Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Public Hearing of the College Park City Council Proposal to Implement Residential Permit Restricted Parking in the 5100 block of Mineola Road and Ordinance 15-O-05 Proposed FY 2016 Budget Amendment #1 Tuesday, November 24, 2015 7:00 p.m. – 7:21 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Fellows; Councilmembers Kabir, Wojahn, Dennis, Day (arrived 7:17 p.m.), Hew, and Mitchell. ABSENT: Councilmembers Stullich and Brennan ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Yvette Allen, Assistant City Clerk; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Jim Miller, Parking Enforcement Manager; Steve Groh, Finance Director; Councilmembers-elect Mary Cook and Christine Nagle; Cole Holocker, Student Liaison; Adler Pruitt, Deputy Student Liaison. 1. PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSAL FOR PERMIT PARKING IN THE 5100 BLOCK OF MINEOLA ROAD Mayor Fellows opened the Public Hearing at 7:00 p.m. and invited Mr. Ryan to provide an overview. Mr. Ryan stated that the 5100 block of Mineola would be issued three parking permits per household and two visitor passes per household. Mayor Fellows invited public comment and began by reading two emails received: Brian Choper, who wrote in support of the proposal, and Chris Wilson, who stated that ticket revenues should pay for the permit, not the residents. Mr. Daniel Lamberton, 5113 Mineola Road: Spoke of the difficulty of parking because of the renters in several houses and the number of cars they have. Ms. Anne Stebbing, 5202 Mineola Road: Stated that parking during the day is fine, it is evening parking and weekend parking that is difficult. She also discussed the various parties the rental houses have and all of their guests. She also wanted to know why the 5200 block received two parking permits per household, but the 5100 block would receive three parking permits per household if approved? Ms. Vickey Bennett, 5103 Mineola Road: Opposed the 5200 block permits a month ago and opposes this permit also, however, if the proposal is approved, both blocks should have the same number of permits. Mr. Derrin Sharp 5106 Mineola Road: Stated that three or more houses have seven cars. Enforcement and penalties need to be consistent. Vehicles with permits need to have registrations showing addresses on Mineola Road. College Park City Council Public Hearing Minutes November 24, 2015 Page 2 Ms. Eva Choper, 5213 Mineola: Mrs. Choper’s son could not attend the meeting tonight. She read a letter from her son. Her son supports the proposal with the same parking parameters as the 5200 block and also mentioned the extreme congestion on the street. 2. ORDINANCE 15-O-05 Mr. Steve Groh, Finance Director stated that our auditors have changed the financial statement treatment of our purchase of prior service credit in the Maryland State Retirement Plan (MSRP) by booking the full amount of the purchase in fiscal year 2015. This change does not affect the financial condition of the City; it is simply an accounting adjustment to the statement of revenues and expenditures to comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). As the full amount of the purchase was booked in the fiscal year 2015 financial statements, it is not necessary for us to budget $250,000 each in fiscal years 2016 and later for repayment to the General Fund. The revised FY2016 budget amendment #1 does not change the -0- use of unassigned reserve. It amends the FY2016 budget to: Eliminate the FY2016 budgeted expenditure of $250,000 for repayment to the General Fund for the MSRP prior service credit purchase, to provide $7,000 for University of Maryland program contributions to cover the Council-approved contribution to the IFC tailgates, to provide $15,000 for the Council-approved rental of voting machines for the November 3rd elections, and to provide $228,000 in additional funding for the City Hall Expansion (C.I.P. project 041003) to cover design and construction of a new City Hall. The City Hall project funding will ultimately reduce the amount the City has to borrow for a new City Hall. The ordinance would increase the current unassigned reserve balance from 17.7% to 29.4% of the FY 2016 expenditure budget. No audience testimony was given. Mayor Fellows declared the Public Hearing closed at 7:20 p.m.