Dealware Freiendly's 2

Delaware Friendly's

Residents get friend in zoning dispute -- Page 1 -- TimesUnion.com

Residents get friend in zoning dispute -- Page 1 -- TimesUnion.com

In case you haven't seen this... the folks over in Defreetsville just received some good news. Eliot Spitzer "filed a friend of the court brief Monday with the state Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments on a town zoning dispute June 8."

I wonder if he would be willing to take on Jennings' crew over the Holland Ave fiasco.

Just for the record... (graffiti issue)

I was out on my bike this evening (thursday May 25). Is the graffiti on the old Friendly's new? Between 11:00pm and 11:30pm I witnessed three African American youths (could have been young adults viewed from my age) hanging around the front of the building. They were liesurely walking around and I noticed the graffiti. Was it new? I don't know as I didn't notice before. One was heavy set. The other two were thinner. I remember two of them wearing rather common caps and probably all three. Two wore long red t-shirs and had caps that had red as well. The third was not so uniform. Very common appearance. Was the graffiti theirs? I don't know. Kids are on the street all over.

Pretty bold graffiti on Ada's. We should all spend some time on the street at night.

Big Time Grafitti

Did everyone see the grafitti above Ada's on the corner of Hurlbut and Delaware? I tried calling DGS a couple of time today, but nobody answered the phone. (Early start on the memorial day weekend perhaps.) I'll try again tomorrow. If anyone else has time to call, here's the number 434-CITY .

LIbrary Location and Delaware Avenue Development

I have heard recently from a couple of sources and I understand it was discused at a Library meeting last evening that the new proposed location for the Delaware Avenue Library will be the Chicorelli Funeral Home building. I understand it still has to be approved, perhaps by a public vote later this year, but plans are well in place. That will be a real boost for the Barclay, Hurlbut, Bertha, Federal section of Delaware Avenue.

It is my understanding too that a committee has been appointed by the Mayor to oversee a plan for physical attention to Delaware Avenue. This will include lighting and walk ways and a host of other issues. The committee has not met yet nor made an announcement of its presence but this has great importance to the Neighborhood Watch and its development of a strategic plan. It is important that ideas be formulated soon and thoughtfully so that these ideas can have an impact on other planning that may be going forward.

I have also downloaded the BID material. I have also discussed the idea with several people. While the idea meets with general approval there are a ton of issues that make it less attractive. The first, of course, being the tax that would be required to support it. There are no where near the number of businesses on Delaware Avenue as there are on Central Avenue or Downtown. Such a tax would have to be high to create an effective pool of funds to create even the most basic aspects of a BID entity. High additional taxes are never a good idea and can be a discouragement to businesses. It is my understanding that it would need to be created by the Common Council which would have some challenges. Depending on how the BID is styled it might be entirely in one ward. While brining some resources to the table it is important to note that generally resources are scare. A BID organization would be another layer of bureaucracy around some issues. It would seem that the shortest way to some of the goals that a BID might want to address would be to create a Neighborhood Business Association or a Business Committee of the Neighborhood Association. This is not much of a stretch because a BID board would have to address many of the questions that such an association would address but without the overhead or mandatory taxes. A voluntary membership fee that would be attached to tangible results and benefits would encourage membership.

Bike to work day - This Friday

This Friday the 19th is Bike to Work Day. You may see more than the usual number of cyclists actually enjoying the commute this Friday if the rain lets up.

Here is the official site for National Bike Month. http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/

It's interesting to note that students and staff at Waterford-Halfmoon School have organized their 3rd annual Bike to School Day. More here http://bike.whhw.org/

Happy pedalling!

Link to BID Information - Worth a Read

This is the link to the BID information that was offered by Ms. Feldman (Bad As Art). The document, should you desire to download it as a .pdf, is right below the introductory paragraph. I am finding this document very interesting.

It is my understanding that this blog sometimes goes beyond the scope of safety and neighborhood watch issues, and this is a relevant topic - especially in light of our being a part of the city's broader Midtown Plan.

I look forward, again, to seeing your ideas regarding the NW.

Brainstorming for Neighborhood Watch Strategy

The beauty of this era of communication is we can do a lot of brainstorming and outreaching online. As I brought up the idea of a strategic plan for a neighborhood watch, it is incumbent on me to get things jump-started. So, here goes:

As a first step, can we agree to target the next meeting date June 8, 6 p.m. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but this is the time right before the DANA meeting.

As a second step, feel free to post in the comments section any general ideas of what you believe you want this group - the neighborhood watch to do, what you know for a fact it is supposed to do, what outcomes you think it can achieve, etc. This is rudimentary brainstorming, and it is a first step. Hopefully, Matt will also find time to offer his professional insights into what we should be doing.

The third step would be to take these ideas and put them in some sort of framework. I can try and do that, but knowing how busy folk are, I won't do that for a few weeks.

Does this sound like the making of a plan?

Also, feel free to e-mail me (FordMcLain@gmail.com), with questions, comments, etc. In interest of fairness to the users of this site, it is recommended that ideas be shared in the open, but I leave the e-mail option there anyway. We also need to find a way to reach out to individuals who are not computer oriented, otherwise we risk being too exclusive (someone else made this point, and I concur).

Thank you and have a good week. I'll touch base in a week or so.

Plant sale and neighborhood clean up

Apologies in advance for anyone who has already received this.

Louise put out an email about the plant sale and neighborhood cleanup. See below:

This Saturday, May 13 is the Delaware Area plant sale and neighborhood
clean up - both will start at St. James Church parking lot on Delaware
Avenue.

As you may recall, we need a stalwart group who knows something about
plants to get to St. James Church parking lot at 7 or 7:15 am to sort out the
plant orders on Saturday morning. The sale starts at 9 am.

At 9:00 am, the neighborhood clean up will start. We will also meet at St. James
parking lot and then pick up trash, weed, clip, etc. I know the Boy Scout
troop will be helping us that day, so we need to think of some areas we’d like
to see cleaned up.

Ford, that is an excellent statement.

Thank you, Ford for that very good statement of what is needed. I hope that we can work out something soon. Getting it together in the off election season allows it to be a non-political floor or starting point for all other discussion.

Will it be possible to have a method for people to participate who cannot attend (or find it difficult to attent) meetings?

ps

Strategic Plan and Positive Vision for the Neighborhood Watch

Based on a few listserve e-mails I received (and sent) and the posting that I've read from May 1, I would like to propose that the next Neighborhood Watch meeting be spent developing a strategic plan and articulating a positive vision for the watch and for our little corner of the community.

We have so much going for us now, especially with new businesses on Delaware Avenue, and it would be tragic to not capitalize on this momentum going into the summer.

We could structure a strategic plan in terms of the types of outcomes we'd like to see: cleaner streets, safer passages for children, reduction in graffiti, increase in pedestrian traffic over the summer. We could also articulate these ideals and distribute fliers within our desired catchment area.

The bottom line is, we must be for something, not against someone (e.g., Scavo or street punks) or something (urban blight, crime). That is what will attract individuals, ideas and resources to our area.

Feedback urged.

Scavo Takes Credit

I was in the grocery store - the Hannaford in Elsmere - and who do I see but Brian Scavo. "Hi Brian" the conversation goes. It quickly got into his rapid fire questions like "Do you think that Eva Joseph is the right person for her job?" I think that's an inappropriate question, personally. It is a real side track from trying to get to the solutions for the many issues of the school district. He said "Don't you think the new school (School 18) is ugly? They could have rehabbed the old school for half the cost..." Finally(and this is the part that I thought would be of most interst to the blogger community here) I asked what ever happened to those troublesome kids on Barclay Street? "Oh, I got them moved out of there. I took care of them", he said as though no one else did a thing. "If you need anything just come see me...", he walked off.

Funny, that's not the way I remember reading about it. Seems there were lots of people involved in getting them to move along.

At another time I saw him in the supermarket he indicated he planned to run for something else. The next time I see him I will try to communicate to him that there was a broader community that worked on getting those folks to move and that while his efforts may have contributed they were not solo. I hope everybody else doe the same. I would hope that some how we could save ourselves a lot of trouble by dissuading him from running for any office.

Perhaps someone could primary him in his own Law and Order party.