My First Chester City Council Meeting

I attended my first Chester City Council meeting last night as one of the many persons to receive a certificate for my role in the city’s 2010 Anti-Violence Initiative.

Here’s some of the issues discussed at the meeting:

The Anti-Violence presentations. 

Very nice to see the number of people recognized for their efforts.

Resolutions: 

Nothing exciting. 

Citizen Issues:

Leaves - The City is working its way around town collecting leaves. Look for signs posted in your neighborhood when it’s your turn. Doesn't seem to be an advanced schedule available. 

Trees - Overgrown trees create branches that extent into the street, in neighbors’ space, and destroy the sidewalk. It was explained that property owner are responsible for tree issues from the curb to the home.

Speeding - A few folks would like speed limit signs and/or speed bumps on their streets.

Nuisances - Loud music from cars was the major one. 

Trash collection and recycling - A few complaints about trash not being picked up, and one complaint about recycling not being picked up. She learned she should be using the red, not blue, recycle can. Strange. I only see blue ones in my alley. (Is recycling mandatory or voluntary in Chester? Does anyone know?)

Burglaries - A Chester neighborhood has had a rash of burglaries. The Chester police sent flyers to homeowners for them to be aware. Apparently, someone has been arrested.

Peddling at Sunoco 9th and Kerlin - Many folks feel hassled by the guys out there asking to pump gas, and the ‘vendors’ selling fragrance oils.

Following the meeting, the annual tree lighting ceremony took place in the City Hall lobby.

p.s. There seemed to be an extraordinary number of people thanking council members for various reasons. Is that normal? Although they were probably deserving, I was expecting to hear more issues than thank yous.