All,

We will have our last NCHCA meeting tonight at The Coupe.  We will meet in the couch seating area at 7pm to discuss and plan upcoming Halloween events – our third annual Halloween Extravanagza of kids’ costume contest, costume parade, dog costume parade, and trick or treating up and down 11th St).  We need a lot of volunteers to help set-up/decorate the trolley turnaround park; manage the costume contests and awards; and act as crossing guards for kids going trick or treating to 11th St businesses.  If interested in volunteering, please contact Brittany at brittany.kademian@gmail.com

We will also open the floor to any suggestions of things to do for the community during the Fall/Winter months.  Hope to see you there!

This Saturday, October 19th the NCHCA is sponsoring a clean-up of the Columbia Heights Dog Park at 11th St and Park Rd, NW.  We’ll be sweeping, scooping, raking, and collecting trash from 10am-2pm.  Thanks to a grant from ANC1A, we have purchased pet friendly fencing/barrier material so that we can repair the fence perimeter and prevent little dogs (or balls!) from escaping.  If the manpower is there, we’ll have topsoil and bark/mulch available to freshen up the tree boxes.  All other clean-up materials (bags, gloves, rakes, brooms, shovels) will be provided.

If you would like to volunteer, please email ANC1 Commissioner Pat Flynn at patrick.flynn@anc.dc.gov

As a thank you, Kangaroo Boxing Club (KBC) is offering a 15% off discounted brunch (or free drink) to all dog park clean-up volunteers.

All,

Our next neighborhood clean-up will be this upcoming Saturday, August 24th. We will meet at the corner of 13th Street and Kenyon St (in front of Harriet Tubman Elementary School) at 9:30am to start the clean-up. Our targeted area for this event will be from Kenyon St southward between 14th and Sherman, picking up all the trash on the sidewalk/street, by our metro, and in alleys. Trash bags, gloves, and a few brooms/rakes will be provided to volunteers. Please let me know if you have any questions; hope to see you there!

The North Columbia Heights Civic Association, in partnership with the Friends of the Trolley Turnaround Park, are organizing the Second Annual Columbia Heights Block Party.  This free event will occur on Saturday, August 3rd from 12pm-2pm in the Trolley Turnaround Park (11th & Monroe St NW).

Many of the 11th St businesses are participating in the block party by generously donating food from their restaurants, and a portion of the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra will be performing for this event.  So come join your neighbors, new and longtime residents, elected officials, local businesses, and civic organizations to enjoy free local food and live jazz music in celebration of our neighborhood, Columbia Heights!

Neighbors,

A few events which you may be interested in attending this week:

- First, there will be the Master Park Planning Meeting for DPR this Thursday, June 20th.  It will occur at Raymond Rec Center (3725 10th St NW) from 7pm-9pm.

- Second, our next NCHCA neighborhood clean-up, in partnership with ANC1A, will occur this Saturday, June 22 from 10am-11am.  We will meet at the corner of 14th St & Meridian PL NW; all materials will be provided.

Hope to see you there!

Our next North Columbia Heights Civic Association (NCHCA) meeting will be TONIGHT, Monday June 10th from 7pm-10pm in the Trolley Turnaround Park at 11th & Monroe (it will be inside Columbia Heights Coffee if it is raining). This will be the Columbia Heights dog park follow-up meeting where you can learn more about progress made on this issue so far, how to get involved/how to join the Friends of Columbia Heights Dog Park group, and upcoming dog park clean-up events.

Also, please take note of the upcoming NCHCA events:
- Saturday, June 22: next neighborhood clean-up at 14th and Meridian PL
- Saturday, July 27: Columbia Heights Block Party in the Trolley Turnaround Park

The meeting NCHCA held on helping the Columbia Heights Dog Park, and the subsequent work which local dog park users/activists have achieved in setting up the Friends of Columbia Heights Dog Park group and in getting the ball rolling on this issue, made it into local blogs DCist:

 

A dog lays on a grate in the unofficial Columbia Heights Dog Park. Photo by jaimetre.

While the humans of Columbia Heights gather at Meridian Pint or Red Rocks, the neighborhood’s dogs get their social fix at a small piece of land near the popular eateries at the corner of 11th and Park streets NW. But unlike the street’s restaurants, the unofficial dog park is not so pleasant to look at.

The newly created Friends of Columbia Heights Dog Park group would like to make improvements to the popular spot, but need cooperation from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to do so, since the agency owns the land.

“The park is currently a bit of an eyesore, and we want to fix that, as well as a number of safety and sanitation issues, by putting down a different ground material, building a double-entry gate, closing up areas where small dogs can escape, and creating enforceable rules and norms,” Robyn Swirling, one of the group’s organizers, wrote in an email. “We’re totally willing to do all the work, but need guidance and input from [WMATA] to ensure they still have all the access they need to do what they do.”

The group is asking parties who agree with their mission to complete a survey to show support. Swirling said dog park improvements will be discussed at the June 10 meeting of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association, held at Trolley Turnaround Park.

 

 

and also New Columbia Heights:

Arf: residents working to fix up 11th and Park dog park, but WMATA needs to say OK

The 11th and Park dog park has long been a (semi-official) place to take Spuds, Fido and Rex to do their business and run around. However, the park, which is technically WMATA property but which has been open for dogs and their people, is a bit worse for the wear.

Some local residents are getting together to form a Friends of Columbia Heights Dog Park in order to work with WMATA and get some of the issues addressed. One of the groups organizers told DCist that they’re hoping to put down some new ground material, a new gate, closing small areas and creating enforceable rules.

“We’re totally willing to do all the work, but need guidance and input from [WMATA] to ensure they still have all the access they need to do what they do.”

The group also a quick survey on their website for community input.

They’ll be discussing the group at the June 10th meeting of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association, which will meet at the Trolley Turnaround Park (11th and and Monroe.)

The NCHCA held its monthly meeting last week with the specific focus on starting dialogue between neighbors of how to improve the dog park at 11th and Monroe.  About 15 people attended, including NCHCA board members, the Ward 1 Liaison from the DC Mayor’s Office, ANC, dog owners/dog park users and concerned citizens.  The biggest issues facing the dog park include:

1. Cleanliness – dog owners not picking up waste; smell
2. Noise – early in the morning
3. Safety – owners not able to control their dogs
4. Dust/mud in dog park, spilling over into sidewalk and area
5. Holes along fence; little dogs able to escape
6. No source of water
7. No lights source for night time use
8. No list of rules posted

Ideas discussed include: putting in shrubs and soil along the fence line to keep in dust/mud and keep little dogs from escaping; putting mulch, sand, or pebbles down on top of dirt ground; installing solar lights; having NCHCA host one of its bi-monthly clean-ups in the dog park; installing a list of dog park rules; and applying to make it an official DPW dog park.  However, the biggest obstacle first and foremost in our ability to move forward on this issue is that WMATA technically owns the land.  To this end, NCHCA is helping to form the Friends of Columbia Heights Dog Park, which is currently looking for people to get involved as board members and for people to sign a petition on their website.  NCHCA is also working with the DC Mayor’s Office to start dialogue with WMATA on this issue, they are meeting with Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham on May 24 to discuss the issue, and NCHCA is using its next meeting (Monday June 10th, 7th at the Trolley Turnaround Park) to advance this cause.  Please add your signature to their cause and attend our next meeting to support helping the Columbia Heights Dog Park!