Worksession Minutes
April 4, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. Present were Mayor Calvo, MPT Wilkinson, CMs Ahrens, Dennison and Kulpa-Eddy. Also present were Town Administrator (TA) Murphy, and Clerk Harper.

1. Mayor

Announcements: Mayor Calvo has been awarded a fellowship to attend the Aspen Ideas Festival, hosted by the Aspen Institute and the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, which brings together leaders and individuals from across the globe to explore the ideals and ideas that define a good society. He will not be able to attend the MML conference.

Calendar: The Council reviewed the calendar. BHES students will hold the annual Mock Town Council Meeting on the evening of the April 11 budget worksession. It was suggested to move this event to November in the next school year to coincide with the MML's municipal government month. On the April 18th worksession, the Council will take a field trip to the Public Works yard and also inspect the state of Berwyn Heights' streets. The April 25th budget worksession was canceled. At the May 2nd worksession, a public hearing on the proposed tax rate increase will be scheduled. On the May 9th budget worksession, the Council will likely make decisions resulting from the notification of the FY 2012 health insurance rates.

Minutes: On a motion by CM Ahrens and second by MPT Wilkinson, the March 21 worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0. On motion by CM Ahrens and second by CM Dennison, the March 14 Budget worksession minutes were approved 5 to 0. The March 9th Town meeting minutes were distributed for approval at the April 13 Town meeting.

Department reports: Mayor Calvo reported there was another burglary at a home in the 5600 block of Ruatan Street. As in other burglaries, the perpetrator entered through an unlocked back door and stole several small electronic gadgets. He ran away when the owner, who happened to be home, screamed. In response to CM Dennison, Mayor Calvo said he will check with Chief Antolik if public safety alerts are still posted on Nixel. CM Ahrens reported that a Seminole Street resident complained about a neighbor's noisy children's birthday party that took place out of doors. The resident called the police because the party continued after 8 p.m.

CM Dennison reported that the Recreation Council is busy planning Berwyn Heights Day. A date for the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner needs to be set so that it does not conflict with the BHES year-end pool party. CM Dennison attended a Radical Readers event at Greenbelt Middle School, which celebrated students that took up the challenge of reading for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. Governor O'Malley, Superintendent Hite, School Board Member Higgins and Greenbelt Mayor Davis were in attendance. Two Berwyn Heights students, Jan Knutson and Sam Goldstein, participated in the challenge. The new school building is under construction. Mayor Calvo added that he will be Greenbelt Middle School's Principal for a Day on April 7.

MPT Wilkinson reported that Director Coleman learned at a Four Cities Public Works directors' meeting that the street sweeper needs to be replaced. Berwyn Heights has the option of participating in the purchase of a new street sweeper or outsourcing street cleaning to a contractor. Mayor Calvo said that in 2006 Berwyn Heights' share was $25,000, but it had grant money to finance it. The Town pays about $20,000 annually to pay for the sweeping service. CM Kulpa-Eddy reported that the flasher at the school has been fixed.

Mayor Calvo received a call from a College Park Councilman about the Greenbelt Metro Area development zoning requirements. The conceptual site plan for the development permits an 18-story buildings to be built next to the Metro tracks, which concerns the homeowners right across the tracks in North College Park. The site plan is at odds with the 2003 overlay zone approved for the development, which specifies that the tallest buildings in the north core may be built away from the tracks, but not adjacent to it. College Park plans to oppose amending the overlay zone to conform to the conceptual site plan. Mayor Calvo also met with the business owners of the 5800 and 5900 block of Greenbelt Road to facilitate discussions about combining their properties for the purposes of redevelopment. Before the last worksession, he also met with Councilmember Eric Olson, representatives from Park & Planning and the Audubon Society about plans for a dog park at Lake Artemesia. Bird watchers represented by the Audubon Society have expressed concern about disruption of bird habitats at the lake. WMATA has notified the Town that it plans to open a test track for new Metro rail cars between College Park and Greenbelt Metro Stations, which would result in trains being tested 24 hours a day for about a year. It may impose a considerable burden on College Park residents in terms of noise.

Citizens comments: Mayor Calvo said that the Council received an email from a resident complaining about a noisy children's party. The resident sought clarification as to whether the new noise ordinance regulates this kind of activity and at what time nighttime quiet hours apply. Mayor Calvo told him that the police can enforce this type of noise violation as a disturbance of the peace and the old Peace, Order & Nuisances Ordinance. He will follow up with Chief Antolik about it.

MPT Wilkinson received another comment on the apartment-like house on 57th Avenue. Mayor Calvo said that Code Director Solomon has kept a watch on the house. While the County revoked the electric permit after faulty circuits caused a fire there, it is a licensed rental. Many of the people that live there are apparently related and can live in the same house without needing a rental permit. Most of the back of the house is not occupied because there is no occupancy permit for it.

Resolution 1-2011, Noise Ordinance fine schedule: Mayor Calvo read the revised fine schedule, which now lists fines for different violations in a table format. CM Dennison, commenting on Section 3 that deals with violations related to frequent and sustained noises made by dogs or birds, asked how long sustained is. Mayor Calvo said that there is no hard rule yet. The Town Council will develop a standard over time as precedents are created. CM Dennison said she hopes that the Town will act with restraint in enforcing such violations, and will be guided by the good-neighborly conduct endorsed in the Noise Ordinance preamble.

CM Ahrens said that children's birthday parties, such as the one mentioned earlier under citizen comments, should not be considered an egregious violation. Mayor Calvo said that the resident who complained said that he visited the home at which the birthday party was held but did not receive a satisfactory response. He then called the police. The association of a noise with a birthday party does not mean that the complaint was frivolous. The Council cannot judge the seriousness of the violation because it was not there to experience the noise. CM Ahrens said that the Town should strive to be kid-friendly. Mayor Calvo said he agrees but that he prefers not to reach conclusions based on insufficient information.

CM Kulpa-Eddy asked why there is a need to specify animal noise violations in Section 3, when they are already covered under Section 1 referencing all General Violations in Section 5 of the Noise Ordinance. Mayor Calvo agreed that Section 3 is not needed. Instead the table should be corrected to show a category of fines for frequent and sustained noise violations by domestic animals. There were no objections. The fine schedule with the above corrections will be brought up for adoption at the April Town meeting.

PGCMA nominations: The Council had no nominations for the board of the Prince George's County Municipal Association (PGCMA) to be elected at its May 19 meeting. MPT Wilkinson said that the PGCMA also asked for nominations to the Cable Commission. The Council had no nominations for it.

2. Public Safety

Take home car policy: Mayor Calvo read the new and revised paragraphs of the take home car policy in Section 3 Eligibility of Council Rule 19. Section 3-D now states that officers residing within the Town limits or within 30 road miles (previously 40 road miles) of the Town's boundaries may use their assigned vehicles for travel to and from home. Section 3-F states that if an officer lives beyond 30 road miles, he will have a mileage charge of $0.50 deducted from his paycheck for each mile traveled beyond 30 miles. Section 3-G has a grandfather provision for all officers who are currently employed by the Town and live within 40 road miles from the Town. Section 3-H states that any officer who lives outside the State of Maryland requires special approval from the Town Council to take his vehicle home. Section 3-1 states that the policy does not apply when an officer has been designated active on call.

Mayor Calvo offered revisions. He said that the mileage charge should not be expressed as a specific figure but simply follow the federal mileage reimbursement rate, which fluctuates with the price of gas. Section 3-G should be re-written to state that all currently employed officers will be grand fathered at their current residence. They do not have to pay mileage fees if they live more than 30 but less than 40 road miles from the Town, which is the old limit. However, a mileage fee will apply if they move further away than their current residence.

CM Kulpa-Eddy said that paragraph E and H both refer to same topic, e.g. Town Council approval of an out-of state take home car. They need to be consolidated. TA Murphy was asked to make the changes. The Council will review the revised Council Rule at the next worksession.

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

Nothing was discussed under 3. Public Works.

4. Administration

Debt policy: TA Murphy said that in 2009, the State of Maryland enacted legislation to require that all municipal governments have a debt policy. The debt policy proposed for Berwyn Heights is based on the best debt policies of several cities on the eastern seaboard. Among the important provisions is Article VII Section M - Bond Anticipation Notes, which allows a municipality to borrow money against a bond ordinance without having to go into the open market. Usually, this is negotiated with a local bank and is paid off over a 10-year period. Article XII provides for infrastructure borrowing through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (MDC&H). Berwyn Heights used this facility in 1996 to finance a large-scale street renovation. Article IX provides guidance on measuring debt affordability. The goal is to keep total debt service payments, including interest, under 10% of the total operating budget. Article XVI provides that all debt must be approved by the Town Council.

Mayor Calvo commented that he supports the State mandating a debt policy for local governments because many cities and towns borrowed and invested unwisely during the boom years and now have trouble balancing their budgets. He agrees that a 10% cap on debt service is a sound rule. However, the Town generally has turned away from debt financing. The one area where a case for bonds can be made is in financing infrastructure improvements. It would allow the Town to finance a much larger street renovation project than the planned reconstruction of two blocks of Seminole and Ruatan Streets. Larger projects benefit from economies of scale.

Beyond the Seminole/Ruatan project, the Council may want to look into bonding larger infrastructure projects if the terms are favorable. As interest rates are at historic lows now, borrowing money for infrastructure makes sense. For financing other capital purchases, such as renovating the Public Works yard, he would first look at using surplus and reserves. And for that the Town needs to develop a surplus and reserve policy. TA Murphy has been asked to draft such a policy but has not been able to do so yet.

Nothing was discussed under 5. Code Compliance.

6. Parks and Recreation

Volunteer appreciation dinner date: CM Dennison suggested holding the dinner during the last week of school before families go on vacation. She needs to find out when the PTA has their year-end pool party to avoid a conflict.

7. Budget

Infrastructure funding: Mayor Calvo said that he would like the Council to come to an agreement on the proposed 2.5-cent real property tax increase to finance the Seminole/Ruatan Street project.This would raise approximately 90,000, with $60,000 coming from residents and $30,000 coming from businesses. If the Assembly restores Highway User Revenue to $10 million, as the House has proposed, the tax rate increase could be reduced. He believes it is better, however, to include the tax increase in the Town budget when it is introduced on April 13. This would serve as a notice to residents and as an opportunity to announce the May 2 public hearing on the tax increase.

CM Ahrens suggested raising the tax rate by 5 cents per $100 of assessed real property value. This would double the revenue and enable the Town to pay for street renovations by itself and not be at the mercy of the State. He has spoken to a number of residents about this issue and has not heard any objections. Residents want this problem solved and appear to be waiting for someone to exercise leadership. He further believes that this reflects a problem in the country at large, which lacks leaders that are not afraid to raise taxes.

CM Dennison said that she was interested to hear the Mayor suggest that the Town consider bonding future infrastructure projects. This was the only way the Town has been able to fund large-scale street renovations in the past. Apart from Seminole and Ruatan Streets, other Town streets are deteriorating and need attention. The longer the one waits the more renovations will cost.

Mayor Calvo said that the tax increase he is proposing would be dedicated to infrastructure. With the $90,000 raised from the tax increase and the $40,000 TA Murphy added for FY 2012 to the $350,000 already in the infrastructure reserve, $480,000 would be available to fund the Seminole/Ruatan project. An additional $200,000 needed could come from the Town's undesignated surplus, which stands at $540,000. Over the last 6 years, the Town has used surplus funds to buy Public Works vehicles and set up the vehicle replacement fund. This year every vehicle is budgeted in the vehicle replacement fund and the surplus will no longer be needed to purchase them. Over a longer term, the $90,000 in tax revenue could be used to service a $1 million bond for larger projects. It is also likely that the State will raise gas taxes because it needs to rebuild the transportation trust fund. HUR for local government will then increase.

MPT Wilkinson asked if the $650,000 quote for renovating Seminole and Ruatan Streets still holds. Mayor Calvo said he thinks the price will hold, give or take $30,000. However, it should get done this summer because the Town has already invested $35,000 in an engineering study and WSSC has pledged $30,000 in refunds for damage done to Town streets when it replaced water mains. Further, he believes that the price of road construction will go up as the economy recovers.

MPT Wilkinson said that he would support a 3-cent tax rate increase. Compared to most of its neighbors, Berwyn Heights' real property tax rate is low. With the additional revenue, the Town does not depend on the State for HUR to improve its roads. Long term, money invested in road improvements will increase property values and benefit everyone in Town. Mayor Calvo said he can sign on to 3 cents as a starting point, but not 5 cents. CM Dennison said she prefers a 2.5-cent increase. CM Kulpa-Eddy said she supports 3 cents as a starting point but wants to get feedback from residents to settle on the final number. Mayor Calvo asked for a motion to impose a 3-cent real property tax increase and a 7.5-cent personal property tax rate increase dedicated to infrastructure. CM Ahrens so moved. MPT Wilkinson seconded. The motion passed 5 to 0.

Public Works staffing: TA Murphy provided revised cost estimates for Public Works staffing options based on the preferences the Council expressed at the last budget worksession. The Council agreed that Public Works man-hours should be increased from the currently budgeted 376 hours per week to 388 hour per week in the next fiscal year. That could be done with 8 full time and 2 part time employees. The part time employees could either be permanent Town employees or temporary hires. Cost estimates for permanent part-timers include a pension benefit, unemployment, injured worker's compensation and health insurance:

Option C-1A funds 8 full-time staff ($369,000) and 2 permanent 34-hour per week part-timers ($59,000) for a total of 388 man-hours per week and a total cost of $428,000.
Option C-1B funds 8 full time staff and 2 temporary 34-hour per week part-timers ($45,000) for a total cost of $414.000.
For comparison, TA Murphy included cost estimates for current staffing levels of 376 man-hours per week.
Option C-2A funds 8 full-time staff ($369,000) and 2 permanent 32-hour per week part-timers ($59,000) for a total of 376 man-hours per week and a total cost of $424,000.
Option C-2B funds 8 full time staff and 2 temporary 32-hour per week part-timers ($43,000) for a total cost of $411.000.

The proposed FY 2012 budget already budgets $37,000 for part time employees. To fund 2 permanent 34-hour per week part-timers an additional $22,000 is needed for that appropriation. However, if the part-timers are hired after July 1, 2011, $4,500 in pension contributions can be deferred and the needed amount drops to $17,500. On the other hand, to fund 2 temporary 34-hour per week part-timers only $8,000 in additional salary is needed. However, Public Works indicated that the Department only needs 2 32-hours per week part-timers. The additional money needed for 2 permanent part-timers would then drop to $15,800 and for 2 temporary hires it would drop to $5,300.

Mayor Calvo recalled that last week, the Council was told that the Department needed 2 more 28 hour per week permanent part-timers, each working 4 five hour days, and one 8 hour day for recycling on Wednesday. On an annualized basis, this amounts to 376 man-hours per week, including full timers. However, this leaves no flexibility if a regular employee is sick or on vacation or if there is an emergency that requires more hands. This is why is why he proposed to fund an additional 12 hours per week in the temporary labor appropriation to bring total budgeted man-hours 388 hours per week.

Mayor Calvo continued the 12 additional hours could be used to hire temporary workers on an as needed basis. The Town should have a rule that these temporary workers can become permanent part-timers with benefits after they have worked at least 6 months for the Town if a position is available. However, they would only be eligible for individual health insurance. He would prefer to mandate health insurance, with the Town paying a prorated share of the premium and the employee paying the rest. This would cost part time employees around $800 per year, which they should be able to afford with the additional salary earned working for the Town. They would also receive a performance evaluation and become eligible for merit pay and cost of living adjustments.

CM Kulpa-Eddy expressed concerns about mandating health insurance, as the employee may already have insurance elsewhere. Mayor Calvo said it would be sufficient if they can demonstrate that they have health insurance with another provider. MPT Wilkinson asked TA Murphy for a cost estimate of charging employees with family 15% of their health insurance.

Further, TA Murphy was asked to provide new cost estimates for two 28 hours per week part-timers, including the prorated health insurance option of 77% of 95% (or 66% of 100%), and for temporary staffing at a 12, 16 and 20 hours per week level. Public Works staffing and Code/Administration Department staffing will be discussed at the next worksession.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 p.m.