Town Topics

Georgetowner • March 17, 2016

A revised merger plan between local utility Pepco Holdings Inc. and Chicago-based international energy company Exelon Corp. eliminated key provisions that Mayor Muriel Bowser sought and were previously agreed to. As a result, the merger has lost support from the mayor and a number of stakeholders.

On Feb. 26, the D.C. Public Service Commission voted 2-1 to reject the plan that the mayor’s team negotiated. Addressing “four areas of concern,” according to a commission press release, the commission drafted an alternative plan that removed a guarantee to defer rate increases to D.C. residents for four years. In a 2-1 vote, it approved this revised plan, which went back to the companies for review.

“The PSC’s counter­proposal guts much-needed protections against rate increases for D.C. residents and assistance for low-income D.C. ratepayers,” the mayor said in a statement. “That is not a deal that I can support.”

Bowser was against the merger until her team was able to negotiate a $78-million investment package from Exelon for the District (versus the originally proposed $14 million). Among other things, the package included the four-year rate freeze; a $14-million direct credit for residential customers; $17 million for sustainability projects, including $10 million for the District’s Green Building Fund, $3.5 million for solar projects and $3.5 million for the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund; a commitment to purchase 100 megawatts of wind power per year; and $5.2 million for jobs and training.

People’s Counsel Sandra Mattavous-Frye, of the Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia, also came out against the merger. “The Commission’s order eviscerates the benefits and protections essential to render the proposed merger in the public interest by making changes to the $25.6 million rate offset provision for residential customers which was the single most critical provision I supported,” she said, according to a press release. Mattavous-Frye had been against the merger since the proposal was first announced.

In order for the new merger plan to go through it must be approved by March 11, following a 14-day review period, by Bowser, Mattavous-Frye, District Attorney General Karl A. Racine — who was the first to come out against the revisions — and six other stakeholders.

Failure of the merger could be seen as a blow to the business community in the District, which they believe already has a reputation for being unfriendly toward large corporations. But environmental groups maintain their opposition to the merger in any form, despite the additional funds for green projects in the District, claiming the merger would hinder a genuine move toward renewable energies.

Update: At press time, Pepco and Exelon filed several new options for the Public Service Commission to consider.

Georgetowner • March 16, 2016

Peak Cherry Blossom Bloom Dates Announced

The National Park Service has set the date for the expected peak blooming of D.C.’s famed cherry blossoms: March 31 to April 3.

Peak-bloom dates are defined as when at least 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry blossoms are forecast to bloom. It’s only an estimate though, as Yoshino cherry trees are temperamental and respond to weather and atmospheric changes.

Warm, calm weather can lengthen the time of blooms, while heavy rain or wind can bring an abrupt halt to the flowers. The park service has been predicting the Cherry blossom peak for about 20 years, but does not know exactly when it started forecasting, nor has it kept records of how accurate those forecasts have been.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival will be held this year from March 20 to April 17, kicking off with the Pink Tie Party on March 18. Other events include the official opening ceremony, the Blossom Kite Festival and the ever-popular National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade.

D.C.’s New Streetcar Unveiled

D.C.’s new (rather, seven years in the making) streetcar, the H/Benning line, carried its first passengers Saturday, Feb. 27. But the long awaited opening was met with doubt and concern about the new transit system by many Washingtonians.

According to the Washington Post, the streetcar took 26 minutes to travel the 2.4-mile line — but walking the same route only takes 27 minutes.

National Zoo Kid’s Farm Temporarily Closed Due to E. Coli

The National Zoo’s Kid’s Farm was forced to temporarily shut after some of the petting zoo animals were found to be infected with E. coli bacteria. National Zoo officials say the exhibit will be closed for at least three weeks until veterinarians monitoring the quarantined animals give the all-clear to reopen.

The culprits were four goats and a cow, all of which tested positive for the bacteria during a routine screening on Feb. 18.

NEAR Act Passed

The D.C. Council is trying a new approach to crime, shifting efforts to prevention with legislation passed March 1 called the NEAR Act.

The Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Amendment Act of 2016 creates new offices that target the root cause of crime and sets long-term goals.

A new Office of Violence Prevention and Health Equity is designed to help the city develop a public health strategy to combat the spread of violence throughout the District by looking at risk-assessment tools, therapy and service coordination.

Another new body, the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, will identify higher-risk individuals, particularly teenagers and young adults, for a program involving life planning, therapy and mentorship.

The Community Crime Prevention Team Program focuses on connecting the homeless and those suffering from mental health issues with support services.

Finally, the NEAR Act requires the Metropolitan Police Department to provide yearly training on the prevention of profiling, improving community policing and the use of force. The goal of these programs is to improve MPD relations with the community. [gallery ids="117211,117205" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

The National Park Service announced that Arlington Memorial Bridge will have to close in 2021 unless the estimated $280-million funding for a full rehabilitation is granted. “NPS devotes much of its $20 million DC area transportation budget for repairs to the aging Memorial Bridge,” says a congressional press release. Local senators and representatives “reacted to the news with urgent calls to fund repairs.” The bridge has undergone emergency repairs since last year, causing the closure of two lanes for several months, with a Virginia-bound lane appearing to be permanently closed.

Georgetowner •

The evening of Feb. 24 began with winds, thunder and flooding, as participants made their way to Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall for a discussion of the historic black community in Georgetown, marking the 25th anniversary of the ground-breaking book “Black Georgetown Remembered,” published by the university in 1991. But by the time the event ended, the sky had become clear and blue, illuminated by a near-full moon.

“Black Georgetown Remembered,” reissued this year, put black Georgetowners back on the map. Originally spurred by the university’s bicentennial celebration in 1989, the book tells the story of black Georgetown from the perspective of those who remembered a neighborhood that included many more African Americans than in recent decades.

Moderated by Georgetown professor Maurice Jackson, the panel on stage included the book’s co-authors Valerie Babb and Kathleen Lesko, joined by black Georgetowners Vernon Ricks, Monica Roache and Neville Waters.

“Once a Georgetowner, always a Georgetowner” was a phrase heard in a brief film shown to the audience and spoken by a panelist or two. They meant the black past and present. Eva Calloway was shown in the film, saying that her part of Georgetown “had that love” of family, neighbors and business owners.

During the discussion, Babb brought up the memory of Raymond “Pebbles” Medley, who lived at the Jesuit community from an early age and was well known around campus, to students and teachers alike. She gave him credit for sparking an interest in Georgetown’s black history. Lesko noted that the book was “a transformative project.”

Babb also asked about the cost of changes to a community, noting that Georgetown seems more and more exclusive.

The older Ricks, who was born across from Rose Park, recalled a happy childhood where everything was available in town and the ice man, the coal man and the watermelon man made their rounds. He pulled no punches, calling the exodus of blacks from Georgetown “deportation or gentrification.”

Roache, a fifth-generation Georgetowner, spoke next of how much Georgetown has changed in just the last 25 years. As the newest advisory neighborhood commissioner, she asked, “What can I do to continue the legacy?” Roache asked those black Georgetowners, past or present, in the audience to stand and take a bow.

Waters, who has lived on P Street and now lives in the same place where his father was born and died, recalled the service workers, such as the knife sharpener, who came every Saturday, dinging his bell. One day, he did not hear the bell and knew the man had died or gone away. He said, “We were proud to be Georgetowners,” adding that he went to Georgetown University, too, and was “proud to be a Hoya.”

Georgetowner • March 10, 2016

The grand opening ceremony for the first segment of the repeatedly delayed D.C. Streetcar will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m. near the intersection of 13th Street and H Street NE. With eight stops from Union Station to Benning Road at Oklahoma Avenue, the five shiny red cars of the H/Benning line will welcome passengers after the ceremony, which Mayor Bowser is expected to attend.

Rides will be free during the “introductory period” until decisions about fares and fare collection are made. Hours of operation will be Monday to Thursday from 6 a.m. to midnight, Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. There will be no Sunday or holiday service.

Over the next decade, the 2.2-mile segment is projected for extension to the Benning Road Metro station in the east and to Georgetown in the west, ideally in dedicated transit lanes (H/Benning shares its route with other traffic). D.C.’s streetcars last ran on Jan. 28, 1962.