Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Special Session of the College Park City Council Wednesday, July 5, 2017 Council Chambers 9:06 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Nagle, Brennan, Dennis, Stullich, Day, Kujawa, and Cook. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Terry Schum, Director of Planning; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Jill Clements, Director of Human Resources. During a regularly scheduled Worksession of the College Park City Council, a motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Day to enter into a Special Session to take action on the request from the State Clearinghouse on the proposed transfer of 10 properties to the Terrapin Development Corporation. The motion carried 8-0-0 and the Council entered into the Special Session at 9:06 p.m. Worksession discussion before the motion: Letter to the Maryland Department of Planning, State Clearinghouse, requesting an extension of the July 9 deadline to comment on the transfer of property to the Terrapin Development Corporation – State Senator Jim Rosapepe; UMD Vice President for Administration and Finance Carlo Colella; Ken Ulman, President, Terrapin Development Corporation: Mr. Colella said there are two different things being discussed: 1) the formation of the Terrapin Development Corporation (TDC) and, 2) the transfer of property to the TDC referenced in the Clearinghouse letter. The TDC was approved by the Board of Regents in the spring. It is a two- member LLC consisting of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation and University of Maryland College Park. The University and Foundation have been working together on an ad hoc basis for the last four years on land transactions (the Hotel, Quality Inn, MilkBoy and Little Tavern sites) and the formation of the TDC is the formalization for that kind of activity to continue. The formation of the TDC has been completed, they have a board, and Mr. Ulman is the President. They will support the University’s “Greater College Park” effort through real estate development. That is separate from the request to transfer the 10 properties to the LLC: 3 are proposed for immediate transfer; the other 7 were previously owned by the university and are proposed to be transferred, would go onto the tax rolls, and be subject to the entitlement process. In retrospect, he regrets that they didn’t come to the City to describe this. There are 3 distinct steps in the process of the disposition of state land: the clearinghouse, the Board of Public Works (expected in August), and a transaction 1.5 months after BPW approval. They thought it would be well received since the properties will go on the tax rolls and have to go through zoning. They understand the City wants additional time to consider this, which is fine. Neither the University nor the Foundation are set up to do real estate transactions, so the TDC sets up a structure to allow this work to continue. College Park City Council July 5, 2017 Special Session Minutes Page 2 of 3 Mr. Ulman added that the properties previously owned by the foundation are now owned by the TDC: Sigma Chi, the Quality Inn/Plato’s site, the Renfrow properties, the land under the Hotel, the City Hall block, and the Milkboy site. The item before the BPW is whether to approve the contribution of state property to the TDC. Sen. Rosapepe said creating an entity that is in the business of community development in College Park makes sense, but they need to be careful to involve the City in the process. He suggests that the City should be deeply involved in this – he agrees with a delay to give time for the City to get up to speed, to see the documents, who is on the board, etc. This is a big deal; the delegation will support the City, they are sympathetic to the community concerns. He also asked the CPCUP Housing and Development Committee to take this up. He said the City should be interested in the role and governance of this entity, and the use being planned for the specific properties. Council asked if the City would have some approval role; what the City’s protections would look like; if we might have an ex officio member on the Board; will other properties be considered in the future; how they see the TDC’s role vis-à-vis the CPCUP; concern that a development corporation will continue to do development; Mr. Colella said the TDC is a two-member LLC (the Foundation and the University); the property is not being transferred to a developer; it won’t be sold to an unaffiliated property. Mr. Ulman said many universities have a real estate development arm. This will be development for purposes other than a profit motive, i.e. for community building and place making. For example, they leased #1 Liquors and turned it into a coffee shop that yields less revenue than the liquor store. They can buy any property that is for sale, but have no current plans for additional property; any property that they buy will be on the tax roll. A motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Day to enter into a Special Session to consider sending a letter to the State Clearinghouse to request an extension of the July 9 deadline to comment on the transfer of property to the Terrapin Development Corporation. The motion passed 8 – 0 – 0 and the Council entered into Special Session at 9:06 p.m. ACTION ITEM 17-G-89 Letter to the Maryland Department of Planning, State Clearinghouse, requesting an extension of the July 9 deadline to comment on the transfer of property to the Terrapin Development Corporation A motion was made by Councilmember Day and seconded by Councilmember Kujawa to send the letter as drafted to the Maryland Department of Planning, State Clearinghouse, requesting an extension of the deadline for the City to provide comments to August 9. There were no comments from the audience or from the Council. The motion passed 8 - 0 – 0. College Park City Council July 5, 2017 Special Session Minutes Page 3 of 3 ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Kujawa to adjourn the Special Session, and with a vote of 8 – 0 – 0 Mayor Wojahn adjourned the Special Session at 9:07 p.m. ____________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date City Clerk Approved