Worksession Minutes

 September 17, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, Mayor Pro Tem Jewitt, CMs Dennison, Gourley  and Lofgren. Also present were Town Administrator Murphy, Clerk Harper and citizens.

1.    Mayor

Agenda: The Council will have an executive session regarding personnel matters and plans to go through the regular agenda at an accelerated pace. The legislative dinner with the District 22 Delegation was tentatively scheduled for November 26.

Announcements: CM Dennison congratulated her daughter Sarah on her graduation from Anne Arundel Community College and wished a Happy Birthday to her mom.

Calendar: The Safe Streets Committee meeting for October 18 was canceled and taken off the calendar.

Minutes: On a motion by CM Gourley and second by MPT Jewitt, the August 20 worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0 with corrections. On a motion by MPT Jewitt and second by CM Lofgren, the September 4 worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0 with corrections.

Department reports: Mayor Calvo reported that District Council mandatory review hearing for the Commerce Bank project has been moved back to October 15.  Commerce Bank is also negotiating with the current tenants of the property to buy out their leases so as to move the project along. Officer Michelle Bennett's review hearing for promotion to Private First Class is coming up this month.

Mayor Calvo continued that the Four Cities meeting with the School Board on September 13 was constructive. Six Board members were in attendance. Discussion focused on a proposal to establish a county-wide task force to review school capacity issues and deal with “hot spots.” Also discussed was Superintendent John Deasy's proposal to increase pre-K through 8^th grade schools in the County as an alternative to middle school, which has proven less than optimal in educating students. Greenbelt and Paintbranch Elementary School are likely candidates for becoming pre-K through 8^th grade schools. Berwyn Heights Elementary and Springhill Lake Elementary School would first have to resolve boundary and other issues to be considered. Mayor Calvo suggested the Council may want to take a formal  position on this issue in the future.

CM Gourley reported that the Administration Department is soliciting another bid for repainting the Offices and planning to set up a meeting with a banking representative on discount credit cards. The audit is scheduled to begin the last week of September. CM Dennison reported that the Ice Cream Social was a success, that a chidren's Halloween party is scheduled for Saturday, October 27 and the annual Treelighting for Friday, December 7. CM Dennison also attended the Governor's Grants Conference and took a workshop on community initiatives and volunteerism. CM Lofgren reported that 3 Public Works vehicles underwent repairs, that there was some vandalism at the pedestrian bridge and Sports Park bathrooms. Public Works employees repainted street lines and used the new mower to cut grass at the Pontiac Street field and the Town Center. Adrian Lockley was hired as a new Public Works employee.

Citizen Comments: MPT Jewitt received comments regarding the proposed mulch delivery program and possible conflict with the Clean Lot Ordinance and litter resulting from unwanted newspapers and advertisements. CM Dennison received comments regarding the proposed Nevada Street trail, overfilled homes, the Ice Cream Social, the BHES school field and a possible incident of prostitution. Mayor Calvo added that he also received the comment about prostitution. He shared the information anonymously with the Police Department and asked the resident if the identity could also be shared for follow up but has not received a reply. He also received comments about the Nevada Street trail, possible annexation of Friends School and the 58^th Avenue unfinished property.

Nevada Street trail: TA Murphy explained that the Council has been provided a handout which shows 2 trail options: 1) a shorter north-south trail that connects Nevada Street to the College Park Estates Lake Artemesia access trail; and 2) a longer east-west trail connecting Nevada Street with the Indian Creek trail. Option 1 is less expensive and would improve an already existing foot path. However, there are some College Park Estates homeowners who object to the proximity of the trail to their back yards. Option 2 is more expensive as it crosses over swampy terrain and requires boardwalks and bridges.

Council discussed benefits and drawbacks of the two proposals. It was pointed out that trail 1 was proposed to become an 8' wide asphalt trail, which could be used as a back road to College Park Estates by pedestrians and bicyclists. Trail 2 provides a new amenity in addition to the existing trail 1 but would be $11,000 over-budget and may be more problematic to fund. It was agreed that a simplified version of the map with the proposed trails and showing College Park Estates property lines would be published in the October Bulletin in order to give residents an opportunity to comment. TA Murphy was asked to find out when Park & Planning plans to hold its hearing on the trails.

Historic preservation letter: Mayor Calvo proposed that the Town write a letter to the Historic Preservation Section of Prince George's County Planning Department recommending that the Chlopicki House be added to the historic register. CM Lofgren so moved. CM Gourley seconded.  CM Lofgren asked if the Town does not want to include the other 2 properties that were invited to apply for historic registration in its recommendation. Mayor Calvo said that the Davidson-White homes still has to undergo an architectural assessment and the Schneiderman-Seal home may also not ready to be placed on the register. He would not like to hold up the registration of the Chlopicki House, which has been assessed and is ready. The motion was approved 5 to 0.

Pension plan: Mayor Calvo said that representatives of Funk & Bolton, who are preparing the cost estimates for joining the Maryland State Pension Plan, will attend the October 15 worksession. The Council has been given a packet of background material, which they are to keep and study for future discussions. In a recent letter, Funk & Bolton has presented different options for financing joining the pension plan, the least expensive of which would amount to approximately $94,000 over 20 years. An important feature of any financing option would be that there is no pre-payment penalty so that the Metroland money can be used to pay down the principal. A notice regarding the October 15 pension plan discussion is to be published in the Bulletin. As this is one of largest financial obligations the Town has ever taken on, the more the public knows about it the better.

2 Parks and Recreation

Tree lighting ceremony (item was dropped)

3. Public Health and Safety

No items were discussed.

4. Public Works

Mulch program: CM Lofgren said he has asked Director Coleman to tighten up the proposal and make a couple of changes. It was agreed that residents would come to the Town Office to pay $10 for a mulch delivery. However, residents should be informed that the mulch is low grade and may have plastic and other foreign materials in it and that a load of mulch is the equivalent of about $36 bags of mulch.

Mayor Calvo said that he hopes that there would be options on what amounts can be ordered. CM Dennison said that she has heard from residents who are disappointed that there will no longer be a self serve mulch pile where mulch can be obtained for free. She also does not see a correlation between having a mulch pile and illegal dumping. Other materials will apparently continue to be stored by Public Works at the current site, such as ice melt and construction material. Mayor Calvo replied that ice melt should not be stored there. However, illegal dumping occurred because the site was kept open during all hours. According to the new policy, gates should be closed after hours and on weekends but mulch continues to be available during business hours.

MPT Jewitt said he understood that the mulch delivery program was an interim measure until a public mulch pile could be re-opened at Ruatan Street and 56^th Avenue. Mayor Calvo thought that the delivery program should remain available even if the mulch pile can be re-opened at the old location. CM Lofgren noted that Director Coleman has said that the ice melt is not environmentally hazardous and could be kept at the Park & Planning site. He also pointed out that residents from other communities have helped themselves to the mulch, which might be an issue now that the Town has to buy it. MPT Jewitt asked that Director Coleman talk with Director Solomon about any code violations that might arise from mulch deliveries.

5. Administration

Bulletin cover: The following items were approved for the October Bulletin cover: Halloween, Trick or Treating and banner with leaf collection notice; jumps to Nevada Street and pension plan hearings.

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

5. Code Enforcement

Building & Inspection Ordinance: TA Murphy went over the changes made in the latest draft of the Ordinance. In Sections 6A and 7A, “and approved conditions” was added to provisions requiring Council approval for permit extensions for the placement of roll-off containers and Portable Temporary Storage Units (PODS). In Section 8E, reference to the dollar amount of a cash deposit for placing a roll-off-container into the street was deleted. In Section 13, the statement “Violation of any provision of this Ordinance shall be subject to a fine or penalty set from time to time by resolution of the Town Council” was added.  Mayor Calvo said that the addition makes the the first sentence of Section 13 redundant and asked to delete it. There were no other comments. The fee and fine schedule resolution to this Ordinance will be discussed at the next worksession.

Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance: TA Murphy explained the latest changes to this Ordinance. In Section 1A, the requirement that garbage and refuse containers be screened was added. In Section 4, the statement that “The rules and regulations of State and County agencies ... must be taken into consideration when enforcing this Ordinance” was added.  Section 7E was altered to specify that commercial property owners are responsible for keeping all aprons and sidewalks in the State and Town right-of-way free of debris, litter, vegetation, snow and ice, but are not responsible for maintaining curbs and gutters. Other provisions in Section 7 were consolidated and clarified in response to Councilmembers' suggestions. Section 10 was rewritten to set out 3 different compliance and fine categories. Section 10A (6) provides for compliance periods of 5 days for violations due to unclean, unsanitary or unsafe conditions that are listed in Sections 7A-E. Section 10A (7) provides for 15-day compliance periods for violations requiring the removal of bulky trash and clutter or landscaping maintenance that are outlined in Section 7F-K. Section 10A (8) provides for 30-day or longer compliance periods for violations requiring repair of buildings and  infrastructure that are outlined in Section 7M-S.

In discussions, the following changes were made: Provision I in Section 7, which requires that shrubs, trees and other plantings be maintained so as not to obstruct sight lines or foot traffic, was made subject to a 5-day compliance period. Provision 7D, which prohibits abandoned, junked, wrecked or untagged vehicles to be kept on a property, except when enclosed in a garage, will need to be modified so as to permit some narrowly defined exemptions: for example, service stations that are in the business of inspecting or repairing vehicles and fire stations that use wrecked cars for training

The storage of titled but unregistered and untagged trucks, which are kept for spare parts, should be subject to the requirement that they are stored out of public view3, either by covering them or enclosing them in a garage or behind a fence. The permitted uses of an I-1 industrial zone should be reviewed to ensure that the Ordinance does not conflict with it.

7. Executive Session (9:30 p.m. – 11:50 p.m.)

On a motion by CM Gourley and second by MPT Jewitt, the Council went into executive session to discuss personnel matters. With matters discussed, the session was closed on a motion by CM Gourley and second by CM Dennison.

Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk