[Green] Meeting with Harmar residents re: grant proposal

[gbanz42 at suddenlink.net]

Rebecca,

    Thanks for all your work scouting this area and consulting with residents.

    It's disappointing that much of the area needs to be kept for viewing fireworks (how many times per year?), but it seems to be important to these people. 


---- Rebecca Phillips via Green <green at fuusm.org> wrote: 
> September 18 Update on West Side Riverbank
> 
> 
> I did a walkaround of the Harmar riverbank with Jackson Patterson of Main Street West, City Council Ward 4 representative Geoff Schenkel, and neighborhood residents Mark Swaney, Tom Fenton, and Debbie (who did not give her last name—she joined us late). Takeaways from the discussion:
> 
>   *   Riverbank ownership between the Putnam Street and railroad bridges is indeed a mix of public and private. The area past the railroad bridge is 100% public—City of Marietta down to the Fort Harmar marker, then Marietta City Schools in the area behind Harmar School.
> 
>   *   The entire riverbank is maintained by community volunteers.
> 
>   *   More interest in riverbank planting and maintenance than in a charging station, though there was no opposition to the idea.
> 
> In the area between the railroad bridge and the school:
> 
>   *   Tom Fenton has done a very small pollinator bed with mixed “wildflower” seed that seems to be mostly cosmos and zinnias—planted very thickly. He reports that the planting has helped keep the weeds (a lot of crown vetch and Johnson grass) under control.
> 
>   *   A neighborhood concern: maintaining areas for viewing the Sternwheel fireworks. (This comes up every time I talk to anyone from Harmar.) Currently, all of the flat area (along Fort Street and at the bottom of the slope) is kept mowed for seating. I have been told that Harmar residents come with blankets and lawn chairs and use the space as a park and that it is packed during festivals. The people present today want that use kept.
> 
>   *   There is interest in having the slope planted for pollinators—BUT--”it needs to look neat.” The preference is for no obstruction of the view—anything on the upper slope no more than 30-36 inches, anything taller down closer to the river.
> 
>   *   There was a major controversy last year when the neighbors cleared “weeds” from the lower riverbank that happened to include a number of young trees. The current compromise: the sycamores and other trees send up root sprouts that reach 6-8 feet in a season, then are cut down in the winter. The view is kept, but the pollarded trees stay alive and hold the riverbank. (This would not be my preference, but I don't live there.)
> 
>   *   The actual riverbank belongs to the Corps of Engineers.
> 
>   *   The three Fort Street residents I met today would like to see a planting plan—they like flowers and pollinators but have their specs.
> 
> The area behind Harmar School:
> 
>   *   Known as Harmar Beach, it includes a sandy area replenished whenever the river is dredged.
> 
>   *   Steep slope formerly a Harmar School land lab, now mostly Johnson grass and Japanese knotweed, though the latter has been sprayed and currently looks dead—will have to see if it comes back in the spring
> 
>   *   Flat grassy area leading to the sand “beach”--currently mowed by neighborhood volunteers and used as a picnic and play area.
> 
>   *   Discussion of working with the school to plant the slope.
> 
> Area between Putnam and railroad bridges:
> 
> Not discussed this morning—there was more interest in the area beyond the railroad bridge.
> 
> 
> Upcoming: the Main Street West meeting has been moved to this Sunday, September 20. It has been designed as a “walking meeting” to tour the West Side and Steve Wetz, the Marietta Safety Services director, plans to attend. This will be my opportunity to meet him and hear the ideas of other Harmar residents.
> 
> 
> "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."-- Cicero

--
George Banziger
202 Lawton Road
Marietta, OH 45750-1111
740-434-5685
cell: 740-434-3354