At the July CSNA General Membership Meeting, there was a presentation by Principal Brian Betts of Shaw at Garnett Patterson Middle School, a presentation by the owners of Tryst/Diner, Riot Act Comedy Club, and Boundless Yoga, who are opening new businesses at 1840 14th Street, a debriefing of the Ethiopian Soccer Festival, and a discussion of CSNA's plans for neighborhood tours and a book exchange during dog days.  Read on for more details!

July 2008 · CSNA General Membership Meeting Minutes

Thursday, 10 July 2008 · 7:00 – 8:30 PM

True Reformer Building · 1200 U Street, NW

www.csnadc.org

Welcome and Introductions           

·         President’s Remarks, Lynn Coffin, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

 ·         Treasurer’s Report, Chuck Baxter, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   There is a total of $18,087.66 in the CSNA account.  $8,328.39 is available for general use, $4,482.24 is available for Dog Days, and $5,277.03 is available for the Hospitality grant uses.

 ·         Membership Update, Phil Spalding, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  

·         August Meeting:o   Jean Homza motioned to not have a CSNA meeting in August.  CSNA voted 8-0-0 in favor of the motion. 

Discussion / Presentation

·         Introduction of Brian Betts, Principal, Shaw Middle School

o   Garnett Patterson is closing and Shaw Middle School is remaining open.  The students of Shaw Middle School are now attending classes at the Garnet Patterson building.  The school is being referred to as “Shaw at Garnett Patterson”

o   For six years in a row Shaw has failed to meet adequate testing scores

o   The mission of the school is to have every student graduate from high school prepared to go to college.  The school will be focusing on building a culture for students, building a climate for learning, and building a community and involving the surrounding the community.

o   Principal Betts has revamped the staff at Shaw at Garnett Patterson, hiring over 18 new people from around the nation.  He seeks to bring the best possible staff to the school.

o   There are 362 students at the school in grades 6, 7, and 8

o   To help create a new identity for the school, the students will be give the opportunity to select the new school colors and mascot

o   Over the summer, the Metropolitan Police Camp is the only program running at the Garnett Patterson building.  Summer school is located at the Shaw building.

o   Mary Munson, resident of the Rhapsody Condominiums, expressed that the Rhapsody would like to help out in any way possible, such as tutoring

o   Principal Betts said that the school has staffed programming to go until 7 pm each night, and therefore students will leave the school grounds in phases, not all at once, which should reduce some of the chaos that occurs at the end of the day when students are released.

 ·         Proposed Redevelopment of 1840 14^th Street – Constantine Stavropoulos, John Xereas, et al 

o   The site of the former Rapture Church, was originally planned as condominiums, and is now planned as a commercial development.

o   As proposed, Tryst & Diner would occupy the first floor, a comedy club would occupy the second floor, and City Dance / Boundless Yoga would occupy the third floor, all with plans to open in 2009.

o   The comedy club is owned by John Xereas, formerly of the Improv Theatre and Riot Act Comedy Club.  The club would be a full time comedy club, with shows during the week and weekend.  Doors would open during the week at 7 pm, with start times of 8:30 pm and end times a around 10 - 10:30 pm.  Weekend shows, would start at 8 pm and 10 pm, and would end around 12:30 am – 1 am.  The capacity would be slightly greater than 300 people.  In addition to comedy shows, the club would have fundraisers, classes, and shows with/for kids.  The club would be a dinner theatre, serving both food and liquor.  The layout of the club has service from the rear of the building with the shows towards the front of the building.  John is applying for a CX liquor license for multipurpose use.

o   The Tryst and Diner are owned by Constantine Stavropolous, who also owns Tryst and Diner in Adams Morgan, and Open City in Woodley Park.  The space has an 8,000 SF layout for Tryst and Diner on the first floor.  The Diner would be open 24 hours, serving liquor until 2 am on weekdays and 3 am on weekends.  Constantine is applying for a CR liquor license for Tryst/Diner.  Constantine is proposing to have outdoor seating for Tryst and Diner on both the 14^th and T Street sides of the property.  Busboys and servers would constantly be cleaning the tables and ground that are located outside.  Outdoor service is planned to stop around 9:30 or 10 pm on T Street, and outdoor seating is planned to be open later on the 14^th Street side.  For the liquor license, the hours of operation for the T Street outdoor seating are until 11 pm on Sun – Thurs., and until 12 am on Fri-Sat.  Constantine also plans to have an on-site bakery at the restaurants.  There will be a grease trap within the restaurant.  There will be grease barrels contained in sealable containers, 6” above the ground located outside.  Constantine can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

o   Boundless Yoga would have a retail outlet on T Street, and patrons would go up to Yoga Studios located on the 3^rd floor to practice Yoga.  The yoga studios would act as a noise barrier between residents to the west of the building and the restaurants and comedy club.

o   Constantine said that the owners of 1840 14^th Street also own the property to the south of the building, and there is an easement behind that property.  The users of 1840 14^th Street plan to install a self-contained trash compactor behind this property to avoid having smells and rats that would otherwise be associated with exterior dumpsters.  Recyclables would be thrown out inside the building so that noise from dumping of recyclables is not heard outside.

o   Phil Spalding suggested that there be some kind of screen located at the T Street entrance to the stairwell to block noise when the stairwell door opens.

o   Jean Homza motioned to support the project and the two ABC license applications as presented to CSNA.   CSNA voted in support with a vote of 8-2-0

o   Ramon Estrada of ANC2B09 said that ANC2B is waiting to receive the liquor license application before voting on it.  The consensus of ANC2B is that the green space on T Street needs to be preserved.  Ramon also said that Policy, opening at the northwest corner of 14^th and T, has a voluntary agreement with specific hours, and that their outdoor area must close by 11 pm.

·         Ethiopian Soccer Festival Debriefing

o   Lynn Coffin provided a debriefing on the Ethiopian Soccer Festival.  CSNA did not find out about the event until early June.  John Solomon, CSNA Public Safety Chair, found out about the festival from a patron of his bar, Solly’s.  There was not much information available about the festival and its associated events.  Just two weeks prior to the event, there was an application to the ABC board for 24-hour openings of area ABC establishments and entertainment endorsements for these establishments.  On June 24, CSNA had a meeting to discuss the issue with Councilmember Graham to discuss concerns about the application.  On June 25, Phil Spalding, John Solomon, and Jean Homza went to the ABC Board for a fact finding.  CSNA asked for rational ways to handle the event and to get more information about the event and how the establishments will be policed during the event before having the application approved.  Despite CSNA’s request for a fact finding, the ABC Board granted approval to all venues that request the 24 hour opening permission and entertainment endorsement – regardless of whether the venues had negative track records.  The ABC Board’s decision resulted in 25 extensions of liquor licenses.o   Because there were events held for the Ethiopian Soccer Festiveal across the city, and there was also rainy weather, the events at the venues were small and did not cause known disturbances.  There was also a good police presence in the neighborhood.o   Lynn said that in the future, there should not be huge events such as the Ethiopian Soccer Festival that may affect the neighborhood without CSNA and the community knowing about the details of the event in advance of the events occurring.

o   Jean Homza motioned to write a letter to Commander Cusick and Assistant Chief Groomes to thank them for their exceptional attention to the issues surrounding the Ethiopian Soccer Festival.  CSNA approved the motion by a vote of 8-0-0.

o   Phil Spalding motioned to write a letter to the ABC Board with a copy to Councilmember Jim Graham to have a fact finding of 1) what the ABC Board did 2) Why the ABC Board did what they did and 3) how effective was their actions.  CSNA voted in favor of the motion by a vote of 8-1-0. 

·         CSNA and Dog Days

o   Seth Blume, an intern for Midcity, announced that the 9^th Annual Dog Days will be taking place on August 2^nd – 3^rd.  Several planning meetings had been held in the past few weeks, marketing materials have already been given to residents, and press releases will be going out in the coming weeks.  Dog Days coincides with the DC sales tax holiday period.  Businesses will be given wind socks to signal that they are participating in the event.

o   CSNA will be hosting four neighborhood tours beginning at 1840 T Street, related to art/architecture, history/civil rights, nightlife, and Meridian Hill Park.  The tours will last approximately 20-40 minutes and will run throughout the day.

o   CSNA will also be hosting a book exchange in front of 1840 T Street.  Leftover books will go to charities.

o   There was a motion to spend up to $500 for a generic CSNA banner that we can use in perpetuity for various events.  The motion passed 9-0-0.  Jon Kardon will be responsible for ordering the banner.  Bryan Martin Firvida will provide Jon with an .eps logo.  

Committee Business and Regular Reports

 ·         Councilmember Jim Graham Update – Jonathan Kass - This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   There is an Anacostia Streetcar meeting coming up soon

o   There is a bill on the table to increase fines and enforcement for pedestrian safetyo   Jim Graham has been an active supporter of the Pedestrian Master Plano   The streetscape plans for U Street and 14^th Street are in the planning processes.  The U Street work may begin in 2010 or 2011, and the 14^th Street work may begin in 2012.

o   Jean Homza asked Jonathan Kass to provide an update on seating capacity at bars.

o   A Hospitality Resource Panel walkthrough with DDoT was conducted.  Seth Blume has a “hit list” of items generated during the walkthrough and he will send this list to Lynn 

Committee Business and Regular Reports

 o   Business Development: Jean Homza – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   Public Safety: John Solomon – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   Clean & Green: Brooke Clagett – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   Historic Preservation: Ernest Springs – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

o   Transportation: Cheryl Cort – This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Questions, Comments, Concerns

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