January 28, 2025 Meeting Minutes

Merion Civic Association Board Meeting

January 28, 2025, 7:30pm

Directors in Attendance:

Eileen Bruckman, Scott Feuer, Les Greenberg, Melanie Schafmeister, Li Halpern, Craig Oliner, Karla Moras, Susan Guthrie, Kevin Murphy, Bruce Eisenberg, Renee Hill, Brian Gordon, Mitchell Cooper, Carol Lavoritano

Guests: Todd Sinai, Dottie Brown, Larry Brown, Alice Cheng, Fred Blum

·      Eileen Bruckman and Scott Feuer opened the meeting at 7:45 pm, after activating the heat and fireplace. They introduced Todd Sinai, President of the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners and representing Merion (Ward 12).  A professor of real estate at Penn, Todd discussed why he does the job he does, why people choose to live where they do, and major characteristics that make Lower Merion successful.

·      Successful locales are true to their identity as a place. Two thirds of LM residents were born outside of Pennsylvania. A major reason why people choose LM is the schools-more school spending produces better outcomes.

·      Actions reflect local identity. People want to live near people who want the same things-sidewalks, restaurants, sustainability, etc. A lot of towns that succeed have a lot of college educated people, who have better incomes and want amenities, so housing prices go up-success leads to unaffordability.

·      Successful towns accommodate respect for what others want: traffic matters to people on quiet streets more than people on busy streetsà locate new development so traffic goes to busy streets.  Some people like density; some don’t.

·      Pandemic changes: More work from home; people want bigger houses, more coffee shops, restaurants, gyms, etc., to replace what was part of the workplace.

·      How can LM deliver? For schools, parks, policing, sustainability-be good at what most people want. For walkability, promote destination downtowns and what we do well. Provide a place that people who are spending more time locally will want to be. Support the overall gestalt in a sustainable way.

·      Q&A-general response is to move in the direction that the people want.

·      Minutes of the November 2024 meeting were approved as corrected.

Treasurer’s Report-Kevin Murphy

·      Current balance in the treasury is $54,266.16

·      The biggest expense is the station flower boxes, at approximately $10,000 (see further discussion below)

·      Approximately $44,000 is available for expenses going forward-we are comfortable with finances.

Federation of Civics-Karla Moras

·      City Ave District CEO Bryan Fenstermaker was the speaker; he has a marketing orientation. There are no new answers on Bala Ave. construction. The District will be involved with St Charles development since the District extends to Lancaster Ave. A need for hotels was indicated in an economic study. No comments on densification. Mr. Fenstermaker will be the March Merion Civic Assn speaker-note that March meeting is moved to Wednesday.

·      No new news on St Charles development.

·      Arnold field lighting per agreement with Wynnewood Civic is on hold due to funding limits; agreement remains in place.

Merion Community Coalition-Alice Cheng

·      City Ave underpass lane closures will be done in 2 weeks.

·      LM Township will be updating institutional zoning. St. Joe’s master plan will be released after that, possibly in June.  Many questions remain, September was suggested for review.

·      Joe Kender of St. Joe’s will be the MCA February speaker

St. Charles Seminary

·      Main Line Health has held tours to promote their plans. Nothing beyond previous discussion.

School Board-Melanie Schafmeister

·      Arnold Field lighting agreement is in place and in the Capital Plan

·      Frank Ranelli has been named the new superintendent. He is from NJ and will start in April

Fire and Safety-Kevin Murphy

·      Community Watch had 50 people sign up for patrols-good turnout.

·      Kevin will be leaving the Union Fire Company Board.

Streets/potholes-Renee Hill

·      Some potholes have been filled, but the snow will bring more

·      Questions on bricks on Merion Rd-Eileen to follow up with Todd Sinai

Station and Grounds-Scott Feuer

·      Work is starting on the new window boxes at the station.  The cost is estimated at $ 17,270 for 21 boxes. The new material will last 50 years.  The existing boxes are seriously deteriorated and cannot be reused. Existing brackets will be used.

·      A motion to allocate an additional $5000 beyond what has been raised to the boxes was passed.

·      Signs are up at the station and information is on the website; additional donations are still coming in.

Old Business

·      The dues letter went out in December; $7600 of $9000 budgeted has come in to date.

New Business

·      Rachel DeChurch will be the new clerical support person.  She has expertise in social media.

·      The Cars and Trucks event is scheduled for April 27; the Flag Day concert is June 12.

·      Former Director Harriet Lam recently passed away at age 97. MCA will send a card.

·      Fred Blum raised a concern about the proliferation of roadside signs-there is only one police officer assigned to signs.

·      The next Civic Association is scheduled for February 25, 2025 at 7:30 pm.

·      The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.

Post meeting follow up from Todd Sinai provided by Eileen Bruckman

Merion Road: I asked Public Works to cost out various approaches to Merion Road (redo the brick, pave, etc), just to have data to work off of.  I have not yet heard back...  Nothing else has happened.

Street sign proliferation:  I asked the Township Manager to look into it.  He says there are two things going on: (a) PennDOT has increased its requirements about signs, leading to more signs in some circumstances.  (Municipalities in theory can ignore PennDOT's rules but then if there is an accident, the Township gets sued over inadequate signage.)  (b) When old signs are replaced with new signs, which are more visible and reflective because they are not old and faded, people notice them and think they are new.   If there are signs that people think are "too much" or unnecessary, just send me an email with a picture and a location and I can send it to TSU to see if they can be removed.

Merion Road: The current traffic calming policy would not allow speed humps on Merion Road.  Having said that, I created a new Ad Hoc Traffic Calming Committee to revisit the policy in light of the positive experience the Township has had to see what else/what more we can do.  That Committee was slow in getting started because we waited until a new Police Superintendent had been hired, but it's under way now.

Eileen noted that it is best the MCA waits to find out cost concerns regarding Merion Road paving before opening the question up to the larger Merion community. She has asked Todd to follow up when he gets more info. 

As for the signs, please get back to Eileen with any specific concerns and she will forward them onto Todd.