Last Night’s City Council Meeting: Save The Parks

Alright, first things first – The Trail Network Study:

The plan was given the green light by City Council by a vote of 5 to 2.  Before you light a torch or grab a pitchfork, a very important and telling amendment was added.   Before I get to that though, I want to remind my readers that I have and always have supported this plan.

As long as each plan is up for public debate before any construction takes place.

And,

That the environmental issues plaguing our park system are addressed first or concurrently.

That said, Councilman Donovan introduced an amendment to the resolution that was edited brilliantly by Councilman Schweyer.  This amendment guarantees that before any construction takes place, an official public hearing is to take place.  Councilman Donovan made it abundantly clear that he was upset over the manner in which the Cedar Beach construction planning process was handled, and he vehemently criticized the work as it currently appears.  This amendment is the most important part of the trail plan’s passage.

This ensures that inclusive and rigorous public debate will take place each time a section is passed.  Before dismissing this amendment, the first part of the trail plan went for approval last evening.  The approval was to happen in order for the city to apply for the grant needed to fund the project.

Greg Weitzel, who supported the idea of public hearings, was immediately reminded by Councilman Schweyer that if the funding is secured, a public hearing will take place before anything else goes on.

Council President Mike D’Amore made it very clear that as a representative body of the voices of the citizens of Allentown, that such things were necessary.

City Council is doing this the right way and I congratulate them for it.

In addition, three grant approvals were passed by City Council last evening that will allow the city to apply for grant funding for a renovation of Stevens Park, an expansion of Jackson Street Park and the creation of a new park on a former PPL parking lot at 9th and Turner.  That last park is great news, and will add a sorely needed green space to a highly urbanized area.  Both Greg Weitzel and Mike D’Amore were very clear about the necessity of such projects and I very much support it.  

I am meeting with Greg Weitzel on Friday and I will hopefully be able to share the master plans for those new park developments on Remember afterwards; I will definitely get as much information as I can and share it with you right away. I certainly have alot of questions, we all do.  Feel free to leave me questions and I will try to get them answered during our meeting.

Following the intense debate of the Donovan amendment and the subsequent approval of the Schweyer edit, the public was allowed to speak their opinion regarding the project.  I spoke and because of the debate, I had to abandon the previously written statement because a lot of it was covered already. 

Flying by the seat of my pants, I told Council that there are serious environmental issues that need immediate attention in all of our parks right away.  I told them that before any work can be done on this Trail Plan that these issues need addressing. I mentioned the construction at Cedar Beach and told them that it is environmentally dangerous  I reminded them that the situation is dire across the entire system, and that we are in danger of losing our parks permanently.  Closing my statement, I extended an invitation to any councilmember to accompany me on a walk in any of our parks so that I could show them what was really going on. 

I extend that invitation to Council again today, and I also extend that invitation to anyone who has any kind of questions regarding the parks.

While no new resolution was passed to help achieve my goal of Saving The Parks, it is my belief that last night our City Council took a major step forward in the control of future park developments.  Public input is now guaranteed. If this is truly followed through, and I believe it will be, this was a great thing to happen to the public with regards to City Council.

What this amendment also does is makes sure we all stay involved.  When these drafts come to hearing we have to get our voices out there and make sure that the right things happen both aesthetically and environmentally. I will post every meeting, hearing or otherwise right here on Remember and if you need a ride, I will find you one. If we stay involved, and join or voices together, we can use these hearings to make sure that the parks are saved from the conditions they are in today.

As I said above, I will be meeting with Greg Weitzel on Friday and expect a full interview regarding Cedar Beach and the entire park system this weekend. (Hopefully including the details of the plans to fix the WPA steps by Fountain Park and in Irving Park.  Greg told Molovinsky that the work was to be done this year, we’ll see)

The work is just beginning.  We will save the parks. 

Before I go, last night I was appointed by City Council to the vacant seat on the Environmental Advisory Committee for the City of Allentown.  The vote was 7-0.  I want to thank Council for my approval and allowing me this great opportunity to start doing the work needed to be done.  Nothing I write on here will ever have anything to do with the EAC, I just wanted to let you folks know.  I am very excited and humbled by Council’s words and decision.

Save The Parks.