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Community Liaison Council Meeting
Minutes
July 21, 2005, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Visitor Information Center, Building 45 (Natcher Building)
National Institutes of Health
HANDOUTS
- June 16, 2005 Community Liaison Council (CLC) meeting
minutes
- Perimeter Security System (PSS) Operational Update
- July 2005—NIH News in Health
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
By John T. Burklow, Acting Director, OCL, NIH
Mr. Burklow stated his office would make every effort to
send out the previous Community Liaison Council (CLC) meeting
minutes to CLC members prior to the monthly Council meeting.
If there are any comments or questions regarding the minutes,
please contact Ms. Amy Blackburn in the Office of Community
Liaison (OCL). The Office of Community Liaison will soon be
sending out action items discussed at the monthly CLC meetings
to members, prior to the next full CLC meeting.
Ms. Lesley Hildebrand, who was absent from the previous CLC
meeting, inquired about the discussion and subsequent decision
to combine the OCL with the Office of Communications and Public
Liaison. Ms. Hildebrand was under the impression that this
was not under consideration and asked for clarification. Mr.
Burklow explained that if the two offices are integrated,
the combined resources would enable OCL to better serve the
community. Mr. Burklow also explained that, while the OCL
would fall under his purview, it would have a dedicated Director
and chain of command that, if necessary, could include a direct
link to the NIH Director.
Mr. Ralph Schofer stated that although he believes that there
are currently too many layers, therefore slowing down the
processes, he suggested that the Council give the merger a
try. The Council members agreed, again, that the merger should
go forward.
Mr. Burklow informed the Council that he recently walked
around the NIH campus to view the Porter Building, the Metro
and Gateway Center construction project, the West Drive patient
entrance facility, and the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Facility
construction site. He noted that the importance of several
of the issues on today’s meeting agenda was underscored
during his walk around.
Future CLC meeting topics include a presentation from Mr.
Mike Spillane, Director, Division of Emergency Preparedness
and Coordination, NIH Office of Research Services, regarding
NIH Emergency Management/Continuity of Operations Program.
Mr. Spillane was unable to attend the Council meeting, but
will address the group at its September meeting. Mr. Burklow
has also spoken with the NIH Director, Dr. Zerhouni, and is
in the process of scheduling a “meet and greet”
session with the Council at one of its fall meetings. Another
fall agenda item will be the presentation of the OCL Progress
Matrix.
PRESENTATIONS
NIH Perimeter Fence
By John Dattoli, Director, Security and Emergency Response,
ORS, OD, NIH
The first phase of updating NIH campus security measures
will begin on Monday, August 29, 2005, with the launch of
the perimeter security system. The concept of the perimeter
security system is to bring NIH security and screening measures
out from the building level to the perimeter of the campus.
The perimeter security system will include a security fence
equipped with automated pedestrian portals. These entry points
will be for NIH employees and NIH badge holders. The automated
pedestrian portals require a magnetic NIH badge to gain entry
onto or off the NIH campus.
All visitors wishing to gain access to the NIH campus will
be required to show a government-issued photo identification
card. Visitors 16 years or older may enter and access the
campus unaccompanied, but visitors under the age of 16 must
be accompanied by an adult, age 18 or older. Pedestrian visitors
will enter the NIH campus at two designated visitor entrance
locations. Those who prefer to bring their vehicle onto the
NIH campus will be required to submit to a vehicle screening
check, prior to entering the campus. This vehicle screening
will be performed at the South Drive/Rockville Pike visitor
entrance.
The primary visitor entrance until the permanent NIH Gateway
Center is finished is the temporary Gateway Visitor Center,
which is located just inside the campus off Rockville Pike
at South Drive, near the Metro. The temporary Visitor Center
will be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The
permanent Center, and its visitor parking garage, will be
completed and operational in spring 2007. When this Gateway
Center is completed, there will be a Metro Kiss-and-Ride designated
area for those who need to use this service.
The second designated visitor entrance is the temporary West
Visitors Center, which is located off of Old Georgetown Road
and South Drive. This visitor center will only be operational
Monday through Friday, during the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 9:00
p.m., and will be closed after 9:00 p.m. and on Saturdays,
Sundays and Federal holidays.
Once visitors have completed their business on the NIH campus,
they may exit the campus through any of the pedestrian portals,
or through any one of the several vehicular entrances/exits,
except for West Drive. Those visitors who need to enter or
exit the campus between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.,
Monday through Friday, must use the South Drive/Rockville
Pike entrance.
With the new security system in place, NIH employees will
use their badge to gain access to and from the NIH campus,
similar to a key card pass system. The automated card will
provide access to any employee pedestrian or vehicle portal.
Security staff will not permit vehicles without a valid parking
tag to enter the campus unscreened.
The new perimeter security system will be equipped with blue
light emergency phones at every vehicle and pedestrian entrance
and/or exit on the campus. These blue light phones will be
designed to dial directly to NIH Police, not County police.
This feature allows for a more timely response in the case
of an emergency. In time, these blue light emergency phones
will be added to the perimeter path.
Gateway Center Construction
By Karen Rhodes and Shah Saleh, Division of Capital Projects
Management, ORF, OD, NIH and Lynn Mueller, Division of Property
Management, ORF, OD, NIH
Mr. Shah Saleh was introduced to the Council as the Project
Officer for the new approximately 140,000 square foot NIH
Gateway Center project. The NIH Gateway Center will consist
of three facilities: (1) a visitor/guest registration and
badging center; (2) an underground parking garage for 350
cars; and (3) a visitor vehicle inspection station. Mr. Saleh
has many years of experience in construction and was the Project
Officer for the Edward J. Safra Family Lodge project. Also
participating in the Gateway Center presentation was Mr. Tom
Hayden, who addressed pedestrian and traffic issues, Mr. John
Dattoli, who addressed security issues, and Mr. Lynn Mueller,
who addressed landscaping.
Mr. Saleh informed the Council that NIH would have to excavate
next to the Metro site to build the center. NIH intends on
keeping disturbances to a minimum during the project, so crews
will not do any blasting of the site, just careful excavation.
Excavation plans have been designed using archived site drawings
of the Medical Center Metrorail location. According to geological
studies and these archived drawings, it is possible crews
may hit rock during excavation. Mr. Saleh indicated that construction
crews would keep a thirty-foot membrane between the NIH’s
excavation site and the Metro station.
There are 90 trees across campus that will need to be removed
during the excavation phase of the Gateway Center project.
Sixty-four of these trees are on NIH property and 26 of them
are located on the Metro-controlled site. NIH will replace
all 90 trees, including the ones on the Metro site, on a one-for-one
basis. Even with this replacement program, NIH will still
lose some of its tree canopy. NIH has been able to save forty-six
trees, and approximately 25 of them have been replanted behind
the Children’s Inn on the north side of the campus.
A few Council members inquired as to whether or not NIH could
plant larger trees as opposed to saplings when NIH is ready
to replant the area. Mr. Mueller responded that the largest
tree his office can safely plant can be no larger than nine
inches in caliper. In addition, budget constraints restrict
purchases of larger trees, whose costs are twice those of
smaller saplings. One Council member suggested that NIH not
plant Tulip Poplar trees because they seem to be more prone
to lightning strikes.
Council members inquired about the new access route for the
future Gateway Center Multi-Level Parking garage. One Council
member inquired about traffic impacts and possible congestion
related to the traffic outflows from the garage. Although
the new garage will have approximately 350 parking spaces,
the Project Team does not expect congestion from traffic entering
or exiting the facility since visitors leaving the campus
are staggered throughout the day and generally are not part
of the employee traffic stream during peak hours. Vehicles
entering or exiting the parking facility will be required
to use Rockville Pike’s southbound lanes. Only right
turns into or out of the Center’s service drive will
be permitted. Drivers leaving the parking garage who wish
to reach I-495 will be able to make a “U-turn” at
Jones Bridge Road and Rockville Pike, or travel to Woodmont
Avenue from which they can connect to roadways leading to
northbound Rockville Pike or Old Georgetown Road. The signal
timing at the South Drive and Rockville Pike intersection
may require adjustment to facilitate “U-turns” for
Gateway Center traffic using northbound Rockville Pike so
that they can access the Center’s driveway. Once this
new garage is operational, vehicle visitors will exit the
NIH campus at the Gateway Center.
In order to construct the Gateway Center parking garage,
the Project Team plans on closing the sidewalk along Rockville
Pike from Center Drive to South Drive for approximately two
months. At this time, NIH has not received guidance from the
Maryland State Highway Administration regarding the days and
hours the sidewalk work can occur. NIH transportation staff
and the Project Officer will work with contacts at both the
Maryland State Highway Administration and Montgomery County
on this portion of the project.
Mr. Schofer requested that NIH provide the Council with graphics
of the Gateway Center, its parking garage, and the sidewalk
enhancement project. Ms. Serras-Fiotes replied that ORF staff
would provide the information to Council members.
One Council member requested that NIH invite a representative
from the Maryland State Highway Administration to a future
CLC meeting to talk with the Council about traffic issues
in the area. Ms. Serras-Fiotes responded that NIH would include
traffic impacts as a future meeting topic.
One Council member inquired about the location of bike lockers
at the Metro station and whether or not there will be lockers
available during the construction project. Mr. Hayden responded
that the bike racks and lockers will remain.
General Updates
By Stella Serras-Fiotes, Director, Division of Facilities
Planning, ORF, OD, NIH
Noise Abatement
During the June CLC meeting, Ms. Serras-Fiotes informed the
Council that NIH is in the process of contracting for an independent
acoustics consultant to address the noise abatement issue.
A Statement of Work (SOW) is being drafted that will allow
NIH to solicit proposals and begin the selection process.
The Campus Baseline Measurement process will identify current
noise conditions and problem areas. The next steps will include
noise modeling, recommended solutions, a cost matrix for implementing
the plan, and finally the actual implementation of the plan
to mitigate the noise sources. The process will occur in three
phases, which are 1) Baseline Assessment, 2) Modeling and
Mitigation, and 3) Implementation.
NIH is looking into a couple of ways to expedite the noise
study and process. The Office of Research Facilities (ORF)
is placing their highest level of management staff on this
project, which is estimated to begin in September 2005. NIH
is considering conducting the baseline assessment study before
the current Building 37 noise abatement project is completed,
as a way of comparing future results.
Ms. Serras-Fiotes and her team would like to form a working
group comprised of project managers from ORF, the independent
acoustics consultant, and three or four CLC members. Mr. Burklow
asked for three Council members, representing different geographical
locations, to volunteer to serve on the working group. Once
the working group is set up, it will meet bi-weekly. Mr. Steve
Sawicki, Ms. Lesley Hildebrand and Mr. Ralph Schofer volunteered
to be members of the working group.
South Lawn Project Update
By Tony Clifford, Chief Engineer, ORF, OD, NIH
Mr. Tony Clifford identified a few areas on the South Lawn
that needed to be reworked and revisited with the contractor.
He reported the area is not yet ready to be opened to the
public because the new sod has not matured enough to hold
the soil. Once the grass has grown and matures, the chain
link fence will be removed. Some of the erosion fabric has
been removed around the fence to permit the grass to grow
back and prevent erosion. In addition, a rock bed and fabric
covered area present around Northbrook Lane will also be removed
once the project is completed. In the meantime, the contractor
has been told to keep the storm drain open and keep the end
of the street clean.
The second issue that needs further attention is the slope
of the South Lawn and the swale along the west and south sides
of the lawn. The new lawn is sloped from east to west, where
original drawings showed a near flat surface except for a
slight slope to the south for drainage. The pronounced swale
for drainage along the west and south sides of the lawn was
not clearly present in earlier reports or site drawings shown
to the community. Mr. Clifford noted he plans to consult with
the contractor and consulting engineers and inquire about
the reason for the swale and its depth. Mr. Clifford noted
that the actual design of the South Lawn may have been modified
to accommodate site conditions, calculated water runoff from
the northwestern side of the campus and input from the Maryland
Department of the Environment, and he would check on that.
Mr. Clifford also met with Council member, Mr. Steve Sawicki
and together they recently toured the site. Mr. Sawicki expressed
his concern about the safety of people using the field to
run on because of the pronounced swale along three sides of
the lawn. He asked for possible alternatives to resolve the
swale.
A third issue relates to a few spongy areas near the southeast
neighborhoods, which are probably a result of poor packing
of the earth and trapped underground water pushing up through
the soil. Mr. Clifford is tracking this issue and will keep
the Council informed of resolutions and timeframes.
CLC ROUND ROBIN
Ms. Hildebrand would like instructions on how cyclists will
enter the campus once the PSS becomes operational.
ADJOURNMENT
The formal meeting ended at 6:10 p.m.
ACTION ITEMS
- Schedule dates, times and location for standing CLC members
to obtain NIH access badges.
- Research Mr. Sawicki’s inquiry regarding the installation
of emergency security phones along the perimeter path.
- Inform CLC members about the status of pedestrian access/sidewalk
closures as the Gateway Visitor Center proceeds.
- Schedule a representative from the State Highway Administration
to talk with the group regarding the impact of the Gateway
Visitor Center and its parking facility on traffic flows.
- Research the process for bicyclists entering the NIH campus
with their bikes and the location of bike lockers at the
new Gateway Visitor Center.
- Forward a copy of the Gateway Visitor Center site plan
to CLC members.
- Research solutions to improve the grading and drainage
of the South Lawn.
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS
- Edmond J. Safra Lodge (Family Inn)
- OCL Progress Matrix
- NIH Emergency Management/Continuity of Operations Program,
Michael Spillane
CLC Members Present
Amy J. Blackburn, OCL, OD, NIH
John Burklow, Acting Director, OCL, OD, NIH
Lesley Hildebrand, Huntington Terrace Citizens Association
Marilyn Mazuzan, Town of Oakmont
Ginny Miller, Wyngate Citizens Association
Adda Million, Camelot Mews Citizens Association
Lucy Ozarin, M.D., Whitehall Condominium Association
Sharon Robinson, OCL, OD, NIH
Steve Sawicki, Edgewood Glenwood Citizens Association
Ralph Schofer, Maplewood Citizens Association
Randy Schools, Recreation and Welfare Association, NIH
Stella Serras-Fiotes, DFP, ORFDO, OD, NIH
Deborah Snead, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
J. Paul Van Nevel, NIH Alumni Association
Guests
Marin Allen, OCPL, OD, NIH
Anthony Clifford, ORF, NIH
John Dattoli, SER, ORS, OD, NIH
Tom Hayden, ORF, OD, NIH
Joan Kleinman, Congressman Van Hollen’s Office
Anita Linde, OCPL, OD, NIH
Lynn Mueller, DPM, ORF, NIH
Karen Rhodes, DCPM, ORF, OD, NIH
Terry Taylor, Palladian Partners
Chris Williams, Gazette News
Ron Wilson, ORF, NIH
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