December WECA Meeting Cancelled

Please note that the December WECA meeting has been cancelled - so there is NOT a meeting tonight. The next WECA Meeting will be on Thursday January 20th.

Great Falls Road Closure - Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010

The Department of Public Works (DPW) will install a sanitary sewer house connection at 402 Great Falls Road on Saturday, Dec. 4. This work requires Great Falls Road to be closed to vehicular traffic in both directions in front of 402 Great Falls Road, between Monument Street/Rose Petal Way and Dale Drive. All through traffic will be detoured around this location from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Construction work will not impact or restrict access into driveways. Work will take place weather permitting.

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION . . .

You may contact the following City staff in reference to this project:
James Woods, Civil Engineer, at 240-314-8521 or e-mail at jwoods@rockvillemd.gov

Rocio Estrada, Neighborhood Resources Coordinator, at 240-314-8345 or e-mail at restrada@rockvillemd.gov

Maryland Avenue Lane Closures on November 20

Part of Maryland Ave. will be closed on Saturday, November 20, between, 8am and 6pm, in order to shut down an abandoned valve in the water line. It requires closing three lanes of Maryland Ave between East Jefferson and Vinson Street . Flaggers will direct traffic through that block. There will be no impact to water service to the homes in the area.

The Courthouse is still due to be completed in December 2010, and will open for operation in March 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact Rocio Estrada, City of Rockville Neighborhood Resource Coordinator, at (240) 314-8345.

General Membership Meeting

Come Join Us!

Meet Your Block Captain!

Reception Prior to Meeting
6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Light Refreshments Served

Discussion and Vote on
WECA Recommendation to Mayor and Council

regarding

Pumphrey's Funeral Home
Proposed Parking Lot Expansion

Thursday, October 21, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Rockville Presbyterian Church
215 West Montgomery Avenue
(Park behind church, via Harrison St.)

September Meeting

The next WECA meeting will be held on Thursday, September 16th at 7:00pm.  Meetings are held at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.  Enter from Harrison St.   

Our agenda for this month's meeting includes the proposed expansion of Pumphrey's Funeral Home parking lot as well as updates on other pending projects in the West End, news of a possible mum sale, and a discussion of the Fall General Meeting and newsletter.

All Westend residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Gardening for Wildlife: NWF Certification

Rockville is trying to become certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Community Wildlife Habitat. Anne Goodman and Jim Farrelly are coordinating a volunteer effort to make this happen. Community residents who certify their properties help to achieve that goal.

Anne and Jim will discuss creation of habitats for birds, insects and amphibians with regard to food, water, cover, places to raise young, as well as using sustainable gardening techniques, and good water management practices. It is easy and fun to do, and many people already have the basic elements in their yards.

We invite your participation!

Sponsored by the Twinbrook Citizens Association
Tuesday, August 31st, 7:00 PM
Twinbrook Community Recreation Center
12920 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20851

Event is free and open to the public
Non-Rockville residents welcome!

City of Rockville Water Restrictions

Rockville has issued mandatory water restrictions for its customers through at least noon Saturday, July 10, while crews work to repair a broken water main.

A 24-inch water main pipe burst around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 7. The pipe serves as the only water main connecting the City's Water Treatment Plant and its distribution system. Currently, Rockville is receiving supplemental water from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC).

Crews are replacing two 14-foot sections of pipe because the pipe broke at its joint. It will also have to fill the City's three water tanks before it can lift the mandatory restrictions. The City serves 13,445 homes in Rockville. WSSC customers are not affected by the restrictions.

Rockville is asking its water customers to:

• Stop all outside water use, including watering lawns or gardens, washing cars and topping off swimming pools
• Use water only as necessary
• Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use)
• Limit using washing machines and dishwashers (wash full loads only)

Residents who have questions about who their water service provider is should look at their water bill to see if it was issued from the City of Rockville or WSSC. Resident can go to the City’s GIS mapping service and enter their address into the system.

Protecting your home while on vacation

Here are some tips from the Rockville City Police Department for protecting your home while away on vacation.

Although nothing can guarantee a home won't be burglarized there are a few thing you can do to protect your property. These are a few of the more noteworthy tips to make you home look lived in while your away.

1. If you have an alarm...use it, but remember to provide the alarm monitoring company with a phone number where you can be reached.
2. Use light timers and put one of them on a talk radio/news channel. Have them set so that when one light goes off, another comes on in a different part of the house.
3. Let a trusted neighbor know when you're leaving and ask that they monitor your home. Make sure they know if you have any maintenance scheduled...yard work, gutter cleaning, etc. They should also have an emergency contact number for you just in case something comes up.
4. Ask the same neighbor to park their cars in your driveway whenever possible or move yours around periodically. It would be nice if they put the trash cans out too.
5. Newspaper should not accumulate in the driveway. If a neighbor picks them up make sure they are not piled up on your front porch.
6. Prominently display a list of Emergency Contact phone numbers on your phone or refrigerator just in case. This helps officer contact someone in the event a home has been broken into.

Two Demoltion Permits Under Consideration?

Note: The HDC has postponed the 408 Great Falls Road evaluation of significance until the July 15th HDC meeting.

The Rockville Historic District Commission will be evaluating the significance of two homes. This review is required if demolition is intended. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2010 at City Hall at 7:30pm. The two properties involved are the houses located at 408 Great Falls Road and 721 West Montgomery Avenue.

408 Great Falls Road
According to the HDC staff report HDC2010-00511, the applicant requests Evaluation of Significance review by HDC, a step required if demolition is intended. The report states that the property is currently for sale and that the seller is requesting the review with the expectation that a potential buyer would either expand the residence or demolish it. The staff recommendation is to find that the property is eligible for historic designation.

721 West Montgomery Avenue
According to the HDC staff report HDC2010-0512, the applicant requests Evaluation of Significance review by HDC, a step required if demolition is intended. The report states that the owner of the property, the Rockville Seventh Day Adventist Church, plans to demolish the existing building and to construct a parking lot. In the future, the church may construct an annex to the church on the site. The HDC staff recommendation is to find that the property is not eligible for historic designation.

General Membership Meeting

The June WECA General Membership Meeting will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2010, at 7pm at the Rockville Presbyterian Church (enter from Harrison Street). The agenda includes the election of officers and a discussion of the demolition permit requested for 408 Great Falls Road.

All Westend residents and welcome and encouraged to attend.

Neighborhood Street Party

Hard Times Café and Carmen’s Italian Ice are sponsoring a “Neighborhood Street Party” on Saturday June 5^th, from 7 pm to 11 pm. This is one of the ways they “give back” to the community that supports them. This Street Party will feature musical entertainment by a local band, The Digits. Hard Times and Carmen’s will offer cheap eats (burger, dogs, beer, wine, sodas, and ice cream) at reduced prices for outdoor consumption.

The upper half of the parking lot will be blocked off (no cars) for pedestrians. Last year they hosted the same event; it drew approximately 350 people, many entire families.

Chestnut Lodge Meeting Announcement

Streetscape Partners, LLC will be working in conjunction with the owner of the Chestnut Lodge property (Chestnut Lodge Properties, Inc.) to build out a portion of the remaining new single family lots that were approved pursuant to Exploratory Application PRU2005-00022 and Detailed Application PRU2006-0022A. Streetscape Partners LLC has submitted to the City of Rockville additional architectural elevations for the new single family detached homes proposed to be constructed on the Chestnut Lodge property for review and approval. Please note that no changes to the approved Detailed Site Plan in terms of lot configuration, lot size, layout, project amenities, landscaping and/or other requirements are being proposed.

A special community meeting will be held (hosted by the West End Citizen's Association) to provide you an opportunity to become fully aware of the development intentions and to give you an opportunity to comment on the proposed elevations. The community meeting will be held on Thursday, May 13th at 7:00PM in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850. At this meeting the representatives of Streetscape Partners will make every effort to illustrate how the property will be developed and to answer any questions.

In addition, two (2) public meetings will be held by the City on this matter the first by the Historic District Commission on Thursday, May 20th at 7:30pm, and the second by the Planning Commission on Wednesday, June 23rd at 7:00pm. Prior to the Planning Commission's review for approval, the Historic District Commission will be providing a Courtesy Review of the proposed house designs to be located adjacent to the historic districts. Members of the public will have an opportunity to make comments and/or otherwise address the commissions at the meetings, both of which will also be held in the Mayor and Council Chambers at City Hall.

Questions can be directed to Soo Lee-Cho of Miller, Miller and Canby, who is representing StreetScape Partners, LLC. Her number is (301) 762-5212.

Bealls Grant II Site Plan Review

The April 28 Rockville Planning Commission Meeting will include a review of the Bealls Grant II site plan. Montgomery Housing Partnership is seeking approval of Site Plan Amendment STP2010 ‐ 00025, for a 74‐unit apartment building with underground parking and modifications to the existing surface parking. The applicant also seeks a 49 parking space reduction as part of this application. This application is a major amendment to Use Permit, which was approved by the Planning Commission on July 23, 2008, for a 109‐unit apartment building. This application will reduce the number of units by 35 and the number of provided parking spaces from 229 to 121, a reduction of 108 parking spaces. Read the full staff report for more information.

The meeting will be held at City Hall at 7:00 pm on April 28.

Victory Housing Site Plan Post-Area Meeting

The site plan application for Victory Housing has been submitted and the post-area meeting is scheduled for April 22 at 7 pm in the cafeteria of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave.

April WECA Meeting Announcement

The next WECA meeting will be held on Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 7:00 pm at the Rockville Presbyterian Church. Enter church from Harrison Street.

Chuck Aubertin from Code Enforcement, will be coming to this meeting, as well as Susan Swift, (Planning), Robert Purkey (Inspection Services) and Dean Mellander (Zoning Administrator). They will all be present to speak and go over questions, concerns and property information on properties of interest that WECA may have.

The meeting is open to the public and all West End residents are encouraged to attend and participate.

Hope to see you there!

March WECA Meeting

The March WECA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm, Thursday, March 18, 2010, at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.  Enter church from Harrison Street.

The meeting is open to the public and all West End residents are encouraged to attend and participate.

Hope to see you there!

Deduct This! TCA Free Tax Seminar Feb 28th

The Twinbrook Citizens Association

presents

DEDUCT THIS!

UPDATE ON THE 2009 TAX LAW CHANGES

For homeowners and small business owners

This is the third in a yearly series of tax seminars presented as a public service by the

Twinbrook Citizens Association of Rockville, Maryland. The seminar is free and open to the public.

SPEAKER: RICHARD GOTTFRIED, CPA, Master of Science in Taxation

DATE: Sunday, February 28, 2010
TIME: 1:00 PM TO 3:30 PM
PLACE: Rockville Public Library * First Floor Meeting Room
21 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
Telephone: 240-777-0002

COST: FREE

PARKING: FREE IN THE TOWN CENTER GARAGES

Time

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Deduct This! Update on the 2009 Tax Law Changes

Learn about tax law changes for 2009 in the first time homebuyer credit, making work pay credit, expanded Earned Income Credits, expanded child tax credit, residential energy tax credit, IRA to ROTH IRA conversions, and others that might affect your return.

3:00 pm to 3:30 pm Questions and Answers

Need more information?

Call Richard at 301-717-9558 or email: richgott3@verizon.net

RSVPs appreciated but not necessary.

Please forward this email to your family, friends, neighbors or co-workers and anyone who may be interested in the topics listed above.

Sidewalks in the West End

If you have not already done so, please clear the sidewalk in front of your house. The record snowfall has made this task very difficult, but to ensure the safety of the children walking to school as well as the safety of all pedestrians the sidewalks need to be cleared. Higher temperatures predicted for Saturday and Sunday should make this task easier.

Many thanks in advance!

District Courthouse Post Completion Signs and Parking Plans Meeting Update

The Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board will hold a community forum for the Rockville area on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD, 1st Floor Conference Room. Issues raised by community members are sent to the appropriate County departments for action and tracked by the Montgomery County B-CC Regional Service Center staff. The City of Rockville is within the expanded area of service of the Citizens Advisory Board.
The primary role of the Board is to offer substantive advice on regional issues and needs to the Montgomery County Executive and the County Council. The Board is comprised of 19 representatives - twelve neighborhood representatives, six business community representatives, and one non-profit representative. As representatives to and from these communities, the Board strives to reflect the varying points of view within the region. The Board has committees on land use, transportation, public safety, and quality of life. For further information or special accommodations please contact Karen Thon at 240-777-8210 or karen.thon@montgomerycountymd.gov

Please Note: Because of the MC Advisory Board Meeting, the District Court Community meeting to discuss Signs and Parking Plans post District completion, has been moved to be a part of TCAT's agenda for their February 23rd meeting at 7pm, at City Hall. All are welcome to join!

February WECA Meeting

The February WECA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm, Thursday, February 18, 2010, at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.  Enter church from Harrison Street.

The agenda is as follows:
Treasurer report
Discuss WECA survey results*
Planning Commission Committee
Victory Housing Update
Nominating Committee

*This is the link to the WECA survey:
http://cadencemarketingsurveycom.ennectSurvey.com/28519/3862

The meeting is open to the public and all West End residents are encouraged to attend and participate.

Hope to see you there!
 

Victory Housing Withdraws Request for Letter of Recommendation

Victory Housing has informed the City that they are withdrawing their request for a letter of recommendation for public funding from the Mayor and Council. Victory Housing's letter to the Mayor and Council expresses their frustration with the development process.

Vote on Victory Housing Letter of Recommendation Delayed

The Mayor and Council has scheduled a vote for Monday, February 8, 2010 to determine whether to write a letter of recommendation in support of the Victory Housing proposal. The vote was have taken place on Monday, February 1, 2010, but the Mayor and Council voted to delay this vote until next week due to the lack of sufficient advance notice. Victory Housing needs this letter from the Mayor and Council in order to secure state funding for the project.

Today's Gazette has an article discussing what took place during Monday's discussion.

On tonight's M&C Agenda...

Late breaking news! 

WECA has been informed with just two days warning that on Monday, February 1, the Mayor and Council will decide whether to approve a letter supporting an application to be submitted by Victory Housing for low-Income Tax Credits to be used in financing the development of Victory Court.  Staff is recommending that the Mayor and Council give favorable consideration to the request for a letter of support. 

You are encouraged to attend this meeting to speak out about the manner in which this request is being rushed with no notice, no discussion, no citizen input. This is not how the City's business should be conducted.

This item is on the agenda at approximately 8:20 pm.

Please visit the Rockville City website for more details on this agenda item.

The Big Surprise

January 31, 2010

Dear Mayor and Council,

When will the City planning staff stop dropping the “Big Surprise” on the citizens of Rockville?

We were shocked to find, on the Mayor and Council agenda for this coming Monday, an agenda item to approve a letter of support for Low Income Housing Tax Credits for Victory Housing. City staff’s memorandum, recommending the approval, was signed by Susan Swift on Wednesday, and by Scott Ullery on Thursday, and posted on the City website late in the week for the Mayor and Council meeting for Monday. Prior to this, there has been absolutely nothing about this item posted on any future agenda, list of upcoming agenda items, or the like. Just two business days notice prior to a major Mayor and Council vote on a highly controversial issue. That might set a new record!

Regardless of one’s opinion about the merits of the Victory Housing project, it is precisely this kind of “Big Surprise” that gets the City in trouble with its citizens over and over again.

And why all the hurry? Ms. Swift and Mr. Ullery’s memo states the rationale as follows: “the applicant has indicated that early submission of its financing application is being requested because dates for future Funding Rounds have not yet been established by the State.” As Ms. Swift and Mr. Ullery well know (from Beall’s Grant II, if nothing else), the State never sets dates for future funding rounds until the current round is completed, after which the State sets the date for the next funding round, with plenty of notice for developers to get their ducks in a row. So the stated reason for “early submission” is entirely specious, and both Ms. Swift and Mr. Ullery know it.

The neighbors have asked the developer repeatedly about the sources for their funding of this project, including whether they would be applying for Low Income Housing Tax Credits; apparently the developer has evaded all such questions until this very moment. The developer had three months notice about the February 23 deadline, as the State sent out notification of the deadline on November 20. But the developer, in concert with Ms. Swift and Mr. Ullery, is now dropping the “Big Surprise” on the Mayor and Council at one minute to midnight. No notice, no discussion, no citizen input. How convenient for the developer.

Ironically, Ms. Swift, on the previous Thursday, addressed a meeting of the West End Citizens Association, where she was challenged by WECA members and leaders for precisely this type of behavior on the part of the planning department in the recent past, and for a pattern of her department working closely with developers while effectively shutting citizens out of the process. Ms. Swift, predictably, denied all of it.

But a City planning department that truly gives citizens a level playing field would have told this developer that a letter of support from the Mayor and Council is supposed to reflect support in the community for the project, support which has not been established yet. Citizens and neighborhood groups, including WECA, have not yet had the opportunity to adequately review and evaluate the current site plan. The developer should have been told that their request is premature, and that the developer still has work to do to build community support for this project. Instead, Ms. Swift and Mr. Ullery are, once again, willing to sacrifice due process, fairness, communication, and transparency in the interests of a developer. You would have thought that they would have learned something, after their mishandling of Beall’s Grant II resulted in an explosion of citizen outrage. What they’ve learned, apparently, is to draw the wagons in a circle and continue doing business as usual.

This is not how the City’s business should be conducted. For anyone who still questions the need for a Communications Task Force, here is just one more example of why such an effort is urgently needed. But the task needs to go beyond improving the mere mechanics of Channel 11 and Rockville Reports, and should address the larger issue of a culture at City Hall in which the City planning staff has consistently failed to communicate appropriately with the citizens regarding new development in the City.

We would respectfully ask the Mayor and Council to deny the letter of support at this time, not because of the merits of the project one way or the other, but because to write a letter of support at the eleventh-hour, without appropriate discussion and citizen input, would be a gross violation of due process and basic fairness. Further, we would ask the Mayor and Council to please do whatever it can to put an end to the “Big Surprise” as the modus operandi of the City’s planning department.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Jack Leiderman & Vicki McMullen

January WECA Meeting - Building Codes

The January WECA meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm, Thursday, January 21, 2010, at the Rockville Presbyterian Church.  Enter church from Harrison Street.

The agenda is as follows:
Treasurer report
Housekeeping items
Two Rockville City staff, Robert Purkey, Construction Inspection Supervisor, and Susan Swift, Director of Planning and Community Development, will be speaking on the topic of Building Codes.

The meeting is open to the public and all West End residents are encouraged to attend and participate.

Hope to see you there!