Madison Manor Newsletter January 2009
Happy New Year! I hope
everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season. 2009 is
upon us and we are very excited for the MMCA activities for the year.
I first would like to thank all those who participated in the Holiday
decorating contest. Our neighborhood was very festive!
The winners were 1) 882 N. Ohio St. (children's choice) and 2) 1017 N
Quantico St. (adult's choice). Also thank you to all those who
participated in the Caroling.
As we begin
2009 our membership numbers are very low. If you haven't filled
out your membership form and paid your dues, please do so today.
We use the dues towards many important activities like the Easter Egg
Hunt, Memorial Day Bike parade and the Pot Luck. It also
entitles you to a neighborhood directory. Please fill out your
form and mail it with dues to Melissa Koenig at 982 N. Quintana.
Thank you!
Interested in
becoming more involved in the neighborhood! We are currently
looking for a Vice President and a Newsletter editor for this year.
If you are interested in either of these positions for either this
year or next year, please let me know and I can give you more information.
(ematechak@yahoo.
Here are some
important dates to remember:
January
13:
Quarterly meeting. McKinley library, 7:30pm.
We are trying to get a Master Gardner to come speak about preparing
our yards for spring.
March
tbd:
Spring Stream Clean Up:
April
11:
Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Bonnet contest at Madison Manor
Park
May
25:
Memorial Day Bike Parade.
June 13: Pot Luck Picnic at the park
Membership
The Membership
form is attached. Please mail to Melissa Koenig at 982 N
Quintana St. I strongly encourage you to join our List-serv to
stay up to date on all Madison Manor activities. Check out our
website (www.madisonmanor.org ) or
contact me if you need any assistance with this (ematechak@yahoo.com).
Madison
Manor Park update
Many thanks to
Danielle Rampton for working hard to get us a new and improved water fountain
for our playground. The application was approved by the Park
and Recreation Commission and we are awaiting approval by the County Board on
Jan 24th. Our new water fountain will a much needed
improvement over the old one. Thanks Danielle!
East Falls Church Metro
Station Area Redevelopment Update
Varun Nikore – Task
Force Member representing Madison Manor Civic
Association
Over the last 16 months,
members from the East Falls Church Planning and Transportation Study task
force have been meeting and working on a proposal that will effectively
re-develop the area surrounding the East Falls Church metro station. The
development will possibly add new entrances to the metro and as well as alter
the current pick up and drop off locations as well.
In additions to the road
changes, establishing small pockets of low-level retail, development of condo
units and office space at the metro site as well as possible construction of
a 2nd westerly entrance to the metro with a walkway over Route 66
are also under consideration. Since EFC Metro is also heavily used by bikers,
access by this mode of travel will be examined for possible streamlining.
As you may recall hearing in
the press, the U.S. Department of Transportation has approved funds for the
initial construction of the new Silver line from East Falls Church to
Reston-Wiehle Ave. which could eventually lead to Dulles Airport . For a new
line to originate at East Falls Church station, development of this key metro
station increases in significance.
For more information on past
work or to provide input to the Task Force's activities, search in Google on
"East Falls Church Planning Study". The Next Meeting will be held on
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at Fire Hall #6 (Lee Highway and
Gresham Place) from 7-9 PM
Neighborhood
Conservation (NC) Program Winter 2009 Update
Here is a quick
summary of the status of our current projects in Madison
Manor:
* North Rochester and 11th Rd. (N477) Pedestrian Safety and Lighting Project.
This project will be to redesign this dangerous intersection, making it tighter, by extending the southwest corner to create more of a 90-degree turn. This will replace the wide curve that makes it especially dangerous for pedestrians. We will also add Carlyle lights to this poorly-lit street. This is a common pedestrian route from the metro and there has been substantial support to add Carlyle lights all the way up the Rochester St. hill toward the county line.
Ann Kurzius, Richard and Betty Derbyshire, and a few other neighbors have been very instrumental in this project over the past few years. While it was approved for funding under the 2006 Arlington County Bond, it was delayed by the decision to hold off on new project implementation until the backlog had been cleared up.
We expect to have a final design/pre-construc
*
11th Rd. North
Lighting Project.
This project will be to install Carlyle lights on 11th Road, North, starting at Rochester Street and heading east to the intersection of 12th Street, North. Beth Holtzclaw is serving as block captain and was instrumental in achieving the 60% approval response rate for the project. This project qualified to be included in the fall 2008 list of Proposed Projects for NCAC recommendation. However, it will likely have a better chance for approval at the spring 2009 funding round.
Other
nearby projects of interest –
Our neighbors in Dominion Hills are working on a major renovation of Mace Park, which is an easy walk along the bike trail from Madison Manor. This project is in the early stages of design and implementation. Dominion Hills is also proposing a long-overdue pedestrian safety project on Patrick Henry Drive.
A possible joint future project between Madison Manor and Dominion Hills could be Carlyle lighting on McKinley Road.
More Information
As you probably
know, funding for NCAC projects are through the County bonds; there is no
additional cost to the individual homeowner. The program is one
of the few of its kind in the country and is now in its 42nd year in
Arlington. If you are interested in learning more about the
program, please look at the program's website:
http://www.arlingto
and our
website:
Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee meetings include representatives of all the participating civic associations and county staff. They take place the second Thursday of each month, (except August) at 7:30 p.m. usually at the NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd, in Ballston. In order to maintain our eligibility for the program, attendance by a Madison Manor representative is required. I appreciate the work of Zach David and Ralph Todd who have each contributed a significant amount of their time representing Madison Manor to the NCAC.
Feel free to call me at 703-237-1342 if you would like to attend a meeting sometime.