Talking trash, city logistics during pope's visit

"WE HAVE several guests who have likened the situation with fences and snipes on rooftops as 'The Philadelphia Hunger Games' or 'The Philadelphia Divergent,' " one business owner wrote.

" . . . the news nationwide could move from politics to the 'nightmare in Philly staring [sic] Mayor Nutter,' " added another.

"We expect . . . [we] will be mostly used as a public bathroom," wrote a third.

Those are just a few of the more dramatic comments city Controller Alan Butkovitz and his team received from the 68 businesses within the "Francis Festival Grounds," that responded to his office's recent survey about the impact of Pope Francis' upcoming visit.

But overall, businesses are "optimistic" about the papal visit, Butkovitz said at a news conference yesterday, and recent changes made by the city and the World Meeting of Families staff have been "encouraging," he said.

Beginning on Aug. 18, representatives from the Controller's Office hand-delivered 250 letters to hotels, restaurants and retail stores within the "Francis Festival Grounds," or the area formerly known as the "Traffic Box."

Of those 250 businesses, only 68 responded. The Mayor's Office estimates that there are about 12,000 businesses within the Francis Festival Grounds.

Butkovitz said the biggest concern expressed by those who responded to the survey was the lack of information from the city about food deliveries and trash removal.

"There has to be a plan for continuous trash removal so that the trash bins don't become overrun, we don't have a rodent problem, we're not showing a bad face to the world at a time when this is a very celebratory, important, optimistic event," Butkovitz said.

Mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said via email that the city will announce its plans for commercial deliveries and commercial trash removal next week.

The city's Business Resource Center, which opened on Aug. 17, has handled nearly 300 inquiries since it went into operation and that call volume "decreased substantially" after the first week, McDonald said.

"By contrast, Butko had responses from only 68 businesses," McDonald wrote.

Butkovitz said the responses that surprised him the most were from hotels, including some that said they've drastically reduced their rates, and one hotel that said it has changed from marketing its rooms to international visitors to marketing them to businesses in town that need a place for their employees to stay.

Online: ph.ly/crime

Blog: ph.ly/Delco