Grant could help pave Stony Creek lot

LANSDALE >> A grant application up for council approval this week could help pave the way, pun intended, for a major upgrade to a town park.

Councilwoman Mary Fuller reported earlier this month on a grant application coming through council that could fund paving of the parking lot at Stony Creek Park.

“Some of the people who like to walk there are having, we’re finding, some difficulty maneuvering on a stone lot, some of the older residents,” she said.

“The stone has been there so long that it’s already packed down, so it’s already considered impervious,” Fuller said.

During the parks and recreation committee meeting on

May 5, parks Director Karl Lukens told that group that he and his staff are asking council to apply for state grant funds to pave that parking lot, and possibly install a rain garden nearby or in part of the lot to help with stormwater runoff requirements. Early estimates are that the total project cost would be roughly $480,000, of which the borough could be on the hook for roughly 15 percent if the grant is approved, he said.

“This is going to save us a lot of time. All winter, when we plow that, we’re pushing the stones left and right,” Lukens said.

“And then, from tires turning to get in and out, they create ruts, so we’re constantly going out and filling those in. And that particular park, there is a large clientele that come there and walk, by themselves, or with their dogs, and they could probably use a steadier ground underneath them,” he said.

The grant application was voted ahead by the parks committee to full council, as were two other items related to work at that same park. A change order for the now-open Liberty Bell Trail extension through Stony Creek Park off of Hancock Street has been vetted by the borough engineer and should yield savings of roughly $9,000, and a final payment for $87,000 has been requested by the contractor that installed the new trail extension.

May 22 block party, Founders Day plans

Two events could be approved this week, one a borough tradition and another a new one for 2021.

Council could approve the town’s annual Founders Day festivities slated for Aug. 28, along with a new event being organized by the Stove and Tap restaurant this Saturday.

“Stove and Tap is looking to close Wood Street, next to their space, on Saturday, May 22nd for a summer kickoff celebration,” said councilwoman Meg Currie Teoh.

“You’ll recall they did similar events last summer, where they closed the block and had sort of had a beer garden out there — they did say they intend it to be similar to last year,” she said.

Located at the corner of Main and Wood Streets, Stove and Tap secured permission from council to use that portion of Wood Street for outdoor dining for much of summer 2020, due to COVID pandemic restrictions in place at the time. With those rules now receding, the restaurant has now announced plans for an “Almost Summer” block party from noon to 9 p.m. on May 22, with a portion of proceeds from the event going to NAMI, the National Alliance for Mental Health, in honor of national mental health awareness month. The restaurant will offer food and drink specials all day, with live music by Tony Alosi from noon to 3 p.m. and by the Big Willy Band from 6 to 9 p.m., according to an event listing on their Facebook page.

Currie Teoh told council on May 5 that borough police and the public safety committee, which she chairs, had vetted the event application and voted it ahead to full council, with conditions.

“The first being, like last summer, we expect there will be vehicle protections in place,” such as barriers to keep those dining on the street safe from traffic.

A second event also up for council approval has been on the town’s calendar for a decade now: the annual Founders Day celebrations slated for August 28. Plans are still being finalized by local nonprofit Discover Lansdale, which sponsors the event, “but we can tell you now: fireworks will return,” according to Discover.

“It was a robust application, with all mitigation plans covered — they may or may not be necessary now, but they’re there, so very exciting,” Teoh said.

‘North Penn HUB’

Teoh also reported on an effort being developed by local police, nonprofits and officials to share resources via one central ‘hub.’

“As reforms in policing have progressed over the last year or so, it’s become increasingly clear to just about everyone that there is a need for a higher degree of mental health resource coordination with law enforcement,” she said.

A local committee was informally formed last fall ahead of the opening of the town’s Code Blue shelter, Teoh said, and the outgrowth of those talks has resulted in what’s now being called the “North Penn HUB,” a monthly meeting of law enforcement, service providers, and other community resources, discussing ways they can work together.

“It’s just a whole range of folks, all together in one room, and it’s a really powerful meeting,” Teoh said.

“The information sharing is incredibly valuable, as is the relationship development, and strengthening, that is happening at each of these meetings,” she said.

With winter now over, that group is continuing to meet and develop new plans, such as potential partnerships between the police and local nonprofits and services to find ways to reach out to local households “in a non-crisis moment, just to sort of make sure that relationship is established beforehand,” Teoh said.

“If something were to escalate, there’s already some groundwork laid, to make sure it’s addressed in a more appropriately-managed way,” she said.

That group is currently being coordinated by Dave Pelzer, the police department’s community service officer, and Teoh said the next step of the group’s activities could be coordinating with counterparts on a county level to expand the footprint of collaboration.

“While larger cities are able to do things like hire social workers to be on staff, that’s not really necessarily to an appropriate scale for Lansdale,” she said.

“So we’ve been exploring the notion of creating a tighter resource partnership,” which could lead to joint event responses, training and more: “The thinking is, rather than reinvent the wheel, and add another layer, why not maximize the available resources we have?”

Electric department thinking winter decor

Councilwoman Carrie Hawkins Charlton gave an update from the borough’s electric committee that that department is doing a little holiday shopping early.

“We’re actually looking forward to replacing our holiday decorations. We’re not sure how old they are; we think some of them moved from the old power plant in 1971,” she said.

Each year electric department crews adorn the town’s light poles with decorative holiday lights, but the fixtures have deteriorated and light bulbs have failed over the years. The electric department included roughly $30,000 in its 2021 budget for new decorations, Hawkins Charlton told council, and has started to look into modern fixtures to decorate parts of Main Street, Railroad Avenue, Broad Street, and possibly Valley Forge Road.

Staff have also provided early calculations on the costs of operating several electric vehicle charging stations powered by Lansdale Electric around town, Hawkins Charlton said. Since the charging stations were installed in summer 2019, the borough has spent just shy of $3,800 or about $172 per month for just over 50,000 kilowatts used to power electric vehicles, and the three busiest charging stations have been those at borough hall, the borough electric department offices on Ninth Street, and at the Madison Parking Lot.

“We’re estimating about a quarter to a third are probably, most likely, borough vehicles, especially at the electric service station and also at borough hall, for the code enforcement vehicles,” she said.

Council also heard an update on a project on the 500 block of Green Street that could prompt the town to turn over part of a paper street to a private homeowner.

According to borough Director of Community Development Jason Van Dame, the owner of 512 Green Street is currently planning to develop a quad unit there, and has acquired their half of “Swinton Street,” which exists only on paper.

“They were able to acquire their half of the paper street. The borough had actually passed an ordinance to close that section of the street. It was never developed, so that property did ultimately revert to the adjoining properties there,” he said.