Suspicious Visitors and Trash Dumping September 29, 2007

Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 1:05:32 PM
Subject: Marlboro Estates Alert! Suspicious VIsitors and Trash Dumping


Dear Neigbors,

Just before noon today I was walking in Fort Ward Park maintenance yard near the City trash dumpsters. I saw a private auto pull into the service road and drive into the maintenance yard near the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetary. When the driver saw me near the gate, with a camera in hand, he very quickly backed-up and left the area and the park.

I called Officer Oliver Dunn with the Alexandria Police Department and reported this suspcious behavior. Officer Dunn checked the car and the plates, which I photographed, and indicated that the car was from VA but registered outside of the City. Officer Dunn said he would check the area and try to increase patrols in the park.

I called Walter Powell, Ft. Ward Park Manager, but was unable to reach him.

The car I saw was a white Pontiac sedan, at least 5-6 years old. The driver was an African America male, mid-20's, with a goatee. He was wearing a doo-rag on his head. His passenger was an Asian woman of the same age or older. I don't believe that this man was the same person that tried to break into our home of September 1, 2007.

As I spoke to Officer Dunn I told him that I thought the couple might be coming to drop-off garbage in the City dumpsters or have other illegal interests. The park's maintenance yard is not locked and it is not uncommon for people to dump their waste in the City's receptacles. According to Officer Dunn Ft. Ward Park is not closed at 8:00 pm as the posted sign on Braddock Road indicates.

Please be on the look-out for the white Pontiac sedan and if you see it call the Alexandria Police Department and report it.

Also, as I was walking in the maintenance yard I noticed that the City is accepting all types of waste in two trash containers. One is a large open container typically used for construction debris. It was filled with park waste and what appeared to be residential or commerical waste. The other unit is a smaller trash receptacle that is designed to be enclosed. Unfortunately it was completely open and contained the same type of waste. It is unclear if either trash receptacle has the proper approvals to be located so close to our homes.

A number of homeowners have expressed ongoing concern about the City's trash receptacles. People are concerned with their close proximity to their homes, their acessibility to the public for illegal dumping, the poor condition of the maintenance yard, and the City's lack of responsiveness to any of our concerns. Please join me in co-signing a letter to the Mayor and City Council requesting that this trash receiving area be re-located to a non-residential area. Please let me know if you are willing to sign a letter.

If you would like to discuss either of these items with me please send a note or call me at 703-845-8947.

Thanks.

Glenn Eugster and Deborah Weatherly
4022 Ellicott Street