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!