Prince George's County 2020 Snow Summit

(Click on the image for the presentation)

Southern K-8 School Construction Site Logistics

Click here for a video of the Town Hall

(Click on the image for the full presentation)

 

Conservancy of Broad Creek - message from the President

What’s Really in Your Bottled Water?

(Click on the image for the Consumer Reports' article)

• CR recently tested 47 bottled waters, including 35 noncarbonated and 12 carbonated ones. For each product, we tested two to four samples. The tests focused on four heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury), plus 30 PFAS chemicals, which pose special concerns because they can linger in the environment almost indefinitely.
• Consumer Reports found toxic PFAS chemicals in several popular water brands, especially carbonated ones.

K-8 Townhall Webinar - Jan 21st

(Click on the image to register)

 

Meals by Mama Lois at National Golf Club

 Click here for The National Golf Club website

 

Water & Sewer Line Warranties

(Click on the image for the Washington Consumers' Checkbook report)

• Bottom line: Even if you own a house for decades, your odds of having a catastrophic water- or sewer-line failure are quite low.
• While They Seem Affordable, These Plans Are Wildly Overpriced
• Claims data from an interoffice memo obtained by Checkbook regarding the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s partnership with HomeServe indicated that only 4,450 exterior water and sewer claims were made from the 126,207 plans purchased during the program’s first two-and-a-half years, an annualized incidence rate of 1.4 percent.
• During HomeServe’s partnership with WSSC, claims for sewer line repairs also averaged just $580; the average was $1,565 for water line claims.
• The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority evaluated these programs and decided not to participate because the plans were “not in the best interest” of customers.

Tributaries of Swan Creek

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From the DoE Clean Water Map

How to Improve Your Balance So You Don't Fall This Winter

(Click on the image for Elizabeth Yuko's report in Lifehacker)

• The key, according to Locker, is to use your own body weight, bending your knee and ankle, and transferring your weight from your back leg to your front leg—the same type of balance required for ice skating or paddle boarding.
• One way to practice doing this is to get used to walking on uneven surfaces. While there are other health benefits from hitting the pavement, assuming that the sidewalk is relatively smooth, it doesn’t pose a challenge to your postural muscles. Walking on uneven surfaces—like outdoor trails, or other places where you really have to pay attention to where and how you’re walking—on the other hand, engages your postural muscles and over time, helps improve your balance and stability.

Passing of Dr. Joe Weller

 Dear Neighbors,

We are sad to report the passing of Joe Weller, husband of Tantallon Newsletter Editor Rosemary Weller. The Wellers are longtime residents of Tartan Lane and staunch supporters of our community. Joe's many friends will sorely miss him. Please keep Rosemary and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

From the Kalas website:

Dr. Joseph Forrest Weller, 81, of Ft. Washington, MD died on December 30, 2020. Born on April 21, 1939 in Louisville, KY to the late Joseph Y. Weller and Alice Reardon Weller. Joe is survived by his wife of 56 years, Rosemary Doheny Weller, his son Michael Weller, daughter-in-law Sara Levin Weller, granddaughter Ilana Weller, two brothers-in-law, Frank P. Doheny, Jr. of Louisville, and Edward J. Doheny of Washington, DC, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. His younger brother, William predeceased him.

Dr. Weller earned a B.S. degree from Xavier University, a Master’s degree from American University, and a Ph.D. from American University. His professional career spanned nearly 40 years at the US Naval Research Lab where he was a Senior Research Physicist. In retirement, Dr. Weller was active in his community citizens association, Ft. Washington Community Chorus, and served as a math tutor to middle school students at The Washington Jesuit Academy.

Due to the pandemic, a Funeral Mass will be limited to immediate family members with burial to follow at Resurrection Cemetery. Friends may pay their respects to the family at Kalas Funeral Home, 6160 Oxon Hill Road, Oxon Hill, MD 20745 between 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Sunday, January 3.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made to The Washington Jesuit Academy, 900 Varnum St. NE, Washington, DC 20017.

Impact of the New K-8 School on Fort Washington Communities

 

Christmas 2020 in Tantallon

 Merry Christmas!

What is the Comprehensive School Boundary Initiative?

The Comprehensive School Boundary Initiative will provide an impartial analysis of current school boundaries, feeder patterns and program locations and to develop, with community input, scenarios for adjustments in order to populate new and expanded school facilities and balance facility utilization throughout the County.

The public meeting for us (Southern Region) will be on January 7, 2021.

Click here for more information and to register to attend the meeting.

Update: Swan Creek Drainage Improvements - Public Meeting #2

• Per Charlie Griffith (DPW&T): The blue lines are the existing storm drains, orange/peach color are proposed storm drains. The gray lines are existing contours (elevations) and the black bolder lines are proposed contours (elevations). The grading is to direct flow efficiently to the inlets and hopefully help the property owners with site issues.
• Click here for a recording of Public Meeting #2. If you are asked for a passcode, use wJ*N%7+q

Winter Is Hard on Your Pets - Please Follow These Tips

(Click on the image for more tips)

Residents Could Be Forced to Leave at Moment's Notice as Retaining Wall Fails

(Click on the image for Tracee Wilkins' News4 report)

• The retaining wall built to support houses in the Tantallon community in Fort Washington is shifting every time it rains.
• Three homes on Hallwood Place have sinking backyards and cracks long their foundations — one near a gas line.
• Four older homes on Asbury Drive are being pushed by moving dirt like a tsunami coming ashore.
• “The wall has gotten too bad, and the previous fix that they had is no longer going to work, and they don't really have no answers for us,” Briggs said.
• County Councilwoman Monique Anderson-Walker met with the residents Monday to discuss next steps.
  “If there is negligence, then they must pay a price, the price of making people whole, and perhaps the price of not being able to do business here until they've done so,” she said.

 

Update: Meet the New Owner of GIANT-Livingston Square

 From Council Member Monique Anderson-Walker:

We are looking forward to hearing the redevelopment vision for Giant - Livingston Square from the new owner and developer, Brandon Bellamy, Chief Executive Office of The Velocity Companies on Tuesday, December 8 - 6:30-8:00 pm. Bellamy will share the plans for the revitalization of Giant that will provide healthy options for the District 8 community. 

Click here for a video of the meeting.

Annual Aircraft Noise Report

(Click on the image for the report)

From John Mitchell:

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has just published its noise report for last year. Accokeek and Fort Washington are pretty much obliterated in the map of arrival traffic (Page 11), and the split between arrivals (that bother us) and departures (that don't) is still heavily biased in favor of giving Prince George's County more noise (Page 7), American Airlines was responsible for 100% of the Nighttime Noise Rule violations (Page 18), and three of the top five individual complainers all of Maryland are from Accokeek (Page 28).

 

2020 Winter Community Partners' Meeting

(Click on the image for the video)

DPW&T, the Department of the Environment, and the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement provided important information and updates as we head into the winter season.

DPW&T 2020 Virtual Snow Summit

(Click o the image for the video)

 DPW&T and partnering agencies provide information on services the County offers during inclement weather as well as important tips.