Bates Area Civic Association

Monday, January 4, 2016; Mt. Sinai Church, 3^rd and Q ST NW

7:05pm Meeting Called to Order – David Hall, President; summary of agenda; noted Kate Mitchell from Councilmember McDuffie’s office is out sick, but she passed on a reminder to call 311 if you see anyone one needs assistance with the cold weather

7:07pm Commissioner Bradley A. Thomas – SMD 5E05

• Joint SMD on 12/9/15 had good turnout, nothing much new since then
• He got a call from DMPED last week and they want to get official community input such as from ANC before making a decision on the developer proposals for the lot at Bates and N. Capitol, he plans on creating a ballot for people to vote at next SMD meeting and distribute otherwise for those who can’t make the meeting to vote then he will present results to full ANC, BACA may also take a vote at our next meeting; in response to question the other ANC Commissioners don’t usually weigh in unless it affects their area so just him, Comm’r Quinn, and Comm’r Pinckney will likely give input
• Residents congratulated Comm’r Thomas for excellent holiday concert and service
• Question about status of lots on Florida – the one for the vacant lot at Florida and Q will be put up for another RFP because the government didn’t like the bids received, the one for the group of buildings at the corner of Florida and N. Capitol is a private owner

7:15pm Commissioner Teri J. Quinn – SMD 5E06

• Reminder that you can put out Christmas trees and wreaths without ornaments in treebox for city to pick up through 1/8/16
• She spoke with Anxo today and they will be going before DDOT to request permission for a sidewalk café per their prior liquor license application, she will keep up updated
• Noted that the developers of 319 R St had an open house for neighbors per her suggestion, but there was very last minute so she couldn’t attend; they were going to be on the agenda for tonight’s meeting but asked to postpone pending discussions with city; resident asked for information to distribute to the block listserv for 1600 block of 4^th St
• Full ANC meeting will be at Trinity for next meeting , but pending approval of school they should be meeting at Friendship Charter School at Armstrong here at 1^st and P St NW for next month
• Question about McMillan development status – there were some hearings right before the holidays, no pressing news on this, McMillan Advisory Group (MAG) meets the second Thursday of every month and has a website, meetings have been interesting lately and have discussed items such as traffic mitigation
• Question about status of lot owned by Joe Mammo on north side of Florida and N. Capitol – she has also heard that he is going forward with it but no new info about financing

7:32 Tommie Jones , Ward 5 Liaison, Mayor’s Office – tommie.jones@dc.gov, 202-664-7512

• Mayor is very focused on Safer Stronger DC package right now, see link on mayor.dc.gov for more info, DC Council has not responded to the package after 131 days, it is $25-million plan working across agencies to address crime and other issues
• Question is there opposition by the Council or just general delay – he can’t really say but noted the plan is very comprehensive and very detailed
• Question re does plan address police retention given current shortage of police officers and very low number of active duty officers – it addresses some of that but recognizes that police are not the only answer and want to work with other agencies, Comm’r Quinn noted that one idea in the plan includes allowing retired officers to serve under certain circumstances without forfeiting retirement benefits
• Question re traffic and speed limits – noted DDOT proposed different fee structures for parking etc, there is also a portion of the plan to make city safer pedestrians and cyclists such as by changing street patterns, there is under CM Cheh’s committee right now

7:39pm question to Geovani Bonilla re status of development of old Steve’s Market at corner of 1^st and P St NW – there is still a stop-work order but they had a 4-day emergency permit to repair ceiling link and secure roof, owner is planning on speaking at our next BACA meeting

7:40pm  David Hall summarized next meeting dates and activities

• wants to hold 2016 Board Elections (for executive officers and at-large members) in summer instead of September so won’t be rushing as much with no meeting in August, may want to revise by-laws to stagger elections so have some new and some old officers
• wants to start up committees to plan Spring Clean-Up in March/April, Flower Power in May/June to try to engage with more restaurants moving into area (for donations of food/drink and prizes), also wants to do Autumn Clean-Up
• wants to start historical committee – he has spoken with Marie Maxwell and Jennifer Ragins about this due to their knowledge of area history, Christa Fields noted there is an old draft of information available for updating, also may update tabs with recent projects

7:45pm Treasurer’s Report – Kyle Thomas, Treasurer: as of beginning of meeting have no members paid for this year, please join at $20 per person, several people paid dues during meeting, last year only had 30 paying members which was down from past years and hope to have more paying members this year to be able to vote on official matters and for funds to help with projects; balance (prior to additional dues paid) $3,057.23, spent $75 toward supplies for unit block of Q St beautification project, also about $120 toward BACA signs although there was a $100 donation specifically toward this amount

7:47pm Comm’r Quinn reminder that Dine Out for Bloomingdale is this week from Monday through Thursday (1/4 to 1/8), several restaurants are giving portion of proceeds to fundraiser

7:48pm Geovani volunteered to help coordinate movies at the park again this year, noted people had asked him about it, would like to collaborate with Bloomingdale Civic Association again and Ms. Quinn indicated as Bloomingdale president that they would be interested, might want to contact DPW/DPR re projector or possibly purchase one, also contact BACA resident Melanie Hudson who is interested in bringing back Friends of Florida Park and activities; Comm’r Quinn responded to question that  ANC grants of up to $2,000 are available so can apply if have idea

7:49pm Comm’r Quinn mentioned to Tommie Jones that we would like Ward 5’s National Night Out to be held in our area again this year, noted we had largest turnout in the city

7:50pm Adjourned