Thursday, April 29, 2010

Beasts of the Boulevards

Fire Station 10 is our fire station.  When you really need a beast, give 'em a call.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Emil Tabakov re-elected to Westmoreland Condo Board

At the Westmoreland Terrace Condominium's Annual Meeting today, Board member Emil Tabakov was re-elected with an overwhelming margin to another three-year term on the Condo Board.

Prior to the meeting, residents discussed a fire that occurred in our trash container near Ft. Myer Heights Park this past Sat. night about 2 or 3am. The Arlington Fire Department arrived at the scene and put out the fire. The fire melted two recycling bins. The cause of the fire isn't clear.

The Condo Board approved the upcoming year's budget and a 11.2% increase in condo fees. That increase amounts to about $28 per month per unit. The condo fee increase supports the ten-year program of facade work and roof replacements. It also allows for an increase in condo reserves, which currently stand at $373,000.

Extraordinary expenses this year including replacing a broken main electrical switch and meter panel outside building 1311. The switch failed to go back on after it was shut off for the roof replacement on 1311. The switches have not been replaced at least since the complex was converted in condos in 1982. Building 1303 also has an outside switch. The plan is to wait for use/failure occurs before replacement.

Another extraordinary expense this year was for snow removal. The budget lists snow removal costs of $19,544 through 2/28/2010. Apparently the $30,000 figure for snow removal given at the last condo board meeting was incorrect.

Other budget item discussions:
  • The Westmoreland water and sewer budget is $41,000 for fiscal year 2011.  With our 148 units, that amounts to about $23 per month per unit.  That cost does not include the $22,000 gas budget to heat hot water.   The Property Manager said that these expenses are in the normal range.
  • The telephone system entry cost of $6,840 includes costs for maintaining the system.  Having unlocked entry doors isn't desired.  Possibilities for a more cost-effective buzzer-entry system don't seem promising.
  • The Property Manager said that the "Administrative Expense" of 2,484 under the Administrative expense section includes payroll processing charges, fees associated with collecting unpaid accounts (in addition to the itemized $100 budgeted for "collection letter fees") and county document filing fees (in addition to the itemized $2,400 for "legal").
Attending the meeting were Condo Board members Jose Calvo, Valerie Corda, Jennifer Feinleib, and Emil Tabakov, seven residents, and Property Manager Dennis Freeman of Zalco Realty.  The next regularly scheduled Condo Board meeting is May 24, 7pm, in the Condo Office.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Spring Solos 2010 at the Arlington Arts Center

The Arlington Arts Center hosts work from six leading mid-Atlantic artists in its Spring Solos exhibition. Filling a room, Mia Feuer's beautiful wreckage easily attracts a visitor's eye.  Steven Pearson's acrylic paintings replicate with bright colors the irresistible pull of a Blackberry to the message-addicted.  You can easily appreciate these works if you quickly stroll through the Arts Center.  But the works that contemporary art experts Rebecca Jones and Henry Thaggert have selected for this exhibition also relate to each other in subtle ways.  To fully appreciation this exhibition, see the works in relation to each other.

Rachel Schmidt's story-room is an affective counterpoint to Mia Feuer's massive industrial installation. Schmidt's story-room arranges mainly objects that have clear meaning in everyday life.  A chair is for sitting.  On opening night, a person sat on a chair in one of Schmidt's story-settings and made a cellphone call.  The person seemed oblivious to the abstract worm of thought that grew from the back of the chair up onto the wall.  At the same time, the person absorbed in telephone conversation seemed to be in a world other than his actual circumstance: sitting on an artist's artwork and talking on his cellphone with the artist looking on from across the room.  Talking with other onlookers, Schmidt readily embraced the caller's behavior as part of her work.  Totally brilliant.  If this event was staged, it was staged very well.  The intimate, personal, associations in Schmidt's story-room present creation and destruction on a equally true scale as that of Mia Feuer's installation.

John James Anderson's display of D.C. fire hydrant information has formal parallels with some of Steven Pearson's work.  The geometric patterning of streets in some of Anderson's panels distantly echo the networks in some of Pearson's paintings.  Anderson also arranged images of individual fire hydrants into large, rectangular grids.  Like in Pearson's Gaining Momentum and Daily Paintings panels, the rectangular grid pushes against the insistently individual and idiosyncratic grid elements.  No two fire hydrants look the same.

Water is an undercurrent in this exhibition.  The saving water of fire hydrants in John James Anderson's installation becomes holy water associated with the shrines in Rachel Schmidt's story-room. Part of that story is also water that overflows and sinks a boat.  Ana B. Hernandez's Antibodies floats above the room, a cloud raining blood-red threads.  Gregory Thielker's paintings work through car windshields in the rain.  Thielker explains:
When the seams open in the verisimilitude of our experience, we take note of how or why we perceive in the manner that we do.  In the case of driving, the abstraction and distortion of water are indexical to the windshield (as smoke can be traced to fire).  The result is that painting can summon a pre-verbal experience -- slipping outside of static referents and into a gestalt of sensation, both fixed and fluid.
As a person who wears glasses most of the time, Thielker's paintings reminded me of the universality of that disability.  You may see differently.  Go to this exhibition and allow yourself the freedom to make sense of it.


The exhibition opened on Friday, April 16, and runs through June 5, 2010.  Admission, as always at the Arlington Arts Center, is free.  Those in the standard workweek grind can take advantage of the Arts Center's Saturday hours, 11am to 5pm.

The soundtrack for the above video is thanks to Tab & Anitek.  The soundtrack is Time Warp {Interlude} {feat. Scootie} from Tab & Anitek's freely available album, Traveling in Stereo.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Arlington plans for environmental sustainability


Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette spoke tonight at the monthly meeting of RAFOM, our neighborhood civic association.  Fisette discussed Arlington County's budget crunch and the work of Arlington's Community Energy and Sustainability Task Force. 

Fisette described some of the County's budget-cutting priorities.  The County Manager recommended cutting the community policing teams and reducing fire department staffing.  RAFOM and the Arlington County Civic Federation strongly opposed these cuts.  The County Board has decided not to go through with these police and fire department cuts.  Most of the budget cuts will be in the Human Services and Parks and Recreation Departments.  Fisette did not mention any additional budget cuts that the County Board added to the budget.  By law, County taxes cannot increase more than the advertised tax increase.  Perhaps the County Board's budget decisions imply that the actual tax increase will be closer to the advertised tax increase.  Fisette wryly observed that being County Board Chairman is a lot less fun in a time of sharply declining tax revenues.  The County Board will adopted the County budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010 (FY 2011) at the County Board meeting on Apr. 24.

Fisette also discussed the importance of the ongoing work of Arlington's Community Energy and Sustainability Task Force.  Arlington's Smart Growth strategy depended on long-range planning that looked decades out at the effect of the extension of Metro train service through Arlington.  The Community Energy Plan will take a similar long-range view to reduce Arlington's greenhouse gas emissions and to increase energy efficiency and energy-source diversity.  Fisette explained that a high share of energy is wasted in being distributed over long distances to Arlington.  Local energy recovery offers great possibility for increases in efficiency.  Copenhagen, Denmark, offers an example of possibilities for Arlington.  Copenhagen's CO2 emissions per capita per year are 2.6 metric tons, compared to 19.7 metric tons per capita per year for Washington, DC.  Fisette encouraged residents to look at the work of the Community Energy and Sustainability Task Force, especially Peter Garforth's Task-Force-kickoff presentation.  He also noted that another Community Energy and Sustainability Town Hall meeting is scheduled for this October.

Other item and notes from this month's RAFOM meeting:
  • The Long Range Planning Committee group studying heights in Rosslyn had a "Skyline Forum" yesterday.  RAFOM Board members Stan Karson and Stuart Stein attended.  They said that the meeting showed welcomed concern for the Rosslyn skyline.  They hope for more attention to the need for an unobstructed view from the observation deck to be built on top of the forthcoming Central Place project. 
  • The 2'nd District Community Policing Team noted that violent crime is down in Arlington.  They also said that larceny from autos is the largest crime problem in the area.  Everyone should lock their cars and keep valuables out of sight.  They encouraged residents to report immediately suspicious activity to the police non-emergency telephone number, 703 558-2222.  The police department is currently testing 2 Segways and may purchase up to 6.  So you might see officers zipping around on Segways.
  • Requests for free trees must be made by Apr. 30.
  • Meeting attendees, including Board Chairman Jay Fisette, applauded Stan Karson being honored with the Sun-Gazette Award.
  • Four locations for the community signs have been selected.  These locations are Fairfax Rd. below the Courthouse; the Rhode St. park; Queen St. on the south side of the bridge over Rt. 50; and in the median on Meade St. just over the other Rt. 50 bridge.
  • Work on Hillside Park is ongoing and will probably be finished this autumn.
  • The RAFOM annual meeting will be on June 14 at the Top of the Town.  It will feature as speaker Sharon Rockefeller, president and CEO of WETA.

Monday, April 19, 2010

RAFOM President Stan Karson honored with Sun Gazette Cup

Stan Karson, president of our neighbor civic association RAFOM, has been awarded the Arlington County Civic Federation's Sun Gazette Cup.  The Arlington County Civic Federation was established in 1916 to promote the general welfare of Arlington County. The Civic Federation's honorary cup, which dates back to 1938, is an annual award for community service.  Congratulations to our neighbor Stan Karson for receiving this historic honor.

Karson has been tireless in his service to the community.  He serves on the Boards of Directors for Arlington County's Homeless Shelter, Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) and the Mongolian School.[*]  He's a member of the Arlington County Diversity Dialogue Task Force and the Civic Federation's Public Services Committee and the Housing Committee.  He worked for five years to bring the Fort Myer Heights North Plan to completion. Karson's volunteer leadership has made Arlington County a better place for everyone.

[*] Originally stated Rosslyn Renaissance.  Corrected based on better information.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rosslyn outdoor film festival

This year's theme for the Rosslyn outdoor film festival is "I love the the 90s."  Films are shown beginning at dusk every Friday, April 30 to September 3, in Rosslyn's Gateway Park.  Films and dates:

Clueless (1995) April 30
Wayne's World (1992) May 7
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)  May 14
Edward Scissorhands (1990) May 21
Happy Gilmore (1996) May 27
Office Space (1999) June 4
Cry-Baby (1990) June 11
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) June 18
Bio-Dome (1996) June 27
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) July 2
Home Alone (1990) July 9
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993) July 16
Empire Records (1995) July 23
Dumb and Dumber (1994) July 30
Romeo + Juliet (1996) Aug. 6
Airheads (1994) Aug. 13
The Wedding Singer (1998) Aug. 20
The Birdcage (1996) Aug. 27
Billy Madison (1995) Sept. 3

Saturday, April 17, 2010

sneak peak of new (temporary) park in Rosslyn


The former site of the Orleans House restaurant, and the future site of the Central Place building, is being converted into a park.  Enjoy it until the real estate economy picks up.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Westmoreland doorbells costs about $7k/year

The Westmoreland Condo Association has mailed out the proposed condo budget to be adopted at the annual meeting on April 26 at 7pm.  For a one-bedroom condo, Westmoreland condo fees are about $252 per month.  The budget describes where condo fees and other income (mainly laundry income) goes.

Some interesting budget facts:
  • Laundry machine income generates $17,000 per year.  Help your condo association finances by doing your laundry more often!
  • Water and sewage costs $41,000 per year, which is almost three times as much as electricity costs ($14,400 per year).   Perhaps the cost for water includes the costs of heating water for the hot water.
  • Renegotiation of our refuse collection contract has lowered our annual cost from $30,252 to $16,104.  That was some excellent bargaining.
  • Snow removal is budgeted at $3,000.  This past snowy winter costs us ten times that much.
  • Under administrative expenses is a subcategory administrative expenses, $2,484.  Not clear what that is.
  • Our phone-entry system is budgeted at $6,840 per year.  At the July 2008 condo board meeting (see note 4), phone-entry system costs were described as $20/month/building.  That works out to $2,400 per year for the whole complex.  Door calls to mobile phones cost extra, but it's hard to see how they would cost that much extra.  In any case, we've got a very expense doorbell system.  Maybe someone can come up with an idea for a cheaper doorbell system. 

Thursday, April 8, 2010

get a free tree

Arlington County is offering free trees to residents to encourage planting of more trees on private property.  Four species of trees are available:  American Sycamore, Swamp White Oak, River Birch and Sweetbay Magnolia.

Residents of the Radnor / Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood who want to order a tree should send an email to Steve Campbell at "mitska at juno dot com"  Orders must be received by April 30.  Trees will be delivered to your home in mid-May.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Ode across Rosslyn

Ode Street in Rosslyn has three segments.  While they are in the north, middle, and south of Rosslyn, they are all called North Ode Street.  All the Ode Street segments are less than a quarter mile long.  Getting from one segment of Ode Street to another requires traveling on a number of other streets.  So persons on different segments of Ode could easily forget that are part of the same Ode. 

The Ode Street in North Rosslyn is a straight, flat street with a small dip.  It runs between 13'th St. and N. Colonial Terrace, not to be confused with N. Colonial Court. Ode Street here intersects N. Colonial Tr. twice (figure it out) and N. Colonial Ct. once.  This neighborhood has a great variety of buildings, some that look quite historic and some that are new.
 
The Ode Street in mid-Rosslyn connects the Clarendon thoroughfare to Hillside Park.  It borders the site where the Rosslyn Place Apartment complex will be built once the economy picks up.  This Ode Street segment is only about a hundred yards long.
The Ode Street in South Rosslyn, home of Westmoreland Condominiums, is a dead-end south of Rt. 50.  It branches off from N. Fort Myer Dr. just before Fort Myer Market.  One side of this segment of Ode contains the entrance to a parking lot for the new Gables 12 Twenty-One apartments.  The Ode Street street sign on this segment of Ode has been removed, but residents continue to sing their street.

Verizon Wireless store opens in Rosslyn

A Verizon Wireless store opened this Saturday in Rosslyn, a few doors down from Santa Fe Cafe, at the point where Wilson and Clarendon diverge.  So, while we don't have FiOS, we're only a short walk away from looking at cool wireless gadgets.  I've heard good things about the Droid.

Update:  I called Verizon 411 to try to get the telephone number for the store.  Verizon information didn't have any number for the store.  Then I called the Verizon store in Ballston Commons to ask them for the new Rosslyn store number.  The Verizon store in Ballston didn't know about the new Verizon store in Rosslyn.

So I walked over to the Verizon store in Rosslyn.  I asked a sales person for the store telephone number.  He said that the store is still WAITING TO HAVE ITS PHONE INSTALLED.  Yup, that's right, the Verizon Wireless store currently (as of Thurs., Apr. 8) has no phone because its still waiting for Verizon to install its (wireline) phone.

Store hours are Monday to Thursday, 10am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday, 10am to 9pm, and Sunday, 12noon to 7pm.   The store address is 1500 Wilson Blvd, Suite LL01.

** The Ode Street Tribune brings you exclusive information with its feet on the street. **

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

cut back


If cutting back is good for shrubs, it might be good for us, too.

Sunday, April 4, 2010