Community Liaison Council Meeting Minutes

April 16, 2009; 4:10 to 6:00 PM
Visitor Information Center, Building 45 (Natcher Building)
Conference Room D
National Institutes of Health

ANNOUNCEMENTS—Dennis Coleman, OCL Director, CLC Co-Chair; and Ginny Miller, CLC Co-Chair

• NIH will celebrate Earth Day on April 23 with activities planned in front of Building #1 from 10:00 to 3:00.

• Montgomery County Public Schools will hold numerous parent information meetings during April and May on subjects like college preparation and financing, helping students succeed, and teen problem recognition.  Mr. Coleman passed the schedule around for those interested.

• Montgomery County has hired Bob Hoyt as the new Environmental Protection Director. He is convening a one day environmental seminar on April 30 in collaboration with DoD, the Navy, and the Nature Conservancy) at the Naval Support Facility in Carderock, West Bethesda.  The topic is management and control of invasive plant species.

• The Manchester String Quartet will give another free public concert of classical music in the Masur Auditorium of Building 10 (the old hospital) on May 11 at 12:30 pm.

• NIH’s second annual Take a Hike Day will be May 6.  This is part of a White House challenge launched last year to promote a healthier federal work force.

• In an ironic twist, the month following the March CLC presentation on neighborhood crime prevention by local police was marked by theft of a staff member's bicycle from a bike rack on NIH property.

• Jan Clark, who periodically represented the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) at CLC meetings last year, will be leaving to take a job in Hawaii.  She will be replaced by John Frankenburg, who will be advised of future CLC meetings.

• Forbes magazine has ranked Bethesda as America’s second most livable city.  Portland, Maine was #1.  Forbes had previously ranked Bethesda as America’s most educated small city.

• The Woodmont Triangle Action Group will meet at 8:30 AM tomorrow (April 17) at the County's Bethesda Regional Services office.

• CLC members have asked NIH grounds keeping staff to evaluate "pre-screening" of future tall structures to be built near the campus perimeter.  MLP-E, a 60 foot tall parking structure planned to be built near the south edge of Lot 41 during the next phase of campus development is a good candidate.  Next month, Lynn Mueller will address the feasibility of prescreening at that location.

• An SHA representative will describe planned area intersection improvements at the CLC’s May 21 meeting.  SHA had been scheduled to present that topic at today's meeting, but a postponement was necessary since they recently held public forums on the same issue at a few other BRAC-affected locations and need to catch up on their office work.  With regard to SHA plans, some CLC members indicated that they had attended the SHA public workshop on April 2nd.  A flyer was provided to attendees but no intersection drawings.  Mr. Coleman said that the intersection drawings are on the MDoT web site, and copies are provided in the BRAC section of today's handout. 
  
  With respect to larger issues like state highway projects, Mr. Schofer suggested that future CLC agendas be provided to Sen. Cardin's local office staff in addition to the present practice of providing them to the local offices of Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Van Hollen.  Mr. Coleman agreed to do that and added that Sen. Mikulski's office has in fact recently hired a replacement for Susan Taybach, who left her position last year.  The new staff member is Jahantab Siddique, who prefers to be called J-Tab.  Mr. Coleman has already provided J-Tab with CLC background information and expects that he will periodically attend future CLC meetings when the agenda has a topic of interest to him and his schedule allows. 

• On the subject of CLC representation, Mr. Coleman introduced and welcomed Sally Kaplan of the Western Montgomery County Citizens’ Advisory Board.  She was asked by Ken Hartman (Director of the County's Bethesda Services Center) to represent the County at CLC meetings.  Sally is also president of the board of Bethesda Cares, a local charitable organization. 
  
  Finally, in an unaccustomed burst of interest in the CLC, the communications office of Howard Hughes Medical Institute has also requested to be notified of CLC information and future agendas.

• Two neighbors have recently asked about rumors that NIH was planning to change Lincoln Drive to one way traffic circulation, but NIH staff are not aware of such plans.  The only issue that has arisen at that intersection in the past year is the need for better signage.  Drivers are supposed to turn left or right only, and not go straight across Old Georgetown Road, but some do.

• At the last meeting, Ms. Lueders mentioned that she had witnessed a visitor with a large suitcase not being able to leave the campus through the sally port near Metro.   The elevator which should have provided an alternate path was inoperative or locked.  Mr. Moss said this is an equipment and software interface issue.  ORS is aware of it, and it will be resolved.

• A portion of the Kiss & Ride (drop off) area (near the Metro stop) has recently been blocked by orange cones, and commuters have asked why, since the area is easily congested.  Mr. Moss said that Metro manages that facility and its use through an easement, although it is on NIH property.  Mr. Wheeland received a commuter's email and also expressed a desire to understand the purpose of the cones.  Mr. Schofer said Metro police seem willing to enforce certain regulations on the easement, but the rules were likely defined decades ago and may not be clear to current staff.  Mr. Moss will ask NIH police about this issue.  He knows that Metro plans to reinstall parking meters and return the area to its former Kiss & Ride use, now that Gateway Center is complete.  Mr. Schofer noted further that the turn lane into Gateway Center off Rockville Pike and a painted pavement area nearby together make it possible for people to create an unplanned Kiss & Ride, which blocks traffic and is undesirable. 
  
  With respect to other issues near the main NIH entrance, Mr. Schofer also reported that Navy base construction workers have apparently been using the NIH visitor parking garage at Gateway Center.  Mr. Moss pointed out that this is a public garage outside the security fence, and users are paying a fee of up to $12 per day. Off site users were recognized as a potential problem when the garage was designed, but there is no easy way to distinguish NIH and other construction workers. A certain number of spaces are restricted to 6-hour or 1-hour parking, so true visitors will be ensured a space.  Otherwise, parking is not enforceable without an unreasonable commitment of NIH resources.  
  
  On a final east side perimeter issue, members noted that new permanent signs had recently been installed on the perimeter of the campus, one of which encroached on the sidewalk/bike path near Wilson Drive.  Mr. Coleman mentioned that other commuters had reported the sign as well, and Ms. Hinton will address the issue later during her presentation.

• CLC experience with various campus impacts is now known as far away as Gaithersburg.  A Community Association there has been asking OCL for information about noise from a leased NIH facility in Gaithersburg.  They asked how noise was regulated, how loud it's permitted to get before mitigation Is warranted, how it's measured and tested, etc.  Mr. Coleman worked with NIH facility staff and a test will be done this summer under maximum noise conditions (aka full chiller load).  The objective will be to determine whether building noise has gotten louder relative to the "borderline" measurements neighbors say were previously obtained.

FACILITIES
Perimeter Signs—Susan Hinton, Master Planner, ORF
Ms. Hinton showed a map identifying the location of 10 new perimeter signs along Rockville Pike, Old Georgetown Road and Cedar Lane.  The first two signs were recently installed along Rockville Pike, at Wilson Drive and the CVIF entrance, as a part of a signage mock-up.  Once installed, however, ORF realized the signs overhung the bike path and determined that it would remove the signs and reinstall the concrete mounting pads and signs so the signs were set further back from the sidewalk/bike path.  Mr. Coleman noted that it also didn't take long for commuters to notice the misplaced signs and thanked NIH's unpaid monitors for promptly bringing a potential safety issue to staff attention.

Lot 41 Storage Review—Susan Hinton, Master Planner, ORF & Lot #41 is a large surface parking area along the south side of the campus.  Because of its relative isolation, various items have accumulated or been stored there over the years, thus creating visual impacts.  ORF recognizes that storage is not the area's intended land use and will be more proactive in terms of preventing such use in the future.  Ms. Hinton showed photos of various utility vehicles parked along the edge of Lot 41, some apparently for long periods.  In addition to these vehicles, there were also a gas tank, dumpsters, trailers, a portable shed, a pile of mulch, snow removal equipment, and assorted landscaping equipment. 

ORF will start the Lot 41 clean up by identifying ownership of items in the lot and labeling those that warrant removal.  In some cases, ORF may have to identify alternate storage space.  Some items have already been removed, but others tend to appear in the empty spaces, as if word has gotten out that Lot 41 is a convenient storage area.  ORF also would like to better organize whatever items belong in Lot 41.  For example, buses could be parked together; larger vehicles could be parked away from the perimeter where they are less visible to adjacent homes; and ordinary vehicles could be parked towards the perimeter, where they would visibly blend in with the normal appearance of a parking lot.

Discussion
The issue is exacerbated by Lot 41 being so accessible from all over the campus.  Unlike other NIH parking facilities and structures, Lot 41 is not enclosed, gated or patrolled. Mr. Moss added that managing the lot is the purview of the NIH Division of Amenities and Transportation Services.  Moreover, Lot 41 is an overflow lot so oftentimes, the spaces are not fully occupied..

Ms. Blackburn said that ORF staff has discussed a permit parking policy for the vehicles that are permitted to park in this area and the possibility of towing unauthorized vehicles/equipment at the owner’s expense.  Ms. Hinton said that staff is still getting a handle on the nature of the problem, but the planners do care about it.  In view of uncertain ownership of some stored items or lack of alternative space for them, however, resolution is likely to take several months.

Mr. Coleman observed that Whitehall residents, such as Dr. Ozarin and Ms. Wade, overlook the lot.  Ms. Hinton said landscaping is under discussion, but that will not help obscure views from upper floor locations.  Ms. Wade said she would report to other Whitehall residents that the issue is being addressed and should be resolved in months rather than years.

ENVIRONMENT
Green Office Renovations at NIH:  Lessons Learned—Kenny Floyd, DEP, ORF
Building 13 is a 1951-vintage warehouse converted to offices.  When the building was first converted they dropped the ceilings, blocking the top half of the windows, and installed high-walled cubicles.  The overall effect was dark and oppressive.  The building has now been renovated using “green” principles much to everyone’s approval and has become an example of how green office renovation can contribute to productivity.

NIH now applies principles of sustainable environments across the campus to significantly reduce or eliminate the negative effects of buildings on the environment, not only during construction, but from cradle to grave, recycling or returning to the Earth materials used in the building.  The importance of making buildings more sustainable is shown by the fact that they account for 39% of energy consumption and water use in the United States, 71% of electricity use and 39% of CO2 emissions.  For perspective, transportation accounts for 32% of US energy consumption.

Energy reduction requirements for federal facilities were mandated by Executive Order in the year 2000.  These include:

• Reduce energy consumption by 3% per year through 2015, thus achieving a 30% overall reduction. (Between FY2003 and September 2008, NIH has reduced its energy use by about 28.6%.)
• Reduce petroleum consumption by 20% and increase alternative fuel consumption by 10% compared to the 2005 baseline.
• Perform comprehensive energy and water audits of 25% of the facilities each year and repeat every 4 years so as to produce a culture of continuous improvement.

NIH's affirmative procurement plan references the same requirements stated in the Executive Order.  By 2010, NIH will be able to show the required energy demand decrease, but not necessarily decreased cost, because energy costs along with technology, policy, and weather change, thus making compliance a moving target.  All energy data will be available to staff via the Internet later this summer.  This is likely to motivate staff to save even more energy.

The 6 principles NIH is using to green the organization are:

1. Employ integrated design principles.
2. Optimize energy performance.
3. Protect and conserve water.
4. Enhance indoor environmental quality (IEQ).
5. Reduce environmental impact of materials (e.g., use local and renewable materials such as bamboo).
6. Conform with local environmental requirements.

IEQ examples include:  the GREENGUARD TM furniture system (i.e. fabric made of corn with recyclable steel frames and sustainable wood components); use of low VOC (volatile organic compound) mastic for carpeting; carpet made of recycled content; and carpet made of tile like segments with random design patterns so a few tiles in heavily used or soiled areas can be replaced instead of the whole carpet.  

When Building 13 was renovated, the air handling system with its accumulated contaminants was replaced, windows were enlarged, and open space was left at the top of partitions so natural light could enter and people inside could see outside.

Lighting accounts for 20 to 50% of electricity consumption, so a transition is underway to smaller-diameter fluorescent lights (T5 instead of T12).  Eventually, these will be upgraded to LED tubes when prices come down (now $80 per tube, but tubes last 25 to 30 years, or 80,000 hours).  LED tubes, which save 70 to 80% of energy over T5, are designed to replace traditional T5 fluorescent light tubes, so the fixtures and transformers will not have to be replaced.

So far, 20 NIH Institutes have signed up Green Teams to identify things they themselves can work on to help green their labs, offices, and procurements.  Promotion of NIH's Environmental Management System (NEMS) has used eye-catching posters to get people’s attention and spread the word about "Going Green".  This is the beginning of a significant change in the NIH environment over the next 10 years, a period in which everyone will find ways to reduce the amount of energy and materials needed to accomplish NIH's biomedical research mission.  See <www.nems.nih.gov> for the latest in NIH’s environmental management efforts.

Discussion

TRANSPORTATION
Local Intersection Improvement Plans—State Highway Administration (SHA) staff
At the request of SHA, this topic has been postponed to the 5/21/09 meeting agenda.

INFORMATION FORUM
Not topic this month

SPECIAL PROJECTS
Not topic this month

INFORMATION FORUM
Near-Term Traffic Impacts Warrant Coordination—Dennis Coleman, OCL Director, CLC Co-Chair
Mr. Coleman showed a map locating 13 projects and other traffic-related changes expected to impact the area during the next few years.  These include 4 BRAC intersection projects, BRAC construction and full scale operation, Metro station access improvement and drop off area expansion, NIH economic stimulus projects, County retention pond, Rock Creek bridge rehabilitation, and Suburban Hospital expansion.  This map explains why Mr. Wheeland (NIH's representative to the County's BRAC Committee) said that all these changes in an already congested area need to be well coordinated by the agencies involved if a "perfect storm" of congestion is to be avoided.

Mr. Coleman then showed a slide illustrating that the timing of the 13 traffic-related changes spanned the period from 2009 to beyond 2012.  Several of the projects are associated with BRAC, which has a completion deadline of September 2011. Most of the 13 changes are associated with construction work and are therefore temporary.  A few impacts, such as full scale BRAC operations and associated increases in shuttle services and transit area drop off traffic are permanent.

The changes are being pursued by 6 different agencies; namely, the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), NIH, the State Highway Administration (SHA), The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Montgomery County, and Suburban Hospital.  The location and timing graphs do not account for other area projects along the MD355 corridor undertaken by private developers.

Finally, Mr. Coleman showed an NIH campus overview map, with the locations of 3 adjacent BRAC intersection projects indicated.   The 3 projects affect much (~4000 feet) of the NIH perimeter.  SHA originally proposed to expand their right of way along this entire area.  Since much of the NIH perimeter is already occupied by structures, drive ways, landscaping and Metro access trails, and the BRAC EIS documents previously indicated both NNMC and DoD willingness to dedicate base property for traffic mitigation, NIH has proposed alternatives to make more use of other, more vacant land.  The intersection projects are certainly not finalized since SHA's recent workshops represented what is commonly referred to as the "30% design" stage.  Cost and funding remain in flux as well, as shown by the latest project cost estimates going from last year's $45M to a current range between $160M and $215M.

Discussion
Mr. Moss said that NIH has written to SHA with questions about their proposed right of way increase, but a response has been slow in coming.  He added that the traditional concept of state or local agencies exercising “eminent domain” over private property does not apply to federal land.  As a result, any alignment of state or county roads servicing NIH or NNMC will be a matter for future discussion among the state and federal agencies involved.

ROUND ROBIN
No comments were offered.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.  The next meeting is May 21, 2009

PARTICIPANTS
CLC Members
Marian Bradford, Camelot Mews
Lesley Hildebrand, Huntington Terrace
Darrell Lemke, Parkview
Ginny Miller, Wyngate
Marilyn Mazuzan, Oakmont
George Oberlander, Huntington Parkway
Ralph Schofer, Maplewood
Beth Volz, Locust Hill
Jeannette Wade, Whitehall

NIH Staff
Amy Blackburn, ORF
Dennis Coleman, OCL
Kenny Floyd, ORF
Susan Hinton, ORF
Brad Moss, ORS
Sharon Robinson, OCL

Guests
Sally Kaplan, Western Montgomery County Citizens’ Advisory Board
Winfield Swanson, Audio Associates

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