DC Water’s periodic, opt-in email updates about the Soapstone Valley sewer rehabilitation project can be described as spare. Previous updates might list upcoming activities, like this:
Week of January 2, 2024
- Perform lateral launch activities on Audubon Terrace
And leave it at that. At the last ANC 3F meeting, in November, DC Water was asked to be more explicit in these updates. And in its last update of 2023, it was.
Lateral Launching is video inspection and cleaning of the service with specialized equipment. This activity is being performed to determine where the lateral goes when it leaves the main and travels to the home.
Contractors will enter the main and subsequently enter each service with a nozzle from the jet truck to clean each service. Then they will ‘launch’ a specialized camera up each service to track where it goes as it leaves the main. The contractor will paint the ground location where a cleanout will be installed.
Thanks go to DC Water for the explanation of “lateral launching” (here’s more about what’s to happen on Audubon Terrace), but also to our elected neighborhood leaders who have pressed the agency to be more communicative about the project, which has been the subject of many community questions and concerns. The commissioners of 3F have heard them all. They serve as go-betweens and watchdogs. A lot of their work is invisible. And it’s all without compensation.
DC Water has been a constant at ANC 3F meetings since well before the sewer project got under way in earnest, and its representatives will make an appearance at the first meeting of the new year, on Tuesday, January 16th, at 7 p.m., on Zoom.
Also scheduled to appear: At Large Council member Robert White. Here’s the full draft agenda:
ANC 3F – Regular Meeting Agenda
January 16, 2023; 7:00 pm to 9:27 pm
ANC 3F is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting at bit.ly/anc3fmeet
Welcome (7:00pm)
Call to Order (7:01pm)
Roll Call (7:02 pm)
I. Approval of ANC 3F Officers (7:03pm)
II. Approval of ANC 3F meeting minutes for November 28, 2023 (7:04pm)
III. Adoption of the January 16, 2024 ANC 3F meeting agenda (7:05pm)
IV. Approval of ANC Security Fund (7:06pm)
V. Approval of ANC3F 4th Quarter Quarterly Report (7:07pm)
VI. Approval of ANC 3F 2024 Public Meeting Dates (7:08pm)
January 16, February 20, March 19, April 23, May 21, June 18, July 16, September 17,
October 15, November 19 (No public meetings in August and December)
VII. Regular Agenda – Commissioner Updates and Announcements (7:08pm- 7:18pm)
VIII. Regular Agenda – Committee Reports (7:19pm – 7:29pm)
o Streets & Sidewalks
o Parks & Watersheds
o Schools & Universities
o Housing & Neighborhoods
IX. Regular Agenda – Community Forum (community leaders and agencies give brief updates)
(7:30 – 7:40pm)
o University of the District of Columbia
o Van Ness Main Street
o Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin’s Office
o Other updates
X. Regular Agenda – Information Items (ANC 3F will not take a vote on these items) (7:40pm
– 9:24pm)
o Councilmember Robert White (7:40pm-8:00pm)
o MPD Update with Lt. Williams (8:01pm – 8:21pm)
o DC Water Update with Emmanuel Briggs (8:22pm – 8:42pm)
o ABCA License for Caldwell Family Vines, 4221 Connecticut Avenue, NW (8:43pm – 8:53pm)
o BZA 21044 for 2918 Uptown Street, NW (8:54pm-9:04pm)
XI. Regular Agenda – Action Items (ANC 3F will take a vote on these items)
o ABCA License for Honey’s, 5027 Connecticut Avenue, NW (9:05pm-9:15pm)
o Public Space Permit #434528 (9:16pm-9:26pm)
XII. Adjournment (9:27pm)
Thank you for joining us this evening. The next ANC 3F meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
Paul says
The ice cream shop (Honey’s) plans to sell liquor?
Green Eyeshades says
DC Water sent an update about its Soapstone project by email on December 21, 2023. That update forecasted that the “lateral launching” for homes on Audubon Terrace would be completed by Friday, January 5, 2024. The main blogpost above refers to that email as the “last update of 2023.”
However, there seemed to be some activity during the day on Friday, January 12, and in the late evening that same day, by DC Water or DC Water’s contractors. During the day they seemed to inspect a manhole in the 3200 block of Albemarle Street; during the late evening they seemed to have vehicles on or near the trail that ends at Audubon Terrace.
If the activities on January 12 involved the “lateral launching,” perhaps DC Water was a week late finishing that phase of its sewer repairs. To my knowledge, DC Water did not issue an email update during the week beginning January 8.
Green Eyeshades says
The “cee” in ABCA stands for “Cannabis.”
https://abca.dc.gov/page/about-abca
I need to remind myself every so often that the jurisdiction of the old alcohol beverage control board was expanded to cover marijuana products.
I didn’t see a placard for Honey’s license application the last time I was there, last week.