Pepco: "They're Gonna Start Keeping It Clean."

In response to Ms. Cochran's letter (reprinted at left) and a call to the Pepco spokesman's office (872-2680) Wednesday morning requesting a response to the letter, three Pepco workers came out Friday and spent a good part of the day cleaning up the property.

One of the three workers, Aaron Tyler, gardener class A, who is one of the two people responsible for all of the substations and grounds for Pepco — in D.C., Prince George's County, and Montgomery County — explained that the substation at 13th and D had fallen off of Pepco's radar screen this year.

When a list was prepared for the contractor who maintains the grounds for Pepco's substations, the substation was inadvertently left off the list. "We had reorganized our vendors. ... It wasn't on the list." So far this year, Mr. Tyler said, Pepco's own employees have come out at least four times to cut the grass. But he said Pepco has now added the property to its regular schedule, so that for the rest of the year Pepco will be coming by at least every two weeks.

Mr. Tyler offered to work with neighbors to beautify the area. "We're going to make every effort to work with the community," he said. "We can have a partnership."

At a substation at 12th and O Streets NW, he said, Pepco and the community have been working together to maintain a garden. It's so well kept, he said, that the mayor was entertained there recently. Pepco takes care of one side, and the community takes care of the other. Mr. Tyler said the same could be done at the 13th and D Streets NE substation, and that any ideas should be faxed to Charles Myers at 388-2272, at Pepco's 3400 Benning Road headquarters.

David Morehead, Pepco's spokesman, said Pepco had not had time to prepare a formal response to Mrs. Cochran's letter, but he said, "I can tell you that they're gonna start keeping it clean." Regarding Ms. Cochran's requests that Pepco take down the industrial-type fence and renovate the building, he said, "I can't really comment on that, because that's starting to get into our capital expenditures." §