Councilmember Clay
Councilmember Robinson
Councilmember Schultz
Councilmember Seamens
Councilmember Snipper
Councilmember Wright
City Clerk Carpenter
Public Works Director Braithwaite
Landlord Tenant Specialist Wilds
Assistant City Attorney Sigman
The City Council convened at 7:30 p.m. in the Azalea Room of the Takoma Park Community Center -- Sam Abbott Citizens' Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland.
Mr. Robinson commented on sidewalk clearing in the aftermath of the snow. He noted the delicate balance between ticketing people who do not clear sidewalks and understanding why sidewalks cannot be cleared. He asked the City Manager for information about the clearing of City sidewalks and how we contract for that.
Mr. Robinson commented that the Council had done its initial prioritization of the large grant applications. He expressed interest in looking at how much the City gives away as a percentage of the budget. He said be believed it was just short of one percent, and wondered if that is the appropriate percentage.
Mr. Snipper noted the number of crime incidents in his ward recently. He said he was in the process of scheduling a community meeting with residents and the Chief of Police. He commented that there is a question of how best to keep the police visible in the community. With marked cars, criminals just wait until the police pass; if cars are unmarked, residents cannot tell if the police are patrolling. He noted an issue of follow up regarding incidents. In one case, a family had provided names of the teens who stole items from them, but as far as he could tell, there had been no follow up.
Ms. Clay commented that people were once again driving the wrong direction around the circle at Lincoln and Elm Avenue. She requested enforcement to make it safer, especially with the snow on the ground.
Ms. Clay commented on sidewalk clearing. She said that she walked along Ethan Allen to see what it was like. If traffic had been moving, it would have been unsafe. She said she would like to look at key arterial routes for sidewalk clearing priority areas.
Mr. Wright commented that the City had done a good job of clearing snow during the storm, striking the right balance between sidewalk clearing and road clearing, but when the main plowing is done, the battle with the sidewalks and excess snow is just beginning. He suggested that maybe the City needed to have staff stay on longer shifts. He noted snow dumped on Holly Avenue in yards, and the fire hydrant that was broken on Maple Avenue. He encouraged the City to focus on how to do better after a storm, and see if different types of equipment are needed.
Mr. Wright reported that Capital City Cheesecake would be moving into the old Savory location.
Mr. Schultz commented on the winter weather. He said we all need to understand that although the snow ended two weeks ago, we are still dealing with it. He said the Council is looking forward to the opportunity to do an analysis of what was done right and what was done wrong, and looking to be better prepared in the future. He cautioned that we need to temper our desire to remedy problems that will not likely happen again. There are some lessons to learn, but we should not over-react to this situation. The City is continuing to deal with the snow and we need to be cognizant of that. He noted that there is virtually no sidewalk access along New Hampshire Avenue and we need to find a way to create pedestrian access on some of the critical roads.
Barrie Lee Howard, Wildwood Drive, President of the New Hampshire Gardens Citizens Association, reported on the strong need and support in his neighborhood for sidewalks. He said that in the aftermath of the storm, he chatted with every neigbhor on his block and found that every house supported sidewalks. He asked for Council consideration of installation of sidewalks in Ward 6.
Jimmy Jarboe, Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department, commented on the snow. Chief Jarboe said the Fire Department received almost double its usual calls, to 15-20 a day, during the snow. He said that residents had worked to clear fire hydrants. The EMS crews had been called out for accidents and falls. He noted that we were fortunate overall. He encouraged residents to remember to have emergency supplies: water, food, batteries in smoke detectors and carbon dioxide detectors.
Chief Jarboe reported that the fire station was likely to be completed in June. Once the roof is sealed, the work should move more quickly.
Mayor Williams offered additional "Council Comments." He said he had met with the Montgomery College Neighbors Advisory Committee regarding a letter to be sent to the College. The letter would address the CIP for the College. He noted that the Lions Club had offered to donate funds, up to $10,000, for an informational sign for the Community Center. The offer still stands.
Mr. Williams said that at the recent Maryland Mayors Association meeting there was discussion about alternate side of the street parking regulations during snow. He said the City might wish to consider the regulation for street sweeping as well.
Mr. Williams excused himself from the meeting because he was not feeling well. Mayor Pro Tem Snipper took the chair.
Motion to adopt Second Reading Ordinance 2010-9 Authorizing Installation of One or More Speed Humps on Sherman Avenue. Moved by Councilmember Robinson, seconded by Councilmember Clay. (VOTING FOR: Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Schultz, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright; ABSENT: Mayor Williams)
Second Reading Ordinance 2010-9 (attached)
Mr. Seamens requested that the resolution regarding the City Manager's employment agreement be pulled from the consent agenda.
Resolution 2010-11 Appointing Elena C. Beleno Carney to the Ethics Commission (attached)
Resolution 2010-12 Appointing April Kissel and William Lawson to the Board of Elections (attached)
Motion to adopt the consent agenda. Moved by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Robinson. (VOTING FOR: Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Schultz, Councilmember Seamens, Councilmember Snipper, and Councilmember Wright; ABSENT: Mayor Williams)
Ms. Matthews explained that the original employment agreement was of an ongoing nature, although it included language about five years. She said the City Attorney had reconfirmed that provisions related to the five-year period should be removed. In addition to that change, the new agreement would incorporate prior amendments to the contract.
Ms. Clay moved the resolution; seconded by Mr. Schultz.
Mr. Seamens said he had pulled the item from the consent agenda because his understanding was that the contract was for a five-year term, and provided that the parties would meet and confer to decide whether to amend the contract. He said the meet and confer had not taken place and he believed that it would be healthy to follow the contract as written. He said there were two intents, one to have an annual review and the second was to have a five year discussion to decide on continuation of the contract. He said he disagreed with the resolution on the table.
Mr. Wright asked if the issue was time sensitive.
Ms. Matthews said that it was not time sensitive from her perspective. She indicated that at the time of the original execution of the contract, it was explained to her that the five year term was to allay a concern that she would not stay for five years.
Mr. Sigman, Assistant City Attorney, said he believed there would be no legal problem with continuing on without executing the addendum to the agreement. In that event, the City Manager would continue on the same terms. He said he thought that the Council, by meeting with the City Manager to discuss annual performance and leaving feeling that she should continue, would meet the terms of the agreement.
Mr. Seamens said he felt it would be healthier for the Council to initiate the steps to hold the meet and confer, rather than to say that the Council did not need to do that.
Mr. Schultz said he would be willing to table the motion if that was the wish of the majority.
Motion Moved by , seconded by . (VOTING FOR: Councilmember Robinson, Councilmember Schultz, Councilmember Seamens, and Councilmember Wright; AGAINST: Councilmember Clay, and Councilmember Snipper; ABSENT: Mayor Williams)
Assistant City Attorney and COLTA Executive Director Sigman, Moses Wilds, Landlord-Tenant Specialist, and COLTA Chairman Jarret Smith, presented the proposals to amend the City Code. The proposals were prepared as a follow up to discussion that took place during the COLTA annual report to the City Council.
The proposal regarding landlord entry requirements would amend the City Code to require that landlords provide a tenant with at least 48 hours’ written notice before entering the tenant’s unit for any reason except for emergency entry. Additionally, the proposed revision would authorize COLTA to awarded liquidated damages for improper entry by a landlord or unreasonable refusal of entry by a tenant. The Council discussed whether the tenant’s affirmative consent should be required even with the required 48 hour written notice, whether landlords and tenants could come to a mutual agreement on time for entry, how to document agreement, how to prevent retaliation from landlords or unreasonable refusal by tenants. Mr. Sigman was asked to come back with a revised proposal.
The Council was supportive of amending the Code to expressly authorize the City to seek judicial enforcement of COLTA subpoenas in appropriate cases.
The third area of discussion was on fines for landlord-tenant related municipal infractions. The Council expressed interest in increasing fines within the limits of State law.
CHEER Executive Director Bruce Baker, Board Members, and Members of the Health Indicators Selection Group presented the Takoma Park Health Indicators resulting from the process (report attached).
Ms. Braithwaite presented a draft revised Stormwater Ordinance for Council review. The revision was modeled on the State's new model ordinance.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m.