BVSCA Newsletter May 2000
Contents:May 30 Meeting Agenda
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 pm, the garage's automatic exit device allows exit-only traffic.
Officer, Officer
At the April 25 meeting, BVSCA members elected a three person committee to nominate candidates for '00 - '01 BVSCA officers. Ernie Ragland, Ben Axleroad, and Ken Hughes will present these nominations at the May 30 meeting. If you are interested in serving as a BVSCA officer or serving on the BVSCA Executive Committee, or if you would like to nominate someone for office, please contact Ken Hughes or Ben Axleroad with your input.
On the Brink
Virginia House of Delegates member Bob Brink will join BVSCA members to discuss neighborhood concerns, to review the 2000 session of the General Assembly, and to solicit community input for the next legislative session. Please make an effort to attend the May meeting for this opportunity to discuss topics of interest to our neighborhood, such as I-66 widening, the GMU expansion, taxes, health care, etc. Delegate Brink serves on committees for health, welfare, and institutions; labor and commerce; and science and technology.
Water, Water Everywhere
Beginning November 2000, Arlington's water supplier will modify its water treatment process to meet new EPA guidelines for the nation's drinking water. The Washington Aqueduct Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which supplies Arlington County's water, is converting its disinfection process from the use of free chlorine to the use of chloramines. "While chloramines are a weaker disinfectant than chlorine, they are longer lasting and a more penetrating disinfectant," according to Sam Kem, Arlington's director of Public Works. What impact will this change have on consumers? The Department of Public Works will attend our May 30 meeting to discuss the change.
Miscellaneous News Items
Virginia Square Sector Plan Review. The Virginia Square Sector Plan review committee continues to meet in an effort to prepare for a full review of the Virginia Square Sector Plan by County staff this fall. The original Virginia Square Sector plan was approved in 1983, and there is general agreement that an update is both timely and necessary. Subcommittees have been formed, and there are two committees that need additional members: density and focal point. If you are interested in participating, please contact Ed Rea, at 703-528-1224.
Tour Bus Parking. The County is taking steps to address concerns raised by Ballston Commons Mall management that there is insufficient tour bus parking near the mall, hampering their ability to market the mall to upscale tenants. County staff has responded by taking steps to remove on-street parking on North Quincy St. to provide space for 5 tour buses to park on the street. This arrangement is temporary, and staff has agreed that they will re-visit this decision in 6 months. If bus parking is feasible for the paved part of the new recycling center site, County staff has agreed to re-locate bus parking to that site, removing on a one to one basis the on-street tour bus parking. The County has established a task force on tour bus parking. If you are interested in participating on this task force, contact DeAndra Beck at 703-528-5126 for additional details.
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
BVSCA is in the process of revising the way that newsletters are prepared and distributed. This is coincident with a software conversion for our membership database. I appreciate everyone's patience as details are worked out.
Thanks to those of you who subscribed to our listserv last month. I encourage everyone with email capabilities to take advantage of electronic distribution of the newsletter.
If you belong to a town home association or condo association, please ensure that your board members are aware of BVSCA. Why not ask them to designate a representative to attend BVSCA meetings? BVSCA represents EVERYONE who lives in our neighborhood, including condos, town homes, and rental units. Working together on issues of common concern can only be a win-win process.
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)