Minutes

Chris Kupczyk called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 

Announcements

Following some questions about a few items in the September 2016 draft minutes, Chris announced he would table their approval until our next meeting until they were addressed. He also said that the membership secretary had received to date a total of 94 membership applications (including renewals). Barbara Swart continues to evaluate bids for the re-painting of the community house exterior. 

NCAC Discussion

Deborah Wood, with background input on environmental issues from Linda Gaines, led a discussion on Barcroft’s priority project this year for Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee (NCAC) funding. As expected, we voted to approve a request to clean up the former Virginia Power substation site along Pershing Drive between 4th and 6th Streets. The project most likely will involve some retesting of the soil to assess what contaminants are still present in the soil. In the early 1990s, the county evidently cleaned the soil up to two inches deep, a less stringent standard used for commercial land industrial sites. A more extensive soil removal and replacement would have to occur if the site became a park or other open green space. 

Other Discussion

The group discussed some additional items. 

• One participant mentioned that she recently tripped and fell over a displaced piece of sidewalk along Buchanan Street and wondered if there was a means to request a repair. Chris said he would look into it.
• The former El Tutumaso restaurant at Columbia Pike and Buchanan Street has been demolished. As reported in 2014, the current property owner plans to build a four-story condominium building with street level retail. There have been no further updates on the Food Star site redevelopment, which, at last report, is slated to begin in 2017.
• Chris stated that he would like to block the January BSCL meeting to discuss proposed revisions to our bylaws. The bylaws committee is considering the elimination of proxy voting, switching to a single type of membership (households only), removing exact dollar amounts for dues, and removing outdated references to telegrams.
• Jill Herndon is participating in the county’s senior citizen property tax relief program committee.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Chris Kupczyk, President