Bridesburg hears about EPA grant
A community meeting organized by City Councilman Bobby Henon (D-6th dist.) to provide information to Bridesburg residents about an environmental grant given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Philadelphia’s City Planning Commission was sparsely attended, according to neighbors.
The EPA announced in April that the city of Philadelphia would be one of 20 cities across the nation to receive a $200,000 grant to assist with planning the clean up and re-use of brownfields (contaminated former industrial sites).
The three specific brownfields that this grant will target are the former Philadelphia Coke Company site at 4501 Richmond St., the former Rohm and Haas factory at 5000 Richmond St. (both in Bridesburg), and the Edgewater Dyeing and Finishing Company site in Frankford.
While this planning grant will rely on community input about the future of these sites, neighbors on the Bridesburg Facebook page complained that few neighbors attended, and many had not heard about it in advance.
A committee to investigate the brownfields will begin research into the sites in March 2014 and spend two years studying potential re-uses for these unused pieces of land. During that time a website will be created to keep the community updated. ••
Scammer sighted posing as Fishtown AC member
Neighbors last week said that they saw, yet again, a scammer going from door to door in the River Wards asking for donations, pretending to be a member of the Fishtown Athletic Club.
Sightings of this scammer, or unknown scammers pulling off the same scam, date back at least to 2010.
The Fishtown AC does not actually engage in any door-to-door fundraisers, except an occasional coin drive, which would be held by uniformed sports players and their coach.
Neil Brecher of the River Wards Crime Watch posted an alert about the Fishtown AC scammer in August on the Fishtown.us message board.
A neighbor posted on Fishtown.us on Thursday that they had just turned away a person purporting to be collecting donations for the Fishtown AC.
Anyone who sees the Fishtown AC scammer is urged to call 911 and to either photograph him or get a description of his appearance.
You can also email any information about the scammer to the River Wards Crime Watch at info@rw-cw.org. ••
NoLibs’ Piazza will have ice rink this winter
The Piazza at Schmidt’s in Northern Liberties will have a 5,000-square-foot ice skating rink this winter.
The rink will open on Saturday, Nov. 30, with a grand opening, including live music, holiday shopping and a tree lighting ceremony, on Monday, Dec. 2.
The rink will be open to the public weekdays from 4 to 11 p.m., and weekends from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Skating sessions will cost $5 per adult, $3 per child, and $1 per skate rental. An adult season pass costs $75, and a child season pass costs $40.
It will be closed on Sunday, Feb. 23, after the end of the Socchi 2014 Winter Olympics. ull;•
