Anyone who’s attended a meeting of the East Torresdale Civic Association during the last three decades knows Connie Siffel. And Connie probably knows them.
That’s how long — 28 years to be specific — that Siffel has served as recording secretary of one of the oldest neighborhood civic associations in the Northeast. But Siffel’s long run as an ETCA board member has come to an end. President Lew Halas announced during the group’s monthly meeting on June 8 that Siffel has resigned from the board due to an illness in her family.
The civic association is now looking for another member to fill the recording secretary’s role.
In other ETCA business:
• In response to persistent complaints about illegal parking along the south side of Linden Avenue along Pleasant Hill Park, the ETCA will contact the city’s Department of Streets to ask for new no parking signs and contact the 8th Police District to request additional enforcement. Although parking is permitted on the north side of Linden between State Road and Delaware Avenue, parking on the south side is prohibited.
• Halas announced that the Torresdale Boys Club has contacted the ETCA seeking to work together to advocate for the installation of speed cushions along Linden Avenue west of Torresdale Avenue.
• Halas also announced that the civic group plans to discuss a new zoning application at its next monthly meeting. An adult daycare center on the 4900 block of Arendell Ave. is seeking to increase its legal capacity from 55 clients to 108.
• On June 10, the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment postponed a vote on a controversial plan to build a Philadelphia Federal Credit Union branch at Frankford Avenue and Academy Road on a portion of the James D. Morrissey Inc. property. No new date was scheduled. The ETCA and Upper Holmesburg Civic Association both oppose the plan.
• Streets Commissioner David Perri or his representative is expected to be a guest speaker at the next ETCA meeting on Monday, July 20. The meeting will be a week later than usual due to a schedule conflict with the host site, Liberty Evangelical Free Church at Linden Avenue and Milnor Street. Start time is 7 p.m. There will be no civic meeting on July 13. ••
