The Board of Zoning Adjustment met Thursday night for its quarterly meeting with university officials, students and community members to discuss, among other things, Student Affairs issues and the progress of the Southwest Quadrangle.

The discussion centered on the improvement of students’ relations with community members. A proposal made by the Department of Student Affairs was filed with the BZA and is now being implemented to constructively resolve conflicts between students and residents.

The proposal, a new off-campus student affairs program, calls for an expanded hotline for neighborhood complaints, increased Department of Public Safety operation off campus, a more comprehensive list of students’ off-campus addresses, a new staff position in the Office of Off-Campus Student Programs and an educational campaign on the new sanctions for violations put in place.

The expanded hotline will now operate on Thursday nights, as well as over the weekend. The hotline will also coordinate with the Student and Neighbor Assistance Program, which provides a vehicle staffed by non-students who can intervene in complaint situations before the need arises to call the Metropolitan Police Department.

“SNAP can go to the community, go to the house, and they can go out every few hours,” Jeanne Lord, director of off-campus affairs, said. “We will begin to see the effects of SNAP, but I think it will take at least one semester.”

Some community residents complained of large “herds” of students passing noisily by houses late on weekend nights. To combat this, SNAP will patrol the area surrounding the university three times per night, and an increased DPS presence will also attempt to alleviate noise from students on the streets.

Lord described the new sanction policy for documented offenses, which may also serve as a deterrent. For one documented offense, the entire guilty off-campus house may face a social probation, which can entail a fine, community service and restriction from registering parties. For a second offense, a student may be placed on disciplinary probation, including notification of parents, notification of the students’ academic dean, a conference with parents and a co-curricular sanction that would prevent a student from participating in extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs.

The university has also established an Alliance for Local Living, a group composed of off-campus students, university representatives and community members. ALL will meet in the community and look at hotline reports and discuss neighbor/student issues on a month by month basis, said Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., special assistant to University President Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J.

“The goal is to sit down with seven students and seven community members and say, `What do we do about our problems?'” Garanzini said.

The BZA questioned the university’s recent decision to cut the Student Affairs budget by $900,000, saying they did not want student programs that keep students entertained on campus to be affected or diminished.

Furthermore, the university will begin to coordinate efforts with the second district of the Metropolitan Police Department, led by 2nd District commander Peter Newsham. MPD will try to provide backup and will also allow the university to handle off-campus disturbance calls before the police are involved. MPD will also provide prompt arrest information to the university, as well as conduct Resident Assistant training and participate in New Student Orientation.

“A substantial increase is being made to the off-campus budget,” Lord said. “It will probably, in fact, be doubled. A conscientious effort is being made to find places to cut the budget that will not have an impact on student life.”

Lord said the Office of Student Affairs was “still working with the budget, and nothing is set in stone.”

The Southwest Quadrangle construction project’s progress was also discussed. Residents were concerned with both potential new, congested traffic issues created by the flow of construction vehicles from the Canal Road entrance and noise pollution caused by pile driving and blasting.

Since the project will require the removal of 50,000 tons of dirt from the excavation site, approximately 300 loaded dump trucks will enter and leave the Georgetown site daily for eight to 10 months, depending on weather. To facilitate this, a median break will be constructed at the Canal Road entrance to Parking Lot T and construction traffic will be restricted during rush hours, according to Carl Mayfield, project manager of the Southwest Quadrangle.

Mayfield also said the noise pollution during construction, which will mainly be due to pile driving, is scheduled to occur on the site from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pile driving will be accompanied by blasting of embedded rock, although the blasting will be quieter than the pile driving, according to Mayfield.

“The level of noise will change as we get deeper into the hole, which will take about two to three months,” Mayfield said. “Realistically, it’s going to be a little noisy.” Mayfield added that those residing in the three freshman dorms will be the most affected by noise.

October will mark the completion of Phase I, which includes infrastructure improvements, design and underground utility modifications. Phase II will include the aforementioned excavation, including pile driving and blasting. Clark Construction has been chosen as the contractor for the project, and the total cost will be projected in approximately 10 days, according to Mayfield.