Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Gas line rupture during O and P Streets construction. Routine, apparently.
• Speaking of construction, the Q St. construction, which was originally supposed to be done by last September, and then was supposed to be done by March, is still going with no end in sight (although they did recently lay the concrete pads for the bus stops). It will be so nice once they finally wrap up and repave the road; it’s murder on bikers.

WASA–now branded “DC Water”–has been conducting major construction on Q St. for about a year.  The construction entails separating the sewer systems into two systems: sanitary and storm. As it is now, all sewage, whether from a toilet or a storm grate, goes into the same pipe. When it rains a lot (like yesterday) that pipe gets backed up and the overflow (including all that stuff from the toilets) is drained into Rock Creek. The EPA sued WASA over this and WASA is under a court order to fix it by separating the pipes to make sure sanitary sewage never is dumped into Rock Creek.

When WASA was considering this project, they kicked around a couple ideas for how to conduct the massive project on Q St. They considered shutting the road down completely or just shutting it down to one lane. Finally they settled on allowing two lanes of traffic at all times. The last GM heard about this (which was a little before construction started) the project was supposed to run from about October 2009 until September 2010.

Obviously this didn’t happen. Construction is still ongoing. GM reached out to WASA/DC Water and discovered that various delays pushed back the project and that the target completion date is now March 2011. Read about the project here.

While the project has taken a lot longer than first promised, GM thinks the agency has down a great job minimizing the impact of the construction. While people living on the 2500 block of Q St. are likely pretty tired of the construction by now, it could have been a lot worse. And when it’s all said and done, it will result in a much cleaner Rock Creek and that’s a great thing.

As “prequeled” yesterday, GM attended a brutal marathon-like ANC meeting Monday night. After a long warm-down run and a good night’s sleep, GM is now ready to give an account of the race.

Along the way, we’ll pass sewage pipes, cupcakes, and yet another rejected curb cut. Make sure to carbo load and stretch and GM will see you at the starting line after the jump:

Starting Gun – 0’0″:

The meeting started promptly at 6:30. Right off the bat, the girth of the agenda inspired many encouragements to cut to the chase, which were almost always immediately followed by long discussions cutting nowhere near the chase.

Student Detritus – 0’12″:

The first substantive presentation of the night came from a rep from Georgetown University on the question of student move-in trash removal. Apparently a garbage truck has been trolling through the West Village collecting trash from off-campus students. The rep also touted the fact that students could be fined between $125 to $300 for various violations and told residents to call 687-5138 if they have any issues with their student neighbors.

WASA Gonna Happen with Q St? – 0’41″:

As discussed before, as a result of an EPA lawsuit WASA is obliged to conduct a massive construction project on Q St. from 27th to Rock Creek (among other projects). This is to stop harmful sewage from entering our waterways, like Rock Creek and the Potomac. On Q St., WASA needs to separate out sewage pipes that deal with sanitary sewage (i.e. stuff from us) from the storm-water sewage.

To do this the contractors will need to shut down stretches of Q St. In February there were three options put forward:

1. Just shut down Q St. totally for 4-6 months
2. Keep open only one eastbound lane during the day and close it at night, total construction time 6-8 months
3. Keep one lane open during the day but allow traffic both ways with flaggers directing traffic, both lanes open at night, total construction time one year.

In his otherwise spot-on preview on Monday, GM predicted that WASA chose Option One and that they’d start in October. He was wrong on both counts. But in his defense, it was a trick question. Turns out WASA chose secret Option Four: keep two lanes of traffic open at all times. They will start in two weeks.

Here are the specific details:

• Since Q St. is essentially a three lane road (two traffic lanes and one parking lane), they will keep at least two lanes open at all times. This means they will only be doing construction on one lane at a time.
• No parking will be allowed in the affected section from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
• The WASA rep estimated the construction would take 11 months, but…
• …five minutes later she said that if everything goes perfectly and no problems arise you can expect them to finish in….11 months. Oh. So expect it to be closer to 15.
• Metal plates will be used, but the contractors assured the audience that they would be firmly pinned down and asphalt ramps would be formed to dampen the noise.

Three Events, Little Controversy – 1’05″:

As the race really settled into a early pace, the ANC quickly ticked through approvals for three events that will affect Georgetown streets in the near future: The Taste of Georgetown (10/10), Komen Cancer 3 Day (10/9), and Bike DC (10/17).

The only minor issue came up when Ron Lewis reminded the BID that the Taste of Georgetown was supposed to be a charitable event and that they should endeavor to make sure there still was a “substantial” charitable donation at the end of the day.

Stopping for a Drink: 1’33″:

Last October, DC Council voted to ban the sale of small bottles (“singles”) of alcohol in Ward Two. A single is a bottle of liquor smaller than a pint and a bottle or can or beer smaller than 50 oz. ABRA has said that they will consider a waiver from the ban for any establishment that gets an ok from its ANC. As mentioned in March, the ANC and CAG was considering granting a Georgetown-wide exemption.

They have apparently backed off that position. It seems to GM that Bill Starrels never warmed up to the idea in the first place and is convinced that the singles ban has turned Key Park from a “drunkard’s paradise” (real quote) to a park with fewer “homelessly-challenged individuals” (also a real quote, although to be fair, he was trying to make a joke and it simply didn’t come out right).

Starrels and Lewis were strongly of the opinion that both the law and public opinion weighed against granting a ANC-wide waiver. Although to GM’s ears it seemed like they still talking more about the difficulty in a drink-by-drink waiver rather than a ANC-wide waiver as discussed in March. Nonetheless, it appeared to be heading to a conclusion before Charlie Eason spoke up and said that he’s heard complaints against the ban and that he thinks a ANC-wide waiver is still worth pursuing. To be continued…

Along the same lines, it appears that Johnny Rockets will get its liquor license approved. They apparently simply want to offer a couple beers and wine to avoid the “veto factor” wherein the dad forces the family to eat elsewhere because he just really wants his booze. Commissioner Skelsey was particularly worried about Johnny Rockets losing its atmosphere with the introduction of alcoholic drinks. GM is convinced that it must be the case that you have to be a parent before you could ever believe that Johnny Rockets has atmosphere, let alone worry about its future.

Hitting the Wall – 2’09″:

Every runner knows the feeling of having a great race and then hitting the wall with just a little too much of the race left to run. That is about the same feeling GM felt before they even got done with page one of the agenda.

Thankfully he could zone out during the talk of the expansion of the Washington International School (not in his jurisdiction) and skip right to the Old Georgetown Board matters.

Chez Mama Gone, Hello J Chocolatier – 2’46″

Despite fooling a certain other neighborhood blogger, Chez Mama San has been closed for a while. The owner would like to re-open the space as “J Chocolatier” and sell various chocolate goods. On the second floor will apparently be a separate art gallery called “Gallerie Chez M”.

Getting a Second, Cupcake-Fueled, Wind – 2’58″

As mentioned in yesterday’s prequel, Georgetown Cupcake unveiled their design for the erstwhile Starbucks location at 3301 M St.:

Let’s just say there weren’t lines forming around the block to compliment this design. Resident architect Bill Skelsey was particularly down on the design, but attributed it mostly to the ugly building they’re starting off with. GM agrees. The building is dreadful and this design makes it look more like a cookie-cutter mall chain store than a flagship store. The cupcakes are good, but GM also thinks that a good chunk of Georgetown Cupcake’s success has been built on its brand (cute, upscale, preppy, etc.). This building will not do its brand any favors.

Moving into the old Philadelphia Cheesesteak Factory space would have made a lot more sense.

The Painful Finish – 3’40″

After a blur of OGB projects that even a neighborhood blogger couldn’t find interest in, the ANC came to its final item: a curb cut application. This was actually the most interesting curb cut applications GM’s seen due to the fact that the architect found historical photos demonstrating that there was a curb cut even back in the 19th century.

No use though. The ANC still rejected the request and the poor owners ended up running a marathon for nothing.

Now make sure to run a cool down run and to stretch…

Good Friday morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown University and 29th and P identified as needing special attention from WASA for their fire hydrants.
• Take a tour of Georgetown’s Herring Hill on Saturday.
• GM doesn’t know about you, but everytime he visits the Georgetowner website all his anti-virus alarms go crazy. Do you get malware warnings too?

Photo of turtle in the C & O Canal by Flickr user Brownpau used under Creative Commons.

Even before the embers of Peggy Cafritz’s home ceased smoldering, residents throughout the District began wondering whether the fire hydrant on their street has the pressure to put out a fire at their house. After the Georgetown Library fire two years ago, Georgetown residents are particularly worried about the matter.

It’s not the first time it’s come up since the library fire. WASA got a tounge lashing from the ANC last February. WASA came back in March to the ANC and in April to CAG to let us know that everything is OK. Nonetheless, when we see fire crews having to walk blocks away looking for water pressure, it’s not difficult to doubt their assurances.

According to the Post, the problems for the water pressure didn’t begin until the fire crews attached a third hose to the same water main. That would suggest that the hydrants worked as expected, but they simply aren’t expected to work that well. This adds to Georgetowners’ anxiety since they’ve been telling us how our hydrants (at least those marked correctly) work as expected.

How do you feel? Do you feel safe?

Rock Creek Sewer Separation Project

This is the project GM discussed a little while back which will involve massive traffic headaches for Q St. between Dumbarton Bridge and 27th St.  Essentially what is planned is a project to separate out home sewage (“sanitary sewage”, a euphemism if GM’s ever seen one) from street drain sewage. As it is, these two type of sewage are mixed together in our ancient pipes and all of it is sent to the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant. This is bad for at least two reasons. Firstly, it’s wasteful to ship storm sewer water to Blue Plains to be processed.  Secondly, since the pipes get easily overloaded, they back up often and overflow (septic sewage and all) right into the Potomac, Anacostia and Rock Creek.

To fix this, WASA has identified several locations where backups cause the most sewage run-off.  A drainpipe below the Dumbarton Bridge is one of them. Therefore they need to basically install two new sewer systems below Q St (a new one, and a replacement for the old one since it will probably be damaged beyond repair in the process).

As discussed before, this will cause intense traffic nightmares on Q St. GM is particularly sensitive to this since he’s getting married at the Dumbarton House in early May and he would be very disappointed if there’s a ton of construction going on during his vows. Luckily for him, McLaughlin confirmed tonight that construction probably won’t start until late summer. He did not, however, say which of the traffic pattern options they will use.

Potomac Interceptor Long-Term Odor Abatement Program

You just couldn’t make up a name as silly as that if you tried. Apparently there is one giant pipe that runs 50 miles from the Potomac Pump Station in East Potomac Park to Dulles. That pipe is full of sewage that gets a little “ripe” on its voyage. To prevent explosions, there are a series of little huts along the route that vent out the offending gases. Not surprisingly the residents near said vents are not terribly excited about these discharges. WASA is addressing this by installing odor scrubbers in these huts. In addition, they’re building several new venting facilities along the route, including one down by Fletcher’s Boathouse. They should be commended for designing buildings that will blend in with their historic surroundings:

Subway Tunnel Comes to Georgetown Finally! (It just won’t actually be for subways)

As part of the long term solution to the combined sewage problem discussed above, WASA is planning to build several gigantic tunnels along the Anacostia and the Potomac. These tunnels will be “subway” sized and will serve, essentially, as overflow reservoirs. When it rains too much, the pipes will be filled with the excess (instead of just dumping it into the rivers as we do know). It will sit there until the strain is reduced and the sewage can be fed back into the main system and processed. Apparently one of these giant pipes is planned to be dug underneath Georgetown from Key Bridge going one mile eastward. A citizen expressed concern about the effects this project will have on the residents and suggested the dirt be carried out by barge rather than truck. McLaughlin agreed that that was a good idea.

Either by barge or by truck, the dirt won’t be moved anytime soon: the designing of the tunnel won’t begin until 2019.

GM just hopes that this project doesn’t preclude the eventual possibility of a split Blue line metro stop in Georgetown. It would seem that WMATA and WASA are talking about the same dirt; maybe they can join forces and kill two birds with one stone. Or barge. Or whatever.

Odds and Ends:

• McLaughlin explained the color bands on the water hydrants: Blue means it’s a high-flow hydrant; red means it’s low-flow; yellow and orange are in between; and white means it hasn’t been tested.
• The Blue Plains sewage treatment plant is the largest of its kind in the entire world. There’s some terrible joke about Washington and its sewage somewhere in that factoid…
• There are 1300 miles of pipes under WASA’s control; the average age of the pipes is 74 years.

Big Story: Apple showed up with a traditional design for their concept. As you may remember, in December they showed up with a pretty radical design. They were rejected by both the ANC and the Old Georgetown Board (only the second of which actually matters). Apple fanboys got pissed. The news media portrayed the ANC as some NIMBY preservation mandarins.  Recriminations were recriminating everywhere.

Well it appears that Apple’s architect got the message. They came back with a significantly more Georgetown-friendly design tonight. GM hopes to have images to share with you tomorrow, but in the mean time, here’s a rough description:

• The building is only one story, but the facade is two floors with the top being flush with its neighbors (right now a pediment sits a good six feet above the neighbors’ rooflines). Most of the material is going to be white brickwork. There will be dentil mouldings on the top to match the Italianate style that dominates Georgetown. 
• There will be four double hung windows evenly spaced across the second floor. There will be two courses of millwork above and below the windows.
• The first floor will be an all glass facade (with the exception of a thin brick border running down to the ground on the sides). The glass facade will be set back about 3-4 feet from the sidewalk so that the front door, which must open outwardly for code reasons, can be flush with the wall. A small glass apple sign will hang down in front of the door. 
• As stated, this is only a one story building, but there will be a two story vestibule just within the store to sit behind the two story facade.

The Commissioners were happy with the new designs and gave their approval. It’s still very early in the design. This is only the design concept. Even if it is approved by the Old Georgetown Board, they will have to come back with the final designs.

Check back soon for actual images (or if GM can’t get those, check back for more Photoshop hacksaw jobs).

Quote of the Night: “Guns and liquor, that’s what our agenda is” – Commissioner Ron “Cool Hand” Lewis on the agenda’s segue from gun stores to liquor stores.

Go Ahead Zoning Commission, Make My Day: As mentioned, the ANC turned its sights on the actions of the zoning commission to allow gun stores 300 feet away from homes, schools, and churches.  As predicated by GM, there was in fact some primo bloviating. The commission adopted a resolution to condemn the commission from adopting gun store regulations significantly looser than those first proposed (which would have resulted in no gun stores in Georgetown).  The overall message: “You’ll pry that gun store into our cold dead hands.”

ANC P.O.’d Over Fire Hydrants: A representative from WASA attended the meeting tonight to get excoriated for the state of Georgetown’s fire hydrants. According to the rep, about one third of all Georgetown fire hydrants “Need Maintenance”.  The rep claimed that “Needs Maintenance” means that it still works, it just needs to be fixed up for one reason or another. However, according to eye witnesses reporter Commissioner Ed Solomon, there was a fire at the Addison School last week at which a hydrant marked “Needs Maintenance” was non-functional. As the shell of the Georgetown Library still stands empty, this is scary stuff. The ANC demanded that WASA come back and report on its progress at the February meeting.

Sundries:

• The Burleith and Glover Park Citizen Associations are trying to put together farmers markets for Saturday mornings this summer at the newly renovated Hardy school.
• Safeway is roughly scheduled to shut its doors as early as “early spring”
• Dixie Liquors applied to get an exemption from the single-sales ban. Commissioner Starrels suggested a middle path where expensive beers like Chimay are approved but small bottles of liquor are not. Time to go Belgian, winos!

D.C. Council members asked the city’s inspector general yesterday to investigate whether public health agencies and the water utility “negligently or intentionally” misled the public during the District’s water crisis in 2004 and whether they should have looked harder for a correlation between high levels of lead in the water and health risks to children.

Part of the report identified lead levels by zip code, see how 20007 performed:

So it looks like we had a “moderate” risk, but it’s not clear what that means (it’s a question of intonation). Also, either Georgetown University has nothing to worry about, or they could be worst of all! We just don’t know.