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Community
Liaison Council Meeting Minutes Draft WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Ms. Hedetniemi welcomed members and guests and thanked the council for coming to the rescheduled meeting. HANDOUTS:
ANNOUNCEMENTS October Community Liaison Council Meeting Items for the October agenda include a discussion on the master plan and its impact on the community, an update on the construction of the Clinical Research Center, a discussion about NIH volunteer opportunities, a tour of the NIH campus, and a reception to meet the council members. Ms. Hedetniemi added that she will invite Dr. Varmus and/or Dr. Kirschstein to say a few words at the meeting. There was some discussion about whether or not to invite the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Committee. It was suggested that a few key members could be invited to participate, but other members said that it was not a good idea to invite some members and not others. Morton Goldman of Luxamanor Citizens Association said that the agenda should not be overloaded. Safety Alert NIH Community Health Forum Ms. Hedetniemi asked the council members to mark their calendars and let their community members know about the event. She also showed the council a prototype of the poster that will be distributed to community members. Other Bethesda Pedestrian Safety Program Del. Bronrott, who represents District 16, outlined the new Bethesda Pedestrian Safety campaign on behalf of the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Safety Coalition. He said that given some of the recent pedestrian accidents in the community, it was important to get the message out about pedestrian safety. To help do this, the coalition produced an informational flyer, "Drive Smart, Watch for Pedestrians" and "Walk Smart, Watch for Cars". The flyer outlines several steps that both pedestrians and drivers can take to help ensure safety. The coalition also used this same motto in an advertisement. Del. Bronrott encouraged the community associations to make use of the material to help ensure community safety. Del. Bronrott described the three E's of the "Walk with Care, Drive with Caution" campaign: education, enforcement, and engineering. He said that the coalition is trying to educate community drivers and pedestrians through its distribution of flyers and ad campaign to promote pedestrian safety. He is also working with the police department to help with enforcement. In terms of engineering, the coalition is working to install cameras at traffic lights to reduce red-light-running, setting a two-second delay on traffic lights to give more time for cars to clear the intersection, and increasing the time for pedestrians to cross busy intersections. Del. Bronrott asked the council members to sign up to be a part of the safety coalition as well as to pass the information on to its community members. Ms. Hedetniemi also said that she would distribute the sign-up sheet to the other community associations that were not in attendance. Several council members said that the pedestrian crossing light at the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues was too fast. Del. Bronrott said that they have doubled the amount of time for the light, but would look at this again. Lucy Ozarin of the Whitehall Citizens Association said that the intersection of Arlington and Old Georgetown roads was another quick pedestrian crossing. Del. Bronrott said he would look into this one as well. Del. Bronrott told council members to contact him at 301-652-6016 or Gail Nachman at 301-986-4325 for more information about the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Pedestrian Safety Coalition. Final Environmental Impact Statement for NW
Quadrant Amendment Ms. Serras-Fiotes said that a copy of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the NW Quadrant Amendment to the 1995 NIH Master Plan had been sent to community members in the mail. She said that the FSEIS was open for review until October 12, at which point, NIH would proceed to issue a Record of Decision regarding the proposed Master Plan Amendment. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) would then be in a position to review the amendment. Ms. Serras-Fiotes said that two comments they received were addressed in the Transportation section of the FSEIS: traffic intersection counts and air quality. Other comments included the electromagnetic fields (EMF) around the proposed PEPCO Substation. Ms. Serras-Fiotes said that numerous studies conducted over the years have been inconclusive regarding the efforts of EMFs on health. NIH asked PEPCO to do measurements at existing substations to compare against national reference levels. Even immediately adjacent to the buildings, the maximum recorded EMF level was well below the reference levels. All the comments that NIH received are addressed and included in the draft. New Gas Lines for the Power Plant Ms. Hedetniemi offered some background on the issue prior to the presentation. When a gas company employee was asked by a community member why he was digging up the ground, he replied that NIH was building a power plant so large it would light up the city. However, in reality, he was simply doing utility verification. As a result of the misinformation, Ms. Hedetniemi asked Washington Gas to help explain why the gas line was needed and how it would be installed. Before she had them explain the procedure, she asked Dr. Memar-Zadeh to explain why NIH needed the additional gas line. Dr. Memar-Zadeh explained that NIH was upgrading its power plant to make it more environmentally-friendly by recently converting from fuel oil operation to natural gas. He then discussed why NIH was arranging for new gas lines. He distributed a graph illustrating NIH's average and peak steam demand over the next 15 years. Currently, NIH's peak steam demand is within the current limits of its existing gas line. However, by the year 2001, it has been projected that the peak steam demand will exceed the existing gas power. And by 2002, NIH will be approximately 150 lbs short. This is largely due to the construction of many of the new buildings on the NIH campus. Dr. Memar-Zadeh also pointed out that the average steam use is far less than what the current gas line provides; however, in times of stress, it is important that it be able to accommodate all of NIH's power needs. Other alternatives to expanding the gas line were explored, he said. The county has capped the number of hours that the boilers can burn, and the fuel tanks are insufficient to hold the necessary fuel. Therefore, he said that upgrading the existing gas lines was necessary. Mr. George Chastka, Director of Sales for Washington Gas, introduced all of the Washington Gas representatives present at the meeting and asked Joe Sieve, the Washington Gas engineer, to discuss how they will expand the gas lines with minimal community disruption. Mr. Sieve distributed a detailed handout which showed the pipeline route, addressed safety issues, and included a timetable for the project. He then gave an overview of the project. Washington Gas will run a 12" pipe from River Road to the NIH campus. The new pipeline will parallel and be connected to the existing 8" pipeline. The pipeline route will go from River Road to Wilson Lane to Aberdeen Place to Huntington Parkway to Moorland Lane to Lambeth Road to Park Lane to Maple Ridge Road, which will bring the pipe to the NIH campus. Mr. Sieve said that the crews will stay in the road right-of-way and do not plan to go into anyone's yard. Gas workers will dig a trench below the existing gas line but above the sewer line and will weld the two pipes together. He said that the entire project, which is scheduled to begin in April of 2000, should only take six months to complete, but two crews will operate in teams-one will follow the other temporarily restoring the roadway as they progress. Mr. Sieve estimated that the crews should be able to lay approximately 60 feet of pipe a day. Robyn Des Roches of Edgewood Glenwood Citizens Association asked if there was a more direct route for the pipe. Mr. Sieve said that this route was the closest line to NIH. He explained that they needed to tap into a main feeder line due to NIH's power needs, and the closest one to NIH was the one on River Road. Many other council members were concerned about the road repair during the process. Washington Gas said that it would work with the communities to help with the road repair. Ms. Rice of Locust Hill suggested that the gas company go to MNCPPC for a detailed map of all of the affected communities with their community officers listed. Ms. Hedetniemi said that she wanted the OCL and ORS/DES office numbers listed on all of Washington Gas' information that goes out to the community so that she stay in contact with all of the community's concerns during the project. To better explain the process in the context of road repair, Mr. Sieve outlined the gas project process in more detail. Before beginning the project, Washington Gas will send out informative letters to the community. They will then schedule community meetings to discuss the project. Notices outlining the construction schedule will then be posted. Survey crews will then begin staking for pipe alignment, and Miss Utility will mark the utility locations. Trees and shrubs in the right-of-way will be marked and removed. Trench lines will be marked and cut. Equipment will remove the roadway and pipe will be fitted, welded, X-rayed, and coated. The pipes are then backfilled, and the road is temporarily patched with hot-mix asphalt, so that the gas company can perform a future pipe pressure test with water. The green space is landscaped, seeded, and mulched. The pipe pressure is tested with water, tie-in occurs at two ends of pipe, and the pipe is placed in service. The road is restored using mill and overlay, and the area is landscaped and cleaned. Ms. Des Roches said that many of her neighbors are concerned that there will be a large amount of gas going through their community. Mr. Sieve explained that the increase in pipe capacity is to accommodate NIH during its peak uses. The average steam demand is much less. Ms. Hedetniemi said that Washington Gas should schedule a meeting with Ms. Des Roches' community to discuss these concerns. Lou D'Addio of East Bethesda was concerned about the noise level during the project. Mr. Sieve said the crew work schedules were determined by the state and county permits. Work would be performed Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in non-permit areas, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. under state road permits, and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. under Montgomery County road permits. Night work would occur during the tie-in on River Road at Wilson Lane. Ms. Hedetniemi asked if the crews would be bused in or would drive independently to the work site. Mr. Sieve said that all workers would be bused in. Ms. Rice of Locust Hill told council members that the WSSC, PEPCO, and Washington Gas all follow the same procedures for road-patching. She recommended that since there seems to be so much fear about the project that Washington Gas should speak to all of the community members represented on the master list from park and planning to discuss safety efforts and the need for the expansion. Ms. Hedetniemi said she would work with the gas company to make this a safe and easily accomplished task and to ensure that NIH's hospital and laboratory power needs are met in times of great stress. Mr. Goldman said that NIH should review its Environmental Impact Statement since this was not included in it. Anthony Clifford of DES/ORS said he would look into this matter. Ms. Hedetniemi said that she would work closely with the communities on this matter especially the major affected areas. Mr. Chastka thanked the council for their assistance in getting the correct information out to the community and said he considered this the first of many more meetings about the project. Bethesda Academy of the Performing Arts Ms. Fogel showed the council members artist renditions of BAPA's new Imagination Stage-Center of the Arts that is scheduled to be built in December of the year 2000 and will be located on Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. She said the arts center will be part of a public, multi-stage parking garage. She explained that more parking space is needed in Bethesda, but that Montgomery County Council Member Betty Ann Krahnke did not want to build just another parking garage. BAPA put in a bid to create the arts center, and the project was launched. The arts complex will include a professional theater able to seat 400 people, an arts education wing, a 200-seat student theater, and a café. The professional theater, offering full technical support, is one of a handful throughout the country that is available for children and families. The project is costing $7 million to build, and local and state government have already given BAPA 33 percent of the needed funds. BAPA's philosophy has always been to provide access to children with disabilities. Therefore, the new arts center will provide programs for all children age 3 to 18 and will be accessible to those with disabilities. Ms. Fogel said that BAPA currently performs shows at White Flint Mall, and these will move into the new theater once it is complete. Ms. Fogel showed a short video about the project and distributed free tickets to council members for upcoming shows at the White Flint theater. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 21, 1999, at 4 p.m. in the Natcher Conference Center (Building 45), Room F. Attendees: Guests:
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