Public Hearing Notice

Brookville Road Park

Community feedback sought regarding the
continued use of the park by unleashed dogs.

The Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers will convene a Public Hearing during its regular meeting on Monday, November 14, 2016. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Village’s ad hoc Park Design Committee, led by landscape architect Lila Fendrick, presented draft plans for Brookville Road Park to the Village Board in October. During this presentation, issues were raised by some neighbors regarding the appropriate uses for the park, including whether off-leash dog usage should be allowed. Rather than proceeding with consideration of the proposed plans, the Village Board has scheduled a Public Hearing to consider the community’s feedback on the future role of the park.

If you are unable to attend the Public Hearing on November 14, you may submit written testimony for the record either by e-mail at ccv@montgomerycountymd.gov or directly to the Village office at 5906 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815.

Leaf Collection Schedule for the Week of November 7.

The Public Works Department's yearly leaf collection operations are underway. Two (2) leaf vacuums are currently working throughout the Village and will continue to work as often as needed through December. Click on the image to the right to find the tentative leaf collection schedule for the week of November 7. Please note that the collection schedule is subject to change due to adverse weather conditions and equipment malfunctions.

Each week, the leaf truck on the west side of the Village will begin on West Melrose Street and work south ending on Western Avenue; and the leaf truck on the east side will begin on East Irving Street working north and ending on Quincy Street.

Residents on Bradley Lane are required to bag their leaves before placing them at the roadside. Bradley Lane leaf bags will be collected throughout the week, as part of your normal yard waste collections. Bagged leaves must be placed in paper bags. Public Works will not pick up leaves that have been bagged in plastic.

Residents are asked to rake their leaves as close to the curb as possible without putting them in the roadway gutter. Should it rain, leaves piled in the gutter will dam the water causing it to pond. Please avoid boxing in piles of leaves between cars both for easier accessibility for the collection crews and safety for your vehicles.

Sticks and other sharp tree and garden debris should be left loose and placed in separate piles from leaves. Sharp debris can tear the leaf collection hoses or dull the blades, resulting in downtime for the machine to address repairs to the vacuum machinery that can cause delays in the schedule.

Leaves on each block in the Village should be collected once per week. Schedule updates will be circulated through the Village’s weekly blast emails (sign-up for these weekly emails on the Village website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov)

Holiday Office Closure and Refuse/Recycling Schedule

The Village Administrative Office and Public Works Department will be closed on Friday, November 11, 2016 in observance of the Veteran's Day Holiday. As a reminder, the Communications Center and Police Department are open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are not modifications to the Village Refuse/Recycling Schedule as a result of the Veteran's Day Holiday.

Daylight Savings Times Ends Sunday

Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.

This is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Bradley Lane Gas Main Replacement to begin November 7th

Beginning on or around Monday, November 7, 2016, Washington Gas contractor, Northern Pipeline Construction Company (NPL), will begin to replace and upgrade the gas main line and certain home service feeds along Bradley Lane (between Connecticut Avenue and Georgia Street). Work is anticipated to be completed by December 30, 2016, weather permitting.

During the installation process, there will be times where the roadway is blocked to traffic. NPL crews will make every effort to maintain an open lane for traffic to pass.

The existing gas main was installed in 1939 and is at the end of its service life. The resulting work is intended to cause a notable reduction in the number of gas main breaks experienced in the Village and increase service reliability.

The first step in the process will be to install a new gas main. This process will include the excavation of a trench within the roadway. Once the new gas main is installed and pressurized, a representative from the gas company’s contractor, NPL, will be in contact with each household to schedule a time to replace or connect the home service feed to the new main.

During the home service feed connection process, your gas service will need to be turned off for several hours while NPL replaces the gas line to your home. It will be necessary for you to be home to perform this work, particularly if your meter is set inside. If NPL requires access to your home, the on-site construction supervisor will make this determination and contact you in advance to coordinate the work. If your gas meter is outside, NPL will still need access to your home in order to turn your gas back on and relight your appliance(s) following the connection work. Washington Gas and NPL do not charge for this work. If you are not at home when NPL completes its work, a door-hanger will be left with information and a telephone number for you to call to have the gas turned on and your appliances relit.

During the entire gas main replacement process, NPL will work Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Crews will work on Saturdays for house service feed connections only. Due to the volume of traffic that typically use Bradley Land during the week, road and lane closures will be restricted to between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In addition no parking signs will be posted along Bradley Lane due to the narrowness of the roadway and to accommodate local traffic, the parking restrictions will only apply during work hours.

Before a planned service interruption, advance notice will be provided by NPL to the affected houses detailing the anticipated duration. NPL inspectors are required to go door-to-door notifying residents two (2) days prior to a shutdown, leaving contact information at the front door. Any service interruptions and road/lane closures will be coordinated so not to disrupt resident festivities around the holiday season.

Washington Gas has assured the Village that gas shut-offs will not exceed eight (8) hours under non-emergency circumstances and no one will be left without gas service overnight.

In an effort to provide timely and accurate information regarding the progress of this project, a dedicated page has been created on the Village’s website for project updates. Residents can access the page from the Village’s website at www.chevychasevillagemd.gov by clicking on the “Capital Improvements and Utility Upgrade Projects” link under the “Residents” tab. If you have any questions regarding the project, please do not hesitate to contact the Village office at (301) 654-7300 or via e-mail at ccv@montgomerycountymd.gov for more information.

The Village thanks you in advance for your patience as Washington Gas undertakes this project to improve gas service reliability on your street.

PEPCO Tree Pruning Operations Underway in the Village

Currently underway and lasting the next eight (8) weeks, PEPCO representatives will be conducting tree pruning operations on the below listed streets and on private property. This tree pruning continues efforts began five years ago in response to mandates from the Maryland Public Service Commission to all Maryland utilities regarding vegetation management and system upgrades.

In response to recent criticism for poor performance, the Maryland Public Service Commission has mandated that PEPCO conduct thorough reliability upgrades. This effort will include aggressive, but responsible, tree pruning around the power lines. Village staff along with the Village’s contracted consulting arborist, Tolbert Feather, Ph.D., has been meeting with PEPCO representatives to review PEPCO’s tree pruning plans. While past pruning efforts from PEPCO have resulted in resident concerns about the resulting aesthetic of the Village’s tree canopy, through our meetings with PEPCO we have been able to focus pruning operations to a strategic and minimalist—rather than blanket–approach which has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Feather. Throughout this cycle of tree pruning, both Village staff and Dr. Feather will continue to oversee the tree pruning operations.

Over the next few weeks PEPCO representatives will be conducting their tree pruning operations on the below listed streets. When PEPCO conducts pruning on privately-owned trees they are required to notify the resident of their intentions. When PEPCO is planning to remove trees they are required to receive written sign-off from the respective homeowners. If you are contacted by PEPCO because they wish to conduct tree pruning and/or removal operations on your property you have the right to request additional information on the requested pruning and/or removal. As a homeowner you also have the right to refuse PEPCO crews access to your property.

PEPCO’s scope of work for these improvements may include tree trimming along the following streets and in rear yards where high voltage power lines exist:

Cedar Parkway
West Irving Street (between Cedar and Magnolia Parkways)
Hesketh Street (between Cedar and Magnolia Parkways)
Grafton Street (between Chevy Chase Circle and Cedar Pkwy.)
Oliver Street
Grove Street
Center Street
Montgomery Street
Park Street
Belmont Avenue
Kirkside Drive

Tree limbs will be pruned to a minimum distance of 4-years of tree growth, based on the species of the particular tree being pruned and its expected growth rate. Trees may be pruned between two feet (2’) and seven feet (7’) from the power lines. PEPCO plans to trim both private and public trees in the above listed areas. If PEPCO is going to conduct tree pruning on private property a door hanger from PEPCO will be left on your door outlining the extent of the pruning scheduled along with a business card for a PEPCO representative.

Should you have any questions regarding PEPCO’s tree pruning, please do not hesitate to contact the Village office at (301) 654-7300 or via e-mail at ccv@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Lock Your Car EVERY Time You Park

(For Goodness Sake)

October was quite interesting with 2 bait car activations and 3 thieves arrested as a result. The only reason that these thieves continue to return to the Village is because some residents persist in leaving their cars unlocked.

Our thieves simply walk through the Village in the dark of night and pull on car door handles. There’s no need for them to break in because some of us simply invite them in by leaving cars unlocked. The thieves have learned that cars are left unlocked here, so they come back. And why shouldn’t they? Experience has shown that they always find unlocked cars, so their odds are quite good.

Think of this analogy: Leaving cars unlocked is like leaving food in the campsite in bear country. They will come back looking for it until they realize that there’s no food anymore. We have to stop doing this.

It is SO easy to simply push the lock button on the key fob. Those who leave their cars unsecured are impacting the larger community by contributing to the theft problem. Each of us has an obligation to lock up.

Just lock your car. Push that button. Please.

Did You Know?

No leaves in the street! Leaf season is underway and residents—and their lawn maintenance crews— are reminded that leaf piles should NEVER be placed in the street. Doing so blocks access to storm drain inlets and limits available on-street parking.
Building Permits are required for most exterior projects in the Village. When in doubt, give a shout, by calling or emailing Permitting & Code Enforcement Coordinator Ms. Ellen Sands at ccvpermitting@ montgomerycountymd.gov or 301-654-7300.
The Village Police maintain a medication drop-off box, which is accessible 24/7. Enter the Hall through the main entrance (off of Laurel Parkway) and head straight down the hallway to the white metal box on your left (no liquids or needles accepted).

Food Drive: Now - December in the Village Hall

For the fourth year in a row, Chevy Chase Village will partner with the Manna Food Center, the largest food bank in Montgomery County. Over the past 33 years, Manna has distributed 47.3 million pounds of food to more than 2.7 million individuals in need of food assistance. Manna serves approximately 3,700 individuals monthly totaling 11,000 unduplicated households each year. The services of Manna ensure that 21,000 adults and 15,000 children who are experiencing poverty, hunger, and food insecurity will receive essential food supports to help them break the cycle of hunger and food insecurity.

What can you do? We will have a food drop-off at the Village Hall beginning in October through December. When attending Village events (classes, Board Meetings, Halloween Party, Holiday Party…), residents are asked to bring an item to add to the box. Here are some ideas: peanut butter, tuna fish, beans, oatmeal, mac and cheese, pasta, baby food, and shelf-stable milk. Please do not donate expired food.

The Week Ahead: November 6 - November 12

Monday, November 7, 2016

1:00 - 3:00 p.m.: Chevy Chase @ Home will sponsor a Jewelry Making Class. Tuohey Conference Room

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.: General Election Day - Village Hall

Friday, November 11, 2016

All day: The Village Administrative Office and Public Works Department will be closed on Friday, November 11, 2016 in observance of the Veteran's Day Holiday. As a reminder, the Communications Center and Police Department are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For additional information on any of the meetings and events listed above, please contact Village Community Liaison/Administrative Assistant via e-mail at ccv@montgomerycountymd.gov.

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