President’s Message
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With autumn having arrived, the BCA is looking forward to our final events of the year. The annual Burleith Halloween party for kids will be held Sunday, October 27, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm at the Washington International School Playground—behind the parking lot on the corner of 36th Street and R. There will be snacks, prizes, games, goodie bags, and a costume contest (for kids and grown-ups). Thanks to the Dunnaville family for organizing.
Halloween itself falls on a Thursday this year. Please take care especially around dusk because there will be lots of young trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood. As a general rule, please remember to keep your porch lights on if you are a participating house, while if you prefer to be passed over then having your porch lights out and blinds drawn is a good way to indicate that.
The 2019 BCA Annual Meeting will be on Thursday, November 7, from 7–9 pm (socializing will start at 6:30) at the Washington International School. Regular items on the agenda include voting for the 2020 Board of Directors, presentation of the proposed 2020 budget, and reports from a variety of community leaders such as our Ward 2 Councilmember and representatives of MPD and Georgetown University. The Board will also present several proposed bylaw revisions for the membership to consider. I also hope to have a community discussion about potential changes to Ellington Field and updates regarding the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital construction. It will be a packed agenda, but we will have refreshments to lighten the mood.
On Saturday, November 9, our bi-annual community cleanup is scheduled, once again assisted by Georgetown University. As always, we will meet at 9 am at the Ellington Field gatehouses on 38th Street. Participation has been on the lower side the last few times, so please do try to make it. It’s a great family activity, and there is always more trash around than you would think. Please plan to join us for a brisk morning of community service and getting to know one another.
On a related issue, I would like to remind everyone about our duties to maintain a healthy and beautiful environment. It is the homeowner or renter’s legal obligation to keep grass under 10 inches on a lawn or adjacent to the sidewalk. Weeds should be removed—there were 4-foot weeds growing this summer on T and 35th Streets. If you find a dead rodent or other animal, please call 311 to have it removed or do so yourself. After garbage day, please remember to move your green and blue bins back to where they belong and close the lids. (Those who live in raccoon-prone areas should place a large rock or heavy brick on the lid to help thwart these nocturnal omnivores.) If you see any stray trash or broken glass, please do consider picking or sweeping it up. Finally, the city will soon announce when it will pick up bagged fall leaves. They will also come through once or twice to sweep the streets and sidewalks to remove leaf debris.
It was great to see many of you at the BCA's special meeting on Monday, October 7, devoted to possible changes in control and use of Ellington Field. After consulting with representative from various DC agencies, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans stated unequivocally that control over the field has not been transferred from DC Public Schools (DCPS) to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) as was rumored. He added that no transfer will take place in the immediate future and that no changes would be made until the community has the opportunity to decide what we want. Evans noted that the current condition of the field makes it unsuitable for official public school uses, so a renovation would be necessary. There is currently no money in any budget for this, although schools like Hardy or Ellington could devote funds already allocated to them to work on the field. Alternatively, he said that if the community wants a renovation, he would advocate for this in next year's budget. He would need to know around the end of the year. It was also mentioned that Georgetown University has some new, preliminary ideas about the field. Chris Murphy from the University will provide more details about his thinking at the BCA annual meeting on November 7.
Personally, I am satisfied with this news and the commitment to have an open and transparent process of community will formation and engagement. Even though neighbors support greater access for public school students, there are serious concerns about parking, traffic, times of use, lights, renovations or additions, and trash. Whatever happens, I think it is essential that we receive a satisfactory and binding memorandum of understanding from the relevant city agencies.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the Halloween party, and again at the BCA Annual Meeting on November 7. Like I mentioned, we have a number of important topics to cover at our annual meeting—including an approval of your 2020 BCA Board. Please take the time to read through the bios of potential board members in this web post.