Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans brought up communication issues w/ddot, esp. 4th st.  (i'm sure he has heard holy hell from neighbors) Then he headed out, understandably wiped from marathon budget meetings.  wasa school commenced...

Blue plains is the largest sewage treatment plant in the world They said this like 4x;) Wasa is replacing aging lines, average age is 76 yrs. 3% is pre 1850.  Water system has 26,000 valves and is controlled by super fancy computer control center.  GM is a very genial man so exuberant about wasa geekery.  Even wore a pristine white personalized wasa work shirt, no suit for him!

Not replacing partial lead lines (private) only full lead lines.  This was stopped in 2008 because it wasn't effective.

Building tunnels to alleviate combined sewer overflow - 2/3 of which currrently goes into anacostia, rest goes into Rock creek & Potomac.  Now u know what the little stone huts are for...3billion gallons of sewage & trash/yr.  25yr plan= inevitable rate increase, supposedly we have low rates compared to natl average.  Tunnels also to help with flooding in NE.  combined sewer area is the center blob of dc.

Gm believes water is safe...but not sure about the pharmaceuticals.  Filters don't remove Viagra & estrogens.  Not all filters remove lead.  Check q&a on dcwasa.com site & this from WASA:

Here is the fact sheet. The Washington Aqueduct, which treats the drinking water for the District, also has a working group studying issues related to pharmaceuticals.

http://www.dcwasa.com/waterquality/Pharmaceuticals%20in%20Drinking%20Water.pdf

New communication system being put into place hopefully this year called Envista - central public schedule database of ddot & ALL utility projects. (about time!)

99% +of hydrants are operational, @2% might be blocked by construction. Fire dept has been coordinated with. Fancy GIS based.

Wasa contact info@dcwasa.com
354-3600, 612-3400 emergency, public affairs 787-2200

4th st, patch is awful! A giant chunky asphalt mound.  Are they going to tear up the street or the sidewalk to replace the line?

4th st: I spoke with Deirdre the construction manager who exuded capabity juju.  I showed her the below pic of the crappy wasa "patch" aka impassable mound, which she will address.  We lamented how DDOT chose to repave 4th st-as in the road- yesterday.  DDOT has known for over a week via our bitching that wasa is going to work the road & the sidewalk, yet they STILL paved the road AFTER!!! More wasted work!  really!!

Wasa is going to primarily dig the road to replace the line.  They will also "mole" the sidewalk where possible.  So we will end up with spots in the sidewalk & smaller ones in our front yards.  Not the long asphalt hump taking up half of the sidewalk a la gas co.  The work is planned to start on Monday, 6/7/10 and complete by July 30,
2010.  Will work directly with wasa so they can coordinate with the residents, developers and ensure the brick gets put back properly.  Anyone on 4th st please email me niello8(at)yahoo.com or ANC 6C P&Z Chair Rob Amos robamos(at)yahoo.com and we can get you in touch with the project manager.

Asked if the new envision system would help us avoid clusterflucks like this in the future, I got an emphatic YES.  so...here are the pics of the crappy 4th st patch (which will be dealt with) and the fresh DDOT paving of 4th st.  enjoy it for precisely 11 days!

I am in need of a skilled iron worker. Please provide me with any suggestions. I am also in need of a company/contractor that installs the retractable "garage doors" to secure my backyard. Good recommendations welcomed.

Thanks

Just got this from a neighbor SAS on the 1200 block of 4th St NW:

On a sadly typical note, WASA came through earlier this week and marked up the beautiful new side walk that (I am guessing) DDOT just laid.  The side walk took two weeks to complete and is about three weeks old, and WASA will be digging the whole thing up to replace the water main below.  I wish I were joking, but this is actually happening.  Just some points that immediately jump to mind:

• this is a colossal waste of time
• this is a colossal waste of money
• this is a colossal waste of materials
• this is an inconvenience to residents by unnecessarily tying up our street with construction
• this is an inconvenience to residents by causing prolonged noise, especially in the early morning hours
  
• the mismanagement of the timing and execution of these projects is so severe it shakes the basic foundations of faith in government and competence in our fellow man
• COMMON SENSE....we expect more from second graders
  

That said, life will go on and we will all be fine.  But I thought you could at least bring this up in the next neighborhood meeting and let the appropriate people know that fourth street is collectively cursing and mocking them.

Wondering what the sentiment is on this new complex (http://mstreetflats.com/) at 444 M St. NW. Seems like there's a significant lack of inventory in the Mount Vernonarea, and they are being finished right behind the second phase of the Yale Steam Lofts. Just hit the MLS today... seems like prices vary from $329,900 for a Jr. 1Br. to $549,000 for a penthouse. Thoughts? Potential Good Deal or Not? What have folks heard about the developer?

Ugh!  Thanks to this crazy storm my furnace maxed out and now I have no heat.  I'm not sure what's wrong - hopefully its just that the pilot is out.  Does anyone have a service technician to recomend? Its a Carrier brand in case that matters.  Thanks!

Dear Residents of Mount Vernon!

My friend and I are relatively new to the area and we are looking for a place to rent near or around Mount Vernon (we really like this part of town!). This task might prove itself easier if I (in particular) was not such a budget. Thus comes our request! If you or someone you know happens to have an empty house/room/attic or basement apt available we would very likely be interested in living there! **Also, if it's a space in dire straights both of us have a lot of experience on fixing up places as well!  If you'd like to strike a deal on making a particular space more livable and thus easier to rent in the future (if desired) then please email or call me! Along with really low rent ($700 or less for both of us...) We are looking for approx. a 6 month time span.

A little bit about us: Both of us are from Asheville, North Carolina. I (Roxanne) graduated from UNC Chapel Hill this past May with degrees in Photojournalism and Studio Art and am trying to create a start with freelance photography. I could also do an art trade for partial rent if someone happened to be interested in custom paintings (on or off the wall). My friend Hana went to school at Vanderbilt and is currently an international intern for the Alliance to Save Energy; she also speaks Russian, has worked in the green building industry and can cook yummy thai food.

My email is roxanneturpen@gmail.com and you can reach me anytime at 919.923.9849 -we are looking to move in by Feb 1st (if not sooner) so please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or quotes if you know of anything!

Thanks so much Mt Vernon!

Curious what people's thoughts are on this condo complex. See that it has been on the market for a little while, and that there were some issues with zoning/etc. when it was being built. Any perspectives/news?

Hey folks, just wanted to say hello as a new neighbor and home rehabber on Morgan St!  I closed on the ugly red #216 yesterday and will be doing some major renovation over the course of the next few months.  Please take a walk down to pretty little Morgan St to take a look and say hello if I'm around!  Look forward to meeting you all and getting involved in the neighborhood. 

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite" target="blank"><img alt="subterranean-termites.jpg" src="http://www.jimbo.info/weblog/2009/09/23/subterranean-termites.jpg" border="0" align="left"  width="187" height="122" vspace="2" hspace="3"></a>My neighbor in the adjoining duplex basement unit has suffered two floods since she moved in a month ago and now has a mold problem.  This hosue apparently rests above an underground stream in Shaw, and can be flooded from below during heavy rains.  It's part of the reason the unit is so moldy - and moldy wood foundations inevitably attracts <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite" target="blank">termites</a>.

She says the contractors found signs of termite infestation when they tore down her moldy bathroom wall.  It's not a surprise...I've seen little holes in the brick wall that separates me from her living space, and a telltale sign is finding tiny piles of <i><a href="http://www.yourdictionary.com/frass" target="blank">frass</a></i> outside of these holes.  Although I had some doubt because I didn't think they could burrow through brick, but apparently they can.

This will be the second rental I've lived in that has termites.  Apparently both were inspected, yet both had long-term termite infestation, as in over a decade of residence of these pests.  What's up with that, DC inspectors?  My last rental was literally about to collapse with major sections of the foundation that had to be replaced.  It's a lesson that makes me feel very happy to be a renter, and now I know how to spot the signs and I have some insight on how much of a hassle home ownership can be.

From what I've seen the social fantasy of buying a dump in a gentrifying neighborhood and flipping it can become a total nightmare for the home owner. During the recent real estate boom many of the home owners were only interested in flipping their houses and completely ignored or were unaware of major foundation problems.  Judging by the cosmetic fixes to the current place I will soon move out of, the homeowners were only interested in painting a pretty picture and getting rid of a product that was rotten to the core.

But my landlord couldn't flip the house and now he's stuck with a rotten house that needs major foundation repairs, on a sketchy block with a resident noisy drug-dealing gang. It's a case study that the whole home ownership thing is neither a cakewalk nor a fantasy and is rife with peril and cost.  Sure, I may own a home some day, but I keep seeing over and over again that when you rush into something like that or only intend to flip such a property it doesn't always work out the way you'd like it to.  So think these things through carefully and the next time you hear somebody bragging about how much they made when they flipped this or that in 2007, keep in mind that the ones who didn't do so well tend to be very quiet about such things.

I've recently moved to this lovely little neighborhood and came across the MVSNA newsletter. I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you my blog. www.DomicidalManiac.blogspot.com I would love it if you would check it out, and tell me what you think.

Thanks! s.