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Sunday, August 09, 2009

Rose Garden Neighborhood Ass'n Minutes

I've told you much of the misinformation concerning the Cedar Creek Parkway comes from Allentown itself. Below are the 3/4/09 Rose Garden Neighborhood Ass'n minutes, which make clear (1) Allentown is contributing $200 thousand of its own money; (2) a 567-child playground is intended, complete with 60-minute linear games; and (3) some sort of restaurant is planned. Was the city lying then or is it lying now?

ROSE GARDEN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Steering Committee

March 4, 2009

Mayor of Allentown, Ed Palowski, was in attendance for the first part of our meeting to introduce the Allentown Director of Department of Parks and Recreation, Greg Weitzel.

Greg spoke to the Rose Garden Association steering committee for over an hour regarding new and exciting changes for the Cedar Creek Parkway.

There may be up to $1.5 million in funds to spend for renovation for the projects. The Trexler Trust would appropriate 20%, State of Pennsylvania an added $400,000.00, Lehigh County has a Green Futures Fund to draw from and The City of Allentown would put in an additional $200,000.00. There is ongoing planning to have walkways eventually in place for concurrent use between Trexler Park and Cedar Creek Park.

Points for PHASE I, made to change and enhance the existing Park which holds the beloved Rose Garden, include:

A “no mow” strategy using mixed grassed, flowers, trees and shrubs which in turn will be helpful to control flooding. This will be great environmentally and make the space a sustainable community park! $20,000.00 is being used for a commissioned study called “Mirror Ponds and Muhlenberg Lake”. Masonry will be replaced in fixing existing walls of the Mirror Ponds which are going to be dredged of several feet of sludge. Species such as turtles and koi fish will be added to the ponds once they are repaired, cleaned and refilled.

Island beds with assorted plantings are in discussion as well.

The Ott Street Bridge is going to be transformed and fixed with a hopeful $2 million federal appropriation fund being sought. This would be used to replace the old metal super-structure of the bridge along with its eroding sides. Paved trails in place of existing gravel trails to be used for biking year round as well as walking when weather permits.

Taking out and replacing the existing Fitness Posts as they stay now for a LIFE TRAIL for 55+ population exercise system which would consist of light workouts performed around the loop of trails passing the pavilion; the program was developed at Penn State. Physicians could be brought in for special seminars and health issues addressing the public on the park grounds; classes such as Tai Chi could be added.

A 6 foot wide asphalt walkway put in place to be used for wheel chairs, disabled citizens and seniors to walk to and from the pavilion. 3 new bridges built for existing ones - fashioned after the replaced one already in place. Replacement of existing wooden rose trellises with composite vinyl made from recycled material. A colored finish could be used.

A new main garden trellis - open in style - with stone pillars or wooden ones; possibly done in the deco style like in Union Terrace. The city has an arborist on duty now. Since alarming statistics are out about child obesity (a 40% rate) a new playground is being planned for in Cedar Beach. This playground would be built out of flood’s way and have a capacity of 567 kids, ideally planned for ages 5-12. Discussion included how kids are disconnected from physical activity due to thriving technology which tends to compete for time that could be well spent competing against one another in active games and fun sport activities!

A new gym-style playground is going to be in placed called NEOS. It has musical and linear games up to 60 minutes in length that will encourage shared activity and exercise. SURFACE AMERICA will be furnishing the equipment; it has rubberized surfacing. PHASE II plans include:

Muhlenberg Lake is the “hot potato” in planning. It has major concerns consisting of a large geese population that has polluted the water and close to the new playground that will be built. Liability for children is a huge factor the way it stands now. Thoughts are to to drain it back, reshape it and link it to the existing stream which would make it environmentally friendly as well. Studies of what to do for the Lake will be heavy in cost and more than likely done by the Conservation District and the Army Corps of Engineers. A “City Wide Trail Feasibility Study” needs to be conducted. For more information go to Greenways.com/Allentown

Conversation came up regarding a reformation of the Park and Recreation building on the ground to a restaurant! Taking the building down to its studs and adding decorative details to the stoneware; a new kitchen made available for possible events such as catering for weddings and different parties was brought to the table as well. Fun ideas such as al fresco dining, a coffee shop, or even healthy choice refreshments were mentioned, too!

Anyone interested to volunteer for assisting in filing and managing historical papers in the Park and Recreation building? Contact Greg Weitzel at: weitzel@allentowncity.org.

The main goal is to get our parks used and enjoyed by all!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You mean to tell me Lehigh County is part of this turkey? Who would have authorized the use of the available County dollars for this project?

I have to believe there are many more deserving projects than the destruction of one of the last beautiful reminders of what was once Allentown.

I didnot realize that the County was a partner in Pawlowski's new didaster.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Lehigh County AND Allentown City, which is CONTRARY to what the Mayor claims now.

michael molovinsky said...

it is my understanding that to this point the county has contributed between 400,000 to 500,000 dollars.

it is my understanding that the association is headed by the wife of malcolm gross, who is interconnected with pawlowski in multiple ways.

the grass roots opposition is interesting because it formed in spite of pawlowski setting up multiple cover support; rose garden neighborhood assn., friends of the parks, environmental advisory committee, and even the wildlands conservancy

LVCI said...

Countdown: 3 days away from the meeting and still no "updated plans" to no one!

Anonymous said...

Why wouldn't D-County executive who wants to win re-election
partner with a D-City mayor?

Anonymous said...

Bernie,
Can you find out more?

MM said, "It is my understanding that to this point the county has contributed between 400,000 to 500,000 dollars."

monkey momma said...

These minutes are quite the smoking gun, aren't they???

I take it the minutes didn't record any objections to the proposals.

I do hope these minutes are brought to the meeting on the 13th and discussed. Obviously, the mayor has been caught in an out-and-out lie, and I really cannot fathom how he plans to get out of this now.

Anonymous said...

i'm as skeptical of the mayor as anybody at this point, but want to point out that the meeting was 6 months ago. details such as funding sources can and do change in these kinds of projects. they are, in fact, very fluid and often times don't become clear until the end of the state fiscal year (june). So I'm not convinced there were lies told in March, rather. Are the facts the same today as they were in march? I doubt it but not b/c somebody was telling lies.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 8:52, MM made that claim. He probably has the details.

Bernie O'Hare said...

OK, I could understand a change in funding. But the mayor is also incredulous that anyone could think this was a 567 child playground. As indicated, much of the "misinformation" comes from the city.

Anonymous said...

The county couldn't have given any money because one of the mothers in favor of the project spoke both last and the week before and said the entire project is being funded by the Trexler Trust.