As my email inbox is filling with messages, my phone is ringing and beeping like the panicked robot on Lost in Space; I feel it to be necessary to comment on the article published in the Morning Call this morning.
First, let me thank the authors of the story for getting that information out there and acknowledging the work and effort that has been put into trying to save the Little Lehigh Creek by folks like Jan Keim and Deanna Zosky.
Now, as someone who has been pretty active on the environmental scene in the city of Allentown for the past year or so, this story comes without the shock that is likely being found in hundreds of homes across the region this morning. The city of Allentown has made the environment the last concern on its list of priorities. Invasive species, sewage spills, unsustainable park management, etc, etc, etc, are the lasting legacies of the environmental management of the Pawlowski-Weitzel era of park stewardship.
The creeks are a mess, the ponds and lakes are cesspools, the EAC is ignored, folks who do work like me, and Jan and Dave McGuire and Claudia Steckel are treated with contempt by city authorities and dismissed as obstacles or pains in the ass who just wish to be contrary. We don’t wish to be contrary. We wish to give a voice to that which is voiceless and without an ally in the halls of Allentown’s government.
It is my hope that this article serves as an awakening of environmental consciousness in the hearts and minds of every citizen living in Allentown. The parks need saving. The city needs greening and at the end of the day, the manner in which we live in our own homes should be modified to better serve the future of our local ecosystem. Native plants only in backyards. No chemical treatment of lawns. Conservation of water. Recycling of waste and proper disposal of trash. The little things that start the changing of the bigger things are easy to do, right now, today, in our homes.
Until we change things ourselves, it is unlikely our local government officials will change anything. After all, as the article in the Call makes clear, they are cool with poo in the water. Remember that – They know that in the water people fish, swim, and play in, that there is straight up poo.
Is it that surprising then to see Mayor Pawlowski referring to said poo as “processed”? The man himself stated at the public meeting for the South Mountain plan that he knows nothing about the environment.
I suggest then, Mr. Mayor that you call upon those who do (like your own EAC who you ignore) and make some serious policy adjustment.
You don’t want to be remembered as the mayor of poo water.
You also haven’t yet responded to my offer to take you on a tour of any park, whenever you have the time, so that you can become informed. I’m not surprised.
#1 by LVCI on July 25, 2010 - 12:49 pm
Bottom line is Allentown can choose to ignore just about everyone until it’s gets so bad the state steps in like it has done. This could have been headed off far more cheaply if taken care of before the mole hill grew into a mountain.
So much for those excess sewer funds.. SOON THEY WILL BE ALL GONE! That does no one any good financially or public relations wise.
Besides no one should be paying excessively more then they have to in regards to water. Especially since the excess funds were used to finance just about anything other then the water department to which it should have been used for. (Guess it will be now, eh?)
It goes back to what I have stated.. take care of first things first before rambling off to new projects. Will this be a learning moment OR will we trot off to S. Mtn. before taking care of previous concerns yet once again?
As far as the various options.. I would love to see the LCA fully treat the water and put it back into either creek that feeds into Allentown. Lord knows we need all the regular water flow we can get currently lacking from upstream of us.
That is.. just so they don’t overflow their own poo into our drinking water from Little Lehigh during a rain after all is said and done!!
#2 by michael molovinsky on July 25, 2010 - 1:02 pm
andrew, the trexler trust must be also taken to task. they must reconsider their guidelines in contributing to the park system; capital projects must include saving the parks and features within, not just buying more plastic junk. they must assume the responsibility which they have been honored to receive.
#3 by annoymous on July 25, 2010 - 1:13 pm
Andrew,
Perhaps today’s story said the following and if so, we apologize. But we’d like you to know that Janet Keim, almost single-handedly, has been fighting this stream’s pollution for nearly 20 years. You see long before the Hills at Devonshire was built, that area too was open space with tall grasses and fresh water stream and wildlife. It was beautiful. Keim has been an eye-witness to this stream’s destruction.
#4 by annoymous on July 25, 2010 - 1:17 pm
Andrew,
Please do read your last blog’s comments that deal directly with today’s Call story. Imagine Allentown’s public works director saying the fecal-filthy water is drinkable.
#5 by annoymous on July 25, 2010 - 1:22 pm
Andrew,
Another study for you (guess you’ll be 90 when you next have free time) is the city of Allentown’s handling of the row of townhouses (condos) built along Fish Hatchery Road about three years ago that were allowed to hook-in to the city’s sewer system even though the system could not accommodate its already-limited poo control. That project also was unfortunately unsuccessfully fought by Mrs. Keim and others. We like the idea of Mayor Poo Pawlowski. It has a certain ring.
#6 by annoymous on July 25, 2010 - 1:28 pm
The Trexler Trust should be challenged in court for its lack of commitment to the very essence of the General’s directive to protect and serve Allentown’s park system. Where are the trustees today? Where is newly appointed Trustee Jamie Musselman? Is she planning a press conference for later today to address the issues raised in the Call article?
#7 by annoymous on July 25, 2010 - 1:37 pm
Every day this summer city children have been swimming in the Little Lehigh to escape the record-breaking heat.
#8 by Anonymous on July 25, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Please stop saying poo. It sounds… ridiculous. Fecal matter, feces, shit, human digestive waste,
crap, human excretion, etc.
uncle frank
#9 by Rolf on July 26, 2010 - 1:53 pm
Hey, at least the Trail Network Plan was a success!
So, relax.