Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

LITTLE FERRY - Plans have been made by the borough to replace a retaining wall at Indian Lake Park. The project went out to bid April 26.

"As things get older, they become less safe and need to be replaced," said Borough Administrator Michael Capabianco. "The [existing wall's] timbers are 20 to 30 years old and starting to decay."

Borough Engineer Ken Job noted the retaining wall is necessary.

"The old one is falling over," he said. "There's a difference in grade between the walkway and park and adjacent ground. The wall works between the change in grade. The wall is vertical."

"The ground is on one level. Then there's a vertical wall and the ground at another level," he explained.

Concrete blocks will be used in the new wall, Job said, adding it is referred to as a modular block reinforced-earth retaining wall.

"With reinforced earth, when soil is put behind it, they compact the soil so it also acts as support," he said.

The new wall will be the same dimensions as the existing one: roughly 730 feet in length by 3 feet in height, according to Job.

The wall is located along Indian Lake Road.

Bids for the new retaining wall are due May 8. Capabianco said the project will be paid for with an approximately $110,000 county Open Space grant from two years ago as well as with borough capital funds.

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Little Ferry out to bid for park retaining wall

COURTHOUSE A Phoenixville home-improvement contractor has admitted to deceiving his Upper Merion customers by falsely claiming to have the proper permits to build decks to their homes.

Joseph L. Brown, 49, of the 200 block of Carolina Avenue, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a misdemeanor charge of deceptive business practices in connection with his contact with two Upper Merion residents who hired him to build outdoor decks in 2010.

Judge Garrett D. Page deferred sentencing until a restitution hearing can be held. Brown, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 2 to five years in prison on the charge.

This case involves a contractor who entered into an agreement with two different homeowners to build decks on their homes and the decks were not completed and construction was stopped because the proper permits were not in place, alleged Assistant District Attorney Bradford Richman.

Richman characterized the incidents as quality-of-life crimes because the victims spent their hard-earned money to invest in their homes and were duped.

Other charges of theft by deception and receiving stolen property are set to be dismissed against Brown, whom defense lawyer Daniel McCartney is representing, when he is sentenced.

An investigation began on May 24, 2010, when an Upper Merion building official got an anonymous complaint that decks were being built on homes in the Copper Mill Station development on Lawndale Avenue.

When building officials investigated the complaint, they saw a deck under construction at one home in the 200 block of Lawndale Avenue while a new deck ledger board was installed at a second nearby home, according to the criminal complaint that Upper Merion Det. Steven E. Geckle filed.

Inspection of the records indicated that no permits were applied for or issued for any construction at the properties, Geckle alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Township officials saw Brown working on one of the decks. When they asked him about the decks, he told them he was building them some friends, according to arrest documents. Township officials then stopped the jobs and instructed Brown to apply for permits and to provide the township with his contractor licensing information, according to the criminal complaint. Continued...

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Contractor admits to deceptive business practices in Upper Merion

Event kicks off outdoor eating season

Despite the steady rain, patrons enjoy lunch at The River House in Portsmouth on Friday as part of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce's Hit the Decks day.Rich Beauchesne/rbeauchesne@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH A lack of sunshine did little to deter Seacoast residents from flocking to local dining establishments and merchants Friday on the second annual Hit the Decks day.

Despite the rainy weather, diners hit some of the indoor decks downtown, as well as several other restaurants taking part in the day.

Organized by the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, Hit the Decks is considered to be the official opening of the decks and patios for eateries throughout the downtown.

Restaurants and business offered special deals to attract customers.

Although no one was on the outside deck of the Old Ferry Landing on Friday afternoon, owner Jack Blalock said the day was not a bust. Diners wandered in to take advantage of food and drink specials, he said.

"That's the nature of my business anyway," Blalock said.

Over at The River House, owner Peter Labrie was still able to offer outdoor seating thanks to a retractable roof on his upstairs and downstairs decks.

Labrie said the weather made little difference in the attitudes of his customers on Friday.

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Rain doesn't deter deck diners

ESSEX Monday's Town Meeting has 40 articles on the warrant.

But the primary focus of the debate is expected to center on one issue the future of the properties at Conomo Point.

The first six articles are devoted to Conomo Point issues, a proposed town budget of $15.6 million with $6.4 million for education, and a sewer service bylaw.

The annual gathering of the town's registered voters will be held Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Essex Elementary School, with registration to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Townspeople are encouraged to show up early, since the turnout is expected to be very high, town officials said; if the meeting runs too late, it may be extended to Tuesday.

At Special Town Meeting, just held April 25, an article that would allow the town to offer the current tenants the right of first refusal to buy the properties an article some officials expected to pass easily barely squeaked through at 144-141.

Monday, Town Meeting will take up the issue of allowing the possible sale of the properties south of Robbins Island Road, with the article authorizing the selectmen to take any and all actions relating to the properties.

Another potential flashpoint will be the proposed zoning bylaw for Conomo Point. The version contained in the warrant that is publicly available, however, has undergone significant changes enough so that the Planning Board is not recommending the article's approval Monday night.

"The board has specific concerns relative to the proposed dimensional requirements and the time available to review the documents," the Planning Board said in its report.

Resident Bruce Fortier said he did not think enough time was given to read the proposed changes, though Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki said the town's Boston-based law firm of Kopelman and Paige ruled the edits acceptable and that changes would be made at Town Meeting. Members of the Planning Board agreed with Fortier, and voted not to recommend the article, without prejudice.

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Essex Town Meeting has Conomo Point focus

Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Robert Morris, 83, of northwest Roanoke, dances to music on Saturday in front of the former Claytor Clinic in the Gainsboro neighborhood.

In the old days, people would gravitate to their front porches in the summertime, where they would talk to their neighbors and interact with the community.

"Air conditioning has been our worst enemy, said Bob Clement, neighborhood service coordinator for Roanoke. "When it was invented, everybody started hanging out indoors."

But during the next few weeks, neighborhoods across Roanoke are coming together to pull people outside for block parties and picnics, yard sales and street fairs. These events are in honor of Neighborhood Month, a celebration of community and neighborhood pride hosted by Roanoke's neighborhood organizations.

The Gainsboro neighborhood of northwest Roanoke helped kick off the celebrations Saturday with its first community celebration and block party. Streets were blocked off near the Gainsboro library for free hot dogs, music, face painting and a martial arts show. Free health screenings and voter registration also were available.

"I see a whole lot of people here I haven't seen in a long time," said Calvin Bradshaw, who has been a resident of the Gainsboro neighborhood for 54 years, as he waved to a friend. "Anything like this is good for the neighborhood. It brings people together to talk about things and ways to improve the neighborhood. I wish they'd have more of these events."

In 2003, eight to 10 organizations were participating in National Night Out to fight neighborhood crime every year in August. However, every celebration was on the same night, at the same time, which meant city council members couldn't support all of them and neighborhood residents couldn't attend one another's events.

"I thought, why not do something in the spring where neighborhoods come out, not just to fight crime, but celebrate their accomplishments," Clement said. Roanoke first celebrated Neighborhood Month the next May, with events scattered throughout the month.

Although Gainsboro hasn't had an event like this in years, all ages of neighborhood residents and visitors were out in full force. Children got their faces painted like tigers and butterflies, adults and clowns did line dances together in a cul-de-sac, and balloon animals dotted the crowd.

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Community camaraderie: Gainsboro block party could become annual event - http://www.roanoke.com

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Historic Mobile Preservation Society will host the first annual Oakleigh Porch Tour on Saturday, May 5, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the Oakleigh Garden Historic District.

Come, visit, sit a spell and see why our porches are truly the Parlors of the South, stated Renea Greene, Oakleigh Porch Tour Chair. Listen to stories, chat with neighbors and absorb the history of how some of these porches came to be. Start your summer on the right foot; step back in time and enjoy the day in Oakleigh. We are looking forward to your visit.

This event allows HMPS to showcase the lifestyle of this very historic and close-knit neighborhood in a casual presentation, stated Rhonda Davis, executive director of HMPS. May is National Historic Preservation Month and we want to celebrate Mobiles preservation legacy by creating a fun event that allows the public to meander through and explore one of our most loved historic districts. This tour will do just that.

Twelve beautifully restored and decorated porches will be open for the tour, along with lemonade stands, dog watering stations, and surprise entertainment along the way. The afternoon will end with a Porch Play at the Cox-Deasy Cottage at 4:00 p.m.

The Benson Home 202 Rapier Avenue 1908 Italianate

The Burns Home 1160 Church Street 1896 eclectic Queen Anne

The Cummings Home 1011 Augusta Street 1904 Coastal traditional and Colonial

The Garrett-Cumbie Home 1104 Palmetto Street 1927 Arts & Crafts Craftsman Cottage

The Grill Home 1124 Palmetto Street 1930 Arts and Crafts Bungalow

The Harrell Home 1156 Palmetto Street 1899 Queen Anne transitional to Colonial Revival

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Take the Oakleigh Porch Tour

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Cerca Church Construction Assembly Line Pour - Video

04-05-2012 13:47 Belize Mission Trip with International Servants, Dr. Paul Whisnant, and our Belize Mission Staff. Children's Ministry and Church Construction.

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Belize Mission Trip 4 with International Servants and Dr. Paul Whisnant - Video

04-05-2012 15:02 Belize Mission Trip with International Servants, Dr. Paul Whisnant, and our Belize Missions Staff. Medical Missions Team, Children's Team and Church Construction Team.

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04-05-2012 15:58 Belize Mission Trip with International Servants, Dr. Paul Whisnant and our Belize Mission Staff. Medical Mission Team, Children's Team and Church Construction Team.

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