NSAW Executive Officer, Cmdr. Phillip B. Raimondo, welcomed the 48 top leaders attending the quarterly TEC meeting and the 85 military and civilian personnel of various ranks and grades from various commands to the biannual Town Hall meeting on Jan. 20. The information presented and the formats for both meetings were identical.

Raimondo and others presented attendees with informational updates on a variety of topics including community development projects, public works issues, housing, morale, welfare and recreation, joint base planning and perceived parking issues affecting or potentially impacting the NSAW installations, its residents, workers and guests.

Driving, not parking is the problem

Raimondo asked those in attendance at each meeting to raise their hands if they drove into work with more than one person in the vehicle or took mass transit, walked or biked to work. Of those present few hands were raised.

‘‘That’s the problem - NSAW’s Commanding Officer, Capt. John Sears, has correctly stated that we do not have a parking problem, we have a driver problem,” Raimondo said. ‘‘We actually exceed the allowable number of parking spaces permitted by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) rules, by almost double.”

Raimondo answered questions and listened as some audience members express their frustration about not being able to locate parking spaces at certain times of the workday and during certain days of the workweek. Clearing up some misconceptions and improper perceptions, he provided information on the sharing and use of reserved, handicapped and executive parking spaces, in addition to general parking areas.

Raimondo said that NCPC rules allow only one parking space for every five employees. ‘‘NSAW has one space for every 3.36 employees at the Navy Yard. Even though we would like to, we are not allowed to build more parking area until we meet the criteria,” he said.

NSAW is considering converting existing parking spaces to reserved parking spaces for car pools. Additionally, the minimum number of people per vehicle may rise from two to three to qualify as a carpool and get a reserved space, according to Raimondo.

Raimondo said, ‘‘We are always looking at new ideas, innovations and alternatives to help make the situation better. Recently, we were able to gain more parking spaces in one parking structure by reengineering the way the lines were painted, for example.”

Concern over possible janitorial service reduction

With a need to balance fiscal constraints and ever-increasing costs, Revelas and Gates said that some landscaping services were being reduced and that some consideration was being given to the possible need for a reduction in janitorial services within some office spaces or buildings.

Some attendees expressed their concerns over the possible reduction of janitorial services, including the potential need to empty their own trash in strategically located dumpsters.

Following a spirited series of dialogue at the meetings, NSAW leadership issued a statement that announced the investigation of possible alternatives to the potential reduction of janitorial services or changes to what services may be affected. The results of the investigation will be made known via all available communications methods, once decisions have been made.

Bridge replacement project; DHS headquarters and streetcars

John Imparato, corporate information officer for the Naval District Washington (NDW), spoke of area construction projects in the District of Columbia (DC), including the recently begun 11th Street Bridge renovation, impacting the Washington Navy Yard (WNY) and Naval Support Facility (NSF) Anacostia most directly and the other two installations, indirectly.

A mention of the wide use of electronic parking meters in DC was made. Imparato also presented information about the Anacostia Streetcar project, already in progress and directly affecting the NSF and some proposed projects that may directly affect the WNY and its personnel.

The construction of a headquarters complex for the Department of Homeland Security near the NSF and a riverfront walkway on the WNY side of the Anacostia River rounded out the presentation.

Energy savings, heating and cooling

A team of personnel from the NSAW Public Works Department, led by NSAW Public Works Officer Cmdr. Stephen Revelas, discussed many topics of interest to those in attendance.

Lt. Kathryn Gutierrez, NSAW assistant public works officer and the command’s transportation and utility coordinator, reported that NSAW was on target during the first quarter of the fiscal year for achieving the goals of reducing energy by three percent and water consumption by two percent, but the reduction efforts must continue to achieve the yearly goals and also make up for previous fiscal years, when the goals were not met.

She thanked eight tenant commands for their extra efforts and having a group of people volunteer to complete training to become building energy monitors as a collateral duty. Additional help is needed, especially at the Naval Support Facility National Maritime Intelligence Center and the Naval Support Facility Naval Research Laboratory. The next two training sessions will occur on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. in Building 166’s first floor public works conference room at WNY and Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. in Building 121’s public works conference room at NSF Anacostia.

Lt. j.g. Brian Gates explained the policy and procedures related to the seasonal conversion from heat to cooling that will occur in the spring. Gates told the audience to expect the changeover to occur sometime between Apr. 15 and May 30, depending on the weather. He also said that the normal indoor temperature guideline for NSAW buildings is 68 during the cold weather and 78 during the hot weather, in order to support the Navy’s energy conservation efforts.

Gates presented a visual graphic that showed the criteria that needs to be met in order to make the seasonal changeover, which includes a four week period of using outdoor air that is neither heated nor cooled to further maximize potential energy savings. The slide may be viewed, along with the rest of the PowerPoint slides from the meetings at www.facebook.com⁄jointbase

Suggestions, comments andquestions welcomed

In concluding each of the two meetings, Raimondo thanked everyone who attended and invited them to attend future meetings. He also welcomed further comments and suggestions that can be made in between the meetings. Comments, suggestions and questions may be sent to the NSAW Public Affairs Office at: jcirone@gazette.net or via interactive social media (www.facebook.com⁄jointbase).