Last month, Hill residents found the playground area behind the former Blossom Philadelphia building on Mermaid Lane littered with tires. Those tires have been cleaned up. (Photo by Kevin Kurtz)

by Brendan Sample

After community outrage over dozens of tires being illegally dumped on 102 E. Mermaid Ln., the board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association announced at its meeting on Thursday, March 28, that the tires had been cleared from the premises.

Blossom Philadelphia, owner of the property, was able to clear the tires in mid-March. Though communication with Blossom has been limited, CHCA Executive Director Anne McNiff stated at the meeting that the company would likely be implementing measures to ensure that something like this does not happen again, including placing security cameras with warning signs on the property.

McNiff also announced a new date for the upcoming Meet the Candidates Night on Wednesday, May 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Covenant Church, 7500 Germantown Ave.

The event will be a collaboration between the CHCA, West Mt. Airy Neighbors and East Mt. Airy Neighbors, and will look to feature candidates for Mayor, City Council, City Commissioner, Sheriff and judge. While there will not be any formal debates, local residents will still be able to take time to ask questions of the candidates during Q&A sessions.

“We hope to have a couple hundred people attend,” McNiff said. “I think this is a really nice partnership, and hopefully we’ll do more things like this in the future.”

Phil Dawson, Executive Director of the Chestnut Hill Business District, was on hand to provide several CHBD updates. He confirmed that after receiving requests from CHBD members, the District will be instituting year-round tree lighting on Germantown Avenue instead of just restricting it to holiday seasons. The contractor for the lights will return in early April to turn them on again, at which point they will stay on every evening.

On the parking side of the district, the Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation received a competitive grant from Weavers Way to install at least one electrical car charging station in a neighborhood lot. The exact location, date and quantity have yet to be determined, but Dawson said they were planning to have at least one ready to go in the fall.

The Board also looked ahead to the end of the Annual Appeal, which was set to conclude on Sunday, March 31 but has since been extended to Sunday, April 14. At the time of the meeting, the campaign had raised a little more than $45,000. Board members remained optimistic that a final push in the last days of the appeal would allow them to meet the budget goal of $55,000. Board members’ participation in the campaign was also estimated at approximately 80 percent at the time of the meeting.

The next CHCA Board of Directors meeting is set for 7 p.m., Thursday, April 26. Brendan Sample can be reached at brendan@chestnuthilllocal.com or 215-248-8819.