Worksession Minutes

September 18, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, CMs Dennison, Gourley, Jewitt and Lofgren. Also present were Town Administrator Murphy, Clerk Harper, Mary Burch and citizens.

1. Mayor

Announcements: There were none.

Calendar: A Zoning Examiner's Hearing on the Best Pawn Shop application for a special exception on October 11 was added. The Anacostia Paddle Sport Regatta was added for October 21. The Halloween children's party on October 28 will begin at 7:00 p.m. Meetings for the Neighborhood Watch/Emergency Preparedness (NW/EP) will take place on the first Tuesday of the month for the rest of this year. The tree lighting ceremony was added for December 9, 6:00 p.m.

Minutes: On a motion by CM Gourley and second by CM Dennison, the September 5 worksession minutes were adopted 5 to 0 with corrections.

Department reports: TA Murphy reported that the Administration Department continues to send out personal property tax bills. CM Jewitt reported that Code Enforcement Director Solomon gave input on the proposed Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance before going on vacation. CM Dennison reported that the Recreation Council discussed the Halloween party and the tree lighting ceremony at its last meeting. She has consulted with the Seniors about improvements to the bathrooms, which were budgeted for this fiscal year. Mayor Calvo reported that a 7^th police officer was hired today, bringing the Department back to full staffing. Further, he spoke with Eric Olson, who won the Democratic primary for Councilmanic District 3, about primary results, parks and schools.

Citizen Comments: Mayor Calvo received two comments about a house on 58^th Avenue that has been under construction for 2 years and asked what is the Town's authority to withhold a permit under the circumstances. Mayor Calvo clarified that the Town's permitting just piggybacks onto the County's permitting process. As a result, there is no authority to deny or repeal a permit. However, there may be a way to work with the County's permit office to get the owners to move forward. CM Jewitt will check into what can be done.

CM Dennison received a comment opposing the Commerce Bank proposal and the closing of 59^th Avenue. She also received several complaints about not being able to vote or vote with provisional ballots in the primaries because of problems with the electronic voting machines. CM Jewitt received comments praising the landscaping improvements in the median of Kenilworth Avenue made under the County's Livable Communities initiative.

Mayor Calvo received a comment about the perceived insufficient publicizing of the recent Pawn Shop hearing. In response, Mayor Calvo plans to send out worksession materials to more Berwyn Heights residents using the listserv at BerwynHeightsGroup@yahoo.com .

Ann Harris Davidson commented that the latest news regarding the proposed redevelopment of Springhill Lake is that Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) will not give up the land on which the current elementary school sits. The school system has begun to recognize that more school seats will be needed than was initially thought as a result of the Springhill Lake and Metroland developments. It should be mentioned that at every turn the impact of the proposed developments on elementary, middle as well as high school seats is underestimated. Mayor Calvo said that the Council, at its last worksession, agreed to send a representative to the School Facilities Planning Task Force that is in the process of being set up by these Developers.

Mike Attick of 62^nd Avenue thanked the Berwyn Heights Police Department for following up on a problem he forwarded to them.

Further, Mayor Calvo received a comment thanking the Police Department for rescinding a parking ticket that was given in error and a letter from a young resident asking about the possibility of installing a sea saw and a roller slide at the Pops Park playground.

Traffic Safety Committee: Mayor Calvo presented a revised version of the mission statement for the Safe Streets Committee. He said that the charge was broadened to include the “study of the overall, long term impact of the development on traffic” and “identification of current and future problem areas and corridors.” Further, the comprehensive plan to be produced by the Committee is to “include specific projects prioritized according to need and cost.” While money will be made available for the implementation of the plan, the specific dollar amount was taken out. After the Committee has concluded its fact finding, the services of a planning consultant may be engaged with approval of the Town Council. The due date for the recommendations was changed from June 30 to August 31, 2007 for Town Council consideration in fall 2007.

In response to CM Gourley, Mayor Calvo explained that the Committee would have 12 voting members, including representatives from 5 Town committees, and 4 non-voting liaisons. In response to CM Jewitt, he said that he plans to publish the mission statement in the October Bulletin, adopt it at the Town meeting, barring objections, and begin soliciting members for the Committee. He hopes to have enough citizens come forward to launch the Committee in November.

CM Lofgren suggested that the Committee not be mandated to produce a comprehensive plan and reiterated that he preferred to use “traffic control” over “safe streets” in naming the Committee. CM Dennison said that the Fire Department should be given a prominent role in drafting the plan, as its ability to reach each home as quickly as possible is at issue. Mayor Calvo summed up that he will incorporate tonight's comments into a final draft to be presented at the next worksession.

Performance evaluation: Mayor Calvo reviewed this year's process for performance evaluations. At this point in time, employee evaluations should have been completed by the department directors, reviewed and signed by the department heads and handed in to the Town Administrator. The next step requires Councilmembers to complete written evaluations of the department directors with input from previous department heads. These should be given to the Town Administrator, except the evaluation of the Town Administrator, and brought to the next worksession for discussion in closed session.

TA Murphy added that employee evaluations, once reviewed by department heads, are to be returned to the department directors and shared with the employees.

CM Jewitt thought that the due date for directors' evaluations is badly timed. It requires that Councilmembers, who may have just been elected, evaluate a director most of whose service occurred under an outgoing Councilmember. He suggested changing the due date to April so that evaluations do not conflict with elections. Mayor Calvo agreed that this is also a problem for the entire Council, which jointly evaluates directors. He would prefer to evaluate each director individually, based on the anniversary of employment and is open to revising the system. CM Lofgren said that most institutions base evaluations on a minimum observation period of 6 months, which would be fairer to the employee. CM Dennison said that a new Councilmember should give a lot of weight to the evaluation of the outgoing Councilmember heading a department in question. Federal and State government procedures could serve as the basis for the revision of Berwyn Heights' evaluation procedures. Mayor Calvo said that the due date for directors' evaluations could be moved back so that incoming Councilmembers would have more time to observe their director. This would still allow for merit increases to be implemented in November.

Mayor Calvo reviewed the procedure for merit pay implemented last year. Based on their evaluations, all eligible employees receive merit increases rather than bonuses. Employees with a rating of 4.25 merit points and above received a 2.25 % increase; those with a rating in the 3.75 – 4.24 range received a 1.5 % increase; those with a rating of 3.25 – 3.74 received a 0.75% increase. Size of the increases and timing of implementation will be discussed during the October worksessions.

At 8:15 p.m., the Council took a 10 minute break.

3. Code Enforcement (discussed out of order)

Code appeal: CM Jewitt explained that the home owner of 8602 Cunningham Drive received a $100 fine for storing a large pile of branches in the backyard on August 10. The branch pile was removed by a landscaping contractor on August 14. However, a lien letter was sent to the County on August 29, in accordance with time lines established in the Town's Clean Lot Ordinance. The homeowner called the Code Office to protest the fine on August 16 and sent a grievance letter requesting an appeal on September 5.

The homeowner, who was present, appealed the fine because he received the warning of a fine after imposition of the fine, which left him no time to correct the violation. The first certified letter, sent by the Code Director on July 25, arrived at his New York residence on August 10 because it had been rerouted from his Berwyn Heights address. He explained further that he has been moving back and forth between New York and Maryland for work-related reasons. His Berwyn Heights home is vacant when he is in New York.

CM Jewitt noted that the second notice was sent by certified mail with a return receipt requested when the signature card of the first certified letter came back unsigned. The owner replied that he received that notice one week after the certified letter.

Mayor Calvo concluded that the Code Director had followed procedures correctly and the home owner had acted in good faith. He was not able to correct the violation in time because of the delay in the delivery of the certified letters. CM Jewitt agreed and moved to rescind the fine. CM Lofgren seconded. He then commented that he finds the Town's compliance time lines too strict and the code enforcement process too aggressive. He further objected that fallen tree branches should be considered “litter, rubbish or garbage,” as indicated in the violation notice.

CM Gourley reminded the Council that the strict time lines were adopted to deal with home-owners who do not comply in a prompt manner.

The Council voted 5 to 0 to rescind the fine. The subsequent discussion clarified that the Clean Lot Ordinance definition of litter, rubbish or garbage includes tree branches. Additionally, notices of violations now explicitly state what steps must be taken to correct the violation, in case there are questions about the meaning of a particular regulation. CM Jewitt said that the Code Director should not be faulted for simply applying the Town regulations. TA Murphy suggested that perhaps in the future the Code Director could make a recommendation to the Council to uphold an appeal when circumstances warrant it. This might cut down on the number of cases the Council needs to hear.

2. Administration

Bulletin cover: The following items were approved for the cover of the October Bulletin: Halloween Party and references to the Historical Committee Fall Bus Tour and Establishment of Safe Streets Committee.

Legislative dinner: TA Murphy was tasked to check the availability of District 22 Delegates for the week of November 27 and research suitable restaurants.

4. Parks and Recreation

Town Center curfew waiver: CM Dennison explained that a resident, whom she knows to be responsible person, requested in an e-mail to her a 2 hour extension of the 10:00 p.m. closing time for her private her event at the Town Center. The party would have 100 guests, many of them out-of-town, music with a D. J. and serving of alcohol.

In discussions, it was noted that the original rental application did not specify that alcohol would be served, that another large party is booked for the following day, concern was expressed that Mrs. Erickson would have to work until the wee hours of the morning to get the Town Center ready for the large party that was booked for the next afternoon, and that exceptions should not be granted on the basis of whether an applicant knows Councilmembers. Mayor Calvo said that he would have preferred the applicant to attend the meeting and make the request in person.

In a straw poll, CMs Dennison and Gourley voted in favor and CMs Jewitt and Lofgren against an extension. Mayor Calvo cast the tie-braking vote against the request because the application was not filled out correctly and because another Town Center event is booked for the following day.

5. Public Safety

Commercial vehicle waiver: Mayor Calvo said that the Council a year ago granted a waiver to a resident for parking a commercial vehicle in the street. The resident came to a meeting to explain that, due to health reasons, it is difficult for her to walk to her private car if it is parked in the street rather than in the driveway next to her house. The commercial vehicle blocks her car if parked in the driveway. As of yet, no complaints have been received regarding the commercial vehicle parking in the street and there is no shortage of parking at that address.

CM Gourley moved to extend the waiver for another year. CM Dennison seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

6. Public Works

Dump truck bids: CM Lofgren presented bids for the purchase of a 1 ton dump truck as budgeted. He noted that all bids were obtained from Ford dealers, which is the only company that offers municipal rebates. He moved to accept Director Coleman's recommendation to purchase a dump truck from Frank Kennedy Ford for the low bid price of $37,600. CM Dennison seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

7. Executive Session (9:40 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.)

On a motion by CM Jewitt and second by CM Gourley, the Council went into executive session on a personnel matter regarding specific personnel. With matter discussed, the Council ended the executive session on a motion by CM Dennison, seconded by CM Jewitt. The decision was made to release a pay plan for public comment without reference to specific personnel.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:46 p.m.

Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk

 
Copyright © Town of Berwyn Heights.