Mayor & City Council

WORKSESSION MINUTES College Park City Council Tuesday, September 6, 2016 Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. – 11:13 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Nagle, Brennan, Dennis, Stullich, Day, Cook and Kujawa. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Terry Schum, Director of Planning; Steve Halpern, City Engineer; Miriam Bader, Senior Planner; Bob Stumpff, Director of Public Works; Leo Thomas, Jr., Deputy Director of Finance; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Steve Beavers, Community Development Coordinator; Chris Keosian, Student Liaison; Brandon Carroll, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Wojahn opened the Worksession at 7:30 p.m. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:  College Park Day – September 24 from 11 - 4  Red folder items AMENDMENTS/APPROVAL OF AGENDA:  Reordered several items  Approved agenda as amended (Stullich/Brennan) 8 – 0 – 0. AGENDA ITEMS: 1. Resolution Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Adopting The Recommendations Of The Advisory Planning Commission Regarding Variance Application Number CPV-2016-09, 4709 Guilford Road, College Park, Maryland, Recommending Approval Of A Variance From Sec. 27-442(C) Table II Of The Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance, Which Prescribes A Maximum Lot Coverage At 30 Percent. Consent 2. Discussion of duties of the City’s Board of Election Supervisors – should they be organizing debates? Guest: Jack Robson, Chief, Board of Election Supervisors: Recommendation to establish a Workgroup to study the issues and bring recommendations to Council. Members could include current/past elected officials and/or candidates, civic association leaders. Include Robson, Miller, Ferguson. Contact League of Women Voters for assistance; what are their criteria? Bring appointments to next Worksession. 3. Discussion of FY 2018 Homestead Tax Credit Rate. Guest: Bob Catlin: HTC has been 4% since FY 2009. The HTC is a percentage rate limiting the increase in real property assessment from one fiscal year to the next, for owner-occupied properties only. Thus, it is important when assessments jump. Council wants to know the impact of dropping the HTC College Park City Council Worksession Minutes September 6, 2016 Page 2 from 4% to 2%, and what the average increase in the assessments is. Look at how much every 1% increase or decrease would mean. Change is made by ordinance. Any adjustment would have to be discussed at the October 4 W/S for introduction on October 11, PH and adoption on October 25, in order to certify the rate by November deadline. 4. Discussion of CBE recommendation for a sustainability project with the University of Maryland. Steve Beavers, Janis Oppelt and Alan Hew (CBE) and former Mayor Andy Fellows: This project is no longer with the Environmental Finance Center. Now Connected Campus Community (C3). Projects re: sustainability and resiliency involving faculty, staff and students. Identify project areas we want to focus on; 50 projects will be explored; could be joint projects with other municipalities. CBE supports Zero Waste and stormwater management. Council agreed. Mr. Fellows will provide an update by January. Concern about not duplicating efforts with other entities like CPCUP. 5. Two Reports on the Old Parish House: a. Update on repair project. Terry Schum, Miriam Bader, Thomas Tultavull, Architect: Roof rafters and ties are undersized for roof load, causing an unsafe condition and outward stress on the walls. OPH has been closed since May. Tultavull has designed the roof repair work which will be done from the interior through ceiling. Need to determine what ceiling finish to restore; RFP will ask for bid alternatives. Current acoustics of the room are considered good, which is important to the College Park Arts Exchange for performances. Other work to be included on this RFP: repair of undermined floor joists and foundation insulation. We will need an Historic Area Work Permit because of the extent of the work. Tultavull said Howard Berger indicated this could be a staff level approval. OK to proceed. This will come back to Council for a contract award and at that time the decision on ceiling finish will be needed. b. OPH 200th Anniversary Celebration. Guest-Leslie Montroll: Reviewed plans for 2017 weekend celebration. Council agreed to fund the event in an amount not to exceed $10,000. Consent. 6. Request to replace trees on Wichita Avenue Guest: Residents Dave Turley and Sarah Jazs Araghi: Residents request replacement of four healthy Zelkova street trees because of problems with roots getting into pipes, sidewalk panels heaving, etc. See petitions. Mr. Turley says trees were installed against the wishes of the residents and are non-native trees. They are willing to have the trees somewhere else or to change to a different type of tree. In August the TLB voted to not remove the trees, and in 2013 the Council considered the same request and did not want to remove them. Measure how close these trees are to the water/sewer lines. Is the issue the placement of the tree or the type of tree? Removal of the trees would need a Council vote. Councilmember Nagle will take a motion to agenda next week to remove trees. 7. Discussion of joint grant application to National Endowment for the Arts under the Our Town program - Terry Schum and guest Dr. Sheri Parks: The goal is to develop a public art master plan. The process is as important as the outcome: there will be a number of community engagement activities. This is a joint application but the University will administer it. They need a letter of support from the City. This is a matching grant; the City College Park City Council Worksession Minutes September 6, 2016 Page 3 has $15,000 and University has $10,000. They will seek other community partners. Council would like to see the application. Motion to approve a letter of support (Brennan). 8. Presentation by Bright Horizons on the University of Maryland’s Child Care Proposal for the Calvert Road School site – From UMD: Carlo Colella, Anne Martens. From Bright Horizons: Robert Helms, Director of Client Services; Peggy Gerety, Division VP of Operations; Audrey Elisha, VP of Client Services: UMD said Bright Horizons has been selected to be the child care provider at a location still TBD, but hopefully at the Calvert Road school site, per the UMD proposal. Bright Horizons representatives presented on their corporate structure and their model of employer sponsored care (see PowerPoint). They specialize in affiliations with higher education institutions and focus on infant through Kindergarten care. They offer an extended hours program to mirror parents’ work schedules. Curriculum is based on the interests of the children in each classroom. NAEYC accredited. Staff between 20 – 25 people. The UMD Center for Young Children (CYC) and College of Education will be involved. Bright Horizons will take the lead on marketing the available slots. 9. Approval of a Resolution prohibiting truck traffic on certain City streets – Consent. 10. Requests For/Status of Future Agenda items:  Look at the number of cars per home, and the number of renters per home (Cook)  Comprehensive parking study (perhaps joint with UMD) (Wojahn)  Annual conversation about Homestead Tax Credit (Brennan)  Creation of a public art fund (Brennan)  Schedule the SHA I-495 –Route 1 improvements sooner rather than later (Nagle)  Put something on our website about our Homeowners Tax Credit (low income)  Can we schedule Emergency Preparedness sooner than November 1? (Cook) Address more fully what our role is; what do other cities do?  Can we establish an emeritus/alumni status for certain Board and Committee members? What would the criteria be – the founder of the Board? Examples: Amelia Murdoch and Deloris Cass. 11. Appointments to Boards and Committees:  ATHA Board of Governors? No volunteers  Reappoint Alan Stillwell to the Noise Control Board (Day) 12. Mayor and Councilmember Comments:  Sunday 9/11 beautification project in Berwyn (Brennan)  NCPCA Thursday at 7:30 (Cook)  Success of the Fox 5 Zip Trip (Dennis)  Lakeland Community Heritage Project activities (Dennis)  College Park Academy MSA scores are 40 point above other schools (Day)  Grand opening of College Park Operations Center on Friday (Wojahn)  Food Truck launch (Wojahn) College Park City Council Worksession Minutes September 6, 2016 Page 4 13. City Manager’s Comments:  UMD 9/11 event at noon on Sunday at the Chapel Labyrinth Adjourn into Closed Session @11:13 p.m. ____________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller Date City Clerk Approved