CLARIFICATION OF MY COVERAGE OF JUNE ANC3E MEETING
From: McnamRus@aol.com
Kathy, Thanks.  Good recap of the meeting.  There's one point, though,
that may bear
clarification (I checked with Tad before sending this to make sure I was
on terra firma).  Technically, Tad didn't  vote "for" preserving that
particular house.  He simply voted against the proposed (and ultimately
adopted) resolution opposing the application for historic landmark
designation.  In fact, Tad had earlier proposed that we postpone our
vote in order to review the outcome of a structural survey.

I guess my point is that your recap of that vote might lead a reader to
believe that Tad would have voted for preservation under any and all
circumstances regardless of the condition of the house, just because
he's "pro-preservation".  I'm not sure that's the case.  You may want to
check with him, but I think he wanted more information before making a
decision to support or oppose the application.

Likewise, I wouldn't want my vote in this very particular case to result
in being labeled "anti-preservation".  Each of us, I believe, wants to
be able to cast well-reasoned  votes based on the merits of what are
sometimes very complex issues.  I thought this worth addressing because
in a couple of  instances in the past, my vote had been characterized
(not in Communit-e) as advocating a position diametrically opposed to
the other commissioners or the voiced-will  of some of my constituents
when all I was advocating was a different approach than that described
in the resolution's wording.

I thought I'd share this with you because so many more people read your
e-mails than get to come to our meetings, and sometimes yours is the
only version heard.  Most often it's right on the mark. Regards, Chris
 
 
 

PLEASE HELP SEND A POOR CHILD TO CAMP
For just $75 a week, a child can attend the Metropolitan Police Boys &
Girls Club's Camp Brown. Some of these youngsters come to the camp
needing clothes. The camp has a "store" - a room where a kid can "shop",
i.e. select a T-shirt and shorts that he or she can wear and take home
with them. Some of these kids have nothing. Nothing at home -- none of
the things that most of us take for granted. This is their one chance
for a little fun and healthy adventure - a memory that can sustain them
for a long time after their week at Camp Brown.

When Chief Ramsey first came to the MPD he looked at Camp Brown and shut
it down because it had disintegrated into such terrible shape. He then
pumped funds and work into rehabilitating it. It is now back to being a
nice county camp for poor urban youngsters.

I just wrote a check and I hope I can urge some of you to do likewise.
Please send your donation to: MPB&G Clubs, 4103 Benning Road NE,
Washington DC 20019. Make sure you note on the check or an attached
paper that your donation is to be spent on sending children to Camp
Brown. Thank you for making a DC child's life a little brighter -- Kathy
Smith
 
 
 

HOW TO GET BROKEN/DANGEROUS SIDEWALKS FIXED
From: "Wexler, Mike" <Wexler@innocon.com>
Here is the response from Phil Heinrich (phil.heinrich@dc.gov):
Sidewalk repair is one of the "scheduled services" provided by DPW.  Go
to http://www.dc.gov/mayor/customer_service/services/sidewalk.shtm and
it explains the procedure to follow, and the expected turnaround time.
 
Just patching a sidewalk with asphalt doesn't have an impact on tree
health.  Replacing a sidewalk with new concrete can usually be done in a
way that preserves the tree roots also.
 
 
 

HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM?
From: Jslitig@aol.com (Jordan Samuel and Claudio Volonte)
Friday morning I discovered that someone had smashed the front passenger
window of my SUV that was parked directly in front of my home, in the
3600 block of Van Ness.  Strangely enough, the prior morning I had a
flat tire and two nails were found in the tire. I would be happy to
volunteer in the neighborhood watch program.
Thank you,  Jordan Samuel  h-364-8085.
 
 
 

YET ANOTHER KATHY SMITH
From: "Floto, Mary Ann (EOM)" <MaryAnn.Floto@dc.gov>
I heard that there is a woman named Kathy Smith who is an authority on
historical signs. Does anyone know who this is and how I can reach her?
 
 

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

**** From: equiknox@juno.com
WANTED:  Trundle or day bed with matress(es).  Needed by Sat. 6/30.
Kindly reply to Equiknox@juno.com or 202-244-4488. Also looking for
small chest of drawers/bureau and/or bookshelf.

**** From: "Groner, Laurence, , SAF/GCN" <GronerL@pentagon.af.mil>
For Tom Hier, looking for a security system company: I can recommend
Satellite Industries, Inc. (located in Maryland). Their installation
representative knew what he was talking about, thoroughly explained the
options available, and seemed to have good common sense about what was
really necessary and what was not.  Their prices were very competitive.

**** From: "Hazel F. Rebold" <hfrebold@earthlink.net>
I'm wondering if anyone has the definitive answer about the renewal of
homestead exemptions. A few months ago, I was told that I would receive
a renewal form in June, that everyone must reapply in 2001 and every 5
years thereafter. This is also the information printed on my Notice of
Proposed Assessment. Now I am told that the renewal forms will no longer
be sent. Do I need to take any action to give notice of my continuing
eligibility anyway?  I assume that the Senior Citizen exemptions are
handled in the same way - whatever it is.

**** From: "W. Geoffrey Seeley" <seemark90@hotmail.com>
We're looking for a good slater to repair our roof for a reasonable
cost.  Does anyone know someone out there who can do the job?

 **** From: "Donald E. Graves" <degraves@wizard.Net>
I have a computer-talented son who would be happy to solve computer
problems for COMMUNIT-E members, both software and hardware.  He makes
housecalls and charges very reasonable rates.  His website is
rictus@techie.com and his telephone numbers are
202-362-7917 and 202-244-0966.  His name is Richard Graves.

**** From: Richard Bienvenue <ourhous@bellatlantic.net>
The best & most reasonable gardener/ landscaper you will find is a lady
from College Park:  Janet "Walkin' Dove" Koles at 301-474-2461.  She is
intelligent, a real worker, and as honest as the day is long.  I've
known her for 25 years, and when she's not working, she's volunteering
for the Boy Scouts, square dance teams, teaching Sunday school, etc.

**** From: GSReb@aol.com
I have used Tim Gribbin as a painter for interior and exterior work. His
phone number is 301-982-9863.

**** From: Lshneier@worldbank.org  (Lesley Shneier)
I used Edson of E.G. Painting (a one-man show, but he sometimes hires an
additional helper), last summer and am very satisfied. He painted inside
and outside, carefully, with good clean-up.  His cell phone number is
240-876-2191. Feel free to tell him I gave you his name.

**** From: Jcapper@worldbank.org
Painter recommended:  I just used Sun Lin and his crew to paint the
inside of my house.  They did great work -  4 rooms, 2 bathrooms and a
ceiling in just 2 days.  I got two estimates and his was cheapest - and
compared to what some of my friends paid, much cheaper for all that I
had done. Here's his number: 703-243-3096.

**** From: Joe Pinder
Regarding the license-plate stickers: A few years ago down at the Half
Street inspection station an inspector told me there had been a rash of
incidents in which thieves wanting to get current car inspection
stickers would take a glass cutter, cut a circle around the sticker on
the front windshield, pop that out and take it home to soak the intact
sticker off. He gave me the same recommendation your writer mentioned
about the plate stickers: cut it into little pieces. It will stay on the
windshield, or on the plate, fine but it won't come off for re-use.
Haven't heard of any inspection-sticker thefts recently, by the way.
 
 

 
MURDOCK MILL REVISITED

**** From:  jbhelm@enter.net (Judy Helm)
Paul Mathless asked about Murdock Mill, Road, and Creek.  Many of his
questions can be answered in my book Tenleytown, DC, available at the
Tenley-Friendship Library or for sale at Travel Books, Politics & Prose,
Cleveland Park Bookshop, Borders, and the Washington Historical Society.

The original Murdock Mill was above Dalecarlia Reservoir, and when I
originally wrote the book in the late 1970s, traces of the mill were
still visible in the woods east of Dalecarlia Parkway and south of
Massachusetts Ave.  Now, however, houses have been built in that area,
and I doubt that any traces of the mill are visible.  Don't know if the
creek is visible at all  (its origins would have to be underground).

Murdock Mill Road originally was, I believe, part of a military road
that connected with Grant Road at Wisconsin Avenue during the Civil
War.  But most maps and most people know it as coming from River Road
next to the Methodist Church, alongside the cemetery, and continuing
south and west until it crossed Massachusetts Avenue and went downhill
to the mill and the creek.

**** From: Ann Loikow <johnl@erols.com>
The US Geological Survey has put a number of fascinating old maps on DC
online at
http://anchor.ncd.noaa.gov/\type\topo.htm

You might search these maps for information on Murdock Mill Road.  Some
show the old streams that for the most part were put underground early
in the 20th century.  I know that is the case around Cleveland Park and
presume it probably is for the Tenley Area as well.  Anyway, this site
is a treasure trove of geographic information.

**** From: john.kelley@wap.org (John Kelley)
I'm pretty sure the stream from Murdock Mill ran down what is now
Butterworth Place and now runs through a culvert under Butterworth to
somewhere between 47th and 48th before it meanders off to the side.  For
a long while some of the lots on the South side of Butterworth East of
46th were left empty because of water from the stream that ran along
there, according to what I remember hearing from some old-time
residents, now regrettably departed.  You can spot these lots pretty
easily because the houses on them are a different style from the
colonials elsewhere in that block.  The stream apparently ran from those
lots into a culvert under Butterworth itself for a while, before all of
it was guided into the culvert.  Before the culvert was built, it ran
from those lots into what is now Butterworth Place, according to what I
remember hearing.

**** From: "Caroline Long" <carolynlong@earthlink.net>
The answer to your question about Murdock (or Murdoch) Mill is in Judith
Beck Helm's Book, Tenleytown D.C., pages 83-84. There is also a drawing
of the mill. I'm paraphrasing Helm's longer description here: "Murdock
Mill was used by local farmers for milling their grain. It was located
on the stream, called Murdock Creek or Dogwood Creek, that still empties
into the Potomac at Little Falls, above Loughborough Road. It ceased to
operate after the dam was washed out by the flood of 1889. The mill was
northeast of what is now Dalecarlia Reservoir."
 
 
 

REGARDING THE TOWER DECISION
From: "Buddy Yingling" <ray@usp.org>
Re: "Stop the Tower" Press Release
In the "Stop the Tower" press release, Tim Cooper states:  "Indeed, the
court paid particular attention to the fact that the tower posed a
potential serious safety risk, citing the possibility of falling ice
from the tower."

This is erroneous. The court merely mentions the DC Government's stated
concern. It did not render an opinion on the merits of that concern. The
court stated: "Finally, while Section 332(c)(7)(B)(iv) of the Act
prohibits any regulation on the placement of wireless facilities based
upon environmental effects, the restriction by its explicit terms
applies only to regulations on facilities based on concerns over radio
frequency emissions. Because the District's expressed concern was over
falling ice and the resulting safety risk, the District's action would
appear to fall outside of Section 332(c)(7)(B)(iv)'s prohibition. The
Court therefore will dismiss Count Four of plaintiff's amended
complaint."

and in fairness... Tim Weber's response to my post on the "Stop the
Tower" site: I agree with your basic point: the judge was saying that
while the Telecommunications Act of 1996 precludes objections based on
"environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that
such facilities comply with the Commission's regulations concerning such
emissions," the District's environmental concerns included the threat of
falling ice. Thus the Court found that the District is not violating the
Telecommunications Act by rejecting a project partly on the basis of
such an objection. This was all the Court had to decide, not whether the
objection has merit (since no testimony or evidence was offered on this
point).

However, in section I of the opinion ("Equal Protection"), the Court
implies that the objections raised by the District were reasonable: "In
determining whether plaintiff has been denied equal protection of the
law, this Court must decide only whether defendants have offered a
rational basis for its action and whether plaintiff has negatived every
conceivable basis that might support the District's action." It found
that the District, in its Notice of Intent to Rescind, had offered
American Tower the opportunity to rebut the objections and, if the
District rescinded the permit, to attempt to "negative" those objections
in an appeal to the proper authorities. Because Judge Friedman has
thrown the case out of federal court, this may yet happen in another
venue (or may not).

In this light, I can understand how someone might construe the judge's
opinion as implying that the ice objection (which seems to be bundled as
part of the height objection) is reasonable -- i.e., has a "rational
basis."