|
Chair John Finney
called the meeting of ANC3D to order at 7:18 PM on Wednesday January 8,
2003. Returning Commissioners present: Hamilton and Heuer. New
Commissioners present: Gates, Mullane, Polk and Shapley.
The first order of
business was the swearing in of the Commissioners by the Honorable Greg
Mize. Next, the election of officers. The following officers were elected
unanimously for the coming year. John Finney, Chair; Alma Gates, Vice-
Chair; Sarah Shapley, Secretary and Ann Heuer, Treasurer.
Community Concerns:
-
George Watson recently
found out that his block (4300 Cathedral Avenue) is no longer in 3D01. It
is now in 3D08 which includes the Towers and other large apartment
complexes. There is no representative on the ANC for this SMD and Mr.
Watson is going to make an effort to find someone for the Commission.
-
There is no military
protection around the reservoir and there is concern that poison could be
added without anyone’s knowledge that could affect everyone in this area.
Chair Finney is going to write a letter to Tom Jacobus of the Army Corps
of Engineers to enlist his aid to get assistance from WASA.
-
Several neighbors
complained that trees are falling down on Rodman Street, leaf collection
is behind; There is an illegal left turn up Mass. Avenue by Crate and
Barrel, a sign needs to be placed there. Since the closing of the Safeway
on MacArthur Blvd. many elderly residents or those without cars have
nowhere to shop. It has been proposed to have a shuttle bus to other
Safeway’s twice a week.
-
Lt. Sullivan of the
second district police station gave a crime report. Crimes in this area
have been centered around AU. Many students come from small towns where
they don’t lock doors or practice safety measures. Laptops and other
items have been stolen from cars and dorms. She encouraged everyone once
again, to make sure all doors of cars are locked and no valuables are left
in sight.
Street Lights in Spring Valley
Muhamad Khalid, Project
manager, Street projects in Ward 3 and Colleen Smith, DDOT came before the
Commission to talk about the street light problems in Spring Valley. Many
neighbors have complained about the number of new streetlights that are
planned for their particular blocks. After a slide presentation, Mr. Khalid
and Ms. Smith spoke about the Series Circuit Conversion Project, which will
take five months and will convert all streetlights to High Pressure sodium
lights (these will last five-six years rather than the current lights which
last no more than six months). Another benefit of the conversion is that
each light is controlled individually, thus eliminating the “Christmas light
blink-out problem people have experienced. Twelve locations in Spring
Valley are involved in this project whose contract is on hold until the
Dept. and the Commission can find a design that is mutually feasible and
satisfactory. Chair Finney offered a resolution, which was seconded by
Commissioner Heuer and passed 7-0-0 to delegate Commissioners Hamilton and
Shapley to work with neighbors and Mr. Khalid. The purpose for this would
be to see if changes to Options 1 or 2 are possible. Option 1 was to Stick
with poles staggered on either side of the street but lower individual lamp
wattage from 150 to 100 watts. , Option 2 was to place the new poles only
on one side of the street, but stay with 150 watts. A show of hands of
neighbors indicated they preferred option 1. This information needs to be
received by DDOT by January 17th.
It was agreed that the
Commissioner would work with Mr. Khalid and his staff to resolve this
question in a week, having set a deadline of Jan. 17th so as not
to put the DC government in danger of an adverse penalty claims action by
the contract. The possibility of an Option 3 to be designed was also
raised. Mr. Khalid apologized for not having consulted with the ANC before
this particular project was undertaken and pledged to do so for future
phases of the city's upgrade of street lighting in our ANC area.
The city aims to upgrade
both the circuitry and the lighting for both economical and environmental
improvement and to achieve better security for citizens with an overall 40%
increase in the area's 'luminescence". The city complies with the
nationally recognized AASHTO standards for the amount of lighting for
different parts of the city (residential, commercial) and would face
liability if it did not bring a sub-standard area, such as this part of
Spring Valley, up to standard.
Neighbors from Indian
Lane, Fordham Road and Overlook Road discussed their
objections to these new, bright lights that are so close together. However,
it was stated that Rockwood Parkway is a "collector street", which has a
higher lighting standard than "local streets".
Laverock Terrace Building Plans- Architects for the proposed
development of this small triangular area presented their plans. There will
be four semi-detached houses and one detached. Two of the semi detached
face macArthur and two face Laverock Place. The detached is at the bottom
of the depression. Since much of the area is in a depression there would
probably be serious runoff problem until the water reached the natural
runoff at the back of the property. Since the developers have not yet even
applied for a building permit, ANC3D voted 7-0-0 to send a letter to Bob
Kelly at DC Government stating that we do not support this plan as it now
stands. Commissioner Finney charged the task force on Zoning (chaired by
Alan Aiches) to look at it and to come back to the February meeting with
their conclusions. Commissioner Polk also suggested that the architects
take their plans to the Foxhall Citizens Association and the Palisades
Community Association prior to ANC3D making any further decisions.
Discussion of a traffic
calming study on Chain Bridge Road – Dick England, a resident of Chain
Bridge Road has obtained the signatures of most of his neighbors for such a
study.
ANC3D endorses this study
and will submit a letter to support it. (Attachment B)
There was a brief
discussion about a proposed site in ANC3D for a 9/11 memorial. While no one
could think of an appropriate spot owned by the City, it was suggested that
a triangle of land at the intersection of Loughboro and Foxhall Roads might
be appropriate even though the National Park Service rather than the City
owns this. The vote was 7-0-0 to send this letter. (Attachment C)
There was a discussion
about proposed amendments to zoning code dealing with building permits. The
proposed amendment was passed 7-0-0 and was sent to the Zoning Commission.
(Attachment D)
There will be a meeting
at EPA on January 21 dealing with flushing of sediments by Dalecarlia Water
Works. Chair Finney has offered to represent ANC3D at this meeting and by a
voice vote of 7-0-0 he was approved to attend.
The Commissioners
approved, by a vote of 7-0-0 to participate in the Advisory Neighborhood
Commission Security Fund for calendar year 2003. The Commissioners
unanimously adopted the following resolution: "Resolved that this Commission
(ANC3D) approves the ANC's participation in the Advisory Neighborhood
Commission Security Fund and authorizes the Treasurer to pay the requisite
$25.00 fee for the period January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003. The
Chairperson and Secretary are authorized to
execute the attached agreement."
Treasurer’s Report
– there is currently a balance of $5,764.86 in the Bank of America checking
account. We are overdue our allotment from October, another is due in
January and the first quarter accounting for FY03 will be presented at the
February meeting. The auditor and Gottleib Simon have been contacted
concerning these delays and there were several reasons given (none of which
were the fault of ANC3D). A new Chief Financial Officer came in and wanted
to wait to receive all ANC’s quarterly reports before issuing checks;
approval of the DC budget by Congress etc.
Minutes from the December
meeting were presented and approved 7-0-0.
The next meeting of ANC3D
will be held on February 5, 2003.
It was mentioned that all
should go to our new website at
www.anc3d.org which is up and running (partially).
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Stowell Shapley
Secretary
|
