ANC 4B06 Updates

On behalf of the residents of ANC 4B06, you are invited to attend the next single-member district meeting on Monday, March 4, from 7 pm-8 pm.

Phone Conference ID: 524 053 4#

Reminder from NPS regarding Tents

We currently have two tents on NPS land in 4B06.  One is in Fort Slocum Park and the 2nd is at the Fort Slocum Sub Station on Blair Rd.  NPS is aware of both, but I have been advised that they are awaiting DC government to engage with the residents before removing the tents.  Also, they do not begin to remove tents until after May 15th unless there is a public health or safety issue, which at this time, there is not.  

Bowser Administration Announces Residential Street Sweeping Starts March 4

After a warning period ends on March 7, motorists must obey signs restricting parking to avoid enforcement citations

 (Washington, DC)  - As spring approaches, the Bowser Administration announces that the Department of Public Works (DPW) will start residential street sweeping beginning Monday, March 4 through Thursday, October 31. During this time, motorists are asked to obey posted signs indicating the schedule of parking restrictions in order to ensure streets are swept thoroughly.

“Our dedicated sweepers remove more than 2,000 tons of debris annually, diverting pollutants away from our sewers and safeguarding the integrity of our marine ecosystems,” said DPW Director Timothy Spriggs. “When residents collaborate by moving their vehicles during street sweeping hours, it allows our equipment to comprehensively clean residential streets, promoting cleaner, healthier air for our communities to breathe. By complying with street sweeping regulations, our streets are not only cleaner but safer for all.”

To facilitate effective street sweeping, parking restrictions will be enforced on signed streets. Parking is generally prohibited for two-hour intervals (9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.) during sweeping hours. Alternate side parking is required on streets where parking is allowed on only one side. To raise awareness, DPW will issue warnings to vehicles parked on signed streets from March 1 to March 7. After that date, $45 fines will be issued to violators.

DPW’s street sweeping program also provides routine, unscheduled street sweeping throughout District neighborhoods and on sections of arterial roadways. For more information about DPW’s street sweeping program, visit dpw.dc.gov.

Responding to the Peabody Street Fire

On Tuesday, DC Fire and EMS responded to a major fire at a residential building on the 1300 block of Peabody Street NW. Firefighters worked diligently to knock down and eventually extinguish the fire. All residents and pets were rescued from the building, with some even needing to use ladders to safely escape from their units. One resident suffered a critical injury and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment, and at least one firefighter sustained minor injuries. As a result of the fire, 26 families were displaced from the building. These families are receiving hotel accommodations and support from the Red Cross, DHS, HSEMA, DOB, MOCRs, local school PTAs, our Council Office, as well as ANC 4A Commissioners Candace Tiana Nelson and Zack Bolton. Thank you to all our agencies for their strong response to this incident, and please look out for ways to support our impacted neighbors in the coming days. Upon investigation, it was determined that the fire started after an electric scooter's lithium ion battery exploded while the scooter was being charged inside one of the units. Incredibly, another lithium-ion battery in a student's cell phone also exploded this week at Roosevelt High School, causing the student to sustain minor injuries. To prevent such incidents in the future, DC Fire and EMS has been sharing several safety tips, including: (1) making sure you use the charger that was designed for your specific device, (2) not leaving devices charging unattended for long periods of time or significantly overcharging devices, and (3) never charging devices in locations that block your exit from your home.

DPW Service Level

Special Waste Collection Event (i.e., Household Hazardous Waste, electronics recycling, and document shredding) will take place on one Thursday and one Saturday each month through March 2024 at RFK Lot 2, 2400 E Capitol St. NE (across from the DC Armory). View the current schedule here.  The Next Event is Thursday, March 7^th, 10 AM – 2 PM.

Spring Services

Spring is almost upon us!  Spring operations are an opportunity to remove the dullness of the winter months and bring spring sparkle and shine to the District. Assigned Mechanical Street Sweeping will resume Monday, March 4^th. Parking enforcement will be issuing warning tickets to vehicles parked during Street Sweeping hours for the first week. The warning period is March 1 – March 10^th. The full complement of spring services includes street sweeping, street cleaning, alley cleaning, mowing/grounds maintenance, and graffiti removal. For more information regarding DPW spring services visit dpw.dc.gov/page/spring-operations

Holiday Tree and Greenery Collection

January 3, 2024 – March 2, 2024

DPW is working hard to pick up your trees through March 2. Thanks for your patience!

The DC Department of Public Works (DPW) will collect holiday trees and greenery from January 3 through March 2 from DPW-serviced households, which includes single-family homes and apartment dwellings with three or fewer units. Holiday trees and greenery will be collected within 5 days of set out.

Holiday trees and greenery will be collected from the front of the residence at the curb. For missed collections, residents can call 311 and make a “Christmas Tree Removal - Seasonal” service request from January 3, 2024 – March 2, 2024. After March 2, residents should place their trees at the point of trash collection.

All residents can also drop off holiday trees and greenery at three locations:

Monday through Friday, 8 AM – 4 PM:

201 Bryant St. NW (Roll off box)

Guy Mason Recreation Center (3600 Calvert St NW)

2700 South Capital St., SE (Roll off Box)

Holiday Tree Collection FAQs:

2023-2024 Holiday Tree FAQs.pdf 

Unified Communication Center UCC

DPW is committed to delivering efficient and effective services to our residents and quickly resolving issues. As our partner in providing streamlined and effective resolutions, we wanted to share the best channels for residents to utilize.

In order to improve our customer service and our internal tracking mechanisms, DPW launched the Unified Communication Center (UCC) in November 2023 aimed at decreasing our response and resolution times. Through the UCC, we have consolidated our call centers and phone numbers into one accessible line. In February 2024, our average hold time was under 2 minutes, affirming our swift assistance for all callers. We also consolidated our emails into one central address. Each contact, whether by phone or email, is provided a Service Request (SR) if they don’t already have one. For a service inquiry, our representatives offer service information and pass along Service Level Agreement (SLA) benchmarks. In instances where an SR is past our SLA benchmarks, our operational escalation team intervenes to quickly resolve the outstanding request.  

To ensure smooth communication for everyone, as a first step, we kindly request you share the contact details of the UCC with all members in your office and constituents who reach out to you. This will make the service resolution process quicker for residents and raise awareness about DPW's new communication center. DPW’s leadership team is here to address continual issues or problems that have not been addressed satisfactorily by the UCC.  

The UCC is still new, and staff are still learning. If you have used the UCC, please share feedback on what’s working well and what needs improvement. We’d love to hear from you so we can continue to improve!  

UCC Phone: (202) 673-6833 (Mon – Fri) 8:30 am – 4:30 pm  

Central Email: dpw@dc.gov. 

245 Peabody Street NW - Former Mennonite Church

The former Mennonite Church at 245 Peabody Street NW, in ANC 4B07, has submitted an application with the Board of Zoning to become a child development center.  Commissioner Cohen, 4B07 has provided the below information in his most recent newsletter:

On February 20th, Councilmember Cohen held a special SMD meeting to discuss this proposed location.  The video can be found here.  If you need assistance accessing the video, please contact Commissioner Cohen at 4b06@anc.dc.gov.

In addition to the BZA application, Commissioner Cohen has also sent a letter outlining areas of concern, some of which were discussed during the February 20th meeting.  I will be working with the Commissioner on this issue as any proposal will affect the residents of ANC 4B06 as well as 4B07.  

The hearing on this application is scheduled for May 1, 2024 at 9:30am.  

Commissioner Cohen has compiled a list of questions from his February 20th meeting into a Google Doc.  He also created a short survey that I'm hoping everyone can complete. I'd like to try and get a better understanding of how neighbor concerns line up based on where they live in proximity to the property.