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Nathan Field

Summer Update: 8th District Newsletter

Updated: Jul 21, 2022


Dear constituents,


Here's an update on the latest 8th District City Council news. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have a concern. If you would like to receive future newsletter updates, please email me at Nrfield@wilmingtonde.gov.


Sincerely,






Nathan Field 8th District City Councilman Cellphone: 302-530-6626 Email: Nrfield@wilmingtonde.gov Facebook: @FieldforDistrict8




(1) HAVE YOU TAKEN A WALK IN TROLLEY SQUARE LATELY?




Artists recently finished painting murals on eighteen utility boxes throughout Trolley Square. Here's a nice writeup on the project in this month's Out and About magazine and another in Town Square Delaware. Our goal was (A) to promote Trolley Square as a place people want to live and work and (B) to establish the City of Wilmington more broadly as "The" art and cultural capital of Delaware, if not regionally.







Special thanks to the following who helped make this project happen: Tina Betz of the City of Wilmington, and Molly Giordano and Margaret Winslow of the Delaware Art Museum provided valuable strategic advice throughout. Capano Residential, Tsionas Management, and Incyte Corporation were immediately convinced of the merits of the project and provided generous financial support, without which we couldn't have done 18 boxes.


Finally, the Delaware Avenue Community Association was utterly indispensable to making this happen, in particular, its president, Lisa Johnson. Without Lisa, this wouldn't have been possible.

I hope this is just the beginning of a new series of public art projects throughout the City.


After all, with Covid behind us, Wilmington has a "blank slate" to try out new ideas in building up the local cultural and art scene.



(2) MONEY RAISED FOR NEW TRAIL ALONG THE BRANDYWINE


Giving a tour to State Rep. Krista Griffith

I can report good progress in opening up a trail link between Brandywine Park and Mill Road, which would add a major new perk for city residents.

In May, State Senator Sarah McBride contributed $50,000 from her State Community Transportation fund. State House Representative Krista Griffith, whose district will cover the Highlands and 40 Acres after redistricting goes into effect at the end of 2022, has become an advocate and is providing additional funds. Most importantly, the City of Wilmington's Public Works Department is contributing $100,000 plus to complete the trail, since this will provide a transportation outlet for residents of the Falls Apartments to get in and out of the park.



(3) DINING ON DELAWARE - 3RD WEEKEND OF EACH MONTH



(4) AN IDEA FROM PHILADELPHIA WORTH EXPLORING

Special thanks to David Systma-Sherman for alerting me to this idea to give residents that bus, bike or walk to work a tax credit. Wilmington desperately needs to get people back to working at offices downtown. Not to mention that more people riding the bus or biking and walking to work means less traffic, less cars on the road, less competition for parking etc. I am researching how something like this could work in Wilmington.


(5) PROPOSED DNREC PLAN TO CHANGE ROCKFORD TRAFFIC PATTERNS



The State of Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has a proposed plan to change the traffic pattern inside Rockford Park. It also proposes a new all way stop sign at the lower entrance of the park at Red Oak Road and Riverview Avenue. The proposed plan will be presented by its proponents for public input at a community meeting tentatively scheduled for early August.


(6) 2022 8th DISTRICT SCHOLARSHIP WINNER


Congrats to Salesianum senior Chris Gulotti for writing a thoughtful essay on the need for a city-wide public high school in Wilmington. Good luck at UD, Chris.




(7) LETTERS FROM REP. OF SCALESSA'S RESTAURANT IN FORTY ACRES:


On June 17th, the below letters were sent to me as the District Councilman and to the Forty Acres Community Association:






(8) GOING "ABOVE AND BEYOND" AS A GOOD NEIGHBOR


I want to take a minute to recognize Trolley Square resident Doug Eitelman who I met recently while walking down Delaware Avenue. There was a long patch of damaged bricks in the public right of way in front of Doug's building which were deteriorating quite badly. Doug simply took it upon himself to just fix it on his own. He found replacement bricks from a construction project in Pennsylvania and spent his day off repairing the sidewalk. Thanks Doug for your commitment to the neighborhood!

(9) AN UPDATE ON GIBRALTAR

As your neighborhood's representative on City Council, I continue to monitor in great detail all Gibraltar-related developments and to keep the neighborhood highly informed. There is not much new to report since my last newsletter other than a general plan introduced via a letter sent out to the Highlands Community Association by the Mayor on May 25th. This new plan will be discussed in much greater detail in coming months. Read about it in this News Journal article.



(10) What are your thoughts on Green Lawn Care?

As many residents have noted, gas powered lawn care equipment is bad for the environment and the loud noises create quality of life issues for residents. A group of neighbors continues to meet to study options for incentivizing Green Lawn care in Wilmington. Could you help us by taking this 3 minute survey on your lawn care experiences?



(11) When will the Bancroft footbridge reopen?


I'm as frustrated as anyone with the ongoing closure of the bridge since flooding in September. That bridge is - and this isn't an exaggeration - THE REASON many people move to this section of the Highlands. To recap my last newsletter, on February 10th, the State of Delaware Parks Agency gave a detailed presentation on their engineering investigations into the way forward. Read the report here or watch the presentation here. The plan is to rebuild the bridge and an additional update on engineering preparations will be held in September.


(12) Take Advantage of the 311 Call Center - An Incredible Resource


On simple municipal problems you may encounter, calling the Public Works Call Center is the fastest and most efficient way to resolve an issue. Here's the number: 302-576-3878 Click #8 on the menu to reach the Call center. Describe the problem, with a specific address, and ask for an ID number. 8 times out of 10, this will do the trick within one day.




Follow @FieldDistrict8 on Facebook to get regular updates on District news

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4 Comments


sfs
Jul 12, 2022

Nathan, thanks for all the good work you do for our community! I'm glad you are asking about the gas-powered lawn equipment because they have been driving me crazy. Sometimes I am hearing them in stereo or even as trios or quartets. They are the soundtrack of our neighborhood. See https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/opinion/leaf-blowers-california-emissions.html.: “hydrocarbon emissions from a half-hour of yard work with the two-stroke leaf blower are about the same as a 3,900-mile drive from Texas to Alaska in a Raptor.” –Steve Siegel

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Nathan Field
Nathan Field
Jul 12, 2022
Replying to

Mr. Siegel, thanks for sharing this comment. Agreed, gas powered lawn equipment is bad for the environment. I'm working with several neighbors to try and figure out a way to incentivize use of electric powered equipment instead. We are looking at what different cities from around the country are trying to do to encourage the use of electric over gas powered and see what could be done in Wilmington. The good news is that each year, the sales of electric -powered are rising significantly, so the trend is going in the right direction. Nathan Field

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pfarren49
Jul 11, 2022

Nathan,

Excellent news letter - thank you for all the info & for working so hard for our community

~Pat Farren

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Nathan Field
Nathan Field
Jul 12, 2022
Replying to

Thanks Pat.

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