Date: September 18, 2012 7:11:37 AM EDT
To: ``<kmcduffie@dccouncil.us>`` kmcduffie@dccouncil.us>, ``Clark, Timothy (Council)`` <tclark@dccouncil.us>
Subject: McMillan and The Bloomingdale Flooding Issue
Councilmember
McDuffie-
For
the past two months, I have directed most of my anger and frustration towards
DC Water with regards to the flooding and sewer backup in Bloomingdale. I`ve personally spoken to Tim Clark on
several occasions and discussed with him the issues that you guys are facing on
the legislative side and the issues that I and others are facing as customers/
victims of DC Water. But I must say,
your actions last night supporting the development of McMillan at this time are
inexcusable. A large section of your Ward
continues to flood due to an overloaded and inadequate Northeast Boundary Trunk
sewer line, and your solution, to build more development on this sewer
line! I understand that there are larger
implications for the Ward, with the building of this project, but how do you
explain your rationale at this time to those of us who continue to be ``sitting
ducks`` during every rain event? Its
easy for you living up in Stronghold and Tim living over in Eckington to say
not to worry, but like all of my neighbors, I worry every time there is a
strong rain forecast. I worry about if my condo will get flooded, I worry if my
car will get flooded as the streets in my neighborhood fill with water and
sewage, I worry about the toll all of this is taking on my community. Last night, after Tim and I engaged in a
battle of words via Twitter about your support of the development up the hill,
I received emails from a number of neighbors on the subject. I`m not an elected official in DC, I`m not an
ANC representative, I`m just a citizen fighting to make sure his voice is heard
by his elected representatives. Your
decision last night, showed me that my voice and the voices of my neighbors are
not been heard and that you don`t get the flooding and sewer backup issue as
much as you claim to.
While
I might support the development of McMillan at some point in the future, I
think your support of any development at this time, given the unresolved
flooding/ sewer backup issue, is premature at best. When I talked to Tim last Friday, he said
your office was working to find money for a relief fund. Rather than giving the developers at McMillan
a gift of $49 million (or whatever the current figure is) Why doesn`t the District reallocate that
money to a relief fund and to an investment in its aging and failing
infrastructure. As I said last night at
the BCA meeting, that you did not attend, we know and have known that the
flooding problems in the neighborhood are largely in part to inferior
infrastructure. The small combined sewer lines in the neighborhood have been
listed as a cause of the flooding in DC WASA reports, most recently as
2006. The problem DC WASA and the
District Government never saw fit to make an investment to fix them. Instead, former Councilman Thomas and others
decided to invest in the development of McMillan. I ask you, which makes more sense, upgrading
your infrastructure so it can handle a development like McMillan or adding a
development like McMillan to an overloaded infrastructure?
As
I said to Tim last night, I`d like to see you more outspoken on the Flooding
and Sewer Backups impacting this neighborhood.
Your silence in my eyes makes you complicit in the problem. I think your office could be doing so much
more than it has. As much as I hated
your predecessor, Harry Thomas would not have missed out on the opportunity to
represent his constituents and seek justice for them. I feel like for the last two months you guys
have missed opportunity after opportunity to help your constituents. For the record, the damage to my condo was
about $10,000 and the costs incurred by my condo association for a backflow
preventer and insurance deductibles another $4,000. That is not money that most people or condo
associations have just laying around. I
wish you guys would have gotten ahead of this issue sooner, called the Council
back for an emergency legislative session.
But don`t worry, as nothing really has been accomplished on the flooding
front in the past two months, you might get your opportunity to shine this afternoon
should the Bloomingdale neighborhood flood again.
I
look forward to hearing from you and Tim on this issue.
Sincerely,
Brice
McCrackenFrustrated Bloomingdale Resident
4 comments:
I totally agree with the sentiments of this letter. I voted for CM McDuffie because I thought that he would be a effective advocate for citizens in our ward. I was a little disappointed with his response to the flooding, whih seemed like a lot of smoke with no fire, but I was willing to consider that he was just getting his legs as a CM. But, with this latest move regarding McMillan, I have totally come to regret voting for him. We can only imagine with horror the effect of paving over the site and the huge increase in stormwater that it is going to direct to our neighborhood, to say nothing of wasting this beautiful and intriguing landmark on boring, run-of-the-mill development.
Kenyan repeatedly said he was in favor of developing the sand filtration site the entire time he was running for office. What part of that support is different now that has made you regret your vote?
I did not know that Kenyan was in favor of the Macmillan project. In view of what has since happened in Bloomingdale, he would be wise to re-evaluate his position. Kenyan also needs to show some "results" in terms of establishing the District's flooding response plan and having an independent analysis of DC Water in terms of whatever it will be recommending to divert water.
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