Round IV - KPRCG vs. Kingman Park Civic Association

Below is a response email from Frazer Walton - President, Kingman Park Civic Association - to Bob Coomber's email response to ANC7D01 Commissioner Raglin dated Thursday, August 12, 2010 . Bob Coomber's response to Franzer Walton follows. Emails have been reproduced in their entirety; italicized text has been added for reference.

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Date: Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:33 PM

ROSEDALE ALLIANCE "GARDEN GROUP" NON-COMPLIANCE WITH D.C. HEALTH CODE COMMUNITY COMPLIANCE REQUEST THAT THE GARDEN GROUP COMPLY WITH D.C. LAW

Mr. Coomber:

This e-mail comes in reply to your e-mail dated August 12, 2010. The Kingman Park Civic Association is very disappointed that you would make false, untruthful and intentionally misleading statements to the D.C. City Counsel, officials of the District Government, the ANC Commission, and the general public. You have falsely stated, and implied that the Rosedale Alliance "Garden Group" did not commit D.C. Health Code violations last summer. This misleading misrepresentation was made by you, when you stated in your e-mail that the owner of the subject "Garden" lot was cited for health code violations and not the "garden group."

The truth is that the owner of the subject "garden" lot was cited last summer for health code violations that were committed by "The Rosedale Alliance Garden Group." See the attached, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INSPECTION REPORT. The false representations [in your August 12th e-mail] that the garden group was not responsible for the health code violations are inexcusable and extremely deceptive. This now leaves your credibility, and the credibility of your group in question.

In addition, you have falsely and intentionally mispresented the fact that the garden group did not build an illegal wooden fence, which surrounds the "garden lot." This is an out right falsehood. The fence was build by several members of your garden group, and witnessed by neighbors, many, whose homes are adjacent to the garden lot. Mr. Jordan and you failed to obtain required governmental permits to construct the fence, and you proceeded to construct the fence despite objections by many of the adjacent landowners.
The obstruction created by the fence prevents many of the adjacent landowners from observing and reporting suspicous criminals to the police and appropriate authorities. This is exactly why you and Mr. Jordan are required to obtain permits first. Unwanted strangers and characters are seen coming and going from the rear of adjacent homes at all times of the night and day. Your group greatly contributed to this problem because the problem did not exist prior to your efforts to bring dozens of individuals to the rear of the homes. We are demanding that you and your group remove the illegal fence and stop this course of misconduct.


Equally disturbing is your untruthful statement that dead bodies or a dead body was found on the lot. Nothing is further from the truth. What type of morbid thought would bring you to make such a false statement. Before you arrived we had a wonderful neighborhood, and we will continue our reputation as a historically great D.C. community.

KPCA will continue to monitor this issue, and we will not hesitate to contact public officials and neighors about any unlawful activity and health code violations. I am sure that Ms. Marie Hille of the D.C. Department of Health will confirm the violations caused by the "garden group" last summer. Committing these health code violations for a second summer is not responsible activity. I suggest that you contact her immediately.

Sincerely,

Frazer Walton
President
Kingman Park Civic Association

Attachment: D.C. Department of Health Inspection Report


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Date: Monday, August 16, 2010 4:30:53


Dear Mr. Walton:

In my email, I wrote that the Kingman Park Rosedale Community Garden "conversed with DC DOH, rectified all issues they raised, and a citation was not issued" last summer. A brief record of that conversation can be seen in the DC DOH report, which you attached to your email. It is supportive of the account of events in my emails. The Report did not state that the Kingman Park Rosedale Community Garden or its members were issued a notice of abatement or a citation, which runs counter to your claim that there was a "misleading misrepresentation was made by you, when you stated in your e-mail that the owner of the subject 'Garden' lot was cited for health code violations and not the 'garden group.'" The Report does not involve the issuance of any citations, but only mentions that an abatement notice was sent to "Mr. Asad Hameed, who owns the land that is used by the community garden."

There are many issues that contribute to the mosquito problem in the Kingman Park and Rosedale neighborhoods, and a well tended Garden is at the bottom of the list. On the plot next to the Garden, the vegetation grew so long at one point this summer that it was much higher than the fence that has surrounded the Garden area for many years. Such overgrowth is a source of mosquitoes; as are the large puddles that form in the dilapidated alleys; as are the water traps in all of the backyards on either side of 21st Street, NE between D and E Streets that do not properly drain; as are clogged gutters. Working together to rectify these issues would be a more effective use of your, Ms. Raglin's, and my time and energy.

Our DCRA compliant repairs to the fence have been addressed by my previous emails. Your claim that it prevents people from seeing criminals inside the Garden is difficult to understand, considering the fence is largely transparent. (see attached picture below)



I did not write that dead bodies or a dead body was/were found in the Garden lot. The first reference to dead bodies being found on the property that contains the Garden was in your email. It is disturbing that you created this issue.

I have been in close contact with Ms. Hille of the DC DOH. In an email to Ms. Raglin this morning, Ms. Hille wrote that I corresponded with her "in a responsible manner and disclosed many details that left me at ease with confidence that the garden was under capable hands." Feel free to contact her for further information.

If you have any further concerns, feel free to contact me. I look forward to working together with other Kingman Park and Rosedale residents to address the issues that confront us.

Regards,

Bob Coomber
Kingman Park/Rosedale Community Garden (KPRCG) Co-coordinator

Round III - ANC7D01 Commissioner Calls Upon DC Department of Health

Below is an email exchange between SMD7D01 Commissioner Raglin and Maria Hill -
Program Manager, DC Department of Health, Animal Disease Prevention - in reference to a requested site inspection, by Commissioner Raglin, for purported mosquito infestation within the Kingman Park/Rosedale Community Garden. Emails have been reproduced in their entirety.

For a further background information, read Round I and Round II

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Date: Monday, August 16, 2010 at 9:35 AM


Good Morning Ms. Raglin,

Thanks for your comments.

Please be informed that as soon as your complaint came to me, I contacted Mr. Coomber, the Coordinator for the KPR Garden and inquired about his garden management, approach and techniques. I did not get involved with anything else.

I ensured that:

1. any situation that leads to the mosquito breeding and harborage such as piles of yard waste, standing water, thick plant overgrowth were taken care of.

2. making an effort in changing watering (irrigation) habits to watering only at the ground level and not wetting the foliage of the plants.

3. Informing him that Tiger mosquitoes are able to breed in droplets of water that are retained in the foliage.

4. Use measures to discourage the attraction of opossums, raccoons and rodents. Any fruit/vegetable waste to be removed from the yard and prevent compost areas.

Mr. Coomber responded in a responsible manner and disclosed many details that left me at ease with confidence that the garden was under capable hands. Please understand that summer is peak time of West Nile Virus surveillance, complaints and other related activities related to not only mosquitoes in the city.

I’ll be glad to reach you once I inspect the entire area. The inspection, as you may recall from last year, is extensive because it includes inspecting the residents’ yards, which also contributed to the mosquito problem last year.


Regards,

Maria Hille
Program Manager / Bureau of Community Hygiene / HRLA
DC Department of Health / Animal Disease Prevention / Government of the District of Columbia
825 North Capitol St., NE / Suite 8026
Washington DC 20002

Office: (202) 535 -1952
Mobile:(202) 380 - 6944
Fax: (202) 535 -1359
maria.hille@dc.gov / www.doh.dc.gov


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Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 5:12 AM


Ms. Hille,

As the Program Manager for the Arborvirus Surveillance Program, I am disappointed that it took 17 (seventeen) days for you to find the current owner of the property and to contact me to schedule an inspection for a community hygiene problem in the neighborhood. Your "lack of opportunity to conduct an inspection this year" erodes the confidence of DC residents in the DC Dept of Health's ability to respond and protect all of its citizens as required by law and gives the "garden group" a wanton and reckless license to create any unhealthy situation in the community without impunity.

I am sure Mayor Fenty would want faster service and response to community concerns because he just apologized and pledged better service to D.C. voters. In the meantime, other candidates have promised better and more efficient service.

Please notify me of 3 potential inspection dates and times so that I can arrange my schedule to walk with you.


Veronica Raglin

ANC 7D01

Addressing Concerns @ the Kingman Park/Rosedale Community Garden

Below is an email response from Bob Coomber, one of two coordinators for the King Park/Rosedale Community Garden (KPRCG), to a recent email from SMD7D01 Commissioner Veronica Raglin. Her email was sent to various DC Government and DC Elected officials concerning "mosquito hazard" she purportedly witnessed within the KPRCG. The Commissioner's email is below and has been reproduced in its entirety.


Kingman Park/Rosedale Community Garden Sign

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From: bob.coomber@gmail.com
Subject: Kingman Park-Rosedale Community Garden Concerns
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:21:05 -0400


Dear Ms. Raglin and Others:

Let me first apologize to the many individuals copied on this email who are receiving it unnecessarily. Ms. Raglin chose not to address members of the Kingman Park-Rosedale Community Garden ("KPR Garden") directly regarding the concerns in her emails, which are attached below.

Ms. Raglin, for future reference, my name is Bob Coomber. I am the Coordinator for the KPR Garden, along with Rebekah Wilhelm, who is copied on this email. I live across the street from you at (address removed for privacy). My number is (phone number removed for privacy). Feel free to stop by, call me, or email me any time.

As Coordinator for the KPR Garden, I would like to provide some background, and address the issues Ms. Raglin raised with individuals and entities in the District Government. The KPR Garden is an entity fiscally sponsored by the Rosedale Citizens Alliance ("RCA"). The KPR Garden is comprised of over thirty individuals who live in the Kingman Park and Rosedale neighborhoods, and several individuals who liver farther West towards Capitol Hill. Five of the KPR Garden members live in houses whose property is across an alley from the Garden property, and four of those people live just a few doors down from Ms. Raglin. The KPR Garden is located in an interior block among 20th, 21st, D, and E Streets NE.


Kingman Park/Rosedale Community Garden Location Map

Garden members are responsible for their own 4' by 16' or 4' by 8' plots, and the areas surrounding those plots. Please see the attached pictures for reference, two of which were taken yesterday (labeled "KPR Garden Summer" and "KPR Garden Detail"). Garden members raise a variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, including tomatoes, squash, corn, cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, peppers, herbs, and lettuce. The Garden also maintains over a dozen small plots just outside its fence, in which we grow a variety of produce. Any member of the community may enjoy this produce free of charge. In addition, we have had several garden members with economic hardships who garden their plots free of charge. According to long-time residents, the area that contains the Garden had been a Victory Garden in the 1940s, but in the 1990s and early 2000s had become a parking lot, and then an overgrown dumping ground. The Garden in its current incarnation was started in 2005.


2005 Photo of the Garden Site


2005 Photo of the Garden Site

From my reading of Ms. Raglin's emails, she raises three issues, two of which she raised for the first time last summer.

The first issue Ms. Raglin raised last summer, and again this summer, is a concern regarding the rain barrels in the Garden. The rain barrels were purchased by Garden members through an organization working with a grant from the District, similar to the program that currently exists between the District Department of the Environment and DC Greenworks. The rain barrels in use have screens on the top of them, and those not in use are turned over. There is no screen on the bottom openings because there are valves on these openings that allow water to flow out, and allow gardeners to use the water.


KPR Garden Spring (2010)

The second issue that Ms. Raglin raised last summer, and raises again this summer, involves the fence that has, for many years, surrounded part of the area that currently contains the Garden. The fence existed long before the Garden was created in 2005. The fence was repaired last year by Garden members after a stolen van knocked it down. The Garden repaired the fence using its own funds and used like materials to do so. The Garden did not seek reimbursement for these repairs. According to the DCRA website, "the following work does not require a building permit: . . . Repair of existing fences with like materials.". The Garden repaired the existing fence with like materials. Therefore, no permit was necessary according to DCRA.


KPR Garden Summer (2010)


KPR Garden Detail (2010)

The final issue, and the only new issue Ms. Raglin raised, was a concern that the soil that the Garden had delivered from a soil company, not from the District as Ms. Raglin stated, was "contaminated." We had the soil tested by the University of Massachusetts, and the University found it to be perfect for raising vegetables. It is not clear from where Ms. Raglin's definition of "contaminated" stems, or what Ms. Raglin means by "exceeds EPA standards." Ms. Raglin, please expand on this issue so that I can allay any further concerns. Garden members would not each fruit and vegetables raised in soil we believed to be contaminated.

Ms. Raglin, I hope that this addresses all of your concerns.

Anyone can feel free to contact me if they would like to speak on these issues further. Again, my number is (number removed for privacy) and I am responsive to email.

Regards,

Bob Coomber

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Subject: mosquito hazard
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 8:15 AM


Good Morning,

Last year you observed that the rain barrels on the rear lot of the 400 block of 21st St NE were harboring live mosquito larvae. Yesterday, I observed 4 rain barrels that are a breeding ground for mosquitos: 2 barrels with 6-8inch top holes and no screens, 2 barrels with side openings with no screens.

This "garden", sponsored by the Rosedale Citizen's Alliance had the DC Government to dump contaminated soil that exceeds EPA standards onto this lot. I informed Councilmember Alexander by email of this situation on June 8, 2010 with no action taken yet.

This "garden" continues to be a health hazard to the community with the threat of West Nile virus, airborne health related issues and now rotting vegetables that attract rodents and insects.

Please respond.

Thanks,
Veronica Raglin
ANC 7D01