Council hears more concerns about Afton Ave. streetscape

YARDLEY BOROUGH – Concerns about the Afton Avenue Streetscape once again topped the discussion at the council meeting on Dec. 4.

A local resident, Michele Sharer, told council members that the work on the patio is “unsafe” and “unacceptable.” Sharer owns the house on the opposite bank from the patio and the Old Library.

Sharer, along with Donna Hilton, president of the Friends of Lake Afton, said the edge of the patio, which abuts the bluestone base of the patio, creates an unsafe situation. In their opinion, the patio is too high and the edging is too low.

Hilton stressed that the project will be very attractive once it is done, but supported Sharer’s concerns about the patio.

Sharer showed councilmembers pictures of the area in question and described, in her opinion, what makes the patio such a worry.

“Instead of the patio surface being relatively flat up to and including the edge of the stone wall edge, the bluestone is anywhere from one inch to 2 1/8 inches above the stone wall edge,” Sharer said.

She said once you reach the end of the bluestone area, the surface dips down as much as 2 1/8 inches and then continues on for another 2 feet or so before reaching the edge of the wall.

Sharer, who walks with a cane, said this is a concern for everyone.

“It’s definitely a safety issue - for disabled people as well as those who are not disabled,” she said. The project along West Afton Avenue is designed to be handicapped accessible.

The new patio is located east of the Old Library by Lake Afton. The patio is flush with the lake where there was previously a dirt landing with a packed dirt surface and old railroad ties bracing the landing.

Councilman Mike Ruttle, who is coordinating the project for the borough, said after the council meeting that he met recently with Hilton and residents who own lakeside property.

“It went well,” he said. “The residents here [tonight] still have issues. They’re substantial. But we had a good conversation.

Ruttle said he left the conversation confi- dent that both sides understand the other’s position.

“[They know] that I have more to do with this grant than just … the lake and the walkway around the lake and the old library,” Ruttle said. “I’ve got all the paths and the curbs down by the Yardley Inn [at the intersection of East Afton Avenue and River Road].” Ruttle was referring to a $1 million grant from PECO dedicated to the streetscape project.

Ruttle also said that removing all potential for hazardous situations on the patio is next to impossible. He ticked off potential fixes – including a capstone, retaining wall, fence and railing – and followed each with an accompanying problem. He also said the worries, while legitimate, are based only in theory. Sharer had said a handicapped person in a wheelchair could fall into the lake if the edging remains lower than the patio itself.

“No matter what you do, it’s going to be a hazard,” Ruttle said of the patio. “Unless you put in a three- foot retaining wall or a fence, you’re still going to have a ‘theoretical hazard’. No one’s ever fallen in. It’s a theoretical worry. If you put a fence or a railing in, it will look like hell. No matter how it’s done, there will be someone who will find a reason not to like it. Every reason is legitimate.”

Meanwhile, there will be no construction in front of the Yardley Inn from Dec. 21 to gan. 1 because of the holiday season, when the owners need access to their property. The inn is located at East Afton Avenue (Route 332) and River Road (Route 32). The work will move further west during that nearly two-week stretch.

Crosswalks and curbing will be added there when the cold weather breaks because concrete cannot be poured if it is too cold.

In other news, the council voted unanimously to apply for a $10,000 Green Region Open Space grant from PECO, which would help purchase the Fitzgerald Summer Funeral Home property on Delaware Ave., one of the borough’s last open spaces.

The borough could add the funds from the PECO grant to money it will receive through the Delaware Riverfront and Municipal Open Space Program grants that were approved by the Bucks County Commissioners in November.