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September 2023 BSCL Membership Meeting

  • Barcroft School and Civic League 800 South Buchanan Street Arlington, VA, 22204 United States (map)

BSCL met on September 7, 2023 for its monthly membership meeting.


Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order at 7:31 PM.

Minutes from May 4 2023 meeting approved.

Budget proposal approved.  Cash reserves are down about $3500 from last year.  Projections are for continued increases in rental income.  The Community House renovations (see below) will cost BSCL about $25k this year.

We’re looking for a new Board member.  The time commitment is very low.

The Barcroft News could really use an ad manager.  The News is the only communication BSCL has with every resident.  Printing costs keep escalating.  The ad manager could, in a few hours a week, keep communication with regular advertisers, respond to queries from potential advertisers, and ideally find some new advertisers.

The grant from the County for the new roof and exterior painting of the Barcroft Community House has been approved.  We’re awaiting the official go-ahead, expected soon, to have the contractor start the work.  The grant proposal committed the BSCL to holding more community-focused events at the BCH, and we’re looking for ideas that would demonstrate the BCH’s value as a focal point for outreach to community members who may need help or want a closer connection to their neighbors.  Feel free to use the #BSCL hashtag in the group chatlist to share your thoughts on this.

Resumption of in-person meetings at Community House is scheduled for the November 2 meeting.  There was a membership vote on this and it was unanimous.  There has been no decision as yet on whether there will be a remote sign-in for those who can’t be there in person.  There are some administrative and technological hurdles.

Traffic Committee Report, Rosemary Leffler and Carol Olander, Edward Buckley, and Abe Liao:

There have been an alarming number of serious automobile accidents recently, and one major focus is Buchanan-Pershing streets.  These featured excessive speed, largely from cut-through traffic and drunk drivers.  The sense of the neighbors along those roads is that measures beyond stop signs and speed humps need to be taken.  Circles were mentioned, but the County has designated that stretch of road to be an emergency route (ambulance, firetruck).

Christian Dorsey had a long talk with Ed Buckley and expressed his concern, but meaningful response from the County is not forthcoming to date.  The Traffic Committee believes we should keep pushing this and back it up with accounts of dangerous incidents, so if you have one to report, you can use the hashtag #trafficenforcement to do it, and to share your ideas on how to address this problem.  Avenues for the Committee to pursue are Complete Streets program, Vision Zero, and continued contact with Environmental Services and elected officials.  Individuals can report a problem to the County at any time.  This was how the three-way stop sign at 6th and Buchanan came about, after a six month process.  Articles on traffic issues can be submitted to the Barcroft News (editor@BSCL.org) for possible publication.

Meeting adjourned at 8:58 PM