ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on April 28, 2021. All commissioners were present. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton was on the agenda, but she did not attend due to President Biden’s address to Congress. That left a lot of time to cover other items and end the meeting at a decent hour.

ANC Business

There is still a vacancy in single member district (SMD) 5A04, which covers Catholic University. The university told ANC 5A Chair Ronnie Edwards (5A05) that they have identified a suitable candidate, for whenever the Board of Elections officially declares a vacancy and determines that the seat can be filled.

The ANC continues to work with its selected vendor on updating the ANC 5A website. They expect the work to take a couple of months.

The ANC voted to support a resolution from ANC 5D requesting reactivation of the Crummell School in the Ivy City neighborhood for community recreation and learning and for the building to be managed by District government rather than handed over entirely to a private developer.

The ANC voted to approve a resolution by Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) regarding heavy truck traffic on residential streets and a request for a truck camera near Sargent Road and Allison Street NE.

Commissioner Gordon Fletcher (5A08) repeated some highlights from the public safety task force meeting: addressing gun violence and property crimes, traffic, and infrastructure concerns.

MPD Police Report

Derek Staten, MPD’s community outreach liaison, stated MPD will have a bike registration pop-up at Providence (1150 Varnum Street NE) on Friday, April 30, 2021, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, near the urgent care center entrance. If you want to register your bike (not required, but encouraged), stop by. Edit: This is being done in conjunction with Commissioner Lucio and Metro Transit Police. The first 20 people will receive bike locks.

A police officer was not available to give updates on crime stats, so Derek reiterated the usual advice MPD gives. Continue to exercise caution with vehicles. Do not leave your car running unattended. Always lock your car, and do not leave anything visible in your car at all.

Commissioner Charles Lockett (5A02) mentioned a problem with commercial trucks parking on residential streets. On that note, Mr. Staten mentioned that he is planning a community conversation about traffic with MPD’s traffic enforcement unit, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), and the DC Department of Public Works (DPW).

Ward 5 Mayor’s Office Report

Ward 5 MOCR Nokomis Hunter stated that starting May 1, 2021, DC will have 11 high capacity walk-up, no appointment necessary vaccination sites around the city. One will be located at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center (note one will also be at Lamond Recreation Center and at Providence).

Assistance to help DC residents pay rent and utility expenses is available through stay.dc.gov.

DPW will resume parking enforcement and street cleaning May 1, 2021.

Commissioner Sandi Washington (5A07) mentioned that notice was sent out that residential parking permit (RPP) fees will increase starting June 1, 2021. This is the fee that residents who live on blocks zoned for RPP pay to park their vehicles on the street. The current fee is $35. The new rates are:

1. $50 for the first vehicle
2. $75 for the second vehicle
3. $100 for the third vehicle
4. $150 for each vehicle beyond the first three vehicles

There is an exemption for one resident 65 years of age or older per household. Exempted residents will pay a $35 annual RPP fee for the first vehicle registered at a legal mailing address. The fee for each subsequent vehicle registered at a legal mailing address will be identical to the tiered rates noted above.

The ANC decided they want to discuss these new rates further and talked about maybe having a special meeting to get more information about why they are going up or something. (Aside: The current fee of $35 has not changed since 2011. The government approved increasing the fee in legislation back in 2019. There was a lot of press and discussion about this with an opportunity to comment, so I am not sure exactly what the ANC is objecting to–increasing the fee during a pandemic, getting only roughly 30 days notice about the increase, or objecting to any fee increase at all). At any rate, they will decide if they want to send some sort of official communication to District officials, so stay tuned for a possible special meeting about all of this.

ANC SMD Reports

Apparently, both Commissioners Damion McDuffie (5A01) and Charles Lockett (5A02) had walkthroughs of their respective areas last week. Commissioner McDuffie will have a 5A01 SMD meeting tentatively scheduled for May 19, 2021.

Commissioner Lucio confirmed that a gelato shop/Italian restaurant/market type concept will indeed occupy two vacant spaces at the strip mall near the McDonald’s on South Dakota Avenue NE. The only shop currently open in that strip mall is the Chinese food carryout. I believe the exact address of where the new shop will be located is 4944 South Dakota Avenue NE (note this is the location where the property owner wanted to put in a liquor store, which the North Michigan Park community fought against). Commissioner Lucio mentioned this possibility at a previous meeting and stated last night that the shop is in fact coming, but I am not sure if that means a lease has been signed. No one was able to share anything about timeframe for opening, but it sounds promising. She also said they are interested in having patio seating. Apparently there might be space behind the building. I have never been behind the building, but Commissioner Lucio said the owner has been working to clear out the back of the building (apparently there’s a paper alley or something and the owner has been working to address the drainage issue there).

Commissioner Lucio has two upcoming meetings. One will be for residents near 10th Street and Varnum Street NE. A resident in that area requested a traffic safety investigation, and one of DDOT’s proposal is to make part of 10th Street that is currently one-way open to two-way vehicular traffic. This area borders ANC 5B. The 5B commissioner for that area had an SMD meeting for her residents already. Commissioner Lucio will also have a regular SMD meeting on May 6, 2021. The tenative agenda for that meeting includes Mundo Verde, McDonald’s, and EYA.

Commissioner Fletcher (5A08) held an SMD meeting on April 27. His next SMD meeting will be June 22, 2021, at 6:30 pm.

Miscellaneous

I asked Chair Edwards about making draft copies of the resolutions available prior to the meetings so that residents will know what the commissioners are voting on. I also asked if the ANC can upload resolutions to the ANC resolution portal, especially since the ANC 5A website is being updated right now. Currently, only a couple handful of ANC 5A resolutions are on that portal. He said he would consider these suggestions.

ANC 5A Monthly Public Meeting
April 28, 2021
6:45 pm

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84404462291?pwd=MkpjeWRTT1ZHQkk0NFcrTGk5SEdIZz09

Meeting ID: 844 0446 2291    
Passcode: 641962
Dial In: 301 715 8592

All residents will be muted.  Individuals will be called on once acknowledged by the Chair.

Agenda items

1. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
2. Public Safety Task Force Update

ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on March 24, 2021. Commissioners present: Damion McDuffie, Sr. (5A01); Charles Lockett (5A02); Emily Singer Lucio – Secretary (5A03); Ronnie Edwards – Chair (5A05); Derrick Holloway (5A06); Sandi Washington – Treasurer (5A07); Gordon Fletcher – Vice Chair (5A08)

ANC Business

The ANC has signed a contract for services to update and maintain the ANC website. While the work is taking place, the website will be offline. Meeting notices will be posted at https://anc.dc.gov/events.

The ANC will report on action steps that came out of the ANC’s public safety meeting held on March 18, 2021. Commissioner Fletcher stated the goal is to have quarterly public safety meetings. The next one will be in June. The DC Office of the Attorney General and DC Department of Behavorial Health will be invited.

Resolution on Heavy Trucks

Comissioner Lucio presented two resolutions concerning heavy trucks on prohibited streets. The first was to request a heavy truck camera on Sargent Road NE where it becomes 13th Street NE. The resolution will likely be modified in some way for the other commissioners to add other areas where heavy trucks are a problem.

The second resolution was a letter to request more funding for MPD’s motor carrier unit in order to get more truck cameras. The city only has a few truck cameras that get rotated throughout the city. That resolution was not seconded, so Commissioner Edwards told Commissioner Lucio that she can present it again at a future meeting after the commissioners have reviewed it.

MPD Police Report

MPD Fourth District Lt. Patrick Schaut stated that in the last 30 days in ANC 5A, there were only 24 crimes and all of them were property crimes. The numbers for the 4th District as a whole are different though. He mentioned a shooting near Turkey Thicket/ in Brookland that resulted in arrest of suspects and a shooting on Sheridan Street in which a suspect has been arrested.

All of the Fourth District officers are back from their details to the US Capitol following the January 6th insurrection.

There has been an increase in thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles. Lt. Schaut said it appears that Hondas and Toyotas are being targeted. It takes about two to three minutes to remove the part. There is not much that anyone can do, but if you see someone fiddling under your car, you might want to check it out.

Commissioner Edwards asked if Lt. Schaut had any thoughts about Commissioner Lucio’s request for more funding for MPD’s motor carrier unit. Lt. Schaut responded that he does not really get into MPD budget issues.

Mayor Office Ward 5 Report

Bike to Work Day is May 21, 2021.

If you know any seniors who need the coronavirus vaccine, contact Ward 5 MOCR Nokomis Hunter at nokomis.hunter@dc.gov so that the MOCR office can assist the senior.

Ward 5 Council Report

Silas Grant, Senior Advisor to Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, repeated that Councilmember McDuffie sent a budget priorities letter to Mayor Bowser for fiscal year 2022. The letter has requests for a guaranteed income program; reparations study; violence interrupters for Riggs Park; and a new library in the Eckington area. Councilmember McDuffie has also requested more funding for the Pathway Programs, a transitional employment program run by the DC Office of Neigborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE). Mr. Grant mentioned this program at ANC 5A’s public safety meeeting as a promising tool to address public safety in a holistic way. If you know anyone who would benefit from this program, reach out to Mr. Grant.

Councilmember McDuffie will host a townhall on COVID-19 next steps soon.

Councilmember McDuffie is also looking at planning a townhall on recreational cannabis and social equity. A resident asked what can be done about the amount of marijuana smoking being done in public that makes it hard for residents to enjoy fresh air. Mr. Grant responded that smoking marijuana in public is prohibited and therefore it is a law enforcement issue. (I will note here as I noted in the chat at the meeting that MPD officers have told me they have been instructed by the mayor to stand down on marijuana enforcement). Mr. Grant also stated that the Council office has received complaints of smoke from attached homes and that the District Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) is looking at studying air quality in homes of seniors in attached houses as a result of smoking by neighbors, or something like that.

DC Bilingual School Expansion

DC Bilingual Public Charter School was back to discuss its building expansion at 33 Riggs Road NE. View the presentation here. The website for the expansion is https://dcbilingual.org/growth.

The school is looking to add a 27,000 square foot expansion to serve more students (I think they said roughly 234 more students). There was a lot of discussion about traffic. Pepco’s Capital Grid project is going on in that area. Even before the Capital Grid project made its way to that location, traffic was really terrible along that stretch of Riggs Road NE during morning and evening rush hour. One of the commissioners asked for a copy of the school’s traffic study, which the school will provide when it is completed. One possibly good thing is that DDOT is planning to install a traffic signal at Riggs Road NE and 1st Street NE (the signal is part of the planned Metropolitan Branch Trail but it will be installed before the rest of the trail from Fort Totten to Takoma is constructed). The school plans to lease space at two nearby parking lots for use during construction and afterwards.

Catholic University Nursing School Expansion

The ANC voted to support Catholic University’s nursing school expansion. The zoning case number is 12-01D.

Capital Bikeshare for All Program

The Capital Bikeshare for All program provides an annual bikeshare membership for $5 for eligible individuals 18 years old and older (regular annual membership costs $85). Program participants get unlimited 60-minute rides. In addition, there are no usage fees for ebikes for program participants. The program is open to residents that receive assistance, such as SNAP, WIC, TANF, SSI/SSDI Supplemental Security Income, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Medicaid. Ordinarily, individuals must have a credit or debit card to enroll, but if an individual is unbanked, there may other options for getting enrolled. A webinar for interested community partner organizations will be held March 30, 2021. For questions, contact Lester Wallace at lester.wallace@godcgo.com.

There was a bit of a mixup because Commissioner Lucio thought DDOT would be discussing a bikeshare station that will be installed near South Dakota Avenue NE and Decatur Street NE. DDOT will discuss that at a future meeting.

Miscellaneous

Commissioner Fletcher will hold a single member district (SMD) meeting for his area on April 27, 2021. He also announced that around 40 to 50 students have returned to Rocketship’s Infinity Community Prep campus in Riggs Park for in-person instruction. Rocketship may present on its reopening plans at a future meeting.