Minutes of November ANC meeting

Present at the meeting were Commissioners Charles Mayo, Steve Posniak, Chris McNamara and Tad DiBiase and Chairperson Jill Diskan. The meeting began at 7:35 p.m. on November 16, 2000.

The Commission unanimously voted to adopt the minutes of the October meeting and agreed to vote on the November Treasurer’s Report next month.

At the Open Forum members of the audience raised various issues of concern to the community.

There was no presentation by the Second District police.

Two groups made presentations for grants: Iona Senior Services and the Janey Elementary School Band. The grants will be decided on next month.

Chief Ronald Few of the D.C. Fire Department made an extensive presentation on the plans for a new refurbished firehouse. The new plan would replace a previous plan that would’ve completely razed the existing structure. Under the new plan, the interior of the building will be gutted and completely rebuilt. Bruce Zivic, the architect, presented the new plans to the Commission. There was extensive discussion of the plans and members of the community expressed a desire to raze the old structure and start anew. The refurbished plan was expected to cost approximately $3.7 million. The Commissioners voted 4-1 (Commissioner Posniak voting against) to support the new plan that would renovate the firehouse as opposed to completely tearing it down.

David Taylor of the President’s Office of American University (“AU”) informed the Commission that AU had requested that the Board of Zoning Adjustment postpone it’s December hearing on AU’s campus plan. The Commission voted 4-1 (Commissioner McNamara opposing) to request that AU consider 3 points in the negotiations: 1. That all population caps should include commercially zoned property used in University activities, 2. that the plan should include the development of at least 750 additional on-campus undergraduate residential spaces, and 3. that a protocol (similar to those used at other local universities) should be developed specifying how the administration will deal with the most egregious cases of misconduct by students living off-campus.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.