CHCA joins push for quick repairs to Cresheim Valley Drive

by JAMES STURDIVANT

The Chestnut Hill Community Association's board of directors voted on Sept. 23 to draft a letter to Pennsylvania Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum requesting immediate funds to repair Cresheim Valley Drive.

CHCA president Maxine Dornemann asked the board to approve a motion "strongly requesting that funds go through the proper channels to get Cresheim Valley Drive fixed."

The motion passed unanimously and inspired heated discussion on the best course of action to ensure that Cresheim Valley, a key artery linking the Montgomery County suburbs with Lincoln Drive in Mount Airy, is repaired soon. The road has been closed between Lincoln Drive and Germantown Avenue since an Aug. 1 rainstorm eroded the stream bank alongside its edges, causing cracks and depressions to develop in the asphalt.

Stating his desire to avoid "another Germantown Avenue bridge situation," Board member Sanjiv Jain suggested that a committee be appointed to spearhead the effort and that the association should pursue multiple avenues in attempting to resolve the matter.

"I would suggest that you feel comfortable taking that resolution as broadly as you need to," he told Dornemann after the vote.

Board member Betsy Masters said that she had spoken with a representative from State Senator Allyson Schwartz's office who also recommended writing letters to public officials, including members of city council.

"This is an emergency situation," board member Joe Prividi said. "You are detouring rush hour traffic from Montgomery County through our homes." He added that the city should be convinced to "fix it now and be reimbursed later."

Committee reports

In other business, Dornemann reported that Black and White Gala unofficially pulled in a total of $35,000, an amount greater than last year but below what organizers of the fundraising event had hoped for. Any suggestion that the gala was less than a full success was, however, quickly dispelled by board members, who emphasized that proceeds grew despite terrible weather from the remnants of hurricane Ivan and the loss of a silent auction item from last year.
"We were about 20 percent above profitability from last year on a day that was a rain-out. I think that's fabulous," Jain said.

Board member Stewart Graham presented a resolution "recognizing and honoring and thanking" the gala organizers, which stated in part that the board was "grateful for -- and in awe of -- the talented, hard-working and dedicated co-chairs, Leigh Filippini and Suzanne Lentz," that "fortune evidently smiles on this event, since it was snatched from ignominious failure in the teeth of a tumultuous storm threatening great winds and not-so-great rains and general wetness," and calling for a third installment next year, "because it was too much fun not to." The resolution was passed.

Plans for the holiday house tour were presented by board member Mary Steelman, who is co-chairing the event with Sherry Nottingham. Steelman announced that Summit Street will be closed off for the event and that multiple homes will be highlighted on this historic block, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The tour will take place on Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"We really want this to be a festive event, and have gotten great feedback from the community so far," she said, adding that the committee will be trying to get sponsorships from businesses involved in the building trades to supplement ticket sales and invitations.

"Obviously it has to be a big success because the budget says it will be," she quipped.

Reporting on the upcoming annual fund drive, board member Brian Tilley said that this year's mass mailing would go out in mid-October. He said that efforts would be made to overcome some of last year's "big hurdles" in getting the word out to as many in the community as possible.

"We need to make sure that everyone gets this mailing ... we want the whole community to be sought out to do whatever they can do, be it $5, be it $10," he said.

Outreach efforts will include a phone drive in the weeks after the mailing, Tilley said.

Was there a phone calling effort last year?