Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Regular Meeting of the College Park City Council Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. – 10:02 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Nagle, Dennis (arrived at 7:35 p.m.), Stullich (arrived at 7:33 p.m.), Day, Cook and Kujawa. ABSENT: Councilmember Brennan ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Terry Schum, Director of Planning; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Jill Clements, Director of Human Resources; Bob Stumpff, Director of Public Works; Peggy Higgins, Director of Youth, Family & Senior Services; Cole Holocker, Student Liaison; Adler Pruitt, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Wojahn opened the Regular Meeting at 7:30 p.m. Councilmember Nagle led the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcements: Mayor Wojahn announced that the City received a Safety Award from Chesapeake Employers Insurance and gave special thanks and recognition to our Safety Officer, Carolanne Linder, for her efforts. Amendments To And Approval Of The Agenda: 1) (Nagle) Remove 16-G-41 from the agenda; 2) (Nagle) Move 16-G-43 to be the first Action Item; 3) (Kujawa) Add 16-G-44, Council Support for the Litter Logo Competition; 4) Add a Closed Session to the end of the Agenda to discuss a personnel matter. The amended agenda was approved on a motion by Councilmember Stullich, seconded by Councilmember Day, passed 7 – 0 – 0. City Manager’s Report: Mr. Somers announced Good Neighbor Day which will be Saturday April 2 at the College Park Community Center and the 4th Annual College Park Book Festival on Saturday, April 9 from 2 – 4 also at the College Park Community Center. He reviewed the items in the red folder. Student Liaison’s Report: Mr. Holocker said the application for the next Student Liaison is now open; the deadline is April 15. He congratulated the women’s and men’s basketball teams. Comments From The Audience on Consent and Non-Agenda Items: Gloria Aparicio-Blackwell, UMD Office of Community Engagement: Discussed activities at the upcoming Good Neighbor Day. James Mulholland, 7411 Columbia Avenue, Phi Kappa Psi: Updated the Council on the fraternity’s community service projects. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 2 PRESENTATIONS: 1. Eric Olson, Executive Director of the College Park City University Partnership, presented the Annual Report to Council (report attached). 2. Dr. Andrew Baldwin, UMD Department of Environmental Science and Technology, introduced his Capstone students who gave a presentation on the Sentinel Swamp Sanctuary project (Old Town Frog Pond) (PowerPoint attached). CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Kabir to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the following: 16-G-34 Approval of a request for good cause for an exemption to the prohibited vehicle law for Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pekny, 5120 Lackawanna Street, to allow them to park a trailer on the street in front of their house, to continue until otherwise directed by Council 16-G-35 Authorization for the Mayor to sign a letter in support of the City’s grant application to the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority (MHAA) requesting funding 1) to complete the paving of a section of the Trolley Trail and 2) to purchase 8 farmers market tents. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. ACTION ITEMS: 16-G-43 Discussion of, and possible action on, a request by the Board of the College Park City University Partnership to apply for a TIGER grant for Baltimore Avenue reconstruction, and to authorize the expenditure of up to $25,000 to Parsons Brinckerhoff to prepare the application. City Manager Scott Somers gave an overview: The Council is asked to discuss and consider submission of a TIGER grant application for the rebuild of US Route 1 and undergrounding utility lines and to authorize the expenditure of funds to prepare the application. At a recent City-University Partnership meeting, the Partnership expressed interest in moving forward with the TIGER application. If awarded, the grant could provide between $11M - $14M in funding. In order to ensure that the grant application is competitive and completed in time, the recommendation has been made to use a consultant to prepare the application. Mr. Somers said that in Fiscal Year 2015-2016 the City budgeted $300,000 for design and engineering of undergrounding utilities and has spent $217,464 to date; in Fiscal Year 2014 – 2015, the City budgeted $140,000 for a feasibility study and spent $94,407 of those funds. The Monument development agreed to fund $60,000 toward undergrounding of utilities, and the University previously agreed to fund $70,000 toward the feasibility study. At the CPCUP meeting, the Partnership agreed to fund up to $25,000 for the purpose of hiring a consultant to prepare the TIGER application. The deadline is April 29. Two proposals have been submitted; the highest is $31,000, so if the Partnership moves forward with funding up to $25,000, the most the City College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 3 would have to pay is $6,000. The Council is not being asked to select the consultant. He introduced Eric Olson and Terry Schum to answer additional questions. Eric Olson, Executive Director, City-University Partnership: This has come up quickly; the applications were sent out by USDOT two – three weeks ago. We have received two consultant costs: $14,000 and $31,000. TIGER Grants are not a sure thing, but this is our last and best chance to apply and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Congressman Hoyer would like to see a TIGER grant in his district which could help us. The Partnership Board considered this and there was consensus that the Partnership could fund up to $25,000, although there was no vote. Councilmember Dennis said Council last discussed this last year, and at that time it was dropped, so he hasn’t thought about it since. Would the cost from either of these proposed consultants be the whole application process, or is there more? Mr. Olson said these are not simple applications to put together; there are various pieces, including a cost-benefit analysis that we would have to work closely on. The City would have to be the lead on submitting the application because non- profits can’t submit. Mr. Somers added that the amount of staff time and support that would be required must also be considered. Councilmember Stullich said she was disappointed last year when we were forced to accept SHA’s acceleration of the timeline to make the decision on the undergrounding so is excited that this proposal has come back. To be able to do the undergrounding on Route 1 would be transformative, not just aesthetically but also as an economic revitalization tool. Councilmember Nagle agrees it is an excellent opportunity but is concerned about the short time frame – just five weeks until the grant deadline. She asked why is this the “last opportunity”? Mr. Olson responded because the project would be too far along by next year’s deadline. She asked if we can put together a viable application in just five weeks, and is concerned about staff being pulled off of other projects to work on this. Councilmember Cook asked how much staff time this would take. Mr. Somers estimated 20-40 hours. Mr. Holocker said to spend $6,000 to leverage $14M in federal grant funding sounds like a good deal from an economic development point-of-view. Councilmember Kabir was surprised to see this come up because he thought undergrounding was dead. He asked about the status of the project with SHA. Mr. Somers said negotiations for right-of-way acquisition have begun using the aerial design plans. Councilmember Kabir asked if SHA is on board with this. Ms. Schum said we don’t know the answer to that yet, but that their support is crucial, because they hold information that is vital to the application. We also need to know if they are submitting a competing application. Senator Rosapepe said he has had discussions about this with many entities; as long as the City is willing to put together the proposal, SHA would be fine with it. They just have not been willing to take the lead; they may have other TIGER grants in the state. There is a lot of warm feeling at the federal level for this project in College Park, but we do need a great proposal. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 4 Ms. Schum said SHA would need to be at the table with us to prepare the application. Senator Rosapepe said SHA will cooperate with us and would be willing to redesign for undergrounding if the City gets the TIGER grant. It is understood this would delay the project. Councilmember Stullich said we have already invested funds for the design of undergrounding, and if we get the grant we could move forward and not lose that money. We would be crazy not to try. A motion was made by Councilmember Nagle and seconded by Councilmember Stullich to authorize expenditure of City funds not to exceed $6,000 and allocation of staff time not to exceed 50 hours for the preparation and submission of a TIGER grant application. Councilmember Nagle said this is a fantastic opportunity but she is disappointed that our “one time shot” was left to the last minute. Councilmember Dennis is in favor of going forward even though there was no opportunity to vet this with his constituents. Councilmember Kabir said not all of his questions have been answered yet but he will support. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. 16-G-36 Approval of the Education Advisory Committee’s recommendations for the expenditure of the FY 2016 $80,000 Education Improvement Fund A motion was made by Councilmember Stullich to approve the Education Advisory Committee’s three recommendations regarding the use of the City’s $80,000 Education Improvement Fund for local neighborhood schools and College Park Academy: 1) That each of the 10 neighborhood schools and College Park Academy be eligible for up to $5,000 for implementation of each school’s student literacy improvement plan (total $55,000). 2) That each of the 10 neighborhood schools be eligible for up to $1,000 based upon the submission of an identified staff person within the school to communicate the good news of the school on a regular basis (total $10,000). 3) That each of the four schools with the highest percentage of College Park students, Hollywood Elementary, Paint Branch Elementary, Greenbelt Middle and Parkdale High School, be eligible for up to $3,750 each to address technology needs (total $15,000). Further, if during the application process an eligible school does not receive the maximum funding for each category, the Education Advisory Committee has discretion during the application process to make changes in allocation among these recommendations consistent with Council priorities. The motion failed for lack of a second. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 5 16-G-40 Award of contracts to continue health, dental, workers’ compensation and property and liability insurance for FY 2017 A motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Nagle to award the following contracts for health, dental, workers’ compensation, and liability insurances for FY 2017 for a total budgeted cost of $1,325,653. 1) Contract with Benecon, benefits administrator for Maryland Local Government Healthcare Cooperative, for employees’ health insurance at a budgeted cost of $930,194. 2) Contracts with MetLife and DentaQuest for dental insurance at a budgeted cost of $51,618. 3) Contract with Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company for workers’ compensation insurance at a budgeted cost of $197,455. 4) Contract with Local Government Insurance Trust (LGIT) and affiliates for general liability, public officials' liability, auto, property, boiler and machinery, personal injury protection, and uninsured motorists protection insurances at a budgeted cost not to exceed $146,386. The contracts submitted for approval and award were negotiated using authorized informal purchasing procedures including brokers, agents, and staff research and therefore require an extra-majority vote of the Mayor and Council. Councilmember Dennis said the City renews our insured health, dental, workers’ compensation, and general property and liability insurances on an annual basis. When necessary, our broker will negotiate with the insurers and obtain quotes from new vendors. This year there are no changes recommended to our insurance carriers. Our health insurance has been self-insured through the Maryland Local Government Health Cooperative (MLGHC) sponsored by the Local Government Insurance Trust (LGIT) since April, 2012. Effective July 1, 2016, health insurance premiums will increase by 11.8%. The budgeted amount will be $930,194. Staff recommends keeping MetLife and DentaQuest dental plans for FY 2017. The premiums for DentaQuest will remain the same while the premiums for MetLife will increase by 6%. The total FY2017 budgeted amount for dental insurance will be $51,618 for the current number of subscribers. Chesapeake Employers Insurance Company (formerly known as Injured Workers Insurance Fund) provides the City’s workers’ compensation insurance. Premiums will be approximately $197,455 next fiscal year at our current level of payroll. This is an increase of approximately $41,000 from last year. Our experience modification factor increased again this year from 0.64 to 0.76. The City’s liability insurance is carried by the Local Government Insurance Trust, of which the City is a charter member. This insurance covers the city-wide general liability, public officials’ liability, auto, property, parking garage, boiler and machinery, personal injury protection, flood and earth movement and uninsured motorists’ protection. In addition, the City purchases coverage from other insurance companies affiliated with LGIT for pollution legal liability, crime bond, Metro underpass, and fuel storage tanks. LGIT has advised us to budget approximately $146,386 for FY17, which is nearly $6,000 less than last year. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 6 16-G-42 Appointments to Boards and Committees A motion was made by Councilmember Stullich and seconded by Councilmember Nagle to reappoint Anna Sandberg to the Airport Authority, appoint Christiane Williams to the Animal Welfare Committee and appoint Todd Larsen to the Committee for a Better Environment. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. 16-G-44 Support for Litter Logo Competition A motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Dennis to support the College Park Litter Logo Competition to raise awareness of the pervasive issue of litter throughout our City, to engage diverse communities to understanding the impact of litter on our environment and on our beauty as a City with the desire to attract new business and residents. There were no comments. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Councilmember Cook asked about the Aging-In-Place Task Force Report. Mayor Wojahn said they are working on it. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilmember Cook said Europe suffered a blow today with the bombings in Belgium. Councilmember Nagle announced County Council Member Mary Lehman’s Mini-Town Hall tomorrow night. Mayor Wojahn asked for direction from the Council about the $80,000 set aside in the budget for the Education Improvement Fund: we had asked our Education Advisory Committee for their recommendations and they came before us twice, and tonight, without discussion, we did not approve the motion. Do we want to go back and ask them again? Councilmember Cook said she was not on the Council when these funds were set aside in the budget and does not know if she would have approved. She does not think this is the solution to the problems in the County schools. We have some thinking to do about how we want to proceed. Councilmember Day said the $80,000 came from the unfilled College Park Academy Executive Director position. This is the first time this has come through at this amount. Councilmember Nagle said the Education Advisory Committee did just what Council asked them to do and they worked hard to do so. She prefers to leave that money in the general fund. She would like to see the EAC get more involved in review of the school board budget and letting Council know about changes they might not have heard about, such as school boundaries. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 7 Councilmember Stullich said the plan that the EAC proposed was educational – literacy, technology – and communicating the good news from our schools, which we have talked about. We don’t have control over the schools and can’t change the system in major ways. She is disappointed that we have money set aside for the purpose of supporting our local schools and then not spending it. Councilmember Kabir wants to have a discussion with surrounding municipalities to see how we can collaborate on supporting our schools. We want to support our schools and can come up with a better plan. A motion was made by Councilmember Nagle and seconded by Councilmember Kabir to go into a closed session. Mayor Wojahn said he would like a sense of what the majority of the Council wants. A motion was made by Councilmember Nagle and seconded by Councilmember Cook to return the money to the General Fund. Ms. Ferguson said the money is in the General Fund. If at the end of the fiscal year is not spent, it rolls over into unspent funds. Council would have to take action to use the funds, but needs no action to leave the funds where they are. Mayor Wojahn said he was seeking direction from the Council about how to proceed, and asked for a straw poll in order to get sense of the Council. Councilmember Kabir noted there was a motion on the table to go into a closed session. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Nagle and seconded by Councilmember Cook to enter into a closed session. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0 and the regular meeting was adjourned at 10:02 p.m. ____________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date City Clerk Approved Pursuant to §C6-3 of the College Park City Charter, at 10:02 p.m. on March 22, 2016, a motion was made by Councilmember Nagle and seconded by Councilmember Cook to enter into a Closed Session to discuss a personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0 and the Council entered into the closed session at 10:05 p.m. Present: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Nagle, Dennis, Stullich, Day, Cook and Kujawa. Absent: Councilmember Brennan College Park City Council Meeting Minutes March 22, 2016 Page 8 Also Present: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Sgt. Selway and Lt. Keleti, Prince George’s County Police Department. Topics Discussed: Council was briefed on a personnel matter by the Prince George’s County Police Internal Affairs Division. Actions Taken: None. Adjourn: A motion was made by Councilmember Stullich and seconded by Councilmember Day to adjourn the closed session, and at 10:19 p.m. with a vote of 7 – 0 – 0, Mayor Wojahn adjourned the meeting.