of Directors in their last meeting voted to approve recommendations to make the intersection safer at Germantown Avenue, Winston Road, and Mermaid Lane. The intersection in its current configuration is a danger to motorists and pedestrians alike. We and the great majority of near neighbors strongly support making this intersection safer by introducing a traffic light and by having it configured as a standard 90-degree intersection. We think that the Board’s approval is a strong vote for the safety of our entire community. Many thanks!

David and Conny Sterner
Chestnut Hill

Mislead about intersection

I was not able to make it to last night’s meeting but even if I had (Jan. 26), I would not have been able to stay until 11 p.m., which is when the Winston Road and Germantown Avenue issue finally came up. It is my understanding that, the motion passed, but barely. It is my further understanding that Mitch Melton represented himself as representing all of us — the near neighbors.

The first time I met Mitch was at the entrance of Super Fresh, where he was asking for signatures against the closing off of Winston Road. He claimed that the local fire department was against the closing of Winston Road between Mermaid Lane and Germantown Avenue, He claimed that the fire department was concerned because the “ladder trucks” would not be able to turn and go down Mermaid Lane or Winston Road (which runs parallel) to Germantown Avenue. Instead, he was advocating a light on Mermaid Lane and Germantown Avenue.

He was very convincing and I signed his petition. I later attended a near neighbor meeting and learned that this was not true. There was no such issue with the “ladder trucks.” I also learned that Mitch was in favor of no change to the area and no light at the intersection of Mermaid Lane and Germantown Avenue. I recommend that those of us who were mislead (or misunderstood) formally retract our names from Mitch’s petition. To that end, I would like to formally retract my signature (Angela Clemente) from Mitch’s petition and prohibit the use of my name for his cause.

I voted for a new light and intersection on Winston Road and Germantown Avenue. I believe that, something needs to be done to curb the dangerous condition created by speeding cars and lack of safe pedestrian access to both sides of the street.

Speeding cars on both Winston Road and Germantown Avenue negatively impact the quality of my life in this area each and every day. Regardless of our individual stories and experiences, the fact is that speeding cars in this area go unchecked. On Germantown Avenue – from Cresheim Valley Road to Willow Grove Avenue – it is an open freeway for drivers to put the pedal to the medal and go. On Winston Road, there is nothing but open road until you get to the stop sign on Willow Grove. Do we really need a traffic engineer or study to prove to us that the majority of vehicles (cars, buses, tractor trailers) traveling in this area do not adhere to the 25 mph speed restriction? Do we need an expert to tell us that the lack of a street lights between Cresheim Valley Road and Willow Grove Avenue invites driver bad behavior?

What kind of community do we want in Chestnut Hill? Do we want the same access to both sides of the street at the bottom of the hill that we have at the top of the hill? Do we want to feel safe enough to walk (rather than drive)?

Out of control speeding and lack of safe pedestrian access to both sides of the street (at the bottom of the hill) is the key issue for me as a near neighbor and someone who hopes to be in Chestnut Hill for many years to come.

Angela Clemente
Chestnut Hill