Commissioners Alex Padro (6E01, chair), Frank Wiggins (6E03, vice chair), David Jaffe (6E04), Alvin Judd (6E06) and Kevin Rogers (6E07) made up the quorum to conduct official business at the November meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E.
Gonzaga College High School Requests ABC License
Gonzaga representatives spoke before the commission and requested support for a Class C tavern license for the school’s 800-seat auditorium to hold special events and fundraisers. The school is located at 19 I St. NW. A maximum of three events will be held per year and alcoholic beverages will only be offered to those who are 21 years of age or older. The representative also requested an entertainment endorsement to provide live entertainment during events.
The commission motioned to support both requests, 4-1, with Wiggins voting against.
DC Water Explains Main Breaks
DC Water representatives Emanuel Briggs and Marley Franson addressed a number of water main breaks that happened on Nov. 20 at 555 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Concerns were raised by Commissioner Marriott in an email in which he asked why the break happened twice over an eight-day period, why it took responders more than three hours to address the problem and why the water had an off-color following the resumption of service.
Franson said that age played a role due to many of the pipes being 120 years old. She also noted that the particular location has been flagged and data has been sent to DC Water’s engineering department. The typical response time, Franson said, is 45 minutes, but the problem has to be isolated before personnel are dispatched, which takes up to an hour. In regards to the off-color water, it is due to air being trapped in the pipe during the break. The off-color water can be fixed by running cold water faucets for 15 minutes.
Pepco Presents Mount Vernon Substation Design
Pepco Public Affairs Manager Chris Taylor spoke about the Capital Grid Project. If approved, three substations will be upgraded in the District and Maryland (Harvard, Champlain and Mount Vernon substations). A new substation will also be built to serve areas of projected high growth, and a 10-mile underground transmission line will be built to connect substations. Additionally, a networked system will be created to deliver electricity to customers.
Based on community feedback, Taylor created two renderings of what the upgraded Mount Vernon Substation will look like. He said that regulatory approval must be granted from the Public Service Commission (PSC) before construction can begin. Pepco filed a proposal with PSC in May 2017 and is awaiting approval from the Board of Zoning Adjustment as well.
Overview on the Department of Forensic Sciences
Dr. Jenifer Smith, director of the DC Department of Forensic Sciences, gave the commission an overview of DFS. Created in 2012 and located at 401 E St. SW, DFS is one of only two forensic laboratories that is not under the direction of a law enforcement agency. DFS does however support the District’s criminal justice process.
The laboratory has three components: Forensics Science Laboratory (FSL), Public Health Laboratory (PHL) and Crime Scene Sciences (CSS). FSL consists of the Forensics Biology Unit, Forensics Intelligence Unit, Firearms Examination Unit, Latent Fingerprint Unit and Digital Evidence Unit. PHL tests a wide variety of materials for toxins, infectious organisms, illicit narcotics and other threats to public health. CSS collects and preserves evidence from crime scenes. DFS has 200 employees and an unpaid internship program.
Contract for New Website
The commission received three proposals from web designers to design a new site for ANC 6E. Proposals were submitted from ArtDriver LLC, Cold Smoke Solutions Inc. and 80Port. The commission reviewed the designs and proposals and rated them on a scale of one to three with three being the highest score. 80Port took the top spot followed by ArtDriver and Cold Smoke Solutions respectively.
The commission motioned to approve the proposal submitted by 80Port for design of a new ANC 6E website in the amount of $6,595. The motion passed unanimously.
ANC 6E will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 at the Shaw/Watha T. Daniel Library located at 1630 Seventh St. NW.
Steve Holton can be contacted at ssholton@gmail.com.
