As those of you who attended may recall, at last year’s Annual Meeting in May, the Board committed to change its approach to maintenance of the area of the Open Space in the ravine area adjacent to Ithan Creek.

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In any event, in late January 2019, our landscape contractor performed maintenance in the Open Space next to Ithan Creek and along the Blue Route noise barrier. Our contractor cleared a meadow area of approximately 3 acres using a skid loader and brush hog.  The workers also cleared brush adjacent to the entrance at Bryn Mawr Avenue, and behind homes above the ravine and adjacent to the noise barrier. The clearing continued along the barrier through Radnor and Haverford and behind the pines we planted when the Blue Route opened

The landscapers said that the cutting of invasive vines performed last year appeared to have been effective. (It will take a year or two for the dead vines to fall from the trees.) They cut additional vines this year. The clearing of the meadow area should make it easier to continue to monitor and remove invasive vines.

Our landscapers could not work in the meadow area close to Bryn Mawr Avenue because releases from a broken storm sewer pipe owned by the the Township or PennDot have saturated the ground in that area and caused ponding.  They are also unable to access the Blue Route side of Ithan Creek, where PennDOT’s poor maintenance makes invasive species a major problem.

We intend to demand that the Township repair the broken stormwater pipe. We believe it constitutes a public health hazard (mosquitoes infected with the West Nile Virus were found in that location last year) as well as an impediment to our maintenance efforts.

We plan to remove brush in this area once or twice each year.

While we do not recommend walking in the meadow area, the view of Ithan Creek from above the ravine is impressive.

A presentation showing conditions in this area before and after the work was performed, as well as the broken storm water pipe, can be accessed by clicking here.