NLPNA Honors City Official

The North Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association presented a "good neighbor" award Tuesday to Francine Edmonds, the assistant to Peter Jones, the city's Ward 6 Neighborhood Services Coordinator. Mr. Jones works out of the Office of the City Administrator and handles issues requiring the coordination of several city agencies.

If you have a problem, call the mayor's call center, 727-1000, and obtain a ticket number. If the problem is not addressed adequately or quickly enough, contact Mr. Jones or Ms. Edmonds and give them the ticket number. Their office can follow up. Ms. Edmonds's number is 698-5620; her e-mail is francine.edmonds@dc.gov. Mr. Jones's number is 698-4537, and his e-mail is peter.jones@dc.gov.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Nick Alberti commented that over the years he had frequently called Ms. Edmonds to help him when the city had not resolved problems they had promised to take care of. He said she was always pleasant and responsive. He also called her if the problem of concern required the coordination of several agencies to resolve. Mr. Alberti said that although the Ward 6 Neighborhood Services Coordinator position was left vacant for a long time, Ms. Edmonds handled everything so well as assistant services coordinator that the neighborhood did not suffer. Mr. Jones recently took over the job as Neighborhood Services Coordinator; Leo Pinson served in the position previously.

The meeting covered a few additional topics.

Elizabeth Nelson, the head of the NLPNA, noted that the annual NPLNA yard sale would be held on a Saturday in May. This annual sale raises most of the NPLNA's annual funds, usually $600-$1200, from goods donated by residents. Leftover items are donated to the Lane Memorial Church or to the Salvation Army. The yard sale will be held in the triangle formed by the 1300 block of A Street, North Carolina Avenue and 14th Street NE. The date has yet to be determined.

Ms. Nelson said that a lot of residents have purchased lead testing kits from Frager's Hardware Store to test their water. While residents should do what they need to do to feel comfortable with the test results, including purchasing lead testing kits from Frager's, she recommended that they also have WASA test their water so that WASA can get proper statistics and identify where regional problems are. Ms. Nelson pointed out that a Frager's test alone will not do anything to get the city to replace pipes. WASA will drop a water testing kit off at the resident's house and arrange a day to pick it up from outside the resident's house (to request a kit, call 787-2732).

One resident inquired about the status of the new PSA boundaries. Mr. Alberti said he believes the new boundaries will go into effect in late spring. For more information, visit the following Web site: http://mpdc.dc.gov/info/districts/districts.shtm.

Several residents at the meeting complained that people were buying food at the Checker's at 1401 Maryland Ave. NE and were then littering in the surrounding neighborhood. §