Read the full stored bill text
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
1
A RESOLUTION
26-337
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
February 3, 2026
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Department of
Transportation Establishment Act of 2022 to authorize the Director to issue a grant to
Friends of Wangari Gardens for the assessment, design, and installation of a water meter
and potable water source directly on the Wangari Gardens property with a spigot for
gardeners’ free use.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Friends of Wangari Gardens Grant Emergency Declaration
Resolution of 2026.”
Sec. 2. (a) In the Report and Recommendations of the Committee on Transportation and
the Environment on the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget for Agencies Under Its Purview (“Report”), the
Committee on Transportation and the Environment (“Committee”) identified $75,000 in the
capital budget of the District Department of Transportation (“DDOT”) for the “the assessment,
design, and installation of a water meter and potable water source” at Wangari Gardens, a
community garden-park located on DDOT property bordered by Kenyon Street, NW, Park Place,
NW, and Irving Street, NW.
(b) Friends of Wangari Gardens is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has a
memorandum of understanding with DDOT regarding the use of Wangari Gardens. As detailed
in the Report, Friends of Wangari Gardens has been using a fire hydrant permit from DC Water
as its water source, but the cost of this arrangement has increased dramatically in recent years.
As the Report details:
In communications with the Ward 1 and Ward 5 Council offices, the treasure for the
Friends of Wangari Gardens noted that the 2025 bill for the meter and backflow preventer
rental totaled $5,525. The largest portion of this bill is the refundable deposit for the
meter ($2,750) and the daily rental fee ($15/day, totaling $2,700 for the season), while
the actual water usage amounts to less than $1,000. This fee structure has led to the
depletion of the Friends of Wangari Gardens’ bank account in recent years, requiring
personal funds to cover the bill in 2025.
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
2
(c) Funds were allocated to DDOT because it is the custodian of the property where
Wangari Gardens is located. Funds could not be appropriated to DC Water because DC Water is
an independent self-financing authority.
(d) The Council adopted the Committee’s recommendation and included $75,000 in
capital funds for a water source at Wangari Gardens in the Fiscal Year 2026 Local Budget Act of
2025 and the Fiscal Year 2026 Local Budget Emergency Act of 2025.
(e) In conversations between DDOT staff, officers of Friends of Wangari Gardens, and
Council staff, it has become clear that the best path to expeditious completion of this project is
for Friends of Wangari Gardens to manage the project directly and for DDOT to transfer the
funds to them. While DDOT is the custodian of the property, it does not have staff capacity or
expertise to engage with DC Water on the unique needs of Wangari Gardens.
(f) Emergency legislation is needed to provide DDOT with authority to make this grant to
Friends of Wangari Gardens. While the Department of Transportation Establishment Act of
2022, effective May 21, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-137; D.C. Official Code § 50-921.01 et seq.),
provides DDOT with the authority to make grants under $1 million dollars, that authority is
constrained by language requiring that those grants “achieve the District’s transportation goals,
including safety objectives and to support streateries and the streatery program.” The emergency
legislation clarifies that DDOT has the authority to make a grant to establish a water source at
Wangari Gardens even though such a grant is not related to achieving the District’s
transportation goals.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Friends
of Wangari Gardens Grant Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 be adopted after a single
reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.