PRESENT:
Mayor Williams Councilmember Barry Councilmember Clay Councilmember Robinson Councilmember Seamens Councilmember Snipper Councilmember Wright		City Manager Matthews Public Works Director Braithwaite Assistant City Clerk Andia Deputy City Manager Ludlow City Attorney Silber

 

The City Council convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Takoma Park Community Center -- Sam Abbott Citizens' Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Minutes of May 19 and May 22, 2008 were adopted upon motion by Mr. Seamens; second by Mr. Snipper.

Jim Evans, President of North Takoma Citizens Association, commented on the Montgomery College Facilities Master Plan. He stated that he was disappointed that there was not better communication during the development of the plan. He stated that he hoped to work more closely in the future. 

Roslyn Grigsby, Executive Director of the Old Takoma Business Association, thanked the Council for its consideration of the resolution supporting Maryland Main Street Improvement Program Financing for the Old Takoma Business Association.

Sabrina Baron, President of Historic Takoma, commented on the Montgomery College Facilities Master Plan. She stated that she was confident that the College had the ability and the wherewith all to find a win-win solution that would be in the best interest of the community.

Ms. Baron also spoke about the Takoma Metro development. She noted that there were eight resolutions adopted on the issue and questioned the need for a further mandate. Additionally, Ms. Baron did not support the City’s involvement in site plan development in the District of Columbia process.

Ms. Matthews distributed a revised memo on a new code enforcement initiative which corrected the ward location for some of the foreclosed properties.

Ms. Matthews noted a communication from MML regarding an anticipated downturn in Highway User Fees to be distributed to municipalities. She said the staff would be watching the issue closely.

Ms. Matthews reported two other items:  the Public Works phone problems were being worked on by Verizon, and the Farmer’s Market had received a grant from a nonprofit organization.

(1) Resolution Ratifying a Collective Bargaining Agreement with Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union

Ms. Ludlow stated that the collective bargaining agreement would be for the term of July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011. She said that the contract is similar to the AFSCME contract. It also addresses the issue of the police pension plan and reflects the search for a new pension plan for police officers over the next year.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008-53 Ratifying a Collective Bargaining Agreement with Local 400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Moved by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Barry.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Barry, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

Resolution 2008-53 (attached).

(2) First Reading Ordinance Adopting the FY09 Pay Scale for Police

Motion to adopt First Reading Ordinance 2008-32 Adopting the FY09 Pay Scale for Police. Moved by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Snipper.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Barry, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

First Reading Ordinance 2008-32 (attached).

(3) Resolution Authorizing the FY09 Program Open Space Allocation

Ms. Ludlow noted that the County may not be able to use the Program Open Space funds from the City on the Piney Branch pool because it may not be considered a capital improvement. She recommended that the City Council adopt the resolution, submit the annual program plan, and, if needed, the Council could make any necessary modification to the annual program at a later date.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2008-54 Authorizing the FY09 Prgram Open Space Allocation. Moved by Councilmember Robinson, seconded by Councilmember Seamens.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Barry, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

Resolution 2008-54 (attached).

(4) Consent Agenda

A. Resolution 2008-55, Supporting Maryland Main Street Improvement Program Financing for the Old Takoma Business Association (attached).

B. Resolution 2008-56 Reappointing Sally Brucker, Lucinda Dugger and Charlie Pilzer to the Arts and Humanities Commission (attached).

C. Resolution 2008-57 Reappointing Katherine Kelly and Sanjay Grover to the Safe Roadways Committee (attached).

D. Resolution 2008-58 Appointing Keith Berner, Lynn Bradley, Jacqueline L. Davison, Anne R. Hollander, Susan A. Leitch, H. James O’Brien, David Paris, Praveen R. Pillai, Kathleen Quinn, Diane L. Robinson-Berkley, Eileen Sobeck, Jarrett K. Smith, Pamela Sparr, and Andrew Strongin to the Washington Adventist Hospital Land Use Committee (attached).

Motion adopt the Consent Agenda. Moved by Councilmember Robinson, seconded by Councilmember Wright.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Barry, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

(5) Montgomery College Facilities Master Plan Update

David Capp, Associate Vice President for College Facilities, gave a Power Point presentation on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus Facilities Master Plan. Brad Stewart, Vice President and Provost, was also present.

Mr. Williams asked for a brief explanation for why the idea of expansion onto Burlington Avenue was reserved for the future and not now.

Mr. Capp said that the property was owned by the Foundation Board and if the property were used now it would negate the use of the property to generate revenue in the future.

Dr. Stewart stated that the College could only present a solution for the 95,000 ft space deficit based on property the College currently owns. He said that contingency plans could be included in the master plan. 

Dr. Stewart stated that he believed that the student head count would be much more that what was projected and that it would result in a space problem.

Mr. Wright said that he was concerned with the increase in enrollment and wanted to help the College to be able to meet this increased enrollment. He said that the Foundation and the public contributed money to acquire the site on Burlington for the College’s use. Mr. Wright stated that the community contributed money with the idea that buildings would be built to teach and to house students and not for commercial use.  

Ms. Clay said that she could not understand why the Foundation would rather use acquired land for commercial development and not for College use when the College was in need of space to accommodate the growing number of students. Ms. Clay said that she feared that the College would try and acquire residential land because it was the least expensive given the real estate market.  

Dr. Stewart responded that the College was exploring the cost of property on Fenton Street. He noted to the Council that some members of the Foundation Board were developers.  

Mr. Robinson recommended that the Foundation and the College look closely at Georgia Avenue and think as broadly and creatively as possible.  

Mr. Barry said that there were no educational institutions between Montgomery College and the University of Maryland. He suggested that the College consider the Crossroads area for space recognizing the future development of the Purple Line in that area.

Mr. Seamens said that the College would have his support and the neighborhood’s as long as they were a good neighbor.

Mr. Wright asked for an explanation of the Master Plan building dimensions.

Mr. Capp explained that the master plan was designed to meet enrollment projections and the space deficit. He said it was not meant to set design standards or guidelines.

Mr. Wright asked about the additional parking shown in option eight. 

Dr. Stewart explained that the College was much more interested in using the parking space shown in option eight as a transit stop for the purple line.

Mr. Wright said that he was in favor of the idea of vacating pavilion three of the College and the child care center on block 69. 

Lorraine Pearsall, Historic Takoma, Inc., commented on the College Master Plan presentation. She said that she was concerned that the building scales were to big. 

Frances Phipps, Chair of the Montgomery College Neighbors Advisory Committee, asked that the College look at the net space deficit as gross deficit. She asked why the square footage of the buildings did not add up to the space deficit total.

Mr. Capp explained that the gross to net ratio was not done until the design phase of the project. He stated that the 95,000 sf was the net difference between the existing campus and the future expansion.

Jim Evans, President of the North Takoma Citizens Association, noted his written comments (attached).

The Council recessed for a scheduled break and reconvened in worksession.

(6) Discussion of Takoma Metro Development

Ms. Ludlow stated the current position of the Council on the Takoma Metro site was preserving the transit access at the site. She said that the Council had several options as to what position to take regarding the District of Columbia government’s review process of the site plan. She explained that the Council could continue to take a position that comments on the transit access, the Council could take no position on the D.C. review, or take a position that comments on other aspects.

Ms. Silber reported on what she had learned about the status of the WMATA submission to the Federal Transit Administration.

Mr. Wright said that he believed that WMATA has been adjusting their plans to address some of the issues brought up by Takoma Park and Montgomery County. He suggested that staff initiate a discussion with the developers to gather information to see what was on the table. 

Ms. Ludlow responded that she had requested a meeting with EYA and was waiting to hear back from them. 

Mr. Wright suggested contacting County representatives to encourage a response from EYA.

Mr. Robinson noted that some residents of the community said that they wanted to see the City back out of this issue. He said that he was a proponent of the City being involved in the Metro development, with transit as the core issue, but looking at the broader picture. 

Mr. Barry said that he would like to see WMATA’s development dynamics change as result of the identification of a secure source of funding for the Metro from the federal government. He said that he would also like to see the private purchase of the land for the 2 million dollars EYA is paying for it. He generally supported the five staff recommendations on the site plan issues.

Mr. Williams noted that discussions on the transit access issues led to site plan issues.  He suggested that the City keep their focus on the transit access issues and get into other areas only as they impact access issues.

Mr. Wright indicated that he was not ready to have staff work on the site plan issue without further direction from Council.

Ms. Ludlow commented that the recommendations were based on her experience as a planner. She indicated that she would not move forward with any of the five recommendations on site plan issues without further Council direction.

Mr. Wright emphasized that the did not want to have staff entering into negotiations.

Mr. Snipper said he believed as a strategy it would be better to remain firm on the transit issues, to keep the focus there rather than discussing details of other issues.

Ms. Clay agreed. She noted the difference in this case because the City Council is not the decision making body on the Metro. Ms. Clay said she believed that you cannot resolve the transit issues and still build the development as proposed.

Mr. Wright encouraged staff to actively engage in gathering information on the plan to inform the Council about decisions which it will need to make.

Ms. Ludlow noted that she felt a little hindered in working on this issue if she could not engage in dialogue on other issues.

Mr. Seamens commented that although Council is interested in the transit access, an issue such as stormwater would have an impact on our residents and a potential fiscal impact on the City.

Mr. Williams noted that the issue would involve getting into design details and would be premature at this time.

Ms. Silber summarized that the Council was asking Ms. Ludlow to continue with information gathering, but wanted to have further discussions about the information gathered. She emphasized the importance of the Council meeting shortly after Ms. Ludlow indicated that the discussion needs to take place.

Postponed for a later date.

The Council adjourned for the evening at 10:35 p.m.