Hello, and welcome to your November Northwest Georgetown ANC update!
Book Hill Construction Proposal
This month, the city finally presented some conceptual proposals for the improvements budgeted for Book Hill Park. Here are the broad details:
As you can see, the budget for the total project is just $300,000, which is really not a great deal of money, as far as these things go. But the proposal laid out seems to squeeze a decent amount of juice out of this amount. The elements would include:
- Repairs to the stairs
- Construction of a stair handrail
- Installation of lights on the stairs
- New seating and bike parking up by the library
- New landscaping
- The possible installation of a water spigot at the bottom of the park
- The possible construction of a new plaza space
The repairs and proposed additions to the stairs are fairly straightforward. At the public meeting for the proposal, the residents attending (who largely represented immediate neighbors and the Friends of Book Hill Park) were receptive to the repairs and lighting proposals. There was some pushback to the railing idea, due to visual concerns, but openness to some sort of a safety improvement on that front.
The introduction of a water spigot is a long requested item from the Friends of Book Hill. This would make it significantly easier to water the plants and shrubbery towards the bottom of the hill. The project planners assured the attendees that they were looking into the feasibility of installing a new spigot. It sounds fairly straight forward, but it may be quite complicated. To the extent that the water spigot attaches into the library’s water supply, it would have to take into account the dramatic grade difference between the library and the bottom of the park.
The cost of such a feature could possibly swallow up a substantial portion of the budget fairly quickly. In light of that, the Department of Parks and Recs representative mentioned that if the cost for this feature does come back too high, the better route may be for the Friends of Book Hill to fundraise for it themselves. But we’ll have a better sense of the challenge as the planning proceeds.
Which brings me to the plaza element of the proposal. The general idea with this is to create a space somewhere on the hill that enables people to experience the hill without stepping out on to a steep grassy grade. The concept proposes three possible locations for the plaza: at the top, at the middle, and (you guessed it) at the bottom. Only one of them would be chosen if the plan goes forward.
Here are some images of the concepts:
This is the “top” concept. The plaza would be just below the brick wall. It would provide new seating and some new planting.
This is the “middle” concept. It would create a two-tiered elongated terrace. This was the least popular of the three at the meeting as it would interrupt the hill’s appearance dramatically.
The “bottom” proposal would put the terrace just above the circular plaza at the intersection of Reservoir and Wisconsin. This would create a space just off the more busy plaza below without interrupting the hill’s overall appearance dramatically. This added terrace space would give more room for programming from orgs like Georgetown Main Streets, which has hosted a Christmas tree at this location for several years.
Of the three, the “bottom” proposal seemed to be the best received by the crowd at the meeting. But the general sense of the attendees was to prioritize the other improvements first. If the other items can be done and there still money left for the plaza, then great, but only if the other items get funded first.
As for timeline, here is what the city laid out:
According to this, the city will return this winter with a design update, incorporating the feedback it’s getting. Then in the spring, a final design will be presented with construction beginning. The aim is to complete construction by next fall.
Based on my experience with the city in terms of getting projects like this actually moving forward, I would take this timeline with a grain of salt. But I’m always happy to be proven wrong on this account!
Leaf Collection
Speaking of pessimism born of experience, the Fall leaf collection is starting now!
The basic outline of this program is supposed to work this way:
- You wait until the city notifies you that leaf collection crews are about to come to your neighborhood
- You then rake your leaves into street tree boxes or bag them and leave them on the sidewalk
- The crews them come by with a massive leaf vacuum cleaner and take all the leaves, in piles or in bags
- The whole cycle repeats later in the fall season
This is how it has actually played out in recent years:
- The city issues a notification about leaf collection crews coming, but many residents don’t get the notification
- The crews don’t come when they say they will
- Sometime later, they do come but they don’t pick up the bagged leafs
- They also just completely skip many blocks
- The leafs that weren’t collected get blown around, wet and eventually frozen. The bags tear open and same thing happens to those leafs.
- The whole cycle repeats later in the season
As to the question of whether to bag leafs, the city gave mixed messages last year. Some sources said it was permitted, others that it was not. This year the message directly from the Mayor herself is that you are permitted to bag the leafs and leave them on the sidewalk and they will take them without the resident needing to place a specific 311 request. We’ll see, I guess.
As to skipped blocks, I have been in touch with the Mayor’s Ward Two rep, identifying which blocks in my district that were skipped last year. Hopefully that won’t repeat this year. But if you do notice that your block has been skipped, please let me know. It’s hard to know right away if your block has been skipped, but if a week goes by during the period that they said they’re coming (and perhaps you notice the crews around on other blocks) that’s a good time to reach out.
In terms of finding out when our neighborhood is due for collection, this website promises to give you that information. I will also try to keep people informed via the Georgetown Metropolitan.
Volta Park Updates
Many have noticed that the construction around the Volta Park fields has ground to a halt over the past month or so. I have reached out to DPR repeatedly inquiring abbout the stoppage and have been assured the delay is due to the crews waiting for a pipe to be delivered. Some residents have expressed a skepticism about this response, and I have to say I share it but I can only pass along what I’ve been told.
There have been some rumors about whether the crews found human remains, and that’s why there have been delays. This would not be at all surprising since the park was a cemetery in the 19th century and many of the remains were not removed when it stopped being one in the early 20th century. Added to the confusion, I think, is that apparently a human skull was recently found in the park. But it was in connection with a new drain pipe for the recreation center, not the ball field.
This, of course, highlights a truism that most residents around the park know: it’s probably better not to dig around there. But, again, as far as I’m being told, this is not the reason for the delay with the field restoration. In either event, I have been strongly encouraging the city to get on with the work asap, as the arrival of winter will significantly complicate the job.
But on a happier Volta Park note: tomorrow several events will take place. This includes a park clean up and several kiddie events. Coffee and bagels will be provided! Come on out!
The Georgetown Metropolitan 