City Council Meeting - Monday, March 8, 2010

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

Monday, March 08, 2010

(Minutes adopted July 12, 2010)

Administrative Function Session of March 1, 2010
The City Council met with the City Attorney in the Council Conference Room at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 1, 2010, to discuss her evaluation. (OFFICIALS PRESENT: Williams, Wright, Clay, Robinson, Seamens, Snipper, Schultz; STAFF/OTHERS PRESENT: City Attorney Silber)

PRESENT:
Mayor Williams Councilmember Clay Councilmember Robinson Councilmember Schultz Councilmember Seamens Councilmember Wright		City Manager Matthews City Clerk Carpenter Police Chief Ricucci Senior Planner Lam Affordable Housing Manager Walker Recreation Manager Rasch

Councilmember Snipper

The City Council convened at 8:00 p.m. in the Azalea Room of the Takoma Park Community Center -- Sam Abbott Citizens’ Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Ms. Clay commented on the timeliness of meetings. She requested support of the Council to get meetings under control to end earlier. She said it is not fair to constituents to run so late. Ms. Clay said she would be leaving between 10:00 and 10:30 in the future.

Ms. Clay commented on neighbor to neighbor relations around stormwater issues. She said she has had some good conversations with the Public Works Director about supporting good relations between neighbors. Ms. Clay said she would like to look into the City providing more resources, perhaps something like a dispute resolution service.

Ms. Clay requested parking enforcement in front of the new fire station, where there are frequently six cars parked, straddling into the State highway. She said if people did that anywhere else, the City would ticket or tow. She requested an official response from the City as to what would be done about the problem.

Mr. Williams agreed with Ms. Clay on the lateness of meetings. He said it is incumbent upon the whole Council to be concise in its comments.

Mr. Robinson noted that he had attended a Transportation Committee legislative meeting in Annapolis.

Mr. Robinson reported that Pinecrest would be discussing a development proposed for a site on New Hampshire Avenue in Ward 3. He said that residents around Manor Circle have expressed concern about how the portion of Ethan Allen Avenue looks near Takoma Junction. He had suggested that they speak to the Housing and Community Development Department and the business association in the Junction.

Mr. Robinson commented that he continued to be concerned about the Sligo Park Hills traffic access restrictions. He said he feels that the County is doing a disservice related to the traffic study and it is an unfortunate community-to-community model.

Mr. Schultz said he agreed with the idea of the Council convening and ending on time. He recommended adhering to the three minute rule for public comments.

Mr. Schultz announced that the transit center in the Crossroads had received a Federal stimulus grant. The issue remaining is for the County to acquire the property.

Pat Rumbaugh, Takoma Park Play Committee, thanked the Council for its support. She requested the Council to find someone from each ward to become a member of the Play Committee to add diversity. She announced that the 2010 Play Day would be held at Takoma Park Middle School. Ms. Rumbaugh also announced the intergenerational games night held each Tuesday evening.

Ms. Matthew invited Chief Ricucci to update the Council on the Police Department's response to recent crimes.

Chief Ricucci said he hoped to be able to report good news in the next few days regarding a series of burglaries. He said he had held a community meeting with Ward 5 residents.

Chief Ricucci said he was aware of the parking issue at the fire station and had advised them to park the vehicles legally.

Jacqueline Schick, Franca Brilliant, and Shari Daniels presented the recommendations of the Small Community Grant Program Review Committee: Art for the People Westmoreland Wall ($2,000); Crossroads Farmers Market/Rolling Terrace PTA Market Partnership ($2,500); Forest Park Community Belford Clean Up ($1,370); John Guernsey for "Love at Last Sight" ($500); New Hampshire Gardens Citizens Association for association revitalization ($1,754.54); Pyramid Atlantic, Inc. for the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Experimental Film Festival ($2,500); Sligo Station Condominium Association for its Erosion Reduction Project ($500); Takoma Park Farmers Market for Marketing ($0); Takoma Park JazzFest ($2,400 contingent on receipt of additional information); Takoma Park Play Committee ($0).

Staff’s recommendations differed from the Committee's recommendations on funding as follows: Forest Park Community Belford Clean Up (to be funded by the City’s Community Garden/Greening Project); Sligo Station Condominium Association for the Erosion Reduction Project ($0); Takoma Park JazzFest ($0); Takoma Park Play Committee ($500 for Traveling Playgroups).

The Council opted to accept the staff recommendation, with the exception of the JazzFest. The Council supported granting $2,400 for the JazzFest if the contingency was met.

There was discussion about how the decision would be made regarding contingencies. The Committee agreed that it would review the additional information and let staff know.

Several ideas were discussed by the Council for future consideration for the small grant program, including specifically excluding stormwater projects, clarifying that there should be a public good for the project, and workshops for applicants to educate them about the grant requirements.

A. Single Reading Ordinance 2010-10 Rescinding Ordinance 2010-5 and Authorizing the Purchase of Three Ford Fusion Hybrid Vehicles for the Police Department (attached)

C. Single Reading Ordinances 2010-11, 2010-12, and 2010-13 Authorizing Execution of Contracts for Engineering and Construction Services for Sidewalks (attached)

D. Resolution 2010-13 Appointing Howard Kohn to the Recreation Committee (attached)

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

Mr. Seamens requested that this item be removed from the consent agenda. He said he was concerned that the priority ranking did not include all areas that were heavy pedestrian destinations and that the funding source (Safe Routes to School) should restrict the City's ability to assess its needs in the study.

Mr. Wright commented that he appreciated staff's efforts to reword the resolution to accommodate flexibility by including community input.

Motion to adopt Resolution 2010-14 Adopting Ranking System for Prioritizing Sidewalk Installation and ADA Compliance Projects. Moved by Councilmember Wright, seconded by Councilmember Clay. (VOTING FOR: Mayor Williams, Councilmember Clay, Councilmember Schultz, and Councilmember Wright; AGAINST: Councilmember Robinson, and Councilmember Seamens; ABSENT: Councilmember Snipper)

Resolution 2010-14 (attached)

Ms. Walker provided information to the Council on the Landlord-Tenant staff’s work with tenants on the Maple Avenue corridor.

Ms. Lam presented information on the results of the Maple Avenue Corridor Improvement Study that was designed to solicit community input and identify projects to improve the quality of life in the CDBG eligible area along Maple Avenue. As a result of the study, three projects were identified: 1) construction of a basketball court along the Grant Avenue side of the Community Center; 2) installation of street lights on the north side of Maple Avenue between Philadelphia Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway; 3) a community garden project using planter boxes on the parking area of 7620 Maple Avenue. She noted that the funds had to be expended by June.

Council discussed the options given the funding available. There was consensus to prioritize the basketball court first, the community garden second, and the lighting third.

Mr. Wright noted that the basketball court at Takoma Piney Branch Park is about to be refurbished. He asked if there is a subset of kids who would use a court next to the Community Center.

Ms. Lam said a lot of residents were not aware of the basketball courts in the park. She said the park closes at dark and, during the renovation, there would be no basketball facility.

Mr. Wright noted that basketball players like to be seen, and the Community Center location would be a safe spot. He questioned options for making it a full size court. He also asked if there would be an option to put a bubble over the court in the future.

Ms. Clay asked if the court would be lit.

Ms. Lam responded that there are two lights by the parking area, additional lighting may be able to be installed.

Ms. Clay asked if there is any concern about putting the court at the police entrance to the Community Center.

Mr. Rasch said that staff had met with the Police Department. The Department was in full support of a basketball court. He said the Recreation staff would support a bigger court so that more programming would be possible.

Mr. Seamens asked if the court would have to be staffed, would it be open when staff leaves, and would any increased staffing be needed. He was also interested in the community gardens. He suggested that, if there were leftover funds, the City might be able to install one solar light to see how it works.

Mr. Wright reminded staff that the City had committed to creating a visual screen between the Community Center and Grant Avenue.

Mr. Schultz indicated his support for the basketball court. He also supported a reuse of the asphalt area at 7620 Maple Avenue for community gardens.

The Council adjourned for the evening at 10:30 p.m.