The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E addressed the recent strain in town-gown relations and concerns about lead in the city’s drinking water on Tuesday evening in its first meeting on the university’s campus.

Police officers who spoke at the meeting fielded numerous questions from residents and students concerned about the implications of residents videotaping disruptive students as leverage against both the individuals and the university.

“There’s no reason why [residents] can’t videotape,” Metropolitan Police Department Captain Michael Jacobs said. “If you’re videotaping what’s going on in a public place, there’s nothing illegal about that whatsoever.”

When asked by ANC Commissioner Michael Glick (COL ’05) whether he thought videotaping students could produce change, Jacobs said that he sympathized with residents frustrated with the inability of the university to reprimand students. But, he emphasized that the MPD has “no position on this issue one way or the other.”

GUSA President Brian Morgenstern (COL ’05) acknowledged that neighborhood problems were “a larger issue than a few isolated concerns.”

He said the administration was taking steps to remedy the situation, including having students sign petitions to be better members of the community.

Government professor Anthony Arend (SFS ’80) addressed the meeting as part of a delegation of university representatives who welcomed residents to campus for the first ANC meeting at Georgetown.

“I have seen relationships develop between residents and students,” Arend said. “I would live in no other place because of what the university means to the community and what the community means to the university.”

MPD Lt. Josiah Eaves claimed that ongoing patrols are effective to some degree in curbing disruptive behavior, citing an arrest of students who were “loud and boisterous” on Jan. 24.

Recent fears about lead in the drinking water also dominated discussion at the meeting. Michael Barka, a representative from the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority was on hand to answer questions about water quality and testing.

Residents and commissioners both expressed concern over the timeliness of water testing and notification in Georgetown-area residences. Barka responded by saying that WASA was trying to adjust their testing prioritization schedule as quickly as possible.

“I admit that I am as frustrated as you on that issue,” he said. “But we offer tests free of charge to people with lead service and to those who have good reason to suspect they have lead service.”

The Washington Post wrote a series of articles this week detailing the results of a 2002 WASA test in a random sampling of District homes. The tests found that two-thirds of homes exceeded the 15 parts per billion limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I am disappointed that they didn’t have a representative from the EPA or the Department of Health at the meeting and I think that reflects badly on WASA,” Kent Slowinski, a resident of Wesley Heights, said. “I’d like to know what the symptoms and the health concerns are of lead exposure.”

Bob Andrews, Foxhole Community Citizens Association board member, was also troubled with the possibility of lead exposure in his community.

“I came to see what issues I should communicate,” Andrews said. “I was really listening for things that people need to be responsible for in their communities.”