Please join us at our next Columbia Heights Civic Association Meeting:
Membership Meeting
Columbia Heights Civic Association
Monday, September 10, 2018
Walter Reed Community Center
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Agenda:
Career Center Working Group Final Report
As you are aware, the Career Center Working Group has been finalizing recommendations to Arlington County for the immediate and long-range plans for the Career Center campus. That report is being sent to the County on Friday, August 31. Until that happens the individual members of the CCWG have been precluded from sharing the report with anyone outside of the working group. The final report will be available on the County’s web page at https://www.apsva.us/career-center/ccwg-follow-journey/
This meeting will be our first opportunity to review those recommendations. Sarah McKinley, who represented Columbia Heights Civic Association, will give a presentation. It should be noted that there were no formal “votes” taken by the working group. Rather, the report represents issues upon which this large community group reached the general consensus. It does not make recommendations about academic choices that the County School Board may make about the programs on this site.
Another process to address specific architectural designs for the site will probably begin this fall.
Community Development Citizens Advisory Committee (CDCAC)
Tim Denning, Chairman of the Community Development Citizens Advisory Committee (CDCAC) will join us to discuss his group, which reviews grant requests, evaluates programs and makes recommendations to the County Board for the use of federal Community Development Block Grant and Community Services Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
He wants to encourage members of our civic association on the CDCAC. A link to the website is here:https://commissions.arlingtonva.us/community-development-citizens-advisory-committee/
Disabled Veterans’ Personal Property Tax Relief
John O’Hara has contacted civic associations and the civ fed to consider a proposal that would provide personal property tax relief to disabled veterans. He prepared a white paper that discusses the ramifications. That report is attached here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5u2k9mmwoun0p1o/getPart.pdf?dl=0. It is helpful for us to consider this proposal and decide whether our civic association would be in favor of it, which would inform our vote in any resolution at the Civic Federation.
Finally, please note that we have reached out to the School Board for Tannia Talento or some other representative of the school board to attend one of our meetings this fall to discuss the redistricting of elementary schools. The school board is well aware of our concern about the ability of children in our civic association to attend the new Alice Fleet Elementary School in the fall of 2019, as it replaces Patrick Henry Elementary School. The final decision on redistricting is expected to be made by this coming December.
Tentatively we are planning a debate among candidates, both for County Board and School Board, on October 24. We will forward plans when finalized.
We are also planning our annual meeting, which will probably take place in late October.
Sarah McKinley
President
Columbia Heights Civic Association
