Bloomingdale Civic Association
General Membership Meeting
Monday, November 16, 2015, 7:00 PM
St. George’s Episcopal Church, 160 U Street NW
Minutes
Executive Board in Attendance: Teri Janine Quinn, Sherry Howard, Angela Prentice, Horacio Sierra, Scott Roberts, Austin Pearl, Bertha Holliday
Meeting Commenced at 7:04 pm
COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES, BCA ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS, & COMMUNITY UPDATES MIX
I. Malik Williams, a Ward 5 liaison for Mayor Bowser, announced the following:
-A “Rally in the Alley” this Thursday at 6 pm to celebrate Alleypallooza 2.0 will take place on 22 R Street. He said two alleys in Bloomingdale are part of Alleypalooza 2.0. The R Street alley is about 1/3 of the way bricked, but it is projected to be completed, despite delays, next Tuesday.
-He opened the floor for questions, but there were none.
II. Teri asked about safety concerns that could be relayed to MPD. There were none.
III. Matt Weiss spoke about a new business opening in Bloomingdale. They are in the process of acquiring a small business space at 251 Florida Avenue NW in the unit where the liquor distributor is. They want to open a neighborhood cocktail bar that can hold between 50 and 60 people. They have discussed plans with the neighbors and they have received their support. Weiss wanted to come and speak with us before beginning the permitting process. He said they probably would have a lot of whiskey. There won’t be a kitchen since there none is currently there. They plan to be open in the evening from 4 pm with full service hours inside (1:30 am on weekdays and 2:30 on weekends for serving alcohol) and more limited hours for the outside back patio, for which they will work with the BCA and neighbors on what hours those should be. Teri said that normally the hours have been Midnight on weekdays and 1:00 am on weekends.
IV. Teri reported that the Historic Preservation Designation Committee had about 60 people in attendance for their last meeting. The results of the survey did not differ from those in the previous survey. Teri noted a newer group of people in the last meeting compared to the previous meeting. Information should be placed on the website based on minutes from the meetings. The next meeting will probably have a different format such as an Open House. Angela said the next meeting will be a public awareness event/fundraiser at her house on November 20. Flyers should soon be distributed to promote the meeting.
V. Tom Lindberg from DC Water reported that the First Street Tunnel project is about 70% complete. The evening hours proposal were resoundingly rejected by the community. The contractor is about two months behind schedule. The next schedule that DC Water will release will reflect the two-month extension. They are still thinking about late Spring 2016 for a completion. The next public meeting will be on January 28, 2016. He mentioned the 24/7 Hotline that people can use to discuss issues related to the construction. Photographs from the DC Water First Street Tunnel tour on October 24 are available on the DC Water website. 103 people went on the tour. The community has asked for additional trees to compensate for those that were lost. Money was given from SANKSA to DDOT, but DDOT would not accept it so BCA will receive the check and work with DDOT to identify 35 locations within the community for tree plantings.
Teri said that we need to ensure that the BCA Eboard is ready to handle the money and it seems that we can with a dedicated account for it.
Angela thanked DC Water for the tunnel tour because it turned a negative into a positive for the community.
VI. Teri discussed the Eboard’s desire to establish a Fundraising Committee. The House Tour occurs every other year. Thus, we need an ongoing fundraiser since dues are our only continual source of income. Although we are not struggling financially, we should have an even more sizeable account given the size and prominence of our community. Teri asked for assistance from the board to lend their time and skills to being a part of this committee. One person, Ben, raised his hand. Someone asked how many people should be on the committee and how much money should be raised. Teri said she’d love to see us have $20,000 at the end of this administration’s tenure and that we should have ten or fewer members on the committee.
VII. Bertha reported that last week’s edition of DC MidCity had an article on the Bloomingdale House Tour featured on page 27. She offered a preliminary report on the finances of the tour because not all funds have come in yet – such as PayPal income and advertisement fees. There was a 6% increase in the amount of ads sold. There was a 177% increase in the number of tickets sold. The total revenue was $11,813 and the total expenses were $7,315.
VIII. Bertha reported on the Bloomingdale Village Square project. The project was funded by a grant from the Humanities DC Council, the BCA, and the ANC. The Oral History project conducted about 25 interviews, which will be edited into a 20-30 minute presentation reel. Full videos will be placed on YouTube. The graphic designer is finishing up the booklet with the historic timeline and summary. The landscape designers are finishing a blueprint for making the streetscape more prominent. A presentation of the project will be given on December 10 between 6 and 9 pm to the Humanities DC Council along with others who received Community Heritage grants. Residents are encouraged to attend the free-dinner event, which will take place in the Richard Wright Charter School in the Southeast. The project with the most attendees will earn another $200 for their project.
IX. Teri asked who can help plan a Christmas social after our December 14th meeting. Chris said he could do it if others assisted as well. Joe Levesque said he could help as well if it consists of something like cider and cookies. The church will already be prepared to help with setup.
VOTING ITEMS
- Chris Wright, the owner of 17 U Street, informed us about his BZA Case No. 19164 Variance Request. Official notices were sent to everyone within 200 feet of his home. He distributed a flyer discussing the improvements that will be made. The flyer included visual projections of what the front and back will look like after the improvement, which is not a “pop up.” The change is for the roof line to be horizontal rather than a slope back from the gable. They will square it with the peak and add a deck. Bertha asked about the “four-story residential flat” terminology. Christopher said this conformed with the terminology from the city’s planning board. The hearing date is on January 26, but he says BCA needs to approve these plans before they go to DCRA. Austin said both neighbors support this variance. The motion in support of the variance passed 15-1.
2. Sherry Howard made a motion to reimburse the chair of the Bloomingdale House Tour, Bertha Holliday, in the amount of $2,271.13 for expenses related to organizing and executing the Bloomingdale House Tour. The motion passed 16-0 motion. After the vote, Bertha clarified that Sherry had receipts for all these expenses.
III. Teri discussed that the Eboard deigned Bloomingdale t-shirts that are being sold for $20 and dog bandanas for $10. Derrick created the graphic design for both. We paid for the T-shirts even thought it was in excess of $500, which is what the E-board can approve of without permission from the general membership. Thus far we have sold 38 t-shirts and 8 dog bandanas for a total for $840, so we are close to breaking even on the $856.58 in costs. Horacio made a motion that $356.58 be used from the BCA funds to pay for the amount in excess of the $500 it already spent. The motion passed 14-0. Teri indicated that members of the board committed to cover the amount in excess of $500 if we did not attain approval from the general membership.
IV. Teri reviewed the changes proposed for the BCA By-laws. Austin queried the subjective nature of the word “active” in Article VII, Section 1. Angela said this wording was in the original by-laws and has not been changed. The definition of “active” is defined in the guidelines. No one had a copy of the guidelines with them. There was a question about Article XI, Section X and why it says “(need words).” There were questions about not just when a meeting’s date is announced but also when the agenda for the meeting is announced. A question was posed about why the change was made to have two-year terms instead of one-year terms. Teri said that elections had become such a big production that it was easier to do it every two years instead of having the Nominating Committee work as much as it does every year. There was a point to make Article VII’s Sections 5 and 6 consistent with one another. There was a verbal consensus that July’s meeting should be a regular meeting and not an optional one like August’s meeting. Bertha asked about the language of Article VII, Section 5 and noted that the conflicting language may be due to the fact that some of it was meant to cover the case of an officer’s resignation.
COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES – PART II
Laiesha Dougherty, Constituent Services Coordinator from Councilman McDuffie’s office, said the annual holiday party will be on December 10 at Gallaudet University.
McDuffie proposed legislation in the City Council to rename a portion of Rhode Island Avenue after someone.
Meeting adjourned at 8:51 p.m.
Minutes recorded by Horacio Sierra