Worksession Minutes

 MaY 7, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, Mayor Pro Tem (MPT) Jewitt, CMs Dennison, Gourley and Lofgren. Also present were Town Administrator Murphy, Clerk Harper, Patricia Plummer, Mr. and Mrs. Jun Cao and citizens. 

1.    Mayor

Announcements: There were none. 

Calendar: The date for the Preservation Week Reception was added for May 17, 6 - 8 p.m. The date for the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was set for June 20, 6 p.m. 

Minutes: On a motion by CM Gourley and second by CM Dennison, the minutes of the April 2 worksession were approved 5 to 0 with corrections. On a motion by MPT Jewitt and second by CM Gourley, the April 9 budget worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0 with corrections. The April 11 Town meeting minutes were reviewed for approval at the May Town meeting. 

Department reports: CM Dennison reported that Berwyn Heights Day came off great. Residents liked having the festivities at Sports Park. She thanked Councilmembers for helping serve the pancake breakfast, and the Recreation Council for planning another wonderful event. Residents should mark their calendar for next event, the Town wide yard sale, on June 16. MPT Jewitt reported that the County inspector came to look at the new fence at the intersection of Edmonston and Berwyn Roads. The fence must be set back least 25' from the pinnacle of the property and reduced to a height of 3’ along Edmonston Road so as to not obstruct visibility. The owner agreed to rectify the situation within 30 days.  

Mayor Calvo reported that Sergeant Moroney was able to return to Berwyn Heights Day after his absence due to a death in his family. Officer Sullivan twisted his ankle and will be out for 2 weeks. Former Berwyn Heights officer Mathew van Dyke attended Berwyn Heights Day and reported that most of the Town of Edmonston's police force, including himself, plan to follow their chief to District Heights. County Councilmember Olson followed up with Park & Planning and assured him of their ongoing commitment to maintain Sports Park. Mayor Calvo also had the opportunity to speak to School Board members Donna Hathaway Beck and Heather Iliff, who attended Berwyn Heights Day, about the proposed shed at the Pontiac Street fields. Lastly, he noted that Boys & Girls Club President Tom Reynolds was honored as the citizen of the year.  

Citizen Comments: Mayor Calvo received many comments on Berwyn Heights Day, including many positive comments about the new location for the festivities. He also received complaints about the insufficient publicizing of an armed robbery on Edmonston Road, about lack of follow up by a police officer to a citizen complaint, and about rental properties on Goucher Drive and Bucknell Terrace. He also received an inquiry about loud blasts coming from Metroland and the status of WSSC projects. CM Dennison received many positive comments about relocating Berwyn Heights Day festivities to Sports Park as well as compliments on the condition of the fields. MPT Jewitt received comments about the trash collection on 60^th Avenue and about the lack of visitors to booths located at the perimeter of Berwyn Heights Day festivities. CM Gourley also received many positive comments about the relocation of Berwyn Heights Day activities and the condition of Sports Park fields. The additional help of church volunteers during the pancake breakfast was appreciated. CM Lofgren said that the County Parks and Recreation Department has cleaned out the poison ivy patch that had encroached on Indian Creek field. 

Mike Attick said that the State is planning a flu pandemic drill for July 31 and has asked Berwyn Heights to participate. On June 2, Gaithersburg will host a multi-county CERT drill and requested that Berwyn Height exhibit its emergency trailer.  

MML Legislative Action Requests: Mayor Calvo explained that Legislative Action Requests (LAR) typically are items of general concern to all Maryland municipalities that may become MML legislative priorities. CM Gourley proposed an LAR that gives municipalities a share of the revenues the State collects on moving violations. Mayor Calvo said he would support that. CM Dennison thought that this had been previously proposed but failed. 

PGCMA Board nominations: Mayor Calvo said that the Prince George's County Municipal Association (PGCMA) will hold elections at its May 17 meeting and has requested nominations for the board. CM Dennison said that she will not be a candidate for Board Secretary this year, and has not decided whether she wants to be on the Board in another capacity. She said that Melinda Miles, who is the current Vice President, will be President next year. No nominations were put forth. 

Council Rule No. 3: CM Lofgren said that Councilmembers have in hand a document that merged a recent Administrative Policy into an older Council Rule on minutes. The combined document incorporates comments made by Councilmembers during previous discussions. The document is ready for adoption if Councilmembers have no further comments. Mayor Calvo said that the revised Council Rule 3 should be adopted by resolution, preferably at the June Town meeting. Further he suggested that the minute procedures not require recording who seconds a motion as discussed in a recent MML Magazine article. CM Dennison offered a few additions to the attachment, which lists spelling conventions and common abbreviations. Council agreed to review the document at the June 4 worksession for adoption at the June 13 Town meeting. 

Commerce Bank agreement: TA Murphy said that Commerce Bank, in its response to Berwyn Heights' changes, has modified a provision in the agreement committing the Bank to maintain a grass strip between curb and sidewalk only if a sprinkler system can be installed. However, the State Highway Administration (SHA) does not like sprinkler systems in its right of way because they may become a complicating factor in any road widening or sidewalk renovation projects or, if they leak, may cause the road to ice up in winter. SHA has no objections to grass strips, but will not maintain them.  

MPT Jewitt proposed the installation of a 2' wide red brick inlay instead of a grass strip. This would not cause any maintenance problems. Mayor Calvo and CM Gourley liked the idea. CM Lofgren thought it would not fit in with the rest of the commercial district and put special beautification requirements on this one business. He proposed to drop this requirement altogether. MPT Jewitt noted that a brick inlay on sidewalks and major intersections was part of the design concept for commercial district improvements proposed in a Community Legacy Grant of several years ago. Commerce Bank could be the first business to implement this concept. No further changes were proposed. 

At 8:00 p.m., the Council took a 10 minute break. 

4.    Code Enforcement (discussed out of order)

Code appeal – 6216 Quebec Place: MPT Jewitt explained that the non-resident owner of a rental home, who is present, is appealing a fine for failing to remove a refrigerator from the property. The same home owner recently appealed other code fines relating to the same rental property. These fines were incurred because she did not respond to notices of violations when taking care of her terminally ill father. In addition, she had plans to sell the home. Meanwhile, the unpaid fines were attached as liens to her property tax obligations. Among the items on the County tax bill was an unidentified $300 lien, which turns out to be the unpaid fine for the refrigerator violation.

The owner of the rental home requested that Council waive the $300 fine for removing a refrigerator. She explained that the same circumstances she discussed during her previous appeal apply to this violation. While she cared for her terminally ill father, she neglected looking after her rental property. Since she planned to sell the home, she tried to induce her tenants to move out by December 2006 by emptying the house of its furnishings. These she set out at the curb for collection, including a small refrigerator. She was not aware that refrigerators require a fee to be picked up, and after receiving several notices and fines she moved the refrigerator back inside.  

The home owner further stated that the unpaid liens are now threatening to force her rental home into a tax sale. To prevent this, she is requesting that the Town pull back the home from the tax sale. She would then pay all outstanding fines to the Town when she sells her home, which is on the market now. 

Mayor Calvo said that he is inclined to try to help forestall the tax sale of the home, it if can be done without losing claim to the lien. TA Murphy would need to contact the County and find out. However, he is not willing to waive or reduce the $300 refrigerator fine. The appellant replied that it is her understanding that the Town can prevent the tax sale. But if it is found that it cannot do so, she intends to pay the County directly tomorrow morning. She has the money to pay the fines but it is a hardship. 

MPT Jewitt said that he would consider forgiving a portion of the fines to facilitate the direct payment of the fines to the County by the owner without involving the Town in seeking a stay of the tax sale. Mayor Calvo and CM Lofgren disagreed. Mayor Calvo proposed that the Council uphold the $300 fine while exploring whether the tax sale can be postponed. If so, then payment of the liens can be delayed until the house is sold. CM Gourley so moved. CM Lofgren seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.  

Rental license fee resolution: Mayor Calvo asked the Council to review the resolution, which would enact an increase of the rental license fee from $200 to $210 and impose higher fines for successive re-inspections. Mayor Calvo noted that the changed text should be underlined. There were no objections to adopting the resolution at the next Town meeting. 

Zoning variance: TA Murphy explained that in February of this year, the owner of  5810 Swarthmore Drive was given a door hanger for building a second shed on his property without a permit. However, a permit could not be obtained because the second shed put the property 2.5%over a 30% net lot coverage limit imposed by the County Zoning Ordinance. The owner filed an application for a variance, which will be heard by the Board of Appeals on May 16.  In the interim, the owner completed the shed without a permit and is subject to a fine. In a related matter, the construction of the second shed triggered a variance regarding the existing shed. This shed, which was there when the owner purchased the property, also requires a variance because it is built too close to the property line. The variance for the first shed is scheduled for the same hearing. 

The property owner added that he first inquired whether he needed a permit to build a new 10' x 12' shed in November 2006. He was told that there was no permit requirement for a shed less than 150 square feet in size. However, this rule only applies to the first shed; a second shed does require a permit, regardless of size. When giving the information, the Town did not know that the permit was for a second shed. On the other hand, the owner didn't know that this mattered and proceeded with construction. When he received a door hanger, he informed the Town that he intended to get the permit at the County. He then found out that, to qualify for a permit, he first needed the Zoning Board of Appeals approval of the variances for which he needs the Town's support. 

CM Lofgren moved that the Town support the variance application for both sheds. MPT Jewitt seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0. 

2.    Public Works

County Recycling contract: TA Murphy said that Prince George's County has invited municipalities to participate in a bid for a new recycling contract for FY 2008. The Town currently has a contract with Bates Trucking that is in effect until June 2008, but the contract has a provision that nullifies the contract if the Town signs up for County recycling services. The County contract would be for 3 years, with optional three one-year extensions, requires the Town be in the program for the entire three years plus any extensions, and provides for formal complaint and fining procedures if the contractor does not perform satisfactorily. The County recycling user fee starting July 1, 2007 is $3.41 per month per household or $41.00 a year as opposed to the $4.00 per month or $48.00 per year the Town currently pays. A decision to be included in the bidding must be made within a week. 

In discussions, CM Lofgren said that the County can probably get a better deal on recycling than any individual municipality and that the Town may be better off using the County service. CM Gourley said that he hesitates to commit the Town to a 3 year contract with a recycler of unknown performance because he doesn't trust the County. Mayor Calvo said that he would like more information before making a decision. He asked TA Murphy to find out more about cost breakdowns, quality assurance fines and bid specifications so that a decision can be made at the upcoming Town meeting. There were no objections. 

3.    Administration

Bulletin reformatting: TA Murphy said that the reformatting issue is driven by the expensive Bulletin editions for April and May, each of which had 36 pages. In order to reduce costs, he is requesting that the Bulletin editor and publisher be given authority to reduce the space allotted to department and organization news. This would not mean changing the content, but may entail reformatting submitted pages.  

Mayor Calvo commented that there may be cost savings in better managing department and organization news. Departments and organizations don't need full page announcements every month and priority may be given to one or another for particular months of the year. He has no objections to giving staff more leeway in reformatting pages provided they notify the authors of the intended changes and ensure that this does not introduce new mistakes. MPT Jewitt suggested making a half page the standard for department or organization announcements and requiring exceptions for longer announcements. CM Dennison said that a half page may be sufficient for most announcement but whole pages should be given when needed. Mike Attick suggested that organizations be given guidelines as to how many words constitute a half page versus a full page. TA Murphy was asked to consult with departments and organizations about their space needs and devise a priority schedule. 

5.    Parks and Recreation

Boys and Girls Club shed: Mayor Calvo said that, in order to build a new shed at the Pontiac Street field, the Town needs to send a letter to the Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) Planning and Architectural Services Department outlining the project. He proposed to have TA Murphy draft a letter stating the intent to build the shed, send it to PGCPS to begin the approval process and fill in the details later. MPT Jewitt so moved. CM Gourley seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0. 

6.    Public Health and Safety

Police fines and fees resolution: Mayor Calvo asked the Council to review the Resolution, which would establish a police fee and fine schedule that attaches to Ordinance 119 – Traffic & Parking. TA Murphy noted that Chief Murphy proposed to strike a $75 fine for an Unattended Vehicle violation – keys in ignition, motor not running – because  it would be difficult to enforce, but to keep the $75 Unattended Vehicle violation – keys in ignition, motor running. The Council voted 3 to 2 to drop the first violation, with CMs Lofgren and Gourley opposed. No further changes were proposed for adoption at the Town meeting. 

7.    Budget Discussion

Town Budget: TA Murphy said that he received word today that the workers compensation insurance for FY 2008 will be $3,000 less than budgeted. Furthermore, he expects to save approximately $5,000 on health insurance based on the anticipated average age of the Town's workforce.

Mayor Calvo proposed to appropriate the available $8,000 to merit increases, police overtime and gasoline budgets. On a motion by CM Dennison and second by MPT Jewitt, the Council voted 5 to 0 to appropriate $2,575 to merit increases. On a motion by MPT Jewitt and second by CM Dennison, the Council voted 5 to 0 to adde $1,000 to the police overtime budget. On a motion by CM Lofgren and second by MPT Jewitt, the Council voted 5 to 0, to appropriate $4,425  for gas an oil budgets with $200 set aside for the Code Department.

Public Safety Taxing District Budget: Mayor Calvo said that the Commercial District Management Authority (CDMA) met in their capacity as advisory board to the Public Safety Taxing District (PSTD) but did not achieve a quorum. Those present endorsed the 5 cent increase in the PSTD personal property tax rate. The Council made no further changes.

FY 2007 Budget Amendment: Mayor Calvo said that the budget amendment will be introduced at the Town meeting but further corrections need to be made. 

Capital budget requests: Mayor Calvo said that Departments submitted the following requests:

Decisions about funding the requests will be made in worksessions after the introduction of the FY 2007 budget amendment at the Town meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.

Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk

 
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