As I write this article early Sunday morning, December 30, I am preparing to leave on a trip to Italy in one hour. My message will be short.
The BCA meeting for January 9 will feature Peter Laporte, Director of the Emergency Management Agency for the District of Columbia. Mr. Laporte will speak not only on the preparedness of the District but also on developing a plan for our communities.
The battle to keep the Fillmore Arts Center as a vital part of our community will intensify in the months to come. The District of Columbia Public Schools has no provision to include Fillmore in the renovated or new building for Hardy. The issue is still on the table.
We plan to have our City Councilman Jack Evans at our March BCA meeting. Mr. Evans is a strong supporter of Burleith, and his appearances with us are always well attended.
See you on January 9!
Holiday trees will be picked up during one week only, January 7th through January 11th. Your tree should be placed at the curb in front of your home by Sunday, January 6. All decorations must be removed. Any trees not put out for collection that week should be placed with your trash on your regular collection day. They will be picked up as space in the collection truck allows.
The Washington International School has announced that it intends to go ahead this summer with an expansion of the existing primary school building in Burleith. The goal is to "complete" the structure according to the plans that were originally approved in 1997. Budget problems forced the school to scale back those plans and construct an abbreviated second story to the school. As a consequence, the school has had to hold some classes this year in a temporary structure behind the school on the Reservoir Road side.
Although the original design was approved by the BZA, those approvals might have expired, and if so, the school will have to move quickly to get the required approvals by this summer.
The new work is expected to add to the building on the Reservoir Road side, so there will probably be little direct impact on Burleith; but the details could be important.
WIS will present its plans to ANC 2E at their public meeting on Tuesday, January 8 at Georgetown Visitation School; the presentation will probably start around 7 pm. All are welcome to attend. For more information on the ANC meeting, see http://users.erols.com/anc2e or call 338-7427.
Police report—Concern was expressed about poor lighting leading to safety problems in the 3800 block of S Street. MPD Lt. Bray promised to look into possible improvements, and noted that a police officer is stationed at the Ellington field from noon to 8:30 pm, primarily to assist with Police Boys and Girls Club activities.
There were several complaints about noise. If parties are excessively loud, the first police visit should result in a fine—there should be no warnings given. If police respond but take no action, notify Lt. Bray. Excessively noisy dogs can be cited, but the officer must personally witness the disturbance. Late-night fireworks are a problem, particularly in the 3500–3600 blocks of S St.
GU Student Affairs Report—There were 31 calls to the Hotline in the 3 weeks prior to the meeting, including 21 incidents, 8 confirmed, in Burleith. Julie Fultz is working with the police on the brick thrown through a window on 34th St south of Prospect St and other similar incidents. The next ALL meeting is on February 12 at 6:30 PM at St. John's Episcopal Church in Georgetown.
Ellington School—Mitzi Yates invited the community to the Ellington student art show, which is now be on display at the school from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm.
Founded in 1974, Ellington is now in transition. In 2000 they began partnerships with the Kennedy Center and George Washington University; they're still investigating what those partnerships mean. They are asking more from students in terms of academics and in civic and social responsibility. For example, students must take four years of foreign language and more-demanding mathematics and social sciences courses. Students must attend classes, and arrive at school on time.
Parking at the school continues to be a major problem. There are over 100 faculty and staff, plus "easily" 50 visitors each day. Students are "strongly discouraged" from driving; for example, they are not permitted to leave class to move their cars. The relaxation of residential parking restrictions that the community supported several years ago has not significantly improved the situation, because hospital employees, students, and other out-of-state vehicles fill all the spaces before most Ellington personnel arrive. Cars parking on the lawn are now issued a sticker, so the school can in theory control access. The school would like reserved parking along its perimeter for its employees, but the community has opposed such special treatment in the past.
One suggestion was that parking on the school perimeter be limited before 8:30 am, to 15 minutes as is done at Key school. This proposal is being studied.
At Ellington, as at all DC schools, students are required to remain on campus while school is in session. However, despite the school's best efforts, there are some violations. Ms. Yates said, "I wouldn't suspend them for that, especially if they're really good kids."
Ellington teachers emphasize to students the importance of not littering on and off the campus. Ms. Yates welcomed the idea of having DPW place trash receptacles at the four corners of the campus.
The school is "constantly throwing things out" because of the many productions and shows. They call DCPS when bulk trash is put out; items are usually collected after a few days. Sometimes outsiders dump trash as well.
Ms. Yates encouraged community members to call her at 282-0094 to report student or school operation problems.
DC Public Schools—Julie Mikuta is the elected School Board member from District 1, which encompasses Wards 1 and 2. She primarily discussed the Hardy renovation and its affect on the Fillmore Arts Center.
The Hardy renovation is one of the first projects in the DCPS Master Facilities Plan for the next decade. Whether renovation projects are completed will depend in part on funding and on the availability of swing space (a place for classes to be held during renovation).
Hardy will be gutted and completely renewed; Fillmore is not part of the current plan, but this is under discussion. Fillmore might continue at another site (conceivably another DCPS property like the Jackson School on R St). One advantage of moving Fillmore from Hardy is that Fillmore's current space can be used as swing space. Community input sessions will be held in the spring.
The Master Plan considered expected growth in the school population and distributed it among existing infrastructure; it concludes that middle schools like Hardy should hold 600–800 students. DC has both middle schools (grades 6–8) and junior high schools (grades 7–9); after some debate the School Board decided to continue with both.
Most at the BCA meeting seemed to feel that 600 students is too large for a middle school; Ms. Mikuta said she preferred smaller schools but there was no space for them in the city. Deal Junior High now has over 800 students. However, Hardy's future size is not yet fixed.
Ms. Mikuta said she "likes Fillmore a lot—the kids there are engaged and learning." She promised to work to continue the program. One particular headache for Fillmore is transportation, which is run by a court-appointed master, outside DCPS control, This situation makes transportation budgeting difficult. But discussions are ongoing with Friends of Fillmore and others.
Reportedly, when the six-school complex was established, Burleith residents could send children to any participating school as in-boundary students. Ms. Mikuta will investigate when and how this policy changed.
Julie Mikuta can be reached at 442-5600 or via email at JMikuta@yahoo.com.
Remember the Georgetown University campus plan? The plan, which is supposed to guide on-campus development for the decade from 2000–2010, is still under contention. The first campus plan hearing was on June 13, 2000; the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) made its formal decision on December 5, 2000 and made a last revision on August 6, 2001. As ordered by the BZA, the University has submitted a "final draft" of the plan, which community groups contend is incomplete. The BZA has put off a decision on whether to accept the latest draft until their March 5 meeting.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by the University against the BZA decision (see the September 2001 Newsletter) is progressing slowly through the DC Court of Appeals—neighborhood organizations, including the BCA, have filed as intervenors so as to be allowed to comment on the case. The University's court appeal was filed on September 5. The parties are now waiting for the BZA to file the record of the case (two boxes) with the court. Once the record is filed, the first hearing will probably be held about 3 months later.
As the University's reaction might indicate, the BZA ruling strongly affirmed the requirement that the University operate without causing serious disruption to the community, and spelled out several steps for the University to take to remedy current problems.. The BCA and other community groups will be vigilant to ensure that these requirements are not eroded.
Come join the monthly book discussion group at the Georgetown Public Library, 3260 R Street. Discussions are held at 2 pm on the first Thursday of every month, with the following books to be considered:
| February 7: | Two Trains Running, by August Wilson |
| March 7: | Being There, by Jerzy Kosinski |
| April 4: | Poetry of Rumi |
| May 2: | Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson |
| June 6: | Poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa |
For more information, call the library at 282-0220.
by H. Johnson, 3829 S Street
My family moved to Burleith in 1927, very shortly after Burleith was born. I was about 2 ½ years old then, so many of memories are foggy, but they may be of interest. I live opposite the Western High School stadium (now Ellington stadium), on S street. In those early days it was not a stadium at all, but a ten-foot hill in front of our house and a tangled wood beyond, with a dirt road in between. As a child, I watched them scrape and pave S Street. A fascinating process! Of course, I had little understanding of what was going on.
In my childhood what is now the stadium was a hill. about ten feet high, at S Street, sloping down to a frog swamp where we got tadpoles, then, going south, a rise to Reservoir Road and a dip, which often flooded. After one heavy rainstorm, I went swimming there. The drains couldn't cope with the rains. The peril was, there were little whirlpools at the drains. They looked pretty dangerous to a child. Reservoir Road still tends to flood, as we all know. In our ignorance, most of us kids called it "Rezzaboy Road."
All this has changed, of course, but one great thing about the dip in the land was the frog swamp. I used to take a fruit jar and collect tadpoles, and on the best advice of a neighbor, Mr. Horsefall, who did many of the background paintings for the zoo cages and was something of a naturalist, I tried to feed and keep the tadpoles and have frogs. (What I would have done with frogs is more than I can say or think.) Anyway, the tadpoles all died, so that was that.
One winter we kids had a terrific snowball battle in the wilds where the stadium is now. Then it was all scrub woods, marsh, and open field. We—both sides—built snow walls of defense and began pitching snowballs, shockingly loaded with stones inside. It's a wonder none of us were killed.
But then later, the bulldozers came. 39th Street was paved, the frog ponds disappeared, the stadium was constructed, and a bit of the past passed forever. Maybe for the best; who knows? But it is nice to remember. To quote Vergil's Aeneid, "Forsan et haec olim memenisse juvabit." (Perhaps it will help sometime to remember these things.)
The Federal Highway Administration-conducted road work on 37th Street is making good progress, despite some serious early problems with vibration from the large vehicle-mounted jackhammers used to open up the streets for new manholes. In response to complaints, project managers twice brought in successively smaller equipment, and now have completed the necessary excavation in the problem areas. (Hopefully, the vibration won't be as serious north of S Street—but it probably won't be, considering that the vibration problems from road construction were in the same places that experienced problems from bus traffic when the D2 bus was rerouted some years ago.)
The project will upgrade the existing electrical lines for street lights and traffic signals, hopefully resulting in more reliable lighting than we now have (street lamps now burn out more rapidly and require more frequent maintenance because of aging wiring). The lighting will also be significantly brighter than at present. New cast-iron street lamps will be installed (pictured at left), with each globe holding a high-brightness 150-watt bulb. Between Reservoir Rd and Whitehaven Parkway, 44 such light poles will be installed.
Similar work on R Street in Georgetown has reached its final stages ahead of schedule, and if the weather remains good, the 37th Street work might be completed before the estimated July date. Project workers move next to MacArthur Blvd between Foxhall Rd and Laverock Pl.
Discussions are continuing between the ANC 2E and project managers. Anyone experiencing problems should call either the ANC (338-7427) or FHWA project manager Mark Brooks (529-5717).
Special guest: Peter Laporte, Director of the DC Emergency Management Agency
Meet your neighbors, share your opinions! All are Welcome!
On the second day of 2002, a new kind of "manhole explosion" hit Georgetown, disrupting telephone service in Georgetown, Burleith and Glover Park (all of which are served by a central exchange in Georgetown). As with last year's electrical incidents, the problem can be traced to old, jumbled utility lines underneath Georgetown's main streets. The remedy, agreed upon under the pressure of repeated manhole fires, is the Georgetown Project, an extensive rebuilding of the electrical, gas, telephone, and water lines under M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and to be followed by a complete renovation of the sidewalks, pavement, street lights, and other street furniture. The total cost of the project is estimated at $50 million.
The Georgetown Project took a holiday break, but will resume work on Sunday, January 6. On work days (Sunday through Thursday), late-night parking will be prohibited on M Street, and violators will be ticketed and towed. The tickets are not cheap—be sure to look for the special Georgetown Project No Parking signs if you go out late at night!
Every effort is being made to minimize the impact on traffic and on residents, and few changes should be evident during the day. All M Street shops, restaurants and bars will remain open as usual.
Later this spring, project work will begin on Wisconsin Avenue. Plans for that work, which will also be done at night, are now being developed. Because Wisconsin Avenue is narrow, there may be significant changes in night traffic, including rerouting of Wisconsin Avenue buses. Daytime traffic patterns should (hopefully) not significantly change.
Overall, the project will last 2–3 years. When completed, the Georgetown business district should be beautiful, and both Georgetown and its neighbors should benefit from the resulting reliable, state-of-the-art infrastructure.
ANC 2E, the Georgetown community's elected representative, is closely involved in the planning and operation of the Georgetown Project. To comment or get more information, call 338-7427. (Also see the Project web site at http://www.thegeorgetownproject.org.)
| Jan 7 (Mon) | WIS classes resume |
| Jan 9 (Wed) | Georgetown University classes resume |
| Jan 9 (Wed) | BCA meeting, 7 pm |
| Jan 23 (Wed) | Board meeting, 7 pm |
| Feb 4 (Mon) | Newsletter deadline |
| Feb. 23 (Sat) | BCA Winter Picnic |
On Wednesday, December 19, 19 year old Dominique Cannon of Temple Hills, Maryland surrendered himself to the DC Second District police. Cannon was wanted on an outstanding robbery warrant from Arlington, Virginia. Later that night, Second District detectives charged him with two counts of armed robbery in connection with the November 26 robbery at 31st and N Streets, and the November 29 robbery committed in the 1300 block of 30th Street.
On December 20, Second District detectives obtained an arrest warrant for a second suspect in these robberies, 19 year old Elliot Edwards of Temple Hills, MD. Edwards is currently being held in Arlington, VA on a robbery charge in that jurisdiction.
The investigation is continuing and additional arrests are expected.
Before you make some home repairs, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) advises you to first do your homework:
DCRA can provide you with information on licensing, complaints, and permits. Call the Information Center at 442-4400, and check out http://dcra.dc.gov. (Note: this is a new address, different from that in the printed Newsletter.)