Councilman Jones headlines East Falls Community Council meeting

The East Falls Community Council made room on its regular-meeting agenda for Fourth District City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. to address residents about lingering neighborhood issues like concerns about parking availability and where to locate the proposed dog park.

Monday night’s meeting also saw EFCC President Barnaby Wittels present Jones with a certificate recognizing his years of service to, and for “truly [being] a friend of, the East Falls community.”

“I can’t think of a more selfless and dedicated public servant,” Wittels said. “Service has been the hallmark of his tenure as our representative.”

What he said

Jones’ remarks touched on the persistent lack of available parking on some neighborhood streets, increased vehicular traffic and the proposed East Falls dog park.

He did not, however, offer any solutions to the aforementioned problems.

Rather, he said his office will continue to work with residents and civic leaders to faciliate dialogue among affected parties.

“I serve a group of small towns; East Falls is one of them,” he said. “East Falls has been discovered. Guess what: If you thought this neighborhood was a small hidden enclave, it’s not anymore. We all need to work together now to create common solutions for tough problems.”

Dog park and the state of The Fallser

Regarding the East Falls dog-park proposal, Wittels told attendees that the location between the 4000 block of Ridge Ave. and Kelly Drive is probably no longer an option, as the property boundaries understood to demarcate the site were not accurate.

So, the EFCC will now looking into the possibility of partnering with Philadelphia University to locate a suitable site for the dog park on its campus.

As announced in the current issue of The Fallser, the monthly community paper will continue to publish following the recent retirement of long-time editor and publisher Julie Camburn.

Camburn will join interim editor John Gillespie to produce the January and February issues, with a primary short-term goal of bolstering its online presence and expanding advertising efforts.

Gillespie announced that The Fallser is in negotiations with the Chestnut Hill Local for the latter to take over pre-press production, design and administration as part of a possible ad revenue-sharing plan.

“We want to expand our existing partnership with the Local in ways that won’t sacrifice editorial autonomy,” said Gillespie. “I envision that most of [the standing features] will remain the same, but some things may change in small ways over time.”

Wittels spoke highly of recent Fallser-related activities.

“This is a prime example of the community coming together to save the paper that is the glue holding the neighborhood together,” he said. “Thanks to the hard work of the folks that stepped up to ensure that The Fallser continues to be published, it will remain what it always has been: The independent voice of the East Falls community.”