Worksession Minutes
July 2, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, CMs Dennison, Gourley and Lofgren. Mayor Pro Tem Jewitt had an excused absence. Also present were Town Administrator Murphy, Clerk Harper, Chair of the Neighborhood Watch/Emergency Preparedness (NW/EP) Mike Attick, Christian Morales and citizens.

1.    Mayor:

Announcements: The June 29 State-wide Gazette carried an article on the Maryland Municipal League (MML) conference and comments from Governor O'Malley and Maryland Mayors on how to address the looming budget deficit.

Calendar: Discussion of a Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance was scheduled for the July 2 worksession. Discussion of a Noise Ordinance was scheduled for the August 6 worksession.

Minutes:  On a motion by CM Dennison and second by CM Lofgren, the June 18 worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0 with corrections. Corrections to the June 13 Town Meeting minutes will be forwarded to Clerk Harper.

Department Reports: Mayor Calvo reported that Corporal Billy Sullivan, who has served Berwyn Heights for 15 years, resigned effective July 13 to join the Town of Edmonston police force. Also, Chief Murphy will purchase a new police car at the price of $21,000, which is less than was budgeted.

CM Gourley reported that Councilmembers discussed purchasing polo shirts with a Town logo that could be worn during the MML workshops and other official occasions. As the flag carrier at the convention, he noticed that the Berwyn Heights flag may need replacing. Mayor Calvo announced that the Town last week received a record $62,000 income tax disbursement in June. FY 2007 income taxes will come in over budget.

CM Dennison reported that an old-fashioned Ice Cream Social will take place on Friday, September 14 at the Town Center; that the Historical Committee picked the next historic street project and that she attended a Boys & Girls Club picnic at Sports Park. CM Lofgren reported that the Public Works Director purchased the John Deere zero turn grooming mower authorized in the FY 2006 Budget Amendment.

Citizen Comments: CM Dennison received a number of comments on the proposed Noise Ordinance and Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance as well as on a June 18 code appeal. CM Gourley received a comment about exemptions to no parking of commercial vehicles in the street as well as too many commercial vehicles in driveways. Mayor Calvo received comments about the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner and suggestions for improvements, as well as a comment about public safety and suggestion for adopting a tree ordinance.

Greenbelt Station presentation: Metropark representatives Norman Rivera and Sandy Gallagher as well as Martin Klingel, project manager for RCP, builders of an apartment/retail complex, gave an update on the Greenbelt Metropark development. Mr. Rivera reported that detailed site plans (DSP) for the Poulte town homes and the Fairfield condo complex have been approved and that RCP's DSP will be filed by the end of the week. Site preparation and infrastructure installations are progressing. Location of a pedestrian Metro overpass between the development and the Hollywood section of College Park is under negotiation between Greenbelt and College Park.

The RCP complex will house 378 apartment units on 3 floors and 60,000 - 80,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Amenities include a management office, concierge service, conference center, exercise facilities and a full service grocery store of approximately 5000 square feet. A landscaped inner court will accommodate surface parking and a rear parking garage will provide parking spaces for the residents. The parking garage will be constructed to act as a sound barrier against Metro trains and will be covered with sound diffusing materials and/or bordered by a landscape strip.

In response to Councilmember questions, Mr. Rivera and Mr. Klingel said that they plan to brief County Councilmember Olson on the latest version of the plans before filing the DSP. The south core will have 2 storm water management ponds to manage the quality of storm water runoff. The ownership issue of  the Branchville Road bridge, which connects the development with Greenbelt Road, has not yet been resolved. Greenbelt and Berwyn Heights having refused ownership, Metropark has set up a meeting with the County Executive's office to the County taking on ownership of the bridge. Federal subsidies for inspection and maintenance of the bridge are available. However, any construction of homes will be held up until the ownership issue is resolved. The best case scenario for completion of the bridge is the end of this year.

Further, RCP apartments will be made up of  50% of 1 Bedroom (BR) units, 40% 2 BR and 10%  3 BR. The goal is for the apartments to be condominiums rather than rentals but financing for the complex would be hard to secure if the units were required to be condos. Mayor Calvo expressed concern about too many rental units being built which may undermine the creation of an upscale development. Regarding the commercial north core, plans were changed to provide more above ground parking. The ground has been found unsuitable for building deep underground garages. Mayor Calvo thanked Metropark representatives for coming and asked for regular monthly updates on the development so that the Council can keep Berwyn Heights residents informed.

Four Cities agenda items: Mayor Calvo said that the focus of the next Four Cities meeting will be homelessness. He proposed to add foreclosure issues and a possible community forum on the problem. CM Dennison proposed discussing Greenbelt Middle School in light of its renovation having been moved up on the CIP and an International Baccalaureate program being added.

At 8:30 p.m., the Council took a 10 minute break.

Performance evaluations: Mayor Calvo asked Council to review TA Murphy's memorandum to department directors regarding the employee performance evaluation process. He proposed a number of clarifications to be included in the memorandum. A performance that “meets expectations” is the baseline and merits a 3.0 grade. Only performances that differ from the baseline need an explanation. Department Directors should give their completed employee evaluations to the Town Administrator, who should forward them to the department heads for review and discussion with directors. At that point, department heads are to complete the evaluations of their directors. Thereafter the Council will finalize evaluations jointly in executive session. Further, the last 5 of 15 rating factors apply to directors as and supervisors only and the quality of directors' employee evaluations is a factor in their own evaluations.  

In discussion, Councilmembers agreed that employees with supervisory responsibilities should be identified and rated on supervisory performance. They should also be consulted on the evaluation of employees they supervise. The patrol supervisor in the Police Department and the chief foreman in the Public Works Department were identified as such. TA Murphy was asked to incorporate these clarifications into a revised memorandum.

Fiscal policy (postponed to future worksession).

MML debriefing: Mayor Calvo said that he and TA Murphy today talked at length with a Gazette reporter and explained the value of attending this convention. Personally, he had a very good conversation with the Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and the Maryland State Retirement System administrator, who was able to answer questions about Berwyn Heights joining the system. CM Gourley particularly enjoyed workshops on playground design and safety, multi-family housing in single family homes and a roundtable with Maryland cabinet secretaries. CM Lofgren also attended the roundtable, which provided valuable networking opportunities, and a meeting of Public Works directors, who signed a mutual aid agreement. CM Dennison said that the workshops she took increased her knowledge of municipal government. She enjoyed the roundtable and workshops on volunteering and risk management, immigrants and health care. Mayor Calvo was a speaker in a workshop on outreach to immigrants. He had many opportunities to network with State and local leaders at the roundtable and a business meeting. He also attended the MML Board meeting and helped defeat proposed MML Charter amendments that would have established a nominating committee and limited board members' terms.

3.    Public Safety

No items were discussed.

4.    Public Works

No items were discussed.

5.    Administration

No items were discussed.

6.    Code Enforcement

Zoning variance: TA Murphy explained that the owner of 8724 Edmonston Road applied for a variance from the prescribed 8' side yard set back requirement and requested a 5' set back to validate existing conditions and construct a 2 story addition. Having inspected the property, TA Murphy found that the submitted plans are inaccurate. He recommended opposing the variance request until a correct site plan is prepared and construction and floor plans for the addition are made available for his review. CM Gourley moved to endorse the recommendation. CM Lofgren seconded. The motion passed 4 to 0.

2.    Parks and Recreation

Ball field rules: Mayor Calvo asked TA Murphy to explain his changes to ball field rules proposed by the Boys & Girls Club. TA Murphy said that his changes are based on rules posted at various Park & Planning recreational facilities and are addressed to a broader range of users than youth. Mayor Calvo said that he finds the revised rules too wordy thus diminishing their impact. He disagreed that pets should not be allowed on fields provided they are kept on a leach. Futher, the Berwyn Heights Police non-emergency telephone number should be added to the rules.

CM Dennison also thought that TA Murphy's rules were too detailed. Additionally, she questioned rules prohibiting riding of bicycles, feeding of wild animals, smoking, golfing and alcohol.

Hydroseeding of ball fields: This item was postponed and is to be discussed in conjunction with a comprehensive maintenance plan for Pontiac Street ball field.

BHHC museum: This item was postponed to the August 6^th worksession, at which the Historical Committee chair will be invited for comment.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.

Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk