Edgewood Civic Associatio​n Comunity Parade & Festival Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Edgewood Civic Association invites you to join us as we celebrate the accomplishments, growth and togetherness of the Edgewood and Eckington communities. We have planned a fun filled day for the whole family starting with a community parade. Above is a flyer for the event.

PUDs and CBAs in Edgewood

Since many stalled projects have been taking off in Edgewood over the last couple of years the fulfillment of Community Benefit Agreements (CBA) that were negotiated many years ago have now come to pass.  There are two such agreements that will give money to the Edgewood Civic Association.  I have noticed through the listserv that the Eckington Civic Association has decided to use their money from an agreement to install historic neighborhood signs.  The language of the agreements states what purposes the money can be used for by the association.  I asked at the last Edgewood Civic association if we were going to have a vote on how to use the money and was told that the board was going to make the decision.

The 2008 EYA-St Pauls College (07-27) CBA states that:

Contribution to Edgewood Civic Association – Prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for this PUD project, the Applicant will provide $15,000 for equipment and services for the benefit of Edgewood Civic Association. EYA will purchase laptop and printer for the Association so that it may further its membership goals. Any funds remaining from the purchase of the referenced equipment will be used pay
legal fees for establishing the Association as a non-profit 501(c)(3) and to prepay printing costs of the Association.

Since the Edgewood Civic Association is already a non-profit it seems that this money will go to a laptop and printer and a whole lot of printing!  I am not sure how much paper this can buy, but I am guessing that we will find out over the coming years.  There was mention at the meeting that the civic association is looking to produce newsletters now and welcomes contributors.

The 2007 NoMa West Residential One, LLC (05-23A) CBA states that:

A statement providing an additional condition of the Modified PUD approval, providing for a $20,000 contribution to the Edgewood Civic Association approval to cover (i) the cost of printing and distributing the Association's quarterly newsletter, (ii) donations of equipment to the Harry Thomas Recreation Center and the Edgewood Recreation Center, (iii) donations to the PTSA for the Emery and Shad Elementary Schools for student and parent enrichment programs, (iv) grants to senior citizens for snow removal and safety maintenance of their homes, (v) a summer festival for youth in the community, and (vi) community beautification projects, which is marked as Exhibit 26 of the record;

Since the EYA CBA has to be spent on printing and there is already $10,000 in this CBA donating equipment to the Harry Thomas Recreation Center I think it would be nice if we used this money for equipment for the Edgewood Recreation Center and community beautification projects.  Both Bloomingdale and Eckington  have signs and decorated lampposts.  It would be nice to have flowers and signs added to the lampposts in Edgewood as we are often grouped in with Brookland.  It would help to define our neighborhood and add a sense of community pride.  Again, the board of the Edgewood Civic Association stated that they were going to decide at their board meeting so we will have to wait and see.

My thoughts on the CBAs are that they really should be negotiated better to serve the community surrounding the development.  I know that these were negotiated years ago, but I do not think cash donations to organizations should be part of them.  The civic associations may cover large areas but have small memberships.  I think it would be better if we had more items that included improvements to roads, sidewalks, parks, bikeshare stations, facade improvements for current businesses and funds to run cleanup crews.  While I may be dreaming here it would be great to collect donations to start a BID similar to what NoMa has that promotes the area, plans events and maintains and performs beautification.

Reminder Tonight's Meeting of the Edgewood Civic Association at 7:00 p.m.

Please see the message below about this month's meeting of the Edgewood Civic Association.

Greetings Eckington & Edgewood


The Edgewood Civic Association (ECA) will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, April 25, 2011 from 7pm-9pm. The meeting will be held at 635 Edgewood Street NE, 9th floor Crawford Hall. The meeting flier is attached for distribution.
This is a chance for residents to discuss crime, development, community events and other topics of interest. As usual if your unable to attend the meeting and would like to share a question, comment or concern you can use our on-line comment submission form.http://www.theedgewoodcivicassociationdc.org/community-feedback.php and we will address it at Mondays meeting. It is important that we all take part in shaping our community. Remember to bring a friend.
theedgewoodcivicassociationofdc@yahoogroups.com

The Edgewood Civic Association DC

http://www.theedgewoodcivicassociationdc.org/

Recap of Last Night's Edgewood Civic Association Meeting

Last night's meeting of the Edgewood Civic Association (ECA) was a pretty typical meeting. After the meeting was called to order, Tim Clark presented membership numbers. He stated that there were 10 renewals, 3 new memberships and 7 paypal memberships which totaled 20 members. After I tweeted this information he responded that it was not accurate. He had not stated the number of members that had paid for a two-year membership last year. At the end of the meeting I asked for that number and was told that he did not know it and I asked if it would be presented at the next meeting. I was told that membership numbers would be presented if they were on the agenda, so I asked if it could be added to the agenda. I was told that the numbers were not presented at every meeting. Finally, Fred Allen stepped in and asked that they present them at the next meeting and then Tim Clark agreed. It is always shocking to me how such simple questions about membership of an organization of which I am part can turn into such a difficult encounter.

There were not many items discussed with the MPD officers that made a presentation about the crime statistics in PSA 501. They did note that most crime is down except for burglary. Three new officers are being added to PSA 501 and they already have plans for plainclothes officers on the Met Branch Trail as well as segway patrols when the weather warms up.

There were representatives from WMATA at the meeting to discuss the locations of bus stops and the removal of several stops that had occurred last year in Edgewood. The group admitted that they had not done any outreach to the community before the stops were removed, so they are now working with ANC Silas Grant to meet with the community and discuss the change of the stops. They already had one meeting and the following proposal was generated from that meeting for the G8 route:

Westbound

Remove 7th @ Kearney
Reinstall 7th @ Jackson with a shelter upon DDOT concurrence
Remove 7th @ Hamlin
Remove Edgewood Street near Franklin
Reinstall Edgewood Street @ 4th

Eastbound

Remove 4th @ Edgewood
Reinstall Edgewood @ 4th
Remove Edgewood Street near Franklin
Reinstall 7th @ Franklin (at the old location between the church and grocery store) not in front of grocery store with shelter upon DDOT concurrence and trash can
Remove 7th @ Hamlin
Reinstall 7th @ Jackson with shelter upon DDOT concurrence
Relocate 7th @ Lawrence to 7th @ Monroe

A couple of the people at the meeting were upset with some of the plans especially relocating the stop that is right in front the of the senior building at Edgewood Terrace. The WMATA group explained that they looked at ridership numbers from the averages per day over a month in September 2009 as well as talked to their personnel to make the decisions. The goal was to get bus stops into the 4-5 a mile setting to increase efficiency and speed on routes. The route previously had 8-10 stops a mile which was excessive. There will be another community meeting on the proposal and they will be presenting it to the ANC as well.

The Farmer's Market was also discussed during the meeting. The market will run from June until November on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. This is different than the previous start date which was stated as April. There were some concerns from a couple of people present about trash and rodents. Michael Byfield, the representative of the group starting the market, stated that in all his years operating farmer's markets he has never seen a problem with rodents. The market is not a permanent fixture and it is cleaned up afterwards. Mike Clark became very concerned about how the market would be cleaned up and what dumpster that they would use for trash. Mr. Byfield stated that they would be using the church's dumpster per agreement. Mike Clark stated that he wanted them to come up with a memo of understanding stating how they would clean up after themselves. I thought that this was over the top for a farmer's market. The shopping center has permanent residents that would contribute to a rodent problem many times over a market in the parking lot for 6 hours once a week. There was no vote on this item or requirement.

The next item discussed was the plan for the Ward 5 Walmart. Fred Allen talked about the group Respect DC that was formed of mainly union members. He stated that Walmart has already given 5 million dollars to groups around the community and implied that if you wanted to know where the money went you should go to the city council. He stated that Walmart said they were not going to sign any community agreements that were legally binding, but they were willing to listen to and work on the communities concerns. The zoning is matter of right for most locations and they are not asking for any money from the DC city council, so there is little leverage for community groups.

Some information was presented about the developments in the area, but I have already provided more details about them in my previous posts on this blog so I will not repeat them. No new information was given.

Mike Clark then talked about the Chocolate City Beer (CCB) brewery and stated that he had looked into their permits at DCRA and did not find any. He stated that he is concerned about this brewery opening up close to schools and that the owners never met with him, the civic association or the ANC. He stated that he hopes after DCRA looks into them that they do things right and meet with the civic associations and groups before they try to open near schools. It was not clear what permits he thought CCB was missing and I am pretty sure that the zoning is commercial for that area. I am not surprised to see this coming as this is not the first meeting Michael Clark has made a comment about the dangers of the CCB and it being near schools. I am hoping that it is a non-starter, as evidenced by blog hits CCB is pretty popular with the community already.

The meeting ended and I repeated my request from the January meeting to update our bylaws to reflect current practices. Tim Clark stated he is working on them and would not give a timeline. He stated that he is only working on typographical errors at this point and would post them online when he is done. There was some discussion about voting on the updated bylaws and if that had occurred already. Tim Clark stated that it was in the minutes and I asked if they could be posted to the website since currently the most recent minutes posted are from March 2010. Tim Clark stated that they are on the website and then kept repeating himself when I asked him to show me where since I had the minutes page of the website pulled up and could not find them. That pretty much ended the night with me wondering why I go to these meetings if I am not wanted and I am treated disrespectfully and antagonistically with every simple question I ask.

Role of Civic Associations in DC

I just read the article on the DC Students Speak website which outlines the problems they have had in Georgetown with the local civic associations. The post addresses the issue of the role of the civic associations in DC and who they actually represent.

This hit me close to home because I often wonder about this in the Edgewood community. From attending community meetings and talking to some people in the community it seems while some are oblivious to the existence of Edgewood Civic Association (ECA) there are others that seem to think it is an important part of community. In concept I believe that civic associations are a great tool for a community if used and run correctly. The ECA last year had less than 40 members which is only 0.4% of the community that they claim to represent. (Full disclosure: I am a member and have been for 3 years although I do not agree with everything that they do and do not feel welcomed at all times.) The ECA has boundaries which include the neighborhoods of Edgewood and Eckington which is roughly 10,000 people (per 2000 US Census could be more now). The ANC frequently takes into account what the civic associations have to say on a matter before them and developers come to them for letters of support. I think that it would be just if when the associations present or offer support to a project they include a membership total number instead of stating they represent the entire community. What do you think?

Edgewood Civic Association Meeting Tonight

The Edgewood Civic Association (ECA) will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, January 24, 2011 from 7pm-9pm. The meeting will be held at the Summit at St. Martins 116 T Street NE.

Edgewood Tree Planting November 20th

November 10, 2010

Greetings Neighbors and Friends,

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, the Edgewood Civic Association in partnership with Casey Trees Endowment are excited to launch a premier tree planting project of a variety of trees to canopy one of the District of Columbia’s main street’s in Ward 5, of the Edgewood community. This is one of many cultural green landscape project designs to improve the environment and to create more beautiful,livable space in the District of Columbia. Additionally, this project will pay tribute to one of this
community’s youth, whose life was loss to senseless crime – a memorial tree will be planted and dedicated to her family and friends; it is our statement of the value we place on her life and of all of citizens these communities and of the District of Columbia.

It is our endeavor to involve all of community as a matter of civic duty. For this service project, we are seeking volunteers (schools, churches, business, citizens, etc), to serve from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM; however, any amount of time is welcome and appreciated. For any period served, we are obliged to provide a light breakfast and lunch.

For all students who volunteer; we encourage, and invite them to bring school forms to document these community service hours, official signatures will be provided.

This event promises to be a rewarding experience, as each one gives back to our community where we live, work, educate or worship.

The Edgewood Civic Association [ECA] is a 501-c3 award-winning charitable organization and a member of the DC Federation of Civic Association since 1953, ECA’s mission is to serve the citizens of Ward 5 residing in the Edgewood-Eckington communities through education, information and advocacy. The Casey Trees Endowment mission is to restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of the Nation’s capital.

If you or your group is interested in volunteering, please reply to Mr. Timothy Clark on 202-359-0582 or email: theedgewoodcivicassociationdc@yahoo.dc.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Clark, Sr., President
The Edgewood Civic Association

Edgewood Civic Association Meeting September 27th

Here is the agenda for the upcoming Edgewood Civic Association meeting:

THE EDGEWOOD CIVIC ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY MEETING
Monday, September 27, 2010
7:00 PM
The Edgewood View Senior Apartments – Crawford Hall, 8th floor
635 Edgewood Street NE, Washington, DC

Agenda
I. Call to Order

II. Roll Call

III. Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes

IV. President’s Report
a. Board Membership Status
b. Election of Nomination Committee for 2011 Board Election

V. Invited Guests
a. MPD – Safety Report
b. DCBIA – Danielle Melus – Metropolitan Branch Trail Arts Project
c. Presenter re. Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center Farmer’s Market

VI. Community Updates & Discussion
a. Status of Safeway Replacement
b. Status of St. Martin’s Apartments – “The Summit”
c. Rhode Island Metro Development – Bozzuto Project & Other

VII. New Business
a. Capital Bike Share
b. Edgewood Civic Association Partnership Tree Planting
c. Upcoming events
i. DC Federation of Civic Associations 2010 Banquet
ii. Ward 5 Civic Associations Summit
d. Other new business

VIII. 2010-11 Calendar

IX. Adjournment