WNA EXPRESS UPDATE
Spring 2021

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Following up on our March 22nd meeting, here are some notes for those of you that were not able to make it.

Semi-annual spring cleanup: Yes, we will have one–on Sat., April 24th, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Mark your calendar. We will have a dumpster at the corner of 10th and Westminster. We will also have a hazardous waste site and likely a recycling site. We’re going to need people to man the dumpster so give me a call or hit me up with an email if you can work the dumpster for an hour or two that morning. It’s the one event that where we want all neighbors to participate!

Protest of liquor licenses – WNA has been protesting three of the liquor licenses in the 1900 block of 9th Street since last March. It is now time for the ABRA hearings and they are now all coming up this month and next. If you can testify from personal knowledge about some of the problems caused by these establishments, please let us know.

New sidewalks – aren’t they beautiful? They have about finished Westminster St. and it appears they’re going to be doing 10th Street also! Not only the sidewalks but they’re all so giving us new tree boxes (you’ll remember that we built the last tree boxes, and our inexperience showed). Bless the city. This brings up the issue of what’s inside the tree boxes. Some of you are taking great care of the ones in front of your house, thanks to all of you. Others of you don’t seem to care what your tree box looks like. So what do we do? Do any of you want to step forward and take over a box that’s not being cared for by the closest homeowner? [There’s no law that the closest home owner should care for it.] Let us know. If not, should we hire someone to take care of untended ones?Or at least hire them to plant flowers etc. in them and then we take it from there?

Playground – Fingers crossed but we think we may have the water feature fixed so it will shut off after 2 minutes. I know, I know, it’s been 2 years we’ve been working on this. But now with Covid what do we do? Turn the water feature on or keep it off this Spring? It may or may not be safe to turn it on and let the children play together. Well, the majority of neighbors think we should follow the City on this one (on the assumption they base their decision on science). We will try to contact the City to see what they’re going to do with the other water features in the City and we will follow their lead.

Rats – Yes, we’ve been hitting them hard this year, but they’re hitting us this us hard as well. I know a lot of you have many. You know the drill. Call the City – – DC Vector Control (202/442-5955). They’ll send someone out to treat any hole that you have found and that is actively being used by the rats.

Another great way to take care of them is to buy some dry ice and put down the hole. You can get it at Harris Teeter, 1631 Kalorama Road NW.

WNA Tasks – There’s a lot of neighborhood tasks that no one has signed up for this year by our fellow neighbors,. We decided at the meeting that, at least for the most critical matters (trash cans in Playground, sidewalk brick repair, etc.) we will try and hire it done. Maybe we can find some recently released prisoners that need work through the Mayor’s Office. If you can think of anybody who wants to do some of our tasks and get paid for it, let us know.

Spring is in the air. Covid-19 relief is in sight. 25% of us have now been vaccinated! Things are starting to open up, thank heavens. May you enjoy your Spring and we hope to see you out and about in the neighborhood.

Best,

 

 

Lynn Johnson

Pres., WNA