PRESENT:
Mayor Williams Councilmember Clay Councilmember Robinson Councilmember Schultz Councilmember Seamens Councilmember Snipper Councilmember Wright		City Manager Matthews Deputy City Manager Ludlow City Clerk Carpenter CSAFE Director Kendall Public Works Director Braithwaite HCD Director Daines Police Captain Coursey

 

The City Council convened at 7:35 p.m. in the Azalea Room of the Takoma Park Community Center -- Sam Abbott Citizens' Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland.

(1) Comments from Ward 6 Residents

Councilmember Schultz welcomed Ward 6 residents. He commented on the damage caused by the snow storm, noting that some residents were without power for up to 72 hours. Mr. Schultz noted that he would like the City and the Emergency Preparedness Committee to focus on exploring a plan for a warming shelter for such emergencies.

Resident, 1213 Kirklynn Avenue, commented on problems with the snow plowing and her car and walkway being plowed in repeatedly. She encouraged future plowing to be done early in areas were cars are not parked.

Joanne Gordon, asked for clarification on where a landlord’s responsibility ends and the City’s responsibility begins for clearing walkways.

Mr. Williams noted the extraordinary amount of snow. He said the City’s responsibility generally begins at the street.

Ms. Gordon also commented on difficulties with finding out how to reach the property manager for her property. She asked for additional transparency from the City in the landlord-tenant process. She also asked why landlords are not all required to have leases with their tenants.

Sara Anne Daines said an annual rent report is required to be submitted related to rents charged the previous year. If that fails, the landlord would receive a notice of violation. She said that random checks were completed by her staff to ensure that the reports were accurate. Ms. Daines said that leases are not required by the City Code, but the Code does have requirements for leases when written.

Herbert Berst, 13th Place, commented on problems with not being able to park in front of his home. He inquired as to whether permit parking would be a possibility.

Barrie Lee Howard, President of the New Hampshire Gardens Citizens’ Association, thanked the Council for the Ward 6 night. He commented that he had done a walking audit of the neighborhood perimeter to evaluate the situation with the snow. Only two of the nine bus stops were accessible for those walking. Many people are still walking in the street. He asked for the City’s support in encouraging people to go out and clear the walks and bus stops.

Ronelle Turner, 7314 New Hampshire Avenue, commented on the need to have the service road on New Hampshire Avenue plowed.

Ms. Braithwaite replied that the service road is on the plowing schedule, but access is a problem due to a box van parked on the road. She encouraged residents to call Police Dispatch about plowing issues when the City offices are closed.

Ms. Turner asked Acting Police Chief Coursey to have the van removed. Ms. Turner also noted problems with the bamboo in the yard next to her. The weight of the snow had caused the bamboo to lean into her yard and into the service road, blocking it.

Ms. Braithwaite commented that the Code requires that bamboo be six feet away from the property line with a neighbor’s property. She said it is an ongoing issue in the City. Once the bamboo is leaning into a neighboring yard, the plant can be cut back to the property line.

Mr. Schultz said he had alerted the City Arborist about the bamboo in question because it was blocking the service road.

Paula Backery, Kingwood and Glenside, thanked Public Works for its efforts with the snow. She said she lived on a third tier street. She asked if the County assisted with plowing since the City pays taxes to the County as well.

Ms. Matthews responded that the City receives a tax duplication payment from Montgomery County for road maintenance.

Mr. Williams noted that the City has maintained that the payment from the County is not sufficient.

Ms. Backery continued that her home was without electricity for a number of days. She said that as they approached the fourth night without heat, they had to leave to go to a hotel. She said she had made a number of phone calls. She questioned why it took so long to restore power to homes on her street. She said she had heard the excuse from PEPCO that the street may not be plowed and so they could not access the street. She asked how the City communicates with PEPCO.

Capt. Coursey said he was involved with the County Emergency Operations Center where these issues came up. He said there would be an after action review of the response by PEPCO. He said that PEPCO had difficulty with keeping track of who was still without power. There were discussions about PEPCO not having access. He said his assessment was that there were few, if any, locations in the City that could not be accessed by PEPCO.

Lance Pruitt, Kingwood Drive near New Hampshire, commented on excessive speed and traffic violations in his neighborhood. He said he would like to limit cut through traffic during the upcoming construction on New Hampshire Avenue.

Ms. Braithwaite commented on the traffic calming measures that had been installed, and said that three traffic circles were yet to be installed but the installation could only take place in the spring and fall. She said that two of the circles should be installed this spring.

Capt. Coursey said that the Police Department was aware of the upcoming work on New Hampshire. He said the Department would welcome requests for additional enforcement.

Lisa Sindas, 1200 Kingwood Drive, said she was also concerned about traffic. She also commented that Ward 6 is not looking good. She said that many of the streets are patched and there are code enforcement issues around the ward.

Mr. Schultz thanked residents for attending. He said he welcomed residents to contact him or City staff about issues of concern.

Mr. Williams announced that he would be in Annapolis on Thursday and Friday for the MML Legislative Committee.

Ms. Clay commented on the holiday trash pickup plan. She asked that, when routes are not completed, the workers begin with those homes that did not already receive pickups. Ms. Clay noted the issues related to buses trying to pass each other on Maple Avenue. She suggested designated bus passing areas on the street. She requested that the City take action to arrange to have the sidewalk cleared in front of the fire house construction area so that the public right-of-way would not be used for parking and storage for construction.

Ms. Clay commented on the need for preparedness. She said it would be great to think about how to put together a community model for Takoma Park to work on building community leadership across the wards, with a neighborhood academy for Neighborhood Watch and CERT, for example. She suggested that there should be a mechanism to ensure strong, active neighborhood associations.

Mr. Robinson noted that he had received a petition to install a sidewalk on Ethan Allen Avenue. He thanked Public Works and the Police Department for work during the snow storms. He noted that there were some issues, including fire hydrants not being cleared, and sidewalks not passable. He suggested reviewing the regulations on sidewalk clearing.

Mr. Robinson said he was concerned that we are not well prepared for emergencies. He noted the power outages, inability for Meals on Wheels to deliver, and lack of knowledge about vulnerable residents. He said he would like the Council to take action to form a community committee to address the issues.

Mr. Snipper reported that he had received more positive feedback on Police and Public Works based on the weather event than any other situation. He singled out the City Arborist who also worked. He noted the death of an older man shoveling.

Mr. Snipper requested a plan for snow removal for the next week or so. Regarding preparedness, he suggested that there would be a good opportunity for cross neighborhood connections in light of the events. He said he looked forward to the debriefing on the snow response. Mr. Snipper said that the decision to temporarily suspend the sidewalk clearing requirement was a smart one, however, some people had made no effort to clear their sidewalks.

Mr. Williams noted the good community response on providing food to Public Works employees during the snow.

Ms. Matthews said that she had met with staff to discuss a plan to deal with remaining snow over the next week or two. She said she hoped to provide maps to the Council to show the focus for snow removal and the public spaces that have not yet been cleared. She said that staff had started discussions about lessons learned and would like to schedule a time to come back to the Council to do a public debriefing.

Ms. Matthews noted distribution of her quarterly report (attached).

(2) Single Reading Ordinance Awarding a Contract to Implement Community-Based Support Groups for Offenders

CSAFE Director Mary Kendall explained the purpose of the ordinance, to award a contract to Lead4Life for ex-offender support groups. She said the sessions were eight weeks long; the participants would receive a certificate of completion.

Motion to adopt Single Reading Ordinance 2010-8 Awarding a Contract to Implement Community-Based Support Groups for Offenders. Moved by Councilmember Clay, seconded by Councilmember Snipper.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Schultz, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

Single Reading Ordinance 2010-8 (attached)

(3) First Reading Ordinance Authorizing Installation of One or More Speed Humps on Sherman Avenue

Motion to adopt First Reading Ordinance 2010-9 Authorizing Installation of One or More Speed Humps on Sherman Avenue. Moved by Councilmember Robinson, seconded by Councilmember Wright.    (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Schultz, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright)

First Reading Ordinance 2010-9 (attached)

(4) Legislative Update

The City's legislative advocates, Michele Douglas and Ann Ciekot, provided an update on State legislation.

(5) Discussion of Off Leash Dog Areas

Ms. Matthews provided background information. She stated that if the Council wished to pursue a dog park, it should be a fenced area. The two options would be to establish a fenced area on City-owned property or to request Park and Planning to establish a fenced area on one of its properties in Takoma Park. City staff has reviewed a number of sites, including the City right-of-way at Prince George’s triangle, and the Park and Planning properties at Maple and Sligo Creek Parkway, and Opal Daniels Park. She indicated that if the City were to fence a portion of Spring Park, it would create a long, narrow dog run. She noted that a fenced area would have an intensified use.

Mr. Robinson said, if we put aside the liability issue, we would have an unfenced, shared use of parks. To go down the path of dedicated use for a dog park would segregate dog use from other uses. He asked about the difference in maintenance requirements. He said he was hesitant to pick one site and say that everything has to go there.

Ms. Clay said she has seen many models for dog parks. She supported finding a central area. If the Prince George’s triangle were used, it would not be central enough to be the only dog park. She said she had hoped that staff would provide a list of all vacant land that is publicly owned.

Mr. Williams asked that WSSC and PEPCO land be included in the inventory. He noted that Opal Daniels Park has limited or no parking.

Mr. Wright supported thinking about a way to have some or many of the parks in the City be multiple or shared use. He noted the example of Brookline, Massachusetts, which has adopted a shared use without fencing. He said, at the very least, the City could consider fencing a number of parks to allow shared use. If certain usage hours are designated, then people would manage within the rules.

Mr. Seamens supported the shared use idea. He said he would oppose taking the Maple Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway site from the youth who use it.

Mr. Schultz said he liked the idea of a fenced dog park, but it would be complicated to get it implemented. A larger site would be better able to be kept maintained. He said that the cost is something the Council would need to be careful about.

Mr. Snipper commented that a shared use location would be a recipe for continual complaints in the long term. He said he thought it would be essential that a community group be in charge of managing any dog park, because it would be an unfair burden for the City to police it.

Mary Jane Michui, petitioner for Spring Park off-leash dog area, was present. She commented that no incidents have occurred at Spring Park with off leash dogs. When it is used in the morning, there are no children at the park. She said that, prior to dog owners using the park in the mornings, it was an open air drug market. She said she wanted to make sure that irresponsible dog owners’ actions are not blamed on the group that uses the park in the mornings. She said she would prefer to keep the status quo, use of Spring Park in the mornings for off leash dogs. She said she would be willing to compromise by having part of the park fenced.

Mr. Wright suggested that the City look at what the District of Columbia has done with small parks.

Mr. Robinson requested that Ed Wilhelm be put on the list of potential locations for a dog area.

Staff was requested to come back with additional information.

The Council adjourned for the evening at 11:20 p.m.