January 2026 Minutes
Merion Civic Association Board Meeting
January 27, 2026 - 7:30pm
Eileen Bruckman called the meeting to order at 7:36pm.
Officers & Directors in Attendance:
Eileen Bruckman, Scott Feuer, Susan Guthrie, Les Greenberg, Craig Oliner, Melanie Schafmeister, Steven Ludwig, Kevin Murphy, Brian Gordon, Mitchell Cooper.
Guest Speaker:
Rich Widman, member of the Lower Merion Shade Tree Commission.
Discussed trees in Lower Merion. He covered topics such as LMT’s staff and resources deployed for tree maintenance; which LMT entities take care of which trees; tree replacement practices; how to get a free tree for your property; the status of LMT’s tree canopy; the Shade Tree Commission’s activities; and repairing sidewalk damage from tree roots.
November 2025 Meeting Minutes:
Craig Oliner suggested four corrections to the Minutes from the November MCA Board Meeting. Brian Gordon made a motion to approve the minutes with the suggested corrections, Scott Feuer seconded the motion, and it passed on a voice vote. Craig will submit the minutes with the corrections.
Treasury Report:
Kevin Murphy presented a summary of the MCA finances and noted the finances are in good condition. President Bruckman commented that dues receipts might be behind previous years’ collections.
Commissioner’s Report:
Todd Sinai was not in attendance so there was no Commissioner’s report.
Township & Land Development:
Les Greenberg noted LMT Zoning Officer Scott Houchins was the guest at the last Federation of Civics Association meeting; there will be a hearing on Tuesday, February 3 at 7:30pm at the Township building on traffic calming and safety related to the Montgomery Ave corridor, and additional information can be found on the LMT website; Gladwyne Square is being developed and there was a public meeting on the topic; a request to change the zoning at 124 Montgomery Avene was made and the requested change would allow an extension of the Mini Cooper facility.
Merion Community Coalition Report:
Alice Cheng was not in attendance so there was no report on St.Joe’s and City Ave-Merion Community Coalition.
St. Charles Seminary Development:
Susan Guthrie reported there was nothing new to report related to St. Charles Seminary development.
Fire and Public Safety Report:
Kevin Murphy reported there will be a year-end report on the number of fire calls for 2025 soon.
Streets:
Renee Hill was not in attendance so there was no report on Streets.
Station and Grounds Report:
President Feuer reported that progress is being made on the planter box plaques, and donors will be requested to review and approve text before the plaques are printed.
New Business:
Co-Presidents Bruckman and Feuer are unable to attend the February meeting. A motion was made to cancel the February meeting. After discussion about the pros and cons of canceling the meeting, the motion was seconded by Mitchell Cooper, and it passed on a voice vote.
Melanie Schafmeister proposed using the MCA website as a means of communicating with the directors since email can be less effective in communicating important information.
Craig Oliner reported on personal efforts to increase the tree canopy, i.e, distributing information to local houses, and he encouraged others to participate.
The meeting we adjourned at 8:49pm.