BVSCA Newsletter November 1999
Contents:Note: There will be no December BVSCA meeting. We hope to see you on January 25!
November 30 Meeting Agenda
7:30 pm Full Membership Meeting
7:40 pm Community Policing Station
(see description following)
8:40 pm I-66 Widening
(see description following)
9:00 pm Adjournment
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 allows exit only traffic.
Ballston Community Policing Station
The Arlington County Police Department has submitted a site plan request to establish a Community Policing Station for the Second Police District in approximately 800 square feet of retail space fronting the 1000 block of North Utah Street. Community policing stations are staffed in the afternoon and evening hours by auxiliaries and volunteers to provide a place where residents and visitors can meet with officers to make reports, receive crime prevention information, or discuss community issues. The station would also serve as a home base for neighborhood Bicycle Patrol and Beat officers. Transwestern Carey Winston (as authorized property managers for the Teachers Retirement System of Ohio) offered this space at no cost to Arlington County. Additionally, they offered to donate the estimated $40,000 cost to build the storefront to specifications. The police anticipate that the configuration of the space would provide a meeting/training room with a capacity of 25-30 persons to allow for community meetings and training sessions. Unfortunately, the proposed site is located in a building whose owners have not met site plan obligations established by the county. Hear more about the proposed site plan and have an opportunity to provide feedback at the November meeting.
Dog Site Parked
Clarendon Dogs has agreed to remove the Kirkwood pumping station from its application to the county for sponsorship of a dog park. The county's pending sale of the land now being used by Clarendon Dogs has fallen through, allowing the current site to remain active. A number of very preliminary, alternative sites were identified by the Ad Hoc Group on Dog Park Siting (established at the September BVSCA meeting). However, sans a sponsor group, the ad hoc group has dissolved and is no longer active.
I-66 Widening: Promises, Promises
Over 100 residents of Arlington and Falls Church formed a new group on Nov. 16 to insist that their voices be heard in the process of determining the future of I-66. The Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation (ACST) adopted a goal of ensuring that I-66 changes occur only as "part of a comprehensive regional plan and are made with community consensus." Gov. James Gilmore and U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, whose district lies west of Arlington, have both called for adding lanes to I-66 to relieve congestion. This action would violate a compromise the County reached with federal officials in 1977, clearing the path to build I-66 after vigorous opposition from County residents. The compromise, known as the Coleman decision, restricted I-66 to four lanes in Arlington with Metrorail running down the median and imposed HOV restrictions and a ban on trucks. The goals of the coalition are to: 1) educate the public on the facts pertaining to the various I-66 proposals and related issues; 2) ensure that the decision making process includes local input; 3) identify options that address the concerns of commuters and residents, preserve quality of life and community integrity, minimize impact on the environment, are viable for the entire region, and are cost-effective in the long term; and 4) forge community consensus and advocate implementation of these solutions, ensuring that they are included in comprehensive regional transportation plans. For more information or to join ACST, call co-chair Miriam Rollin at 538-7981 or marollin@aol.com.
President's Prerogative
Many will make resolutions for the New Year, for the New Millennium. Even though you may live in a high rise condo that has a condo association or a townhouse that has a townhouse association, BVSCA represents the interests of all residents in the Ballston-Virginia Square neighborhood. If your list of resolutions isn't too full, please consider adding a monthly commitment to attend BVSCA meetings. Together, we can work to shape the future of our neighborhood. Happy and safe holidays to you all.
DeAndra Beck
President, BVSCA
Hot Wired
Web page. The BVSCA web page is located at www.bvsca.org. Monthly newsletters and related information are posted on the site. Another good site to bookmark is the Arlington County home page at www.co.arlington.va.us.
Listserv. All members of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association are invited to become members of the BVSCA mailing list. Subscribe by sending an email message to the list coordinator, William P. Jackson, Jr. at wpj@translaw.com advising that you would like to join the list. Include your name and post office address in your message, along with the email address or addresses 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 mailing list. 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. A message sent by a BVSCA listserv member to BVSCA-L@rootsweb.com will be relayed to all listserv members!