April 2016 Newsletter

Original PDF: https://aurorahighlands.org/wp-content/uploads/April-2016-Newsletter-AHCA.pdf

All Aurora Highlands residents are invited and encouraged to come to our monthly meetings where we meet neighbors, discuss topics of interest, and share information. MEETING – Wednesday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Aurora Hills Community Center Come early for refreshments and socializing! Doors open at 6:30 Let Natasha know ASAP if you need childcare

Aurora Highlands Civic Association Newsletter – April 2016

Meeting Agenda

Introductions
Community Updates

• Planning Commissioner and County Board candidate Erik Gutshall will be at our May 11 meeting.
• Water Pollution Control Plant: Paul Guttridge will give a brief update on the March meeting on the Solids Master Plan.
• Traffic monitoring at 18th and Joyce has been started by the county in the wake of a bad accident at that intersection. Results should be ready in about 6 weeks.
• Zoning Dept. is investigating lighting compliance of Crystal House, Finmeccanica, and construction site at 18th and Eads.

For Discussion

County Board Chair Libby Garvey will be at the meeting at 7:45. She will address AHCA as the Chair of the County Board and as a County Board candidate, running in a primary in June.

Memorial Tree: Vote on funding a tree to be planted in Virginia Highlands Park in memory of Marty King. The cost is $200 for a tree plus $50 for a plaque. Marty died last May after serving in this community for decades as ACHA president, newsletter writer and editor, and so much more. A dedication is planned for May 7 (time TBD), when his children will be visiting Arlington.

Proposed Neighborhood Conservation Project Approval Process: April is the month to re-affirm AHCA projects currently lined up for funding. David Litman, our new NC rep, will review the projects already selected and will discuss his proposed process for AHCA to solicit, review, and vote on projects to consider for NC funding. The results of the discussion will then be posted on www.aurorahighlands.org. We will vote on the proposed process at the May 11 meeting.

County CIP: The current CIP is a ten-year planning document, which is updated every two years. It not only identifies the immediate needs but also seeks to capture long-term capital needs. The CIP typically includes major investments in parks, libraries, transportation, community centers, facilities, technology, water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure – along with other areas that support the community.

The CIP can be viewed at http://budget.arlingtonva.us/adopted-fy-2015-fy-2024-cip/. What other capital improvement investment priorities does the AHCA community have? For example, the current CIP includes $5.2 million for an access road through the Army-Navy Country club, which would provide emergency vehicle access from one side of I-395 to the other (between

Army Navy Drive and Hoffman-Boston Elementary School). This access road would also be open to bicyclists and pedestrians. Currently, design funds are not slated to be spent until 2020, with construction scheduled for 2022-2023. Given that our kids may be reassigned to Hoffman-Boston during the 2019 boundary change process, is this something AHCA would like to ask the county to expedite? Individuals may also submit their CIP ideas by April 22 directly to the county here: http://budget.arlingtonva.us/cip/survey/

Survey on Relocation of Senior Programs during Aurora Hills Community Center (AHCC) Renovations. During the closure of the AHCC, the County plans to relocate the Senior Center programs to another site. The proposed relocation sites are the Gunston Community Center (on S. Lang St.) and the Carver Center (on S. Queen St. just off Columbia Pike). There will be a survey available through April 20 at the AHCC for Senior Center users asking whether seniors would continue to attend programs at either or both of the sites.

AHCA Social, Thursday April 28, 7–9 p.m. – We hope to see you there.
Join your neighbors at the Irish Pub Siné, which has generously offered to host us in their back room. Siné is located in Pentagon Row, in back of the skating rink.

Important Websites

What do your dues get used for? Your dues cover the cost of the newsletter, website hosting, and supplies for meetings and AHCA social events, but they also help fund many activities in the neighborhood. AHCA sponsors the wildly popular Boo-Ha-Ha fall festival, and we also contribute to the Miracle on 23rd St. tree-lighting ceremony hosted by Linden Resources. AHCA donations also support school activities at Oakridge Elementary School, Gunston Middle School, and Wakefield High School. Let us know if you have a school or community activity you would like us to consider. You can join with Paypal at aurorahighlands.org or mail a check or bring one to the meeting.

Please sign up with the Aurora Highlands group on Nextdoor to stay informed about happenings in the hood, including AHCA-related issues. We also encourage people to use Nextdoor as a way to spread the word about events or other items of interest to the whole 22202 community.