By Julian Walker
Times Staff Writer

The last time the recently established Timberwalk Homeowners Association met in October, resident turnout was high, but state Sen. Mike Stack was the only invited elected official who attended the session.
At last week’s meeting, only a handful of residents made it to the session — at the Bustleton Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, at 10199 Bustleton Ave. — but in comparison to the Oct. 9 session, the political quotient doubled.
City Councilman Angel Ortiz (D-at-large) and state Rep. Dennis O’Brien (R-169th dist.) –– both of whom had been invited to the previous meeting but did not attend due to scheduling conflicts –– spoke at the session.
And if you count the presence of John O’Connor, an aide to Stack (D-5th dist.), the group drew three times the political power.
Raymond Alvarez, the group’s president, chalked up the low resident turnout to the inclement winter.
“It seems the weather played a role in not giving us the attendance we had last time around,” said Alvarez, a Democratic committeeman and legislative aide to Ortiz. “This is a new organization, and we learn from our experiences, so maybe next year we won’t have a December meeting.”
The non-profit group, which formed last spring, is incorporated through the state and has its own Web site: www.tim berwalk.com
O’Connor briefed residents of the 158-home development, on Northeast Avenue just north of Red Lion Road in Somerton, about the progress Stack has made on the issues raised by folks at the October meeting.
A meeting with the general manager of a nearby warehouse has been scheduled for early January, O’Connor reported.
Residents told Stack in October that tractor-trailers lumbering down Northeast Avenue en route to the warehouse cause a noisy ruckus that invades homes in the development and detracts from the quality of life in the area.
If the folks at the warehouse can’t reduce noise emanating from trucks at the plant, Alvarez said, the group is interested in securing state funds to create a noise barrier, such as a sound wall or a row of trees between homes and the warehouse.
Other topics of interest to the Timberwalk Homeowners Association are the expansion of the Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP) anti-blight initiative devised by City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) into the Far Northeast and the creation of sidewalks along Northeast Avenue.
Ortiz addressed those concerns at the session. He seemed to imply that if those needs are not met, it is a failing of the district councilman for the area, Brian O’Neill (10th dist.).
“District (City) Council people have the opportunity during the budget period to get those funds for their district. Each Council person gets a budget for improvements, such as sidewalks, that they deem priorities to the upkeep of their district,” Ortiz said. “It’s up to you to put pressure on your district Council person to make him more responsive to your needs. When you talk about sidewalks, that’s right in the bailiwick of a district councilman. But (O’Neill) runs without (major) opposition each time, so he can get away with that.
“Every district has seven other representatives — the at-large Council members,” Ortiz added. “If you have a district person who is unresponsive, pick up the phone and call an at-large member.”
Referring to O’Neill, Alvarez added: “We invited him to two meetings and he has not responded to us.”
Ortiz is part of the City Council voting bloc that typically includes Democrats Jim Kenney, Frank DiCicco, David Cohen, Council President Anna Verna, Michael Nutter and Marian Tasco.
Those lawmakers are not considered allies of Mayor John Street, and because O’Neill is, he is a target for criticism from those officials.
And, of course, vice versa.
Contacted by the Times last week, O’Neill said that his office told the Timberwalk group that scheduling conflicts prevented him from attending previous meetings.
“I am always willing to meet with any group to address the issues of concern to them,” he said.
Sidewalks and sound barriers, however, are another issue.
Developers typically install concrete walking paths when homes are built, said O’Neill. If they aren’t currently there, it will be hard to secure money from the city to fund such projects.
O’Neill said it isn’t likely that he will allocate the funds from his district’s portion of the budget for sidewalks along Northeast Avenue because that money is earmarked for improvements at recreation centers throughout the district.
“I’m not taking it out of my budget for rec centers,” said O’Neill. “If Ortiz wants to suggest that, he can come up with the money. I’m not using recreation money for other uses.”
O’Neill suggested that funds for sidewalk construction might be available through the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the Department of Streets or the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.
He also doubts that state money can be found to fund the erection of sound walls to protect the community from noise generated at the nearby warehouse. O’Neill said that planting white pine trees could be a less expensive, more practical solution.
O’Brien, who represents part of the community as a result of reapportionment, introduced himself to the group.
He noted that he drafted legislation that cleared the way for the extradition of convicted killer Ira Einhorn from France, created a computerized DNA database of sexual offenders in Pennsylvania that was the model for a national database now used by the FBI, and he talked about his work on behalf of children with disabilities.
O’Brien is working to bring a research and treatment center for children with autism to Pennsylvania. Doing so would generate a windfall of millions of research dollars, he said, adding that the future of Philadelphia’s economy should be built on the medical technology industry. ••
Reporter Julian Walker can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jwalker@phillynews.com