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August 2024 Community Meeting Notes

Board Members Present: Michele Baskin (Secretary), Corey Jennings (President), Wynn Engle-Pratt (Vice President), Pete Morrill, Sadie Baker (Treasurer), April Welch

Staff member – Jennifer McKenzie, Amanda Rothschild

Total Attendees

~26; ~6 BGE representatives; ~1 DOT; ~9 Zoom; ~Odette Ramos

Start: 7:07

End: 8:15

Zoom Recording: Passcode: YYc3Sy&%

Votes: NA

Community Announcements

  • Shop Small Remington Crawl, Saturday August 24th 11 am – 4 pm
  • Kelsey Wyatt – Embrace Resource Center has a need for clothing donations, specifically for large sized men’s clothing, contact kwyatt@umaryland.edu for drop off
  • Barbara at Church of the Guardian Angel – Thrift shop, runs 1st & 2nd Sat of the month, 10am – 2 pm, bring donations during open hours, also seeking volunteers; Food Pantry, every Wednesday from 9 am – 10 am

Miracle Church – Oct 19 Praise Pooch Party, 1 pm – 4 pm, click for sign up form

Agenda

  • GRIA Updates
    • CBT Urban Trees Grant: $168,000 Grant for Over 200 Trees, Partnership with Harwood and Charles Village for this phase, Locations: Greenmount Ave, Maryland Ave, In-fill throughout Remington. NEW! Public Process for requesting a tree, most likely a form on our website. Commitment of matching funds of $100,000 from JHU.
    • Arts and Entertainment District: GRIA leading charge to apply for A&E district designation in 2024. Community Session to be held on September 11th, 2024 at Ottobar. Additional Discussion during September Community meeting September 18th, 2024
    • Mural Celebration Event: Celebration of Alligator Mural Conservation, October 5th, 2024, 12 – 3pm at Sisson Street Park
    • Hauntingdon EVENT! Saturday October 26th, if interested in helping, reach out to volunteers@griaonline.org
  • BGE Updates
    • Outreach team 443-423-1120 or operationpipeline@bge.com, hotline 410-470-7700, BGE.com/OperationPipeline 
    • Remington Phase 1 Project – 27th to 31st Streets, Maryland Ave to Huntingdon Ave roughly
    • Starting end of Aug/begin of Sept, will last 18 months for gas line replacement, dependent on weather cooperation as some work can not be done during harsh cold spells
    • Work will commence M – F from 7:30 am – 4:30 pm typically, sometimes Saturday work might be needed to stay on schedule
    • No parking signs will be placed 72 hours in advance on relevant blocks where work will take place, will work with neighbors trying to locate car owners before calling the city for removal
    • Work consists of replacing Gas Mains in the street, Service lines to property, and every property receives an upgraded Pressure Regulator and meter to handle the higher pressure from the new line
    • Contractors will need access to inside and outside the property to do the work with the regulator and meter upgrade. Residents can decide to have equipment placed inside the home or place the regulator on the exterior, can also place everything (meter and regulator) outside
    • If contractors encounter drywall or cabinetry obstructions around the meter inside the property, they will have to do some removal and demolition work to be able to access the service equipment, but they will not repair the area, it will be on the property owner to pay for any desired repairs
    • The contractors will shut off gas equipment when they perform the meter and regulator upgrade work. When the gas is restored, the contractors will go through a process to relight all gas appliances in the home and verify they are operating safely. If a problem is found with an appliance during this process, the contractors will place a red tag on the service line and declare the appliance unsafe and usable, but are not able to perform any repair work themselves.
    • Q&A Portion:
      • Corey Q – What is the process that you will use to work around existing trees in the sidewalks? A – No trees should need to be cut down, service line work can be done from trench in the street and work underneath to a hole cut next to the property while avoiding the tree well areas.
      • April Q – How will you deal with vacant or unresponsive properties on a block, will those houses become more unsafe with these changes? A – We will attempt to contact owners of record to gain access to property, but if that is not possible, we will shut off service and schedule the regulator and meter upgrade upon reactivation of service.
      • Frances Q – How will BGE address the traffic calming measures that have been implemented on the affected roadways in the neighborhood?, A – All speed bumps, posts, and striping should all be restored upon project completion. Corey adds that having these measures down for temporary amounts of time is not great either and encourages BGE to replace removed items on a temporary basis when the project pauses in areas due to weather and such.
      • Barbara Q – For residents who have appliances red tagged, can GRIA and BGE have info ready to help them access low cost repair options?, A – The amount of red tagged items has typically been minimal, and often includes only  part of an appliance, not the entire appliance so the cost is not buying a whole new appliance. Corey adds that this type of information or resources for repair is something that BGE should provide or have a number for people to reach out to for assistance.
      • David Q – How can residents receive the right to electrify information?, A – This will be/was mailed to property owners. The Federal Inflation Reduction Act includes funding to assist residents with the costs associated with obtaining the full electrification of their home if that is the option they choose, and residents might want to choose to electrify at a later date when that funding is in place. BGE will come back and remove the gas service at that point. Letter in English and Spanish
      • Q – Will translation capacity exist (for print and in person)?, A – BGE written communication will be in English and Spanish and can provide over the phone translation services even if the contractor does not.
      • Q – What is the larger scope? Is there a Phase 2?, A – The current plan only goes 2-3 years out and this Phase 1 is the only project within that window, so additional phases for Remington will come but aren’t in that time frame.
      • Pete Q – Will there be safe accommodation during the road construction work for bike connection, specifically but not exclusively on 28th? This was a huge problem with the recent work on Maryland Ave which routed bikes onto Howard to mingle with the cars, A – The planned work might not directly impact the bike lane facility, but would need to coordinate the traffic calming to maintain the bike access. Corey follow up about the danger of having bikes being merged to the road traffic without making a separated space for safety, suggests temporarily restricting parking or something else instead.
      • Zoom Q – Can the MOT plans around project traffic calming be shared with Land Use Committee, A – Project wide or just the bike facility? Will check in and follow up to the committee.
  • DOT Updates
    • Chaquetta Wallace representative from DOT
      • 26th & 27th speed bumps – Will be installed 200 to 400 block, this calendar year (paving season ends in Nov depending on the weather)
      • Sisson Bridge – in negotiations with CSX, no set designs yet and no current schedule for work to begin. Residents can view the project and sign up for alerts on this (and other) projects (https://streetsofbaltimore.com/sissonst)
      • Q&A
        • Frances Q – What happened to the leading pedestrian signal interval request at 29th & Huntingdon from Oct 2022, it has not happened but a sound feature was added, A – Wrote down to follow up, please go back and see what info you can find (311 reports, emails, etc) and send to GRIA to send to our office, signal timing process is in the works for the 28th and 29th corridors (and other larger corridors in the city)
        • Zoom Q – Is the posted plan for the Sisson Street Bridge going to be redesigned to become a Complete Street Redesign?, A – it will yes
        • Q – Can the bridge stay open for bikes & pedestrians during this waiting period?, A – No engineer will certify this usage due to liability
        • Zoom Q – What can be done about the 26th & Howard intersection?, A from Corey – there was a grant award to improve the ADA access and safety work in partnership with Seawall, more information coming once the grant award is finalized.
        • Zoom Q – Is there any update on providing full time parking on Howard from 25th to North Ave as the businesses have requested?, A – will ask and get back to you 
  • Community Cleanups – Saturday September 21st, 10:00 am, Church of the Guardian Angel, every third Saturday of every month

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