Jimmy's Ward Report - Sunday, August 24, 2008
City Moves Ahead to Purchase Base PropertyThe Council at a special August 7th meeting and after a public hearing voted to purchase the former Bass Liquor property for $953,000.
There have been a number of postings on the community list-serve pro and con and a good number of people came to the public meeting.
The people who opposed the purchase raised these concerns:
1 – The city will be spending $50,000-$100,000 a year while it owns the property, money that perhaps could be used more productively (additional trash collection, tax reduction, etc.).
2 – There is a risk that the property will go down in value and that the city will have paid too much.
3 – The city doesn’t have a plan of what to do with the property.
4 – The city doesn’t have the expertise and shouldn’t be in the development business.
While these are valid points, I support the purchase because I think the positives outweigh the negatives. The more serious danger is that nothing is done to develop the downtown area and five years from now Rhode Island Ave. is still an eyesore that holds back our community.
Our downtown businesses are struggling and there needs to be improvements in our downtown area or our current businesses will fail.
It is more likely that the long term value of that property will increase in value. There is new development further up Rte 1. and it is only a matter of time before developers realize that people want to live and shop closer to downtown, not further away.
Purchasing the Bass property also ensures that the City has the final say in what kind of development occurs there.
Right now the City is planning on razing the property and paving the lot for parking both to ease the parking problem in the downtown area and to raise some revenue to offset the costs of borrowing.
Council Meets with Gateway CDC
The Council heard a presentation from the Gateway CDC on a project to put up new signs and clean up the facades for some of the local businesses. The project includes new signs at the following businesses:
Artmosphere Cafe (already completed), Glut, Nisey’s Boutique, Francis’s Carry Out, Island Style Ice Cream, Quest for Fresh, Joe’s Movement Emporium, Potomac Fish Market, Mount Rainier Artists Lofts, Pan Lourdes Bakery, H&F Gallery, Corls By Tangle, Brentwood Arts Center, Mount Rainier Post Office Artist Studios, and House of Health.
Jennifer Murphy (from Brentwood) and Bill Updike (from Mt. Rainier) represented the Gateway Board of Directors and also discussed some of the financial difficulties that Gateway has been dealing with over the last few months.
Gateway has been working on a $2 million project, the Brentwood Arts Center at 3901 Rhode Island Ave. The size of the project created some growing pains for Gateway CDC and one negative result was that they experienced extremely low cash flow. As a result the façade improvement program was not executed on time due to the cash flow problems. Money that should have been used for the facade improvements went into the building of the Brentwood Arts Center and will not be fully available until the Center opens later this year. The Gateway representatives assured the Council that the restricted funds that Gateway CDC received for the façade improvement program will be spent as intended. However, the completion of all projects will take some time due to Gateway CDC’s current cash flow position.
The Gateway CDC executive committee (all volunteers including myself) did not find out about these financial issues until early this summer and took immediate steps to correct the problems.
The Gateway Board made the facade project a top priority and have started working on signs at Island Style Ice Cream, Nisey’s Boutique and GLUT projects.
Gateway is also experiencing a transition as the former Executive Director, Nick Francis, recently left for another position. They are currently involved in a job search for a new Executive Director
The President of the Gateway CDC is Pamela Strother, a Brentwood resident who volunteers and spends a great deal of time leading the organization. Anyone who would like more information about Gateway CDC, our finances or want to volunteer should contact Pamela at pamelastrother@gmail.com or 301-277-0212.
Extension of deadline to apply for Homeowners Property Tax Credit.
This program reduces the property taxes that limited income Marylanders must pay every year. In 2007, over 3,800 Prince Georgians had their property taxes reduced by an average of $1,500. Mt. Rainier offers a similar discount.
This year, homeowners must reapply for the credit. The deadline for applying has been extended to October 1, 2008.
If you and your spouse make less than $60,000 and have a net worth less than $200,000, you are probably eligible. The form is available at http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/HTC-60.pdf or you can visit the Department of Assessments and Taxations website at www.dat.state.md.us.
You can also call Delegate Ramirez's office (301-858-3340) and he will mail you a copy of the application.
Burglary Basics:
There have been a rash of burglaries in the past few weeks in our City. People should be even more careful than usual. I am pasting below an e-mail sent out by Corporal Kenworthy:
• Make your home look occupied, and make it difficult to break in.
• Lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed. Even if it is for a short time, lock your doors.
• Leave lights on when you go out. If you are going to be away for a length of time, connect some lamps to automatic timers to turn them on in the evening and off during the day.
• Keep your garage door closed and locked.
• Don't allow daily deliveries of mail, newspapers or flyers to build up while you are away. Arrange with the Post Office to hold your mail, or arrange for a friend or neighbor to take them regularly.
• Arrange for your lawn to be mowed if you are going away for an extended time.
• Check your locks on doors and windows and replace them with secure devices as necessary.
• Pushbutton locks on doorknobs are easy for burglars to open. Install deadbolt locks on all your outside doors.
• Sliding glass doors are vulnerable. Special locks are available for better security.
• Other windows may need better locks. Check with a locksmith or hardware store for alternatives.
Don't tempt a thief:
• Lawn mowers, snow blowers, barbecues and bicycles are best stored out of sight.
• Always lock your garden sheds and garages.
• Use curtains on garage and basement windows.
• Never leave notes on your door such as "Gone shopping."
• No lock, regardless of its quality, can be truly effective.
· Key-in dead bolt locks provide minimum security. Ask a locksmith for advice on your situation.
· Change locks immediately if your keys are lost or stolen.
· When moving into a new home, have all locks changed.
Targeting the Outside:
• Have adequate exterior lighting. A motion-sensitive light is recommended for backyards.
• Trim trees and shrubs so that they cannot be used as hiding places for intruders.
• Make sure your door hinges are on the inside.
Windows:
• Most windows can be pinned for security.
• Drill a 3/16" hole on a slight downward slant through the inside window frame and halfway into the outside frame - place a nail in the hole to secure the window.
Alarms:
• An alarm system is excellent for home security. It provides peace of mind to homeowners, especially while on vacation. There is a wide variety of alarm systems on the market.
• Make several inquiries to different companies for the best security system available to you.
If Your Home Is Broken Into:
If you come home to find an unexplained open/broken window or door:
• Do not enter - the perpetrator may still be inside.
• Use a neighbor's phone to call police.
• Do not touch anything or clean up until the police have inspected for evidence.
• Write down the license plate numbers of any suspicious vehicles.
• Note the descriptions of any suspicious persons. Other precautions you should take:
• Never leave keys under doormats, flowerpots, mailboxes or other "secret" hiding places -- burglars know where to look for hidden keys.
• Keep a detailed inventory of your valuable possessions, including a description of the items, date of purchase and original value, and serial numbers, and keep a copy in a safe place away from home -- this is a good precaution in case of fires or other disasters. Make a photographic or video record of valuable objects, heirlooms and antiques. Your insurance company can provide assistance in making and keeping your inventory.
• Trim your shrubbery around your home to reduce cover for burglars.
• Be a good neighbor. If you notice anything suspicious in your neighborhood, call 301-985-6565 or 911 immediately.
• Mark your valuables with your driver's license number with an engraver you can borrow from your precinct. Marked items are harder for a burglar to dispose of and easier for police to recover.
• Join a Neighborhood Watch Group. We can help you work with your neighbors to improve security and reduce risk of burglary.
• Consider installing a burglar alarm system.
The MOST important thing YOU can do is CALL THE POLICE to report a CRIME or any SUSPICIOUS activity. You have to be the eyes of your neighborhood. And remember you can always remain a pair of anonymous eyes!
Remember the three L's of Crime Prevention: LIGHTS, LOCKS & the LAW!
Light up your residence, lock your doors at all times, and call the Law when you see something suspicious.
Positive Thoughts About Mt. Rainier
Last month there was a great article in the Weekend of the Washington Post highlighting Mt. Rainier as one of five places for a potential daytrip to interesting places in the metropolitan area. It made me think about all the great things our community and how we often don’t appreciate enough how lucky we are to live here.
I love Mt. Rainier and made a list of some of the things I love about our town:
I love sitting at Artmosphere Cafe on a Monday evening and listening to free jazz.
I love going to a receptions for a new art exhibition at the H&F Art Gallery.
I love having a stout ice cream cone at Island Style.
I love watching all the people improving their houses in our town.
I love watching a live dance performance at Joe’s and seeing all the people who come far away to attend the same performance which I walked to from my house.
I love visiting the artists’ studios during the studio tour on Mount Rainier day
I love watching the volunteers from the Bike Co-op who repair bikes behind City Hall
I love the fact that people from all over the area shop at Glut for the produce, cheeses, and breads and it’s right down the street from my house.
I love the diversity and the sense of community.
I love the fact that I live inside the beltway and can be in downtown DC in less than 20 minutes.
I love being five minutes away from Franklin’s where I can have a beer and appetizers at half price during their happy hour.
I love the fact that there are so many social activists in our community.
I could go on and on and I’m sure people have other lists they could make.
I only state this because sometimes I hear too much negativity both on our list-serves and at our Council sessions. Yes it is important to make constructive criticisms and try to improve our community. There is too much crime, too much litter, and too many abandoned houses. Things could be better but many of these problems are symptomatic of where we live and the times we are living in.
Last month the Gateway CDC came to the Council and discussed some of their problems that have had recently with completing projects to which they had been committed. The volunteer Board of Directors was open with the Council and discussed what they were doing to correct some of the problems. Rather than saying thank you to those residents from our community who volunteer to help with the organization, they were chastised for the problems they were trying to solve. It made many of them feel that it was not worth volunteering to help the community if this was the thanks they got. I think this is wrong and I think we should thank people who volunteer to help the community.
I want to thank the residents who volunteer their time to serve on the Gateway CDC.
I want to thank the residents who volunteer for the Design Review Board, Friends of the Library, the HMB Boys and Girls Club, the Tool Shed, Joe’s Movement Emporium, and all the other civic associations in our community.
I want to thank the Mayor and the other Council members for dedicating their time and energy to helping improve our community.
I think a little more thanks and a little less criticism would go along way to getting more people to volunteer to improve our City.