BVSCA Newsletter February 2000
Contents:February 29 Meeting Agenda
Because our January meeting was snowed out, some items have been carried forward. Please refer to the newsletter for a summary of agenda items.
7:00 pm Executive Committee Meeting
7:30 pm Full Membership Meeting
BVSCA dues paying members may participate as observers in meetings of the BVSCA Executive Committee. Note: BVSCA Membership Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) building, 4301 Wilson Boulevard, in Room CC-2 of the Ellipse Conference Center. Free garage access is provided at NRECA's underground parking garage for BVSCA meeting attendees arriving between 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm only. After 8:00 pm, the garage's automatic exit device allows exit-only traffic.
VA Square Childcare
An expression of interest has been made to convert the building located at 3501 Washington Blvd. into a childcare facility. The building space, most recently occupied by a locksmith, is located near Uptown Bakery and Giant Food. This facility will be discussed at our February 29 meeting.
Trash or Treasure: A Pressing Issue
March winds herald the advent of spring - and the unappealing site of newspapers blowing out of unsecured vending boxes. Arlene Linn of the Ballston Partnership's Urban Environment Committee has been working with newspaper vendors to improve the maintenance and aesthetic of vending boxes located near the VA Square and Ballston metro stations. Vendors have agreed to clean the boxes at these two locations on a weekly basis but are not prepared to adhere to uniform size and color standards. If you are interested in helping Arlene's efforts to enforce this agreement, please contact her at (703) 516-4434.
Community Policing Site Unseen
At the Feb. 12 County Board meeting, board members unanimously agreed to recommend that the Arlington County zoning office take steps to enforce an unfulfilled site plan condition requiring the Ohio State Teachers Retirement Fund (OTR) to provide at least 3,500 to 4,500 square feet of finished space adjacent to the Windsor Plaza condominiums for use as a community meeting room. BVSCA members have unable to support the proposed location for the community policing station due to the unfulfilled site plan obligation for this space, which is owned by OTR. Jeffrey Green will provide additional details at the February 29 meeting.
Virginia Square Site Plan
After many long months of negotiating with developers over a proposed site plan for the land directly over Virginia Square Metro, community members have formed a working group to review the Virginia Square Sector Plan. An update on the status of the proposed site plan and an overview of the objectives of this newly formed working group will be provided at the February 29 meeting.
Miscellaneous News Items
AIDSRide 5. From June 22-25, 2000 a team of Arlington police officers and civilian staff will be participating in the AIDSRide 5 from Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC. This 330-mile bike ride raises funds and awareness for the Food & Friends Organization and the Whitman-Walker Clinic. If you are interested in helping the Team Arlington, call Kimberly Roberson 703-228-4311 or visit http://www .onwashington.com/groups-acpdaidsride.
Green goals. On Saturday, March 11, you can take part in Arlington's annual Pre-Trout Season Stream Cleanup of Four Mile Run from 9:30 - 11:30am. The effort will be lead by Arlington Parks. Participants will meet at Arlington Mill Community Center (Columbia Pike and Four Mile Run). Call 228-6535 for helpful items to bring and other useful information.
Volunteer Opportunities. We welcome support of interested neighbors who would like to contribute time and talent to BVSCA. If you are willing to help, please contact DeAndra Beck at (703) 528-5126.
Listserv. BVSCA members are cordially invited to subscribe to the BVSCA listserv. The listserv is a good way to receive periodic updates on issues of neighborhood interest. To subscribe, send an email message to the list coordinator, William P. Jackson, Jr. (Bill), at wpj@translaw.com advising that you would like to join. Include your name and post office address in your message along with the email address(es) from which you will be sending messages. When you are added to the list, you will receive a "Welcome" message with details regarding how to use the listserv. Remember that a message sent by a BVSCA listserv member to BVSCA-L@rootsweb.com will be relayed automatically to all listserv members. To prevent senders of unsolicited commercial email from using our list for unauthorized purposes, only listserv members may send messages to the mailing list from a subscribed address. So, if you use more than one email address, include all of your addresses.
President's Prerogative
Got an old bike you want to donate to a good cause? Pedals for Progress (PfP) will recycle it for you. Bikes collected for PfP leverage donated parts and accessories from the bike industry, which are then shipped overseas to support self-help projects benefiting the working poor.
PfP's next Arlington pickup will be on Saturday, April 22nd, from 9 am to 3 pm at the Washington-Lee High School parking garage over I-66. PfP, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, and Arlington are sponsoring the pickup. The bike should be repairable (in other words, no broken frames or heavily-rusted parts). They also need a donation of $5 to send the bike overseas. The value of donated bikes and the requested $5 per bike shipping donation are fully tax-deductible. If you can, please support this worthy cause!
DeAndra Beck
President, BVSCA
How to Join the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association or Renew Your Membership
All individual persons who are residents of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's area or who in their individual capacity own residential property located therein, shall be eligible for membership in the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association. For the purposes of this organization, the boundaries of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association are Kirkwood Road on the east, Glebe Road on the west, Wilson Boulevard on the south, and the I-66 right of way on the north. If interested in joining the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, please complete the BVSCA Membership Application Form and send your application and dues to Jeffrey Green, Treasurer, Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, who may be reached at (703) 276-2723.
Dues are payable when first joining and are renewable each year on or before the annual anniversary of that date. New members and members who have not paid their dues within the three preceding Association years must pay their dues 30 days before they receive voting privileges. Former members who have been members in good standing within any of the three immediately preceding Association years may be reinstated as voting members by paying their dues for that year.
All members of the Association are volunteers. Dues are used to help fund the Association's activities and sponsored events. Please join the Association today, or renew your dues paid membership. Visit us at (http://www.bvsca.org)