TUESDAY NIGHT'S MEETING ON THE FIREHOUSE
Fire Chief Ronnie Few, Ralph Cyrus of the DC Office of Property Management,
Architect Bruce Zivic, and some members of the audience, provided the
following information. This was in response to written questions which were
read from cards and were often clarified verbally by the authors of the
questions in the audience.

-- Chief Few favors the design that provides for 2 1/2 bays and incorporates
at least part of the facade of the existing firehouse. The interior of the
existing firehouse will be completely gutted and a larger addition will be
attached. He prefers this design because of the configuration of the day-use
space for the firefighters. He says a larger basement is not necessary and
would only be used for storage. Heavy equipment would not be parked over a
basement because of the weight.
One member of the audience emphasized that the old firehouse is not being
renovated, but is being gutted.

-- The operating costs are separate from the capital costs. While he is very
unhappy with the budget problems affecting his personnel, it has no bearing
on the building of the firehouse. There is enough money for that. Regarding
his operating budget, Chief Few is very unhappy with the 2001 budget, which
he inherited.

-- The total estimated budget for building the plan he favors is
$3,700,973.70. Office of Property Management is providing a professional
estimator to make sure the firehouse design does not go over budget. If they
can't meet the budget, they must revise the plans.

-- Chief Few said he is committed to public safety first and is trying to
reduce response time. He said that Rescue is the biggest concern in this
area. Heavy Rescue runs 3 to 1 over fire calls, possibly as high as 5 to 1.
He said there will most probably be a second ambulance. That will go in to
the 1/2 bay instead of a Battalion Chief's car, which will remain at the
Connecticut Avenue firehouse. The finished building is expected to house one
fire truck, one ladder truck, and two ambulances.

[I feel good about the second ambulance but I have one question for Chief Few
which I will send to him in a separate letter:  I was told that the side
mirrors on the ambulance have to be pulled in for it to get out of the
smaller doors of the old firehouse. If this is true, it will delay response
time. Is he aware of this problem with the old doors? They were originally
designed for horse-drawn wagons.]

-- He plans to train and place a paramedic on each firetruck and ambulance so
that they can begin administering cardiac drugs as soon as they arrive on the
scene. He wants DC to have a good stand alone fire department, but he is in
favor of cooperation and agreed to sign a letter of cooperation with
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad.

-- He emphasized that safety is his primary concern and that if the design
using the old facade does not work, he will scrap it and do what is necessary
to achieve maximum safety even if that means tearing down the facade or
demolishing the old doors. If necessary, it can also be torn down in the
future since it will not have historical status.

-- Only 10% of the design is completed. The finished design will reflect many
of the comments he has received about this (and he has received a lot of
comments about this firehouse). The finished design must be consistent with
his views on safety.  He has not yet shown the plans to the firefighters but
intends to do so.

-- A comparison between the design favored by Chief Few and an earlier design
shows that the earlier design (all new from scratch firehouse) has 12,524
square feet. The design employing part of  the existing facade has 12,822
square feet. (Bear in mind that both of these designs are only 10% complete.)

-- The Tenley firehouse receives more than 500 calls for service per month.
But is not as busy as many others in the city. Firehouse # 10 in Trinidad is
the busiest in the whole U.S.  Chief Few did not expand on this so I don't
know the reason.

-- They expect to break ground next summer. It will take 14 to 16 months to
complete.

-- Regardless of the final plan used, Chief Few said he will need help from
the community to furnish the building when completed. He doesn't have funds
for that. Myrna Sislen, President of the Friends of the Firehouse assured him
that he will get that furniture. There was a murmur of agreement throughout
the room.

-- At the beginning of the meeting, Jean Pablo, President of the Tenleytown
Historical Society and Amy Bauer, wife of a Tenleytown Firefighter made
opening statements.

Pablo -- If the facade is maintained and the building meets the needs of
public safety and the firefighters, the Historical Society will be satisfied.

Bauer -- The proposed design fails to provide space for future expansion. It
will cost at least $600,000 more to do this design than if they started from
scratch.

Chief Few threatened in his opening remarks that if the fight continues much
longer , he will spend the money elsewhere in another community. There are
other fire houses in deplorable condition around the city. However, he should
remember that Councilmember Harold Brazil told the Fire Department to meet
with the community before proceeding. I believe we have done our part in
meeting with the DCFD.

To his credit, Chief Few answered many many questions over about 2 1/2
hours. When he shows the plans to the firefighters, I assume he will answer
whatever questions the community did not think to ask.

Thanks go to Marvin Tievsky for setting up this meeting and keeping order. I
was dubious about the written question format, but with verbal clarifications
I believe that most questions were addressed. Chief Few and his team were
very patient and responsive to the questions.

My thanks to everyone who weighed in with opinions, questions at meetings,
answers to questions,  letters, etc. You helped clarify the issues about this
new addition to our community and shed light on details that might otherwise
have been left in the shadows.

When Chief Few builds his firehouse, he'll know that an interested community
will watch its growth. No one can accuse this 'Hood of apathy.
 
 

FROM DAVID TAYLOR AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
From:   taylor@american.edu  (David Taylor)
This is to clarify the 11/22 COMMUNIT-E information which suggested that AU
officials have learned of only one incident of reported problems involving
students off campus.  As I reported at the ANC 3E meeting in September, we
typically hear of perhaps three or four per semester;  this calendar year, we
were contacted about eight incidents and addresses.  If neighbors have issues
and want to alert us to a particular address or situation, you may contact the
Public Safety 24-hour line (885-2527); Dean of Students (885-3300); or Greek
Life Coordinator (885-3390).  This information was also printed in the
Northwest
Current in October.  Thanks for working with us on this issue.
 
 

NEW RESTAURANT IN THE 'HOOD
From:   jspigel@hotmail.com (Jeff Spigel)
>From this weeks issue of Washington Business Journal
(http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2000/11/20/newscolumn6.html)
... Ruby Tuesday has inked a deal to open a restaurant at 4200 Wisconsin
Ave. NW. The location will be 5,900 square feet and have outdoor seating. No
opening date has been set.
Madison Retail brokers Scott Thiell and Roger Carlson represented Ruby
Tuesday; Madison's Mike Pratt repped the landlord, American University.
----------------------------
Looks like there may be some hope for making the 4200 building an attractive
retail/office center rather than being the current eyesore that it is and
finally, the old Swensen's space will be filled (I assume that Ruby Tuesday
will be going there). You can see what kind of company Ruby Tuesday is at
http://www.ruby-tuesday.com
Now if we can just get something to move into the boarded up old McDonald's
building as well as the Hechinger building.
 

HOLIDAY BULLPEN
From:   Ricebill
Holiday Bullpen in Honor of New School Board

Please join President-elect Peggy Cooper Cafritz and other members of the new
School Board....
When:  6:30 PM, Friday, December 1, 2000
Place:  Utopia Bar & Grill, 1418 U Streets, NW, across from the Reeves Bldg.
 
 

THEFT ALERT
**** From: Brinda Hollywood (bhollywood@erols.com)
We are at 45th & Davenport St. in AU Park. Recently,  two small decorative
antique white wrought iron chairs were taken from our front yard. We had the
light on at our front door but apparently it made no difference. These chairs
were kind of a landmark for us and had been on the same spot for almost fifty
years. To replace them would be very difficult not to mention the sentimental
value. We have reported it and we wanted to caution others in the
neighborhood to be on the alert.

**** From: vual7@yahoo.com (Anji Henderson)
When paying with a check, just say "NO" to merchants who ask for your
credit card or SSN number for further identification.

It is against the law in MD & VA to ask for credit
card as ID !! I would assume that DC is the same...
Anji
 
 

**** chevychase_nwatch@hotmail.com (Tom Frank)
This is second hand information, but thought all should know...

I was told of a carjacking at the Broad Branch Market on Monday at about
4:30 pm.  Someone with a new Mercedes was forced at gunpoint to surrender
his keys.  Police came in 10 minutes, but again there may have been some 911
problems.

Burglaries continue to be a neighborhood problem.  See below for an upcoming
neighborhood meeting which I'll be attending and to which all are welcome.
There is also talk of expanded our effort to include the rest of Chevy
Chase, through the CC citizen's association.  I'll keep u informed.

To repeat general "good practices" guidelines:

1. Do not hire anyone who knocks on your door.  This is an excellent way to
get robbed.

2. Lock up, and don't leave stuff in sight in your car.

3. If you have cause to be in contact with the police, record the name
and/or number of all individuals.  If you call 911, get the dispatcher
number.

IMPORTANT COMMUNITY POLICE MEETING ON CRIME IN CHEVY CHASE
On Wednesday, December 13 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at the Chevy Chase Community
Center, (Connecticut Avenue & McKinley Street) there will be a very
important police meeting on crime in Chevy Chase, D.C.   Detectives, police
officers and city officials will be present, including Lt. Josiah Eaves, the
head of our Patrol Service Area (PSA 201).  The subject of the meeting is
Burglaries and Street Robberies in Chevy Chase and how we can prevent their
occurrence.
PSA 201 has the highest number of burglaries in the Second District.  And as
the holiday season approaches, crime will increase in our neighborhood,
especially street robberies and thefts from automobiles.   Please come
prepared to listen to experts and discuss solutions to the problem.
Tom Frank
 
 

MORE ON PROPOSED HOME REPAIR WEB SITE
From:   MERowse (Mary Rowse)
I think it's a great idea.  I don't think it's reinventing the wheel to have
people in a particular neighborhood share information on home repair people.
In fact, I'm thinking of making that a particular section on the PSA 201 web
site, so that people can have some suggestions on who to hire and will be
less likely to hire the Kim Westins of the world.
 

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

**** From: MBullock@apa.org (Bullock, Merry)
Reliable woman can clean your house during the day, 9-3. Please call
202-686-0291 and ask for Erika. (This is for my nanny, who is looking for
house
cleaning jobs during the school hours. She is honest, reliable and cleans
well!

**** From: roths@sprintmail.com (Laura Roth)
I had been reading the sections in Communit-E on the local rat problem with
some interest.  However, I've now spotted them in my back yard.  I have a
twofold request for information.  The first is for a good exterminator who
can figure out a way to get rid of the rats while still enabling me to let my
dog out in the back.  The second is for suggestions about landscaping options
to minimize the likelihood of them finding my backyard to be a hospitable
home.

**** From: Joe.Pinder@mail.house.gov (Pinder, Joe)
Does anyone have a good source of firewood? These guys who descend on the
neighborhood ion the weekends may be the nicest, most honest people in the
world but they aren't selling uniform amounts of wood, and a lot of it isn't
properly seasoned. I'd rather buy a half-cord, than a "rack" and I'd rather
have dry wood than wet. Thanks

**** From: Mitnick123
I am looking for a brick mason who does restoration work.  I want to rebuild
a brick wall that is 100 years old using the original brick.

**** Brick Work -- I'd like to recommend C. L. Williams at 301-397-4692
(beeper)  or
301-856-4967.  He did some good brick repair in my basement. His card states
that he does painting, cement, driveways, sidewalks, block & brick work, and
hauling. I heard about him from my electrician -- KS

**** From: shorsey@erols.com (Sarah Horsey Barr)
A long time friend of mine is back in DC for a few months.  She is looking
for a place to live in exchange for housesitting or animal, plant or
child/elder care.  She has worked as a nurse in different specialties, has
three grown children and a small business in Montana but is originally from
this area.  If you or anyone you know is interested in discussing mutual
needs with her please let me know and I will pass the message on to her.
Many thanks. Sarah Horsey Barr  202-364-2737
email:shorsey@erols.com
 
 

MORE ON DANGEROUS INTERSECTION
From:   thomasfine@yahoo.com (Thomas Fine)
I just wanted to respond briefly to those suggesting a
traffic light at the 45th/Fessenden/River
intersection. I agree that the corner is dangerous,
and have thought of suggesting such a light in the
past.  However, I have not because a light may turn
45th and Fessenden into major arteries.  Ironically,
the fact that it is difficult to cross River Road at
that point may provide some protection from
cut-through commuters.
 

MORE ON CVS TRASH ISSUE
From:   tylergreendc@yahoo.com (Tyler Green)
I complained in person about the dumpster problem at CVS. The manager told me
that someone had filed a rat complaint about their dumpsters and that had
gotten his attention. The dumpsters have looked better in the last week.