Worksession Minutes
september 2, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, Mayor Pro Tem (MPT) Lofgren, Councilmembers (CMs) Attick, Dennison and Gourley. Also present were Town Administrator (TA) Murphy, Director of Public works Coleman, Clerk Harper, and Gazette reporter Joshua Garner.

1. Mayor

Agenda: CDBG contract and Branchville senior housing were added to the agenda.

Calendar: The date for the annual Halloween Party was added for October 25, 4 - 7 p.m.

Minutes: The August 13 Town meeting minutes were reviewed for approval at the September Town meeting. On a motion by CM Dennison and second by CM Attick, the August 11 worksession minutes were approved 4 - 0 - 1 with CM Gourley abstaining. On a motion by CM Dennison and second by CM Attick, the August 18 worksession minutes were approved 5 - 0.

Department reports: CM Gourley reported that he would like to institute a bi-weekly report to the Council on the latest news in the Administration Department. He and TA Murphy are also working on setting up files to track the inventory of equipment for Town buildings and to write job descriptions for all staff positions. TA Murphy said that the Town received the last income tax check for FY 2008 in the amount of $21,000, which brings the FY 2008 total to $266,000. However, he is still waiting for the last Highway User Revenue disbursement.

CM Dennison said that a hedge of white pines at a property on 57th Avenue, on which the Council received complaints, has been taken down. Mayor Calvo added that the same property has now become a licensed rental home. Reporting for Public Works, Director Coleman said that the crew is performing regular maintenance and preparing for fall chores. MPT Lofgren noted that the Prince George's Public Schools (PGCPS) grounds crew continues to mow the school fields despite repeated requests to stop. Mayor Calvo said that he would call them to add weight to the request, if needed. CM Attick reported that all Town committees this month are resuming their regular meetings, which he will attend. The Ice Cream Social is scheduled for Friday, September 19 

Mayor Calvo reported that he attended Hello Husky Night as did CMs Attick and Dennison. The turnout was high and prominently included Senator Pinsky and Chief Murphy and 2 officials of the Berwyn Heights Volunteer Fire Department. The BHES PTA organized the activities and the cookout and teachers Bret Goldstein and Darelyn Fung provided entertainment. He also accompanied the Berwyn Heights 14  and under Girls Softball Team, who again were undefeated this season, to watch an honorary Bowie Bay Sox game from the owner's box. In police news, newly hired Officer Thompson is now patrolling on his own and the department is back to its full 8 officer complement.

Citizen comments: CM Gourley received comments regarding the late delivery of USPS mail. Mayor Calvo has tried to call the College Park station about the problem, but always gets a busy signal. CM Attick received a comment about a neighbor's dead tree that might be blown down in a storm. He also received a request from the Boys & Girls Club to discuss the Sports Park hockey rink and ball fields at a future worksession. CM Dennison noted that the Club has permitting authority over the fields and hockey rink and can decide who uses them for what purpose.

Mayor Calvo received a noise complaint. He also reported that he spoke to the Deputy Director of the County's Department of Environmental Resources (DER) about the demolition of a vacant home on 58th Avenue. DER would pay for the demolition with money from its abatement budget. However, this budget is tight with numerous abatements having been performed at foreclosed homes. One possibility is for DER to work with the Fire Department and remove the home by controlled burn. Another home that receives many complaints is 7702 Edmonston Road. It has a natural spring in its back yard that runs off into neighboring yards. The owners have been ordered to fix the problem. Meanwhile, an elderly neighbor needs help with getting his grass cut, which has grown very high because of the continuous runoff. Director Coleman said that the Public Works crew will help. Mayor Calvo continued that he has checked up on a code issue regarding 8802 Edmonston Road. The owner received a permit for an additional driveway based on a variance that was granted in error. The owner had submitted incorrect information about his property.

CM Attick reported that the County Executive issued an order forbidding volunteer fire departments from billing for ambulance service. The County plans to bill for the service and use the receipts toward funding Prince George's Hospital. For the Berwyn Heights Fire Department ambulance fees are the biggest revenue stream and essential for funding new capital items. Mayor Calvo said that he will look into the matter right away. He said that, unlike some other fire departments, the Berwyn Heights station bought its own apparatus and should be able to keep the revenues generated from its use.

MML conference: The following Councilmembers will attend the Maryland Municipal Fall Conference in October: Mayor Calvo, MPT Lofgren and CM Attick.

Recycling transition (discussed out of order): Mayor Calvo asked Public Works Director Coleman to give the Council the perspective of the Public Works Department on the transition to in-house recycling and explain how it is preparing for the switch.

Director Coleman said that he has been discussing the transition with TA Murphy and understands the importance of advertising the change and new pickup day. For the Public Works Department this means adding another collection day on Wednesday. Initially, one employee will accompany the crew to keep track of homes, which have not set out recycling on Wednesday, and distribute notices to inform them of the change. For the first couple of weeks, the department also plans to send out a second recycling crew on Thursday to pick up any remaining recyclables. Director Coleman anticipates there will be a learning curve when implementing the program. For example, the department has no good estimates on the volume of recyclables for the Town. The current contractor could not furnish the information because they mix the recyclables of several communities. Once the Department knows how much volume to expect, it can organize the pickup more effectively. For a Wednesday holiday, he may skip recycling for that week or reschedule it for Thursday, depending on the volume.

In response to questions, Director Coleman said that he has visited the materials recycling facility in Capitol Heights and confirmed that metal, plastic and paper goods can be dumped together, making the process much simpler. He also plans to continue using the yellow County recycling bins currently in use. As a starting time for the recycling pickup, he recommends 7:30 p.m. He further suggested that new legislation might be adopted that prescribes the manner of disposing recyclables and adopts fees and fines for non-compliance. Mayor Calvo said that this would probably be taken up as an amendment to Ordinance No. 117.

Mayor Calvo summed up that the Town up to now used a recycling contractor. Residents pay $53 a year for the service in the form of a special recycling fee. By switching to in-house recycling, the Town can use the revenues to pay for an additional Public Works employee and other operational expenses. In addition, the Town earns $12 per ton for delivery of recyclables to a new County recycling plant that accepts co-mingled materials. Furthermore, by doing the work itself, the Town can improve the service by picking up dropped and spilled materials and by educating residents to recycle more. This would eventually reduce the volume of regular trash and realize savings in dumping fees. CM Lofgren added that, at some point, it might be possible to drop a regular trash collection day if enough trash gets recycled. In the future, the Town may also want to consider getting bigger recycling bins that could be serviced by a truck with an automatic lift.

Director Coleman said that he will look into converting trash trucks to natural gas, which has been discussed by neighboring cities under a Four Cities Coalition umbrella. If it is feasible and cost effective, he will bring a proposal to the Council for consideration. Mayor Calvo noted that the main difficulty is having a filling station in close proximity.

Branchville senior housing (added item): Mayor Calvo said he was informed by Metroland Legal Counsel Norman Rivera that Greenbelt may claim an unincorporated sliver of land between the Hercules Fence property and the Connector, designated as dedicated roadway. Metroland developers intend to use the land as part of the senior housing complex they want to build on the former Hercules Fence property. It is standard practice for the M-NCPPC Planning Board to permit such land to flow with the project. Nonetheless, Greenbelt may seek right of approval for the project based on the claim to the land. Currently, this is discussed at a staff level, but may come before the City Council on Monday, September 8. If the City Council agrees with the staff and seeks right of approval, Mayor Calvo may ask the Council to approve a letter of opposition at the next Town meeting. In the meantime, he will seek to contact Greenbelt's planning director to find out more about Greenbelt's position.

CDBG cooperation agreement: TA Murphy explained that the County has asked the Town of Berwyn Heights to sign and certify a three-year Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) cooperation agreement with the federal government that would run from 2008 to 2011. Mayor Calvo elaborated that the agreement would maintain the Town's eligibility for CDBG programs. However, the Town has not received any CDBG grants since 2003. There may not be any block in the Town that meets the current income requirements. But it may be possible to obtain grant money for the industrial zone, which has different income requirements. MPT Lofgren moved to sign the agreement. CM Dennison seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

At 8:20 p.m., the Council took a 10 minute break.

No items were discussed under 2. Public Safety and 3. Public Works.

4. Administration

Variance request – 8802 Edmonston Road: TA Murphy explained that Mr. Vajger requested a variance to build a driveway in the front of a home on a property that has been subdivided. He plans to sell the vacant lot, which has the existing driveway. The Zoning Board of Appeals rejected Mr. Vajger's variance application because he treated the property as one, which failed to justify a second driveway. The Board required a revised application that identifies two separate lots. Furthermore, Mr. Vajger needs the variance so that his bank will release the mortgage on the property and he can sell the second parcel. The new driveway must be in the front of the home because a utility pole and a water reader prevent access on the right hand side. The left hand side of the property with the old driveway belongs to the vacant second lot.

Mayor Calvo said that his primary concern is overbuilding, e.g., the construction of a mansion that dwarfs the neighboring homes. Therefore, he would like to make it a policy to require that those who plan to build on subdivided lots submit site plans for approval by the Council when a variance is needed. This would give the Town leverage to prevent the building of homes that do not fit in with the character of the community. In this case, he proposed recommending approval of the variance in exchange for approval of the site plans of any new structure on the vacant lot. CM Dennison moved to approve the variance provided the owner signs an agreement that grants the Town site plan approval for any building at 8800 Edmonston Road. MPT Lofgren seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

5. Code Enforcement

Code appeal – 7 Eleven convenience store: CM Dennison said that the owner of the Berwyn Heights 7 Eleven store, Henok Yared, wrote a letter to appeal a $100 fine for a violation of the Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance No 134, Section 7.B.  She read a summary of the case, as compiled by the Code Department. On June 6, 2008 the store was given a courtesy notice of a violation consisting of high grass and weeds in the back of the store. On June 17, a code officer showed Mr. Yared a photo of the violation and received assurance that it would be taken care of by Monday. On June 18, a certified letter was mailed giving 5 days to comply (June 23), followed by a June 19 copy of the certified letter sent by regular mail.

The property was still in violation when checked on June 24 and a $100 fine was issued. The property was re-checked on June 26 and was in compliance. Also on June 26, the receipt card for the first certified letter was received back in the office. The receipt card for the second certified letter giving 10 days to pay the $100 fine or have a lien be placed on the property came back to the office on July 1. On August 14, 15 and 19, Mr. Yared inquired about the appeals process and sent a letter of appeal on August 21.

CM Dennison said that she does not consider this a severe violation and would be inclined to waive the fine as a first offense. Mayor Calvo agreed. While the violation was not corrected in time, it was corrected soon after the deadline. Since the Commercial Clean Lot Ordinance has stricter enforcement standards, the Council should give businesses a little time to get used to them. In the future, he would not be lenient, however. CM Gourley proposed to charge a fine that would cover the cost of postage for this case. Mayor Calvo said that he would not want to nickel and dime businesses. He believes the point has been made that there are costly fines for not complying with the Town ordinances. CM Dennison moved to waive the fine. MPT Lofgren seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

6. Parks and Recreation

Ordinance No. 113: Mayor Calvo said that the Council briefly discussed changing the organizational structure of the Recreation Council as part of identifying the priorities for this term. He asked if CM Attick has any proposals or ideas about how the Recreation Council could be strengthened. CM Attick said that he would first like to get the Recreation Council's input before launching into a revision of Ordinance No. 113. 

Mayor Calvo said that he has given the matter some thought. The Town Council can already change the composition of the Recreation Council through its authority to appoint at-large members and designate organizations that should have voting representatives. However, the finance section of the Ordinance is probably most important. It authorizes the Recreation Council “to recommend appropriations from the general revenues of the Town for the purchase of equipment, development of facilities and conduct of recreation programs or special events within the Town.” Presently, this process is not followed. It is the Parks & Recreation Department Head, who decides how funds are appropriated. CM Attick said this raises the question as to whether the Recreation Council should be given more authority to appropriate funds to eligible organizations.

CM Dennison said that Town organizations should also be asked for their input. There probably needs to be some re-evaluation of which organizations should be full voting members. MPT Lofgren said that, when he used to work for the Park & Planning Commission, communities were required to have a Recreation Council to be able to access the resources of the Commission for their recreation programs. The Recreation Councils then were mainly coordinating committees for the often numerous organizations in a community. Their job was to avoid scheduling conflicts for facilities and equipment, and to ensure that events did not overlap.

Mayor Calvo said that, ideally, coordination should be the Recreation Council's primary function. It would not so much organize events as coordinate the programs of member organizations. To reclaim that function, the Recreation Council probably needs to have some authority to dispense funds to Town organizations. Then these organizations would have a stake in participating more fully in the Recreation Council and take on regular responsibilities. Mayor Calvo suggested that, at the next meeting, CM Attick ask the Recreation Council which organizations should be members. Secondly, they should be offered funds to disburse to organizations to plan activities throughout the year.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Signed: Kerstin Harper, Town Clerk

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