Aliyya Swaby Photo
Clyburn: “We just want it done.”
City lawmakers finally said yes to accepting federal help to clear land for a long-awaited park in Newhallville, but likely too late to replant the land before the upcoming winter.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously Monday night to accept to to accept the help — in-kind services from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in removing invasive species — to clear land for the future park at the edge of Beaver Pond Park by Cherry Ann Street. Neighbors petitioned to turn an overgrown piece of land into a safe space for the neighborhood’s children, who otherwise play on the street. (Read about that here.)
The alders could have voted unanimously to accept that help two weeks ago, when it came up on the unanimous consent portion of the agenda at their Sept. 2 board meeting. Beaver Hills Alder Claudette Robinson-Thorpe offered the lone dissenting vote to deny approval and that and a series of other measures. She later explained she felt the city had submitted the proposals last minute, and she did not fully understand their content.
Barbara Vereen Photo
Neighbors at a recent volunteer clean-up at the park site.
Those two weeks made a difference, according to city parks chief Rebecca Bombero. She said Monday night that the park replanting, originally scheduled for the fall, will now have to wait until the spring. The Sept. 2 denial was half the reason the park replanting will be delayed, Bombero said. The city administration also bears responsibility for not submitting the proposal in time for the single Board of Alders meeting in August.
Though the park neighbors are “disappointed” at the road bump, Bombero said there is no set schedule for the project, just a “process.”
“We just want it to be done,” said Newhallville Alder Delphine Clyburn.
Proposals to proceed with construction work on three bridges, also denied unanimous votes on Sept. 2, also passed at Monday night’s board meeting. Two would authorize the city to begin construction on the George and Crown Street bridges over the Church Street Tunnel. The third would allow the city to use federal money on the Wilmot Road Bridge over Wintergreen Brook.
The bridges over the Church Street Tunnel will be complicated to engineer, said Matthew Nemerson, the city’s economic development administrator.
This is the ideal time to plant cool season grasses and properly balled shrubs and trees can go in any time if you care for them properly.
Not sure where Becky Bombero is getting her information. Or is this just a hit job on Claudette Robinson-Thorpe because she won't town the line with the union majority on the BOA?