CITY OF TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND
REGULAR MEETING AND WORKSESSION
OF THE CITY COUNCIL

Monday, March 23, 2009
 
MINUTES


(Minutes adopted June 1, 2009)

CALL TO ORDER

PRESENT:
Mayor Williams
Councilmember Clay
Councilmember Robinson
Councilmember Seamens
Councilmember Snipper
Councilmember Wright
City Manager Matthews
Public Works Director Braithwaite
City Clerk Carpenter
 
ABSENT: 
Councilmember Barry
 
The City Council convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland.

COUNCIL COMMENTS

Mr. Williams announced several upcoming events: the WSSC forum on March 26; the April 11 mock election to test the voting system; Arbor Day on April 11; and the Azalea Awards on April 25.

Ms. Clay announced that members of SOSCA would be holding a meeting to talk about a demonstration rain garden at a home in the community.

Ms. Clay commented on WSSC work. She noted that County Councilmember Valerie Ervin’s office had assisted with a problem created by a WSSC subcontractor.

Mr. Robinson announced Earth Hour, scheduled for March 28. During Earth Hour, people would be encouraged to shut off all electrical items for one hour.

Mr. Robinson commented on the planned community garden at Sligo Overlook Park. He announced an upcoming meeting to reach out to the public. He said he had recommended that a raffle be held to distribute plots, and that a list be kept of those who didn't win to facilitate sharing.

AGENDA ITEMS/AGENDA SCHEDULING UPDATE

Mayor Williams announced that he had added a discussion of a Memorandum of Understanding with Historic Takoma, Inc. to the agenda. He said the Council may be asked to go into special session to approve the agreement.

CITY MANAGER’S COMMENTS

Ms. Matthews announced that the City had been awarded federal stimulus funding for two projects -- $160,000 for the Linden Avenue wetland system and $70,000 to complete the green roof on the deck.

Ms. Matthews announced that the City would be participating in a special passport services promotion by accepting applications on Saturday, March 28.

Ms. Matthews provided an update on the status of Program Open Space legislation and proposed changes on how Highway User Funds would be distributed.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Harry Edwards, resident, was present. Mr. Snipper read a statement regarding a ticket Mr. Edwards was given for making a turn at a "no turn" sign.

Chief Ricucci explained that the police had been enforcing the sign to prevent cut through traffic.

Mr. Edwards indicated that he found the officer's comment to "have a nice day" insulting.

Councilmembers explained that once the ticket was issued that the City had no power to rescind the ticket.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Mr. Williams announced that the small parcel annexation bill could pass in the current legislative session. He noted that if the bill passed, there might be an opportunity to adjust the boundary line that ran through Columbia Union College.

REGULAR MEETING

(1) Consent Agenda

A. Single Reading Ordinance 2009-10 Authorizing the Purchase of Portable and Mobile Radios for the Police Department (attached)

B. Single Reading Ordinance 2009-11 Authorizing the Purchase of Two Vehicles for the Police Department (attached)

C. Resolution 2009-10 Designating April 11, 2009 as Arbor Day in Takoma Park (attached)

Motion to adopt the consent agenda. Moved by Councilmember Clay, seconded by Councilmember Wright.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright; ABSENT:  Councilmember Barry)

(2) Second Reading Corrective Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2008-53 Authorizing a PILOT for 7610 Maple Avenue

Motion to adopt Second Reading Corrective Ordinance 2009-7 (as amended) Amending Ordinance 2008-53 Authorizing a PILOT for 7610 Maple Avenue. Moved by Councilmember Seamens, seconded by Councilmember Wright.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright; ABSENT:  Councilmember Barry)

Second Reading Ordinance 2009-7 (attached)

WORKSESSION

(3) Noise Control Board Report

Ellen Fabian, Chair, and Steve Davies, member, were present to provide the report.

Ms. Fabian said the Board has tried to meet quarterly. Most often, a member of the Police Department attended the meetings. She said that not much has happened in the past year, except for the leaf blower issue raised by Mr. Davies. She said the Board was interested in raising its visibility and requested assistance from the Council. Ms. Fabian also said that the Board would like to have a Council liaison to work with and would like recommendations from the Council as to what the Board should be working on.

Mr. Williams encouraged the Board to continue to work with the Police Department, and to contact City Councilmembers if the Board wished to have one of them attend a meeting.

Councilmembers commented on noise from Prince George’s County affecting residents across the border in Takoma Park; noise from cats; leaf blower noise and how it might best be addressed; and certain building air handlers.

Ms. Fabian indicated that the Board continued to hear complaints about helicopter noise.

(4) Recreation Committee Report

Jay Keller, Chair of the Recreation Committee, presented the report (attached). Kay Daniels-Cohen, Ray Scanlon, Cindy Dyballa and other members were also present. Mr. Keller highlighted the work of the Committee over the past year on the winter basketball league, the Piney Branch Pool, and the community Mosaic Project. Mr. Keller said the Committee would like to see more financial support for low income registrants in the basketball program. He said the Committee was interested in developing a swim team.

Over the next year, Mr. Keller said the Committee would like to advise the City on policies for the new auditorium. He said the Committee talked about doing a community survey of recreational needs and noted that the Committee was still interested in having some type of electronic signage to help bring people to the Community Center. Mr. Keller said the Committee hoped to see a more formalized volunteer program in the Recreation Department.

Councilmembers made a number of suggestions and comments. Mr. Williams said he welcomed input from the Committee on use of the auditorium.

Mr. Seamens said he was interested in reviewing the fee structure for the room and looking into how the rooms could be used for fundraising activities. He said he would also like to see more low income young people in the recreation programs.

Ms. Clay had a number of suggestions about the basketball program and said she was still interested in painting the "moat" at the Community Center.

Mr. Wright requested that the Committee think about what success for the pool would look like so that it could be determined what subsidy would be needed to keep the pool open. He also commented on painting the moat.

(5) Community Indicators Project Update

Bruce Baker, Director of the Indicators Project, was present, along with Kathy Porter, and a number of others who had participated in the project.

Mr. Baker presented his report (information attached). He commented on the number of people engaged and said he was confident that there was a process and a model what would work and get good results.

Mr. Baker presented the preliminary findings of the Indicators Project. He requested that the funding already allocated by the City be reprogrammed and that authorization be granted to compensate the Director for a portion of his time. Mr. Baker also requested funding for the next year ($30,000).

Ms. Matthews noted that there was not a specific budget attached to the current year proposal. She suggested that Councilmembers notify her if they had any concerns about the reprogramming request.

Councilmembers asked a number of questions related to the value of the project to the City, how it fit in with what the City was already doing, and whether Montgomery County was likely to support the project in the future.

(6) Discussion of Community Grants Program

Ms. Matthews presented staff's recommendation to use a two-track process for the grant program. One track would be small grants that would enhance community engagement; the other track would include the larger grant requests received by the City. She suggested an early (January) application date for the large grants, so that they can be taken into consideration during the budget process.

The Council agreed to a mid-year startup for the small grants.

Ms. Clay said she wanted to depoliticize the process so that people would not be coming forward throughout the year. She said she wanted to have some equity among the festivals. Ms. Clay suggested that suitable requests be routed through the CDBG process first, and some requests for the community grants funding may come out of that process. She supported appointing representatives of the wards, or perhaps presidents of neighborhood associations, to participate on the review committee.

Mr. Seamen agreed that the CDBG process should remain focused on what it is for. He said he would like to think about social services, businesses, and economic development.

The Council agreed to roll the FY09 community grants funding into FY10 to start the program later in 2009.

(7) Discussion of Memorandum of Understanding with Historic Takoma, Inc.

Sabrina Baron, John Hume, Lorraine Pearsall, and Eileen Sobeck were present to represent Historic Takoma, Inc.

The Council discussed the memorandum of understanding with Historic Takoma in detail to come to an agreement on the language. Following the discussion, the Council convened in special session to adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to sign the agreement. (Agreement attached.)

SPECIAL SESSION

Resolution Approving Execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with Historic Takoma, Inc.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2009-11 Approving Execution of a Memorandum of Understanding with Historic Takoma, Inc. Moved by Councilmember Snipper, seconded by Councilmember Clay.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright; ABSENT:  Councilmember Barry)

Resolution 2009-11 (attached).

ADJOURN

The Council adjourned for the evening at 11:44 p.m.