BCC Middle School Site Selction number 2 - 2012 version -

[Anonymous]

Everyone sees that except for a few dogmatic neighborhood residents. We'll all be sure to wave to you as we drive by to pick up our kids in a few years - we'll know how you are since you'll be the ones with pitchforks and lawsuits in hand.

Wrong my fellow MoCo resident. With the tight funds that we have, actually the BEST, and STILL best option is Lynnbrook. Remember, SSAC is merely an advisory board. They may have wished and protected their little private neighborhood (funded at taxpayer expense) day care center...But the reality is, it is still one of the very best options for the new middle school.

And for the record, I don't live in Kensington. But it is clear to me that there are many arrogant, rude folks who also don't live near Rock Creek Hills, and I am just thinking you might be one of them.

[Anonymous]

Public Parks lose out to Private Day Care...

I can't enumerate the loss of a park, but I can watch budget implications for buying a site rather than using existing inventory. Where's that line in the sand?

UCW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public Parks lose out to Private Day Care...

I can't enumerate the loss of a park, but I can watch budget implications for buying a site rather than using existing inventory. Where's that line in the sand?

UCW

There is none. The workfare recipients that run MCPS have an agenda. The backed away from RHLP because that turned into a political storm. They kept RCH because they already wasted money on a study, and they look like idiots enough for having to dump RHLP. Norwood and Lynbrook....it goes without saying. They had their representation upped in this go-around, and East Bethesda needed to assure its isolation from the east (love me, I am a liberal). And we got nailed based on size and location. What a sham.

[Anonymous]

Worse than a sham. It borders on criminal. MCPS must be called to account. Why do we ALL subsidize east bethesda's little private day care center, when all of the cluster's children need a new middle school, funds are tight, and mcps goes after our public assets of parks, so a bunch of arrogant me first folks take the public's former school property off the table, for no compelling reason whatsoever. Just "eliminate". Talk about entitlement.

Will Starr rubber stamp this charade? A least there were witnesses when Lynnbrook was voted off the hot seat, for NO APPARENT REASON, because as the reps from that community said: We love our private day care center, it is very well used (at tax payer expense) and the woman said, Oh, we plan to save that property for a NEW elementary school. Really? Right.

Shame on you all. And shame on the mcps employees who seemed hell bent on leading the votes to the same conclusion that had been planned all along. When Starr reopened the SSAC, he did so to have the Open Meetings Act violation dismissed, as well as the complaint before the MD BOE. Done, moot points all. Can he help it if this open fair process reached almost similar conclusions?

And many people still ask why does Lynnbrook get such a pass, the Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak?

I hope RCH (the obvious target in all of this) sues the pants off mcps. NCC should also start getting their hackles up. They have been railroaded. They have been scapegoated. They are facing the loss of park land, but more importantly, we all face the loss of future parkland if these voracious jackals aren't stopped. If you even bother to visit NCC, you will find, the only thing that recommends it for inclusion as one of the almost picked sites, is the fact that as far as I can tell, it has but one man advocating for the surrounding community, contrast that with, the B-C-C communities. A slam dunk voting block of self interested budgies.

Imagine the school buses stuck in traffic hell (which will only get worse) and all the parents who's kids missed the bus, but can't walk because there is no easy walking access...and you get a tiny idea of why NCC is an idiot's choice. Never mind the loss of trees, wild life, and pollution filter. Now on the other hand, you have RCH, who will fight this tooth and nail to their graves, and you have hold up after hold up. And I don't blame them one little bit.

If MCPS, would quit going after people's parks,and start looking at their own properties (sorry EB, but that is not your private little Shangrila, we all pay for it), then there might be a ray of light. But it does appear that this SSAC (hard working as they imagine themselves to be are destined to go down as the previous one into the Short Sighted Selfish Wall of Shame.

And we all say we are doing it for the children.

[Anonymous]

I like the North Bethesda Park option. Good location and a good amount if land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the North Bethesda Park option. Good location and a good amount if land.

What park are you even referring to? And, why is somebody back to talk about how we should develop our parks? If one more MoCo bureaucrat wants to tell me that today we have more parkland than we had 30 years ago, I will puke. Because thirty years ago we had way more green space in this county. It's just that every inch of that privately held farmland now has office parks and retail space sitting on it. MoCo officials are pushing the southern part of the county to start looking like the Bronx.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused by a number of the comments (just confused, not opposed). Why all the talk about a Day Care? At the meeting, there were reasons given for the elimination of Lynbrook. They mostly focused on size and road access, with some discussion of losing walkable practice fields for BCC sports teams. I never heard any discussion about a day care. I'm not suggesting that these were good reasons, or that elimibnation was the correct decsion, but these are the factors that were discussed.

I'm also confused about statements about the NCC community (in 22:30's post) NCCLP does not really serve the NCC neighborhood. The only community that is very closely tied is the CC Valley neighborhood (small) and the Hawkins lane neighborhood (very small). Because NCC is across CT ave. , they never go there and don't really care any more about that park than any other nearby park or trees. It is because of this remoteness that the park is very seldom used by anyone other than scheduled permits from MSI or BCC baseball.

Lastly, I don't understand all the fuss about traffic. I traverse Jones Bridge all the time at all times of day. Sure, it is congested, but it seldom takes more than a couple of minutes to get through the area.

[Anonymous]

The gentleman representing (I believe) EBCA did mention the day care and the woman (who also seemed connected to that community) sitting next to him mentioned that the Lynnbrook site should be saved for a "future" elementary school. It was kind of weird. I was there, and I did hear that. I was also surprised at how quickly many of the sites were dismissed after very little discussion. I also got the impression that much of the discussion time was monopolized by representatives from Rock Creek Hills. There was a slightly heated exchange between a lady who was not officially there as a RCH rep but representing BCC cluster something of other and she was rebuked by this same lady who wanted to save the Lynnbrook property for a future elementary school. But ironically, while this blond lady had obvious ties to East Bethesda community, I also believe her official status was BCC cluster something or other. She rebuked this other lady by telling her she was not there to represent her community (RCH) but rather the BCC Cluster something or other (long title). It did seem like a bit of hypocrisy on the part of Ms. Let's Save Lynbrook for Future Elementary School.

There must be a better way to pick a new school site. I also believe that parks should not be 6 out of the 10 sites (public) that are (were) up for consideration. Because one by one they will start to disappear. Though perhaps, once they do start eye baling Norwood, maybe the majority that now seems to rule will "get religion" and start realizing that this is not just a problem of the NIMBY less affluent neighborhoods.

Why is it some people can't look at a forest or a meadow without seeing wasted space?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused by a number of the comments (just confused, not opposed). Why all the talk about a Day Care? At the meeting, there were reasons given for the elimination of Lynbrook. They mostly focused on size and road access, with some discussion of losing walkable practice fields for BCC sports teams. I never heard any discussion about a day care. I'm not suggesting that these were good reasons, or that elimibnation was the correct decsion, but these are the factors that were discussed.

I'm also confused about statements about the NCC community (in 22:30's post) NCCLP does not really serve the NCC neighborhood. The only community that is very closely tied is the CC Valley neighborhood (small) and the Hawkins lane neighborhood (very small). Because NCC is across CT ave. , they never go there and don't really care any more about that park than any other nearby park or trees. It is because of this remoteness that the park is very seldom used by anyone other than scheduled permits from MSI or BCC baseball.

Lastly, I don't understand all the fuss about traffic. I traverse Jones Bridge all the time at all times of day. Sure, it is congested, but it seldom takes more than a couple of minutes to get through the area.

Many evenings at rush hour it can take me 1/2 hour to get from Conn. Ave. under the beltway overpass.

It also can take me 1/2 hour to get from Beach Drive S. of E/W Hwy to USUHS west of Jones Bridge.

Although I don't drive it regularly, coming E. from Wisc. to Conn. on Jones Bridge, there is a very long left turn lane even as early as 3:30pm. This is exactly the left turn lane one would use to get into the NCC park. I can't imagine piling after school and after activities pick up on top of this, plus buses, etc.



Both these drives take 5-10 minutes in non-rush hour traffic.

It is not just the Jones Bridge intersection. It is backups that ripple along the feeders to this intersection.

[Anonymous]

It is a little differnet for a 5 year old to be in a long bus ride compared to a 12-14 year old.

The EBCA is one of the most well organized associations in the County and largest. Think about all those votes...This isn't just about a middlle school

The traffic on Jones Bridge will not be a factor in this seeing the bulk of the traffic will be arriving after school starts and it gets out before the afternoon rush. they are also beginning the process of the extra turn lanes on Jones Bridge and Wisconsin Avenue and not to far off is a plan to open an entrance off the beltwya to go directly to the base seeing it backs up to the Beltway.

[Anonymous]

NCC Park is not a viable option due to traffic. PPs obviously don't transit this area, but NIH/WRNNMC have staggered hours and shifts - there are traffic backups starting at 7am and again beginning at 3pm. There are backups on weekends getting on and off the base. I would love to see them open a new beltway ramp directly on/off base, but that's nowhere near reality anytime in the near future. They are reconfiguring the turn lanes sometime next year, but that's to deal with the 5000 extra cars that were added to this area by BRAC/Walter Reed move. Add in the PL and planned development around CC Lake, and there's just no room for more. Sorry Kensington, it's your turn now. Bethesda and Chevy Chase have plenty of schools, community infrastructure and traffic already - time for your neighborhood to share in the fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused by a number of the comments (just confused, not opposed). Why all the talk about a Day Care? At the meeting, there were reasons given for the elimination of Lynbrook. They mostly focused on size and road access, with some discussion of losing walkable practice fields for BCC sports teams. I never heard any discussion about a day care. I'm not suggesting that these were good reasons, or that elimibnation was the correct decsion, but these are the factors that were discussed.

I'm also confused about statements about the NCC community (in 22:30's post) NCCLP does not really serve the NCC neighborhood. The only community that is very closely tied is the CC Valley neighborhood (small) and the Hawkins lane neighborhood (very small). Because NCC is across CT ave. , they never go there and don't really care any more about that park than any other nearby park or trees. It is because of this remoteness that the park is very seldom used by anyone other than scheduled permits from MSI or BCC baseball.

Lastly, I don't understand all the fuss about traffic. I traverse Jones Bridge all the time at all times of day. Sure, it is congested, but it seldom takes more than a couple of minutes to get through the area.

Many evenings at rush hour it can take me 1/2 hour to get from Conn. Ave. under the beltway overpass.

It also can take me 1/2 hour to get from Beach Drive S. of E/W Hwy to USUHS west of Jones Bridge.

Although I don't drive it regularly, coming E. from Wisc. to Conn. on Jones Bridge, there is a very long left turn lane even as early as 3:30pm. This is exactly the left turn lane one would use to get into the NCC park. I can't imagine piling after school and after activities pick up on top of this, plus buses, etc.



Both these drives take 5-10 minutes in non-rush hour traffic.

It is not just the Jones Bridge intersection. It is backups that ripple along the feeders to this intersection.

Sorry, but I really disagree with this analysis. I've taken this route in rush hour, and I have never waited more than one cycle for the left turn, and this is BEFORE the expenditure of $89M in remediation funds, which are slated for that area, the entire Jones Bridge and Connecticut Avenue intersection, and the landed road to the southeast of NCC park. Also, not all bus traffic (if any) will go in the direction of Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad folks are starting to wisen up to the disgraceful disorganization of MCPS in the BCC cluster. From the racist Rosemary Hills school busing program, to the disarray over site selection for an middle school where those same kids will go.

We need to vote these clowns out (and volunteer for any competitor that will listen) in the next election cycle.

[Anonymous]

From the racist Rosemary Hills school busing program

What are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know what schools will feed into the new middle school? I know there is concern that the new school should be as demographically balanced as possible, but a previous post referred to Joshua Starr's desire for walkable schools, and would seem to be at odds with a far eastern or western placement.

It also would seem to be at odds with the NCC location. That would almost seem to be the least likely option for walking from surrounding neighborhoods.

I only attended the first ssac meeting but the concept of a 6th grade academy was brought up, which would keep all the kids together through middle school (a good thing in my mind). But it seemed to be quickly shot down by mcps rep. Why?

This was brought up in reference to Westland. But couldn't a 6th grade academy be built in many of the other sites that have been eliminated as being too small? It would seem that a 6th grade academy would be less land hungry and solve the over crowding problem.

This deserves more consideration.