August 2008 Archives
August 29, 2008
Recycling Gets Easier in Vienna Comments (2)
From the Town of Vienna website:
http://www.viennava.gov/Town_Services/trash.htm#recyclables
MIXED RECYCLABLES AND NEWSPAPER: These items can now be placed together in the same container for recycling, and do not need to be separated. Residents may use plastic bins, clean trash cans, or clear plastic bags for containing recyclable materials. If a trash can type container is used, it should be clearly labeled and preferably blue.These items will be collected on the second day of the scheduled trash route. (See section on "Routes" above.) Recyclables shall be placed at the curb or edge of pavement by 7:00 A.M. on collection day (but not earlier than 6:00 P.M. the preceding evening) where they will be easily and safely accessible.
Recyclables include, but are not limited to:
Newspapers (including all inserts)
Magazines and catalogs
Junk mail
Cardboard and paperboard boxes (including cereal boxes without liners)
Corrugate boxes
Computer printouts
Books (including paperbacks, textbooks, and hardbacks)
Aerosol Cans
Office paper (including typing, fax, copy, letterhead, NCR) and envelopes Brown paper bags (kraft)
Telephone books
Glass containers such as jars and bottles
Ferrous and bimetal food and beverage containers
Non-metalic wrapping paper
Aluminum food and beverage containers
Aluminum foil and aluminum pie pans
Narrow-neck plastic containers (other than for motor oil) carry plastic resin identification code 1 through 7
Wide-mouth containers such as peanut butter, margarine/butter tubs, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, whipped topping, and prescription bottles (please note that the lids and caps do not need to be removed)
Rigid plastics which include plastic milk/soda crates, plastic buckets with metal handles, plastic laundry baskets, plastic lawn furniture, plastic totes, plastic drums, plastic coolers, plastic flower pots, plastic drinking cups/glasses, plastic 5-gallon water bottles, plastic pallets, plastic toys, and empty plastic garbage/recycling bins
Bagged plastic film (for example: grocery bags contained within 1-bag, or stretch-film and/or shrink wrap contained within 1-bag)
Aseptic/gable-top milk and juice cartons
Plastic items and cardboard items that are recyclable will not longer be eligible for collection as a special pickup and should be placed at the curb on your normal recycling day.
August 28, 2008
One Catalytic Converter Theft .... Comments (0)
... and it gets its own headline in the Sun Gazette? Do stabbings at Cedar Lane Shopping Center even register a blip in the Praise-Be-To-Vienna-I-Love-Maud-Sun-Gazette?
Vienna Latest to Be Hit by Thefts of Catalytic Converters
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Vienna police are asking residents to report suspicious activities under vehicles, after someone allegedly stole the catalytic converter from a vehicle parked at Money & King Vienna Funeral Home on Aug. 17.
This is the first known case of a catalytic converter theft in the town of Vienna this year, police said.
The theft occurred between 1:45 and 2:30 a.m. at the funeral home, which is located in the 100 block of Maple Avenue, W.
Thieves have been stealing catalytic converters from parked vehicles in Northern Virginia, police said. A regional task force of law-enforcement agencies is looking into the matter.
A catalytic converter is inline exhaust apparatus that cleans burned engine gases before expelling them from a vehicle.
The device typically looks like a slender steel pipe, but may vary in shape.
Catalytic converters contain iridium and platinum and are very costly to replace, police said.
The Vienna case shows how quickly vehicles may be targeted and their catalytic converters removed, police said.
Anyone who observes people acting suspiciously or crawling underneath vehicles and removing a catalytic converter should report this to police immediately, authorities said.
August 22, 2008
It's Not Easy Being Green. Comments (5)
Luckily, with Maud by our side, Vienna does not have to worry about that.
Please take a look at the Green Government Challenge that Maud absolutely does not want to be involved:
http://www.gogreenva.org/?/green_government_challenge/green_challenge
August 21, 2008
Maud says "Go Brown! It's the Wave of the Future!" Comments (7)
Thanks for being so ass backwards, lady.
HistoricVienna.com has a green tip for the Town (and a cost effective one): GET SOME BIKES. We are sick of seeing police and TOV cars driving/idling all over town.
Vienna's Efforts at Going 'Green' Met With Some Doubts by BRIAN TROMPETER, Staff Writer Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Eight Vienna employees since April have researched ways the town government could save energy, cut costs and protect the environment.
When the “Green Team” presented its findings to the Vienna Town Council on Aug. 18, however, the reception was mixed.
The council, citing a fast-approaching Sept. 30 deadline, voted unanimously not to expedite initiatives so the town could qualify for the Virginia Municipal League's “Green Government Challenge.”
Council member Maud Robinson thanked group members for their efforts, but said the “go green” movement spanks of trendiness.
“Everything here adds up to money,” she said of the report. “Just to get in a contest for the sake of being in a contest, when most of the issues are covered by civic and common sense, makes absolutely no sense to me.”
According to the Green Team's report, the town currently qualifies for 30 points out of the challenge's possible 200. With town-code changes and the adoption of new policies, that figure could be raised as high as 80 points - which is still 20 points too low to qualify as a certified “Green Government.”
Robinson balked at several proposals that would have required hiring consultants or purchasing equipment.
“This is a bureaucrat's dream, if it's pursued to its ultimate end,” she said.
But Mayor M. Jane Seeman and Council member Michael Polychrones, who will become the Virginia Municipal League's president this fall, said the green movement is growing in strength and ubiquity.
“This is not going to go away,” Seeman said. “If anything, [the report] is helping us focus on what needs to be done. This is something we need to keep working toward.”
August 17, 2008
Another Study for Another Problem ... Comments (12)
It has come to HistoricVienna.com's attention that residents on the 300 block of Lewis Street are fed up with the water problem they have been experiencing for years.
Our question is how much money should be spent on a "study" to say that sidewalk, curb and gutter is needed in NW Vienna?
May 17, 2008
Mayor M. Jane Seeman and Council Members
Town of Vienna
127 Center Street, South
Vienna, VA 22180
RE: Need for Stormwater Management Improvements on the 300 Block of Lewis St., NW
Honorable Mayor Seeman and Council Members:We, the undersigned residents of the 300 Block of Lewis Street, NW, hereby request that you authorize and fund adequate stormwater improvements to remedy the severe flooding problems that affect our neighborhood. These problems have existed for at least 18 years and have caused serious property damage to many of our neighbors. Our neighbors on and near the 400 Block of Lewis Street may have similar problems, but we didn’t have time to survey them before submitting this letter to you.
At least 10 neighbors report heavy flooding or rushing streams of stormwater through their properties, up to 6 inches deep and often 20 feet wide (at times, more), during heavy rains. Neighbors have lost thousands of dollars (sometimes repeatedly) in ruined carpets, warped hardwood floors, ruined appliances, and rotted and destabilized fences from frequent high flooding. Some of our neighbors have installed expensive drainage and landscaping improvements simply to keep the stormwater out of their homes. Four neighbors maintain permanent sandbags to prevent flooding, and a couple had resorted to special door treatments to prevent infiltration. Several of us have discussed these problems in the past with Town government officials, with no satisfactory resolution. Detailed complaints of some of our neighbors are attached. We are exasperated and angry and believe this isn’t just the problem of individual homeowners but of the Town. Here’s why.
Even though some of the flooding waters come onto our property across our neighbors’ yards, this is not a neighbor-on-neighbor complaint. The culprits are the cumulative effects of development in this section of the Town and the lack of an adequate stormwater system for our neighborhood. We live in a basin bounded on at least three sides by slopes that drain onto our properties from hundreds of feet, even blocks, away. And much of the stormwater that flows over our private properties comes off public
right- of-ways, in some cases by design and in others by default.We will have representatives present at your May 20 work session on capital projects budgeting and would be happy to supply any additional information you or staff may need. John Mooney (who lives with his wife, Meg Sullivan, at 314 Lewis Street) has agreed to serve as our contact for the time being; he can be reached at jmooney7@verizon.net or 703-477-8460.
Sincerely,
THE LEWIS STREET NEIGHBORS
(see attached signatures)/s/
Meg Sullivan, 314 Lewis
John Mooney, 314 Lewis
Jean Coles, 318 Lewis
Julius Coles, 318 Lewis
Peter McKeen, 333 Lewis
Ruth McKeen, 333 Lewis
Young Gallmetzer, 310 Lewis
Sherry Dart, 331 Lewis
Peter and Mildred Secor, 306 Lewis
Carol Beurmann, 327 Lewis
Michael Beurmann, 327 Lewis
John Lucca, 323 Lewis
Carla Peterson, 304 Lewis
Erik Peterson, 304 Lewis
Frances English, 322 Lewis
Lyn Beer, 302 Lewis
Lori Beer, 302 Lewis
William Padgett, 300 Lewis
Mary Padgett, 300 Lewis
Ronald Frank, 337 Lewis
Twyla Frank, 337 LewisATTACHMENTS: Signature sheet and individual stormwater complaints
CC: John H. Schoeberlein, Town ManagerNeighbors’ Individual Stormwater Complaints (5/2008)
302 Lewis Lawrence (Lori) and Lyn Beer
• After heavy rains, a flow of water up to 6” deep and 20’ wide runs through their back yard.304 Lewis Erik and Carla Peterson
• A “river” flows through their back yard after rains, leaving mud deposits.
• Because of the elevation of their house, they have had no flooding of their house.306 Lewis Peter and Marie-Mildred Secor
• After heavy rains, a stream of water 6” deep and 8’ wide runs through their back yard.
• They can’t build anything along their fence because of the water.
• They are worried about flooding of their home.
• Several years ago, within 10 minutes of a watermain break on Knoll Street, their backyard was flooded.310 Lewis Young Sum Gallmetzer
• She has sandbags around a ground-level vent at the front of her house.
• She has a large stream of water flowing through her back yard during heavy rains.
• In such cases, water comes into her house from her flooded backyard.314 Lewis Meg Sullivan and John Mooney
• The lower level of this split-level have been flooded almost annually since the current owner moved here, three times severe flooding, and once by 3 inches of water. Water has flooded their whole back yard during especially heavy rains, up to an inch deep on the concrete back patio door.
• The owner has had to replace the carpet and wooden flooring twice in the lower level.
• The owner had to calk shut a ground-floor door to have peace of mind before an extended absence.
• The owner has permanently sandbagged the side door (at grade entrance to the lower level) to protect against heavy rains when the owner is absent.
• The owner has to set the alarm clock during heavy night rains in order to check sandbags and wet vacuum the lower level.
• During the recent May 11 storm, a flow of several hundreds of gallons per minute formed a swiftly moving stream 4-6 inches deep and 8-20 feet wide through the back and side yard for about three hours, requiring John to bail water from the protective sandbag dike the whole while.318 Lewis Julius and Jean Coles
• Serious flooding of their back and side yards began when the Orchard Court development was built about 1988.
• This flooding caused destabilization and rotting of their backyard fence, resulting in a $2000 repair cost.
• They have permanently sandbagged their grade-level door to the lower level of their split-level home.
• Water came into their basement 2-3 times after especially heavy rains. The worst basement flooding was several years ago during the heavy rains with frozen snow on the ground.322 Lewis Neill and Frances English
• Three years ago, their house flooded and their family-room carpeting was ruined.
• Since then, they have had to reframe and replace the rear door to their home, and have sandbagged that door both outside and inside.327 Lewis Mike and Carol Beurmann
• Had to install French drains around their house (rear and front) at the cost of $6500, because of frequent flooding into basement. They had to replace their carpet once @~$600.
• Their back shed still floods and accumulates mud after heavy rains.
• Heavy rains still create a swampy area between their and the Darts’ house.
• The gullies and pipes along Lewis Street fill up with debris after heavy rains.331 Lewis Bob and Sherrie Dart
• Their basement has flooded when their sump pump went out during a heavy rain. Once it was so bad that they had to replace their hot-water heater and furnace.
• Water pools in their back yard after rain.333 Lewis Peter and Ruth McKeen
• Significant streams of water come down the hill into their backyard and threaten their house during heavy rains, despite an elaborate berm and drainage system (~$5000) they installed in 2006.
• Their first-floor carpet was damaged in 2006.
August 09, 2008
Church Street Hubbub. Comments (6)
There was quite an array of ambulances and fire engines at 5:30pm on Church Street. Does anyone know what happened?
August 06, 2008
I See Dead Buildings. Comments (7)
"Where are all the boarded up buildings and flop houses?"
- SW mom
HistoricVienna.com took this comment on as the challenge of the week. We found our inner-George Lovelace and took a tour of Vienna.
A few from HistoricVienna.com reader:
Next week's challenge is for you: how many "For Lease" signs do you spy in Vienna?
OMIGOD, VIENNA HAS A NEW BANK!!!! Comments (14)
Sorry for the yelling but what could we have possibly done to bestowed with such a wonderful new addition to our town?! The Gods must have been listening to our anguished pleas for just one more bank.
HistoricVienna.com is now going to the Inn for a celebratory beer.
August 05, 2008
Are You Afraid? Comments (33)
Below is a quote from the Washington Post regarding the need for the Tysons Corner redevelopment. You could have just as easily inserted Vienna where it says Tysons. Vienna is at a crossroads: are we going to die or go forward? I think the crime, flophouses and boarded up buildings say it all. Do we head towards the future with 86 year old Maud or someone half her age?
Folks, let's all make the right choices together.
"For 45 years I've watched things develop in the worst possible way. I can't imagine people wanting that, or more of that," said Clark Tyler, who heads the Tysons Land Use Task Force, which has led the effort and plans to offer county officials detailed proposals in September.
"At some point you say, 'Enough already!' " Tyler said. "Those are the only choices: Do it the way it's always been done -- suburban sprawl, piecemeal approvals -- or you can agree to an overall plan that is going to transform the place into something more livable and enjoyable."
August 03, 2008
Important News Flash: George Lovelace Has Found His Inner Artist Comments (9)
Forget our lack of sidewalks, crumbling water system, MS-13 gang problems, traffic nightmares, boarded up buildings, and Maud: George Lovelace has an exhibit right now at the Vienna Art Center.
HistoricVienna.com must attend so we can see the one thing George has accomplished this year.
Continue reading "Important News Flash: George Lovelace Has Found His Inner Artist" »
August 01, 2008
"Oversights?!" Comments (28)
"Oversights" is a nice way of saying complete incompetence, eh, Dan? Or, worse yet, corruption. Why should the Town of Vienna use money earned in their water scam to update infrastructure? It is much more fun to use money for pretty stuff that boosts fragile egos like Town Greens, water fountains and flower planters. Why bother updating that nasty stuff underground which no one can see? We like ribbon cuttings with oversize scissors, punch and congratulatory speeches.
Cathy Hudgins, you keep on investigating this town. You know there are more things Fairfax County can discover.
