Water Runoff In Allentown Parks

I have been wrestling with the Allentown Park System for over twenty years about the weed walls, aka Riparian Buffers.The bout started in Keck Park, early in the Pawlowski Regime, when he allowed the Wildlands Conservancy to install their first buffer. 

The back stories are that Pawlowski's first of several park directors all had the same background in recreation from Penn State, and asked the Wildlands for advise about park issues. The Wildlands back story is that they get to keep 15% of all government grants that they apply for, as an administrative fee. Riparian Buffers are supposed to filter the lawn fertilizer in water runoff from entering the streams. The ignored reality in the Allentown Parks is that the storm system is piped directly into the streams, under any  buffer planted. Across Cedar Creek behind the Rose Garden, a large concrete structure discharges the entire runoff from the Hamilton Park neighborhood, directly into the creek. Likewise, several pipes empty the West End directly into the creek. So, for twenty years, we park devotees have been enduring weed walls all summer, blocking view and access to the creeks. Worse, this summer the city allowed the Wildlands to plant over a hundred tree saplings out from the creek, to expand the width of the masquerade. This area will soon also not be mowed, because mowing between closely planted trees is very labor intensive.

The current park director is asking the city for additional funds to study water runoff. The free answer is in the above paragraph. I would be happy to recommend needed repairs to various WPA structures within our parks, providing some value for that money.

Shown above the weed wall in Cedar Park during the summer.                          

I'm not here to be polite or popular