 As you know, the Narberth Ave bridge is closed to vehicles. (See the Borough’s notice on that here: https://mailchi.mp/4b1fbd2b1fae/narberth-avenue-bridge-closed-to-vehicles-effective-friday-march-8-2019?e=157a80867a) It's important to note that Council is taking a "better safe than sorry" approach to some recent bridge reports and concerns, and that the bridge has not been given an "unsafe" safety score. So what comes next? The inspection team will give us a report to update us on the bridge's condition and safety. If all the reports are finished by then, the Council expects to revisit the issue at their March 20 meeting. It's definitely going to cost us some money that will not be reimbursed. While the Borough's share of the bridge replacement costs is only 5%, we are 100% responsible for the cost of repairs. The Borough will certainly have to invest in some netting to catch potential debris. Depending on the reports and what is possible, Council will have to decide whether it makes sense to rebuild one or both of the "boardwalk" pedestrian walkways on the side, which have a different support structure that is attached to the rest of the bridge. Council may need to decide on whether to make other bridge repairs, for the road portion of the bridge. Also depending on the reports, Council may reopen the bridge to vehicles. Much of the Borough’s focus at this time is on the long-term plan, which is replacement of this 114 year-old bridge. This replacement has been anticipated for the last twenty years, at least, but the Borough can’t dictate the schedule for a project that involves PECO, PennDot, Septa, Amtrak, etc. Plus there are tons of other bridges slated for replacement that are on the same waiting list as ours. Our start date has been moved back many times. PennDot has currently budgeted this project to start this Fall (2019), before the construction phase, with some land acquisitions at the ends of the bridge. After the project goes to bid this winter, if the schedule doesn’t change, construction could start in Spring of 2020 and take 12-14 months.  
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 Narberth News and Notes
Saturday, March 16 - Great Narberth Leprechaun Hunt Get St. Patrick's Day started early with this free family event. Kids hunt for leprechauns throughout downtown Narberth, collecting treats along the way. When they find them all, they earn a St. Paddy’s Day prize. The hunt goes until 4 pm or while prizes last. More information here. Thursday March 21 - Celebrating Victoria Donohoe Join Narberth Civic Association in a celebration of the life and career of Victoria Donohoe on March 21st, from 7-9 pm, in the West Wing of the Narberth Community Building (80 Windsor Avenue, Narberth, PA). Saturday, April 27 - Narberth Take A Breather 5 Mile Run Online registration is open here for the annual Narberth Run. Narberth Comprehensive Plan This link takes you to draft of the proposed Comprehensive Plan on the Borough website. A Comprehensive plan is a long-range planning tool that helps municipalities guide future growth and development. It provides broad goals and specific strategies and implementation recommendations that form the basis for future decision-making to achieve the vision for the future. How and why is Narberth creating a comprehensive plan? Narberth Borough set out to adopt its first Comprehensive plan to identify the community’s shared vision for the future and establish guidelines for a coordinated implementation of strategies to aid in achieving this vision. This plan is the result of a year-long process of data gathering and public input to establish the community vision and attempts to answer the question of what defines “Narberth”. The plan links the various causes and effects of change in the borough, and provides goals and recommendations to guide borough leaders in making decisions that will further the goals of the community. How do I participate? You can attend one of the upcoming public meetings or provide feedback via the link provided on the Borough’s website, or here. Narberth Chief of Police, John Gallagher, asked me to forward this press release to community members. It describes the Monday robbery at the Net Cost Gas Station, 800 Montgomery Ave. Chief Gallagher advises everyone to call 9-1-1 if they see the male in the press release photo. He’s to be considered armed & dangerous.  This is the security camera video. From Utility Line Services:
"This is to update you all on our progress in Narberth that we have to date and prep you for what is upcoming. In the next couple weeks. All the services on the Essex Ave project will be complete today. The retirement for this job is scheduled for this upcoming Monday weather permitting. This will complete all of the work on the following streets:
The service crews are currently have half the services complete and should be complete with the services on this job by the end of the week barring any issues with customer contacts. If we get the services complete on Forrest by the end of the week we will also have the Low Pressure Cast Iron mains retired on Forrest Ave between Woodbine and Haverford As well as Woodbine Ave between Narberth Ave and Essex Ave. Once the services are complete on Forrest these crews will progress to Narberth Ave between Haverford Ave and Montgomery Ave. My other grouping of service crews are working on Wayne Ave between Essex and Narberth Ave as well As Price Ave between Grayling and Narberth Ave. These streets should be completing over the next two weeks and we are set up to retire the mains right behind the last service transfer on each project. I have had a crew working to prepare the retirements on all active jobs to expedite the retirements and complete our work for this year as quickly as possible. Since there is no area for a check on the attached spreadsheet for retirement prep they will be marked as main installation, but be assured all the main installation is complete for this year’s work. This will only be small holes plated for the retirement preparations.  The Borough's weekly email from September 7, 2018, is here.
TELL A FRIEND! Forward this email and click here to receive Narberth's Newsletter EACH WEEK! For up-to-date information on trash collection and meetings, please see the calendar on Narberth's website https://www.narberthpa.gov/.  Sidewalk Festival and Music Fest - September 13-16 Sidewalk Sale from Thursday to Saturday. Music & Arts Fest on Sunday. More details here.  Meet and Greet - September 15 The Narberth Civic Association invites you to join them for a community welcome party to welcome your new neighbors! Enjoy light drinks and snacks with friends both old and new.  Meet the Author - September 26 Narberth Library is hosting Beck Dorey-Stein, talking about her book From the Corner of the Oval at Narberth Borough Hall 9/26 at 7 PM. The event is free to the public. Books are available to order in advance through the Narberth Bookshop (Narberthbookshop@gmail.com)  Narberth Oktoberfest - October 6 The Main Line’s first Oktoberfest returns to the Narberth Park location for the first time since 2015. It will be held from 5pm to 9pm, on October 6, under lighted festival tents next to the Narberth Community Library. The $45 ticket price includes live music, beer and wine, and festival food, including a pig roast, turkey, pretzels, brats & sauerkraut, dessert, and more. A limited amount of complimentary souvenir mugs will be waiting at the door for early ticket purchasers. Proceeds benefit the Narberth Dickens Festival and the Friends of Sabine Park. More information and tickets here. This event returns to Narberth Park by popular request. Held first in Narberth’s Borough Hall in 2008, the Narberth Oktoberfest was moved to Narberth Park in 2011, and was held there for five years before moving into Narberth’s downtown for two years.  Narberth "Unofficial" Scavenger Hunt - Oct 13 2018 INFO AND REGISTRATION Narberth residents, Cyndi and Tom Rickards, revived an old Narberth tradition in 2011 when they gathered some friends and brought back the Narberth Scavenger Hunt. This new incarnation of the event proved to be a great time for all involved, and an opportunity to raise funds each year for a good local cause. For ages 21+ The Hunt takes place on a Saturday night each October, and the clues lead participants all throughout the Borough. It starts and ends this year in Commerce Alley, right behind The Greeks Next Door. The Basics: Date: Saturday, October 13th – Rain or Shine! Time: 7:00pm Hunt Briefing Start: Behind the Greek's Next Door Register: www.narberthscavengerhunt.com Contact: Cyndi Rickards: narberthscavengers@gmail.com or 610-905-4028  Witches of Narberth - October 27 Before the Halloween Parade and trick-or-treating get started, there's a free family event that's become a Main Line kid favorite – The Witches of Narberth! On Saturday, October 27, 2018, at 1pm, on the corner of Forrest and Haverford Avenues, Halloween kicks off with this popular annual scavenger hunt. Children of all ages are invited to join in this free event, where kids search downtown Narberth high and low for thirteen of the witchiest witches around. They collect treats along the way, and then return to the start to collect a Halloween prize. Costumes are welcome, but totally optional. The hunt goes until 4 pm or until prizes are gone. Details here.  Halloween Bike Ride - October 28 Join Narberth Cycling Club for our 2nd annual Halloween costume “pedal party” ! Details: We'll gather downtown at 4:30pm for a pre-ride Halloween Social. Help yourself to some apple cider & spiced cookies while you chat with neighbors & friends. After a quick review of road safety rules, we'll depart around 5:30pm for a 3-mile easy-going costumed bike ride to check out some cool Halloween houses while we jam out to some spooky tunes. Route will be posted below in "discussion" tab as the event gets closer. Helmets and bike lights required. Costumes strongly encouraged!  Narberth Halloween Parade - October 30
In Narberth, kids get to wear their costume two nights in a row, because the night before Halloween is the Narberth Halloween Parade. The local kids all don their costumes and muster in the St. Margaret’s parking lot around 6pm. By 6:30, the parade starts making it’s way though town, past crowds of cheering spectators. The parade ends in Narberth Park where kids get a goody bag, cookies, juice and treats, courtesy of the Fourth of July Committee.  Starting this week, Narberth Borough's Weekly Newsletter will be emailed on FRIDAYS! Stay in the Know! Tell your neighbors and friends, and encourage others to sign up for the newsletter to keep informed about Narberth News and Upcoming Events!
*Please note that trash collection will be on Tuesday and recycling collection will be on Friday this week, due to the Labor Day Holiday. *REMINDER: For up-to-date information on trash collection and meetings, please see the calendar on Narberth's website https://www.narberthpa.gov/.   Please update your calendars. The Recycling Event has been rescheduled for September 24th! A special THANKS to Narberth's Public Works Department for working hard to keep Narberth Park clean throughout the summer!
 Narberth's Borough Council is appointing three members to the new Narberth Environmental Advisory Council. Appointed members will serve for a term of three years, or until a successor is appointed, and will advise local government agencies on matters dealing with protection, conservation, management, proportion and use of natural resources including air, land and water resources, located within its territorial limits. For more information about the Narberth Environmental Advisory Council, please click here. If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your name, address, a brief summary about who you are and why you are interested in serving on this Committee to appointments@narberthpa.gov by Friday, September 14, 2018.  The following is from the Borough's weekly update email. For additional information, please visit the Borough website: https://www.narberthpa.gov/. Get on the Borough's email list here.
  Narberth's Borough Council is appointing three members to the new Narberth Environmental Advisory Council. Appointed members will serve for a term of three years, or until a successor is appointed, and will advise local government agencies on matters dealing with protection, conservation, management, proportion and use of natural resources including air, land and water resources, located within its territorial limits. For more information about the Narberth Environmental Advisory Council, please click here. If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your name, address, a brief summary about who you are and why you are interested in serving on this Committee to appointments@narberthpa.gov by Friday, September 14, 2018. 
Stop by Narberth's Candy Cane Playground and check out the new addition from Public Works!  From Utility Line Services: "I wanted to take this opportunity to update everyone on our progress in Narberth. To date we completed all the main installation, side streets tied in, and gas on for all of our 2018 Narberth work. The service crews are working heavily on the Essex Ave project and have completed half of the services here. The service crews will be progressing to the following streets over the next two weeks.
Since the last email we have completed the services on and retired the low pressure mains on the following streets.
The crew performing the retirements will continue following the service crews over the next two weeks on the same streets in preparation to retire the main as soon as the last service in each section is transferred." This excel spreadsheet has more information about the project timing going forward: 
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AuthorNews compiled by Ed Ridgway, NBA president, and marketing consultant at Main Line PR Archives
March 2019
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