Neighborhood Committee - Summary Notes - March 2008

Summary Notes
Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board
Neighborhoods Committee
March 17, 2008 7:00 pm – Silver Spring Regional Services Center

Attending: Co-Chairs Alan Bowser, Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board and Anita Morrison, Long Branch Advisory Committee; Byron Peck, City Arts; Charlotte Coffield, Lyttonsville Civic Association; Chris Richardson, Park Hills Civic Association; Debbie Linn, Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board; Elmoria Stewart, Lyttonsville Civic Association; Lt. Eric Burnett, MCPD; Evan Glass, Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board; Jim Neustadt, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission; Jim Zepp, Northwood Four Corners Civic Association; Lisa Dubay, The Johns Hopkins University; Mark Woodard, Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board; Martha Waddy, New Hampshire Estates Civic Association; Mel Tull, Silver Spring Regional Services Center; Roylene Roberts, Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs; Rudy Chow, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission; Wajeda Rab, Montgomery County Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs and Wayne Goldstein, Montgomery County Civic Federation.

Report on February Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board Meeting and January Neighborhoods Committee Meeting. Alan Bowser reviewed the Committee’s February agenda—North Four Corners Community Park, county recycling programs and the Long Branch Advisory Committee final report.. He reported that, at its March meeting, the full Citizens Advisory Board was briefed on the report and recommendations of the Montgomery County Affordable Housing Task Force by Scott Reilly, DHCA. The Board approved the Committee’s letters on the North Four Corners Local Park to the County Executive and County Council. There was also a brief discussion of renaming the Citizens Advisory Board, the Regional Advisory Board.

March Public Safety Update. Lt. Eric Burnett, 3rd District, MCPD, briefed the Committee on recent public safety developments in Silver Spring. He said that MCPD was giving new attention to drug and prostitution activity in the 13th Street area. He discussed ways to communicate with the MCPD and to obtain information about incidents in the Silver Spring District. www.crimereports.com or by going to the MCPD website www.montgomerycountymd.gov/police . In response to questions, he commented on new public safety in South Silver Spring, a recent assault in Sligo Creek Park and press reports about MCPD officers not paying speeding tickets.

Report on the Weed & Seed Program. Martha Waddy, a member of the Weed and Seed Steering Committee, reported on recent developments related to the Northwest Park Oakview Weed & Seed program. Her summary of Weed & Seed area developments is attached to these minutes.

Briefing on Water and Sewerage Rate Increase. Rudy Chow and Jim Neustadt, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, using a Powerpoint presentation, discussed the problems of failing water and sewerage infrastructure, the Commission’s medium and long-term strategy for infrastructure replacement, and proposed water and sewerage rates increases. The Commissioners of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) voted on February 29 to transmit to the Montgomery and Prince George’s County Executives a budget for Fiscal Year 2009 that addresses WSSC’s increasing operational costs and calls for continued dialogue on funding the renewal of its infrastructure. Included in the proposal is an 8.0% rate increase to pay for escalating prices for operational necessities, such as power, chemicals and fuel, as well as the replacement of 27 miles of water mains and 51 miles of sewer mains that are in the existing approved Capital Improvements Program. The rate increase will add approximately $3.75 per month to the average residential customer’s bill. Committee members asked questions about water rates in apartment building, WSSC’s strategy for pro-actively investigation water leaks, and recent news reports about pharmaceutical substances in drinking water. http://www.wsscwater.com/index.cfm is the WSSC website.

In Old Business, the Committee approved

• a letter to the Chair of the Planning Board regarding the situation in North Four Corners Local Park.

• a letter of support for the CSAFE Program.

Long Branch Pedestrian Bridge. Roylene Roberts briefed the Committee on plans for the new pedestrian bridge linking the Long Branch Community Center with the Library. Byron Peck, founder, City Arts, briefed the Committee on the artistic enhancements for the pedestrian trail and the community buildings. http://cityartsdc.org/about/index.php is a link to City Art’s website and examples of their community-building art projects.

The Committee approved

• a letter to the Director, Department of Housing and Community Affairs, in support of the staff planning for the pedestrian bridge.

• a Resolution encouraging community support of the Long Branch Earth Day Creek Clean Up activity.

Report on the Long Branch Advisory Committee. Anita Morrison, using a Powerpoint presentation, reported on the final report of the Long Branch Advisory Committee, which was sunsetting per County legislation. The Long Branch Advisory Committee was appointed by the County Executive in 2005 to continue with implementation of the recommendations generated by the Long Branch Task Force. Its term has now ended. The committee report will be released February 27. It includes a number of recommendations, including 1) support for redevelopment of the “Super Block” bounded by Flower Avenue, Arliss Street and Piney Branch for a mixed-use development of housing, retail and office space following a community-driven planning process; 2) no net loss of affordable housing; 3) preservation of the historic Flower Theater and shopping center; 4) implementation of the Long Branch Public Safety Plan and the County Executive’s Pedestrian Safety Initiative; and 5) Purple Line construction with a station near Piney Branch at Arliss.

The Neighborhoods Committee has invited all members of the Long Branch Advisory Committee to join the Neighborhoods Committee to continue community focus and participation on neighborhood developments. The Neighborhood Committee will specially focus on Long Branch issues at its regular monthly meetings.

Related websites Long Branch Advisory Committee Report and its attachments Long Branch Safety Plan ; Long Branch Neighborhood Center ; ULI Washington Long Branch Report
The Committee approved
• a letter of support for the work of the Long Branch Advisory Committee and its recommendations to the Montgomery County Executive and County Council

Historic Preservation Update. Alan Bowser briefed the Committee on recent historic preservation issues, including the B&O Railroad Station Open House, and an upcoming Planning Board session on the Perpetual Building. Charlotte Coffield reported on the successful Lytttonsville Community Black History Month exhibit at the Gwendolyn Coffield Center. She noted that County Executive Isiah Leggett attended an opening reception. The exhibit be featured on a Montgomery County Cable TV program.

Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Monday, April 16, 2008


The Northwest Park Oakview Weed and Seed (NPOWS)
Activities Update to the Silver Spring Citizen’s Advisory Board
Neighborhood Committee
March 17, 2008
Submitted by: Martha Waddy, W&S Steering Committee Member

I. Law Enforcement
1. 85 incidents, Year to Date, statistics of crime in the Weed & Seed Area through March 6, 2008 is summarized as follows:

1 Theft
12 Vehicle Thefts
14 Assaults
1 Quality of Life/Liquor
7 Burglaries
15 Vehicle Burglaries
15 Quality of Life/Disorderly
12 Traffic
3 Robberies
1 Sex Offense – Rape
2 Quality of Life/Narcotics 2 Other – Alarm

2. The Avery Park Community continues to lead all communities with reported crime.
3. Vehicle Theft and Vehicle Burglary are two of three most reported crimes.

II. Community Policing
1. Community Prosecutors, Police Officer, Zoning Investigator and Weed & Seed Coordinator were guest speakers at the Oakview Homeowners Association Meeting on February 25, 2008. Discussed issues regarding quality of life, sex offenders living in neighborhood, policing issues and status of nuisance abatement initiative.
2. Community Prosecutor and Weed & Seed Coordinator were guest speakers at the Roscoe Nix PTA Meeting in March. Provided a programmatic update and discussed sex offenders living in neighborhood.

3. Weed & Seed held its Steering Committee Meeting in March. Guest speakers included John McCarthy, States Attorney for Montgomery County who provided insights on SAO Initiatives and Community Prosecution. Also, Enid Aleman Gonzalez, Advocacy Coordinator for Identity Inc., a former Immigration Lawyer, discussed the issue of Illegal immigration as an unrecognized humanitarian effort. New Officers were elected to lead Steering Committee.

III. Prevention/Intervention/Treatment
1. The Truancy Prevention Task Force held its first planning meeting to determine workshops to be offered to parents.
2. Michael Avant has been hired as the Director of Community Based Services for the YMCA succeeding Lisa Bradley.
3. Held planning meeting with Impact Silver Spring to discuss outreach strategy at Chateau Apartment Community who has agreed to co-host a resident event.
4. Currently working with Long Branch Athletics to possibly create league for young professionals and working adults to increase resident engagement.

IV. Neighborhood Restoration
1. Nuisance Abatement Task Force continues to receive complaints from Oakview Residents. See attached for details.
2. Weed and Seed participated in Mural Project fund raiser at El Golfo on March 4, 2008.
3. Parks and Planning reports Broad Acres Park is on track. Weed & Seed partners working with Parks and Planning on resident engagement for plaza completion.

V. Other
1. Lt. McCullagh (MCPD) and Serena Locust (Resident) were sent to a Weed & Seed Training Conference in Portland Oregon.
2. RC Chao, Community Manager at Hampshire West Apartments is being deployed to Iraq to fulfill his commitment as a Captain in the US Army Reserves.




Northwest Park Oakview Weed and Seed (NPOWS)
Nuisance Abatement Task Force Update to the Oakview Community
February 27, 2008
Submitted by: Victor Salazar, Program Coordinator

Background: To date, the Nuisance Abatement Task Force has held three meetings to plan and implement a Nuisance Abatement Strategy, to deter crime under the crime prevention philosophy of “broken windows,” and restore the neighborhood as requested by the Oakview Homeowners Association.

Status: There have been four types of surveys initiated within the neighborhood since October 2007.

a. An initial survey of over 700 homes and distribution of literature and a complaint form to each household was completed in October of 2007. The initial survey resulted in the identification of 25 priority properties that collaborating agencies investigated. The first set of investigations resulted in the issuance of 17 notices of violation.

b. Investigators and police have been randomly visiting Oakview identifying possible violations.

c. Residents in the community have emailed, called, and faxed complaint forms to the Weed & Seed Program identifying properties posing a nuisance. Investigators and police have been dispatched to investigate complaints.

d. A second survey was completed in late January/early February by Code Enforcement.

Results: The Nuisance Abatement Initiative has resulted in the following:

a. 57 properties within the Oakview Community have been inspected.
b. 81 violations have been identified and letters or notices issued to property owners.
c. 20 properties were found to have more than 1 violation.
d. 7 properties were found to have 3 or more violations.
e. 2 properties were investigated and concluded that reported complaints were considered unfounded.
f. 39 violations have been cured by property owners.
g. 1 property has been condemned for lack of running water and violations falling under the jurisdiction of animal control.

Next Steps: The Nuisance Abatement Initiative will continue.

a. The volume of work within Oakview is too large to complete over the course of one summer. The community will be divided up into sections to better manage the workload.
b. The Nuisance Abatement Task Force wants to hold one or two community forums with residents to discuss the quality of life in Oakview and educate the community on topics covering permitting, zoning, code enforcement, solid waste, quality of life and law enforcement.