On Tuesday evening residents of Lincolnia Hills and Heywood Glen gathered at Queen of Apostles School for the LH/HG Civic Association’s annual meeting. The meeting lasted for approximately one and one-half hours and covered a wide range of topics.
If you were unable to attend the annual meeting but are interested in volunteering with the civic association (read about opportunities below), please send us a message!
Board of Directors Election
Julie Edelson, chair of the community advocacy committee, presented members of the last board of directors with certificates of recognition before meeting participants elected a new slate of officers by unanimous vote. The new officers are:
- Bill Larme, President
- Kathy Hart, Vice President for Fairfax County
- David Colton, Vice President for City of Alexandria
- Herman Hohauser, Treasurer
- Aleta Embrey, Acting Secretary (until a replacement is found)
Updates from Congressman Moran and Delegate Herring
After the election, Chris Gaspar, a staff member for Congressman Jim Moran spoke about the latest developments with the new Department of Defense (DoD) buildings at Mark Center, also known as BRAC-133. He noted that Congressman Moran succeeded in passing legislation that caps, until 2013, the number of cars allowed to park at the facility at 2,051. At last count, about 1,600 cars were on site each day. Approximately 3,500 employees report to work in the building every day.
Chris Gaspar, staffer for Congressman Moran
Gaspar said that congestion has been lessened because of new lanes at the Seminary Road/I-395 interchange and because traffic signals have been retimed. He observed that traffic tie-ups have been less severe than expected so far.
Congressman Moran is encouraging DoD officials to provide employees with a dedicated parking facility at a location south of Alexandria with shuttles to Mark Center, and he is also urging DoD to allow employees from the Mark Center buildings to park in empty spaces at the Pentagon and take shuttles to work.
Gaspar mentioned that the Virginia Department of Transportation continues to make changes to traffic patterns in the vicinity of the Mark Center, including adding lanes to the southbound on-ramp from Seminary Road to I-395 and to the northbound off-ramp from I-395 to Seminary. A pedestrian bridge will also be constructed over Seminary Road (planned completion in December 2013) from the Southern Towers apartments to Mark Center. For additional information on traffic changes at Mark Center, click here.
Delegate Charniele Herring
Virginia House Delegate Charniele Herring, who is now minority whip, also addressed the meeting. She spoke about the recent budget impasse (March 22 budget update) and said that she is particularly concerned about lack of funding for transportation.
In positive developments, Herring said that Governor McDonnell’s reform bill got rid of many superfluous state committees, commissions, and departments. She noted that she has filed a bill to support Virginia’s small businesses because the state’s economy depends on their health.
Public Safety
Police Officer Brendan Murphy (Fairfax County) and Officer Courtney Ballantine (City of Alexandria) were unable to attend the meeting. We hope to have updates on public safety from them soon.
Aleta Embrey, the civic association’s new acting secretary, provided some information on police and safety initiatives in Fairfax County’s Mason District. LH/HG residents may be interested in the Mason District police department’s citizen advisory committee, as well as the department’s tips on theft prevention.
David Colton, vice president of the civic association for the City of Alexandria, mentioned the recent assault on Archer Court and said there was no new information on the case.
Local Redevelopment, Community Advocacy, and Communications
Julie Edelson gave an overview of the plans for redeveloping the Beauregard Corridor, encouraging neighbors to become informed about the details of the plan. She also asked for ideas about how Lincolnia Hills and Heywood Glen should advocate for their interests with developers and the City of Alexandria. (Editors note: The city’s information on the Beauregard Corridor is here. Our recent interview with LH/HG resident Diane Costello also provides an overview of the plans for Beauregard and highlights some of Costello’s concerns with the developers’ and city’s proposals.)
Julie Edelson, chair of the community advocacy committee
Edelson corrected an error that appeared in the community update that was circulated several weeks ago to LH/HG residents along with the announcement of the annual meeting. The earliest date when a developer may submit redevelopment plans for the Plaza at Landmark is 2013, not 2016.
Julia McCluskey, chair of the communications committee, said that the blog continues to be updated with announcements, interviews, and other community information. She encouraged attendees to subscribe for blog updates and also mentioned plans to revive the neighborhood’s print newsletter. Neighbors are encouraged to send announcements and other news to be posted to the blog; guest posts are welcome!
Remarks from the New President
Bill Larme, new civic association president
New president Bill Larme said that he welcomes ideas for activities that the civic association could organize or assist with. He also mentioned his hope that more residents will participate in the next National Night Out (August 7, 2012) and requested ideas for how to increase turnout.
Larme said that Heywood Glen’s neighborhood watch program is running well and that the watch coordinator is willing to help reestablish the program in Lincolnia Hills if someone will volunteer to serve as coordinator there.
Plans are also being made to publish a new neighborhood directory and to collect civic association dues from LH/HG households. Finally, Larme said that the board of directors will consider in upcoming meetings whether to hold another LH/HG community yard sale in 2012.
