Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Regular Meeting of the College Park City Council Tuesday, January 9, 2018 Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. – 9:59 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kennedy, Brennan, Dennis, Day, Rigg, Kujawa and Mitchell. ABSENT: Councilmember Kabir 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; Bob Stumpff, Director of Public Works; Robert Marsili, Assistant Director Public Works; Steve Halpern, City Engineer; Miriam Bader, Senior Planner. Mayor Wojahn opened the Regular Meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Mitchell announced the North College Park Community Association meeting on Thursday. Councilmember Dennis announced the annual Martin Luther King Tribute and the bi-monthly meeting of the Lakeland Civic Association. Councilmember Brennan announced the next Third Thirsty Thursday event and the monthly Berwyn District Civic Association meeting. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Somers provided information on the red folder items, the lay-on-the-table items, and the Family Fun Bowling event. PROCLAMATION: Mayor Wojahn read the Proclamation in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: • Move 18-G-08 to Consent (Dennis/Brennan 7-0-0) • Move 18-G-10 and 18-G-11 to Consent (Mitchell/Rigg 7-0-0) • Approve the agenda as amended (Brennan/Day) 7-0-0 PUBLIC COMMENT ON CONSENT AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS: Liz Lee, Chesapeake Climate Action Network: She spoke in favor of Resolution 18-R-01 and urged the Council’s support. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes January 9, 2018 Page 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Petition request for traffic calming in the 9500 block of Rhode Island Avenue (east side service road) between Kenesaw and Hollywood Mr. Halpern reviewed the staff report. Mayor Wojahn invited public comment: Kathy Lewandowski, 9537 Rhode Island Avenue: People use this block to cut through when Rhode Island Avenue gets backed up. There are no sidewalks and it has gotten scarier to walk in front on her house. Ralph Moores, 9537 Rhode Island Avenue: The access road is narrow and the speed limit should be reduced to 15 mph. It is worse between 4-7 p.m. A mirror was knocked off his vehicle and he has to be careful when he gets out of his car. Rebekah Esmaili, 9539 Rhode Island Avenue: The report doesn’t take into account the human side of things; she is always scared when she gets out of her car. She is aware of a vehicle- pedestrian accident that was not reported to the police. Other parts of the access road have speed bumps and they want one too. Victor Machado, 9541 Rhode Island Avenue: He is concerned for the kids and wants to take action before something happens. There being no further public comment, Mayor Wojahn closed the Public Hearing at 7:58 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Brennan and seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the following: 18-G-02 Award of a four-year contract in substantially the form attached to CivicPlus in the amount of $87,996 for website redesign and hosting fees, and approval for the City Manager to sign the contract 18-G-03 Approval of an amendment to the contract with Unity Business Systems in substantially the form attached in an amount not to exceed $60,000 to expand Laserfiche software to the Departments of Public Services and Human Resources 18-G-04 Approval of a contract with Volta for $10,000 in substantially the form attached and authorize up to $20,000 annually for Office 365 licenses 18-R-01 Resolution in support of the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative 18-G-05 Approval of Minutes from the November 21, 2017 Worksession, November 28, 2017 Regular Meeting, November 28, 2017 Worksession after the Regular Meeting, the December 5, 2017 Worksession, the December 5, 2017 Special Session, the November 30, 2017 Legislative Dinner and the December 12, 2017 Regular Meeting. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes January 9, 2018 Page 3 18-G-08 Award of Contract for Public Works Garage Solar Panels 18-G-10 Approval of a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan opposing the proposal to widen I-495 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) 18-G-11 Approval of comments to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board regarding Gov. Hogan’s proposal to widen I-495 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. ACTION ITEMS: 18-G-06 Council Action on the petition request for traffic calming in the 9500 block of Rhode Island Avenue (east side service road) between Kenesaw and Hollywood A motion was made by Councilmember Kennedy and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to install a traffic calming device in the 9500 block of Rhode Island Avenue, and to give discretion to the City Engineer as to its location. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. 18-G-07 Recommendation from the Education Advisory Committee for the annual public school education grants Carolyn Bernache, Chair, Education Advisory Committee, reviewed the EAC’s recommendations and took questions from the Council. Council asked about the reporting requirements, whether we can ask schools to strengthen their programmatic needs, whether they leverage other funding, and said one benefit of the City’s grant program is that it is easy to apply for. Councilmembers Day and Mitchell asked the City Attorney if they needed to recuse themselves from this vote. Councilmember Day’s wife is on the EAC and Councilmember Mitchell used to be a member of the EAC. Ms. Ferguson said there was no need to recuse themselves under these circumstances because they would not benefit from the action. A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Kennedy to award the public school education grants as recommended by the Education Advisory Committee. There were no comments from the audience. The motion passed 7-0-0. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes January 9, 2018 Page 4 18-G-09 Approval of Bozzuto Declaration of Covenants and related agreements – Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney Ms. Ferguson said the previous Declaration of Covenants has been split into three agreements: a revised Declaration of Covenants (DOC), a Maintenance Agreement (MA), and an Agreement. The Agreement will not be recorded; the DOC and MA will be recorded. Staff has been in negotiations with the applicant on which conditions to move into which agreement; the latest revisions are in the red folders. Two items in the Agreement remain unresolved: 1) whether the streetscape improvements previously approved by Council should be required around Parcel 2 (the Applebee’s parcel at the corner of US 1 and Hartwick Road), and 2) the Specific Performance provision. Item 1) Applicant does not want to do the streetscape improvements (lights, trees, at grade sidewalk and cycle track) around Parcel 2 at this time and instead suggests they be done when that parcel is redeveloped in the future. However, the Planning Board has already included this condition in the DSP/PPSD, with final approval by SHA for the US 1 improvements. Council is being asked to change a condition they have already agreed to. Council is concerned about the streetscape’s mid-block transition on US 1 between the Bozzuto development and Parcel 2 if the streetscape improvements around Parcel 2 are not completed at this time. Applicant is concerned about the additional cost the improvements would entail. Discussion continued without resolution. Item 2) Ms. Ferguson explained that Specific Performance means if there is a breach of the agreement by a signatory, the City can enforce by performance, not monetarily. Our goal is to have the condition completed, not to be paid for it not to be completed. The applicant objects to that provision, saying it is an extraordinary remedy. Ms. Ferguson said for real property matters, this is how we are best protected. The applicant said their equity partners (lenders) look at these agreements and get apprehensive when they see certain provisions. They don’t want to enter into an agreement that might hinder their financing. They don’t expect this provision to be needed, but if it is, they would expect a court to decide the outcome. Ms. Ferguson said they have agreed to the Specific Performance language in the DOC and MA (which will be recorded) but object to it in the Agreement (which will not be recorded). Discussion continued. Applicant willing to have the Specific Performance remedy on Paragraph #9 of the Agreement only. Questions and different interpretations about #4e. Applicant not willing to agree to anything that attaches to the development of Parcel 2. Ms. Ferguson asked the applicant if all of the provisions in the Declaration of Covenants and Maintenance Agreement are agreeable. Applicant said yes. The only issues remaining are in the Agreement. A motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to postpone consideration of this matter until next week. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes January 9, 2018 Page 5 18-G-12 Appointments to Boards and Committees A motion was made by Councilmember Kennedy and seconded by Councilmember Kujawa to appoint Christina Toy to the Recreation Board, Bonnie McClellan to the Seniors Committee, and Robert Green to the Veterans Memorial Committee. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilmember Kennedy invited people to the NCPCA discussion of the proposed dog park location on Thursday. Councilmember Dennis discussed the Coffee Club tomorrow morning. Councilmember Mitchell would like WSSC to provide an update on improvements to aging infrastructure in light of recent water main breaks. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: Oscar Gregory, 9253 Limestone Place: Regarding Bozzuto – we are being asked to subsidize their project and he fails to see why their problem with financing is our problem. Regarding Superion – it was founded in 1981 and bought out in 2016 and they are laying people off and closing offices. This is a red flag; we don’t want to do business with a company that is not stable. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Day to adjourn the Regular Meeting, and with a vote of 7-0-0, Mayor Wojahn adjourned the meeting at 9:59 p.m. ____________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date City Clerk Approved Pursuant to Section 3-103 of the General Provisions Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the College Park City Council met in an Administrative Function Session in the City Council Chambers on Saturday, December 16, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for Council Orientation. Present: Mayor Wojahn, Councilmembers Kennedy, Kabir, Brennan, Dennis, Day, Rigg, Kujawa and Mitchell. Also Present: City Manager Scott Somers, Assistant City Manager Bill Gardiner, and Consultant Terrie Glass from Zelos, Inc. City Attorney Suellen Ferguson attended a portion of the session. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes January 9, 2018 Page 6 Pursuant to §C6-3 of the College Park City Charter, at 10:01 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, a motion was made by Councilmember Kujawa and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to enter into a Closed Session to consult with Counsel on a legal matter. The motion passed 7 – 0 – 0 and Council entered in the Closed Session at 10:05 p.m. Present: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kennedy, Brennan, Dennis, Day (left at 11:06 p.m.), Rigg, Kujawa and Mitchell. Absent: Councilmember Kabir. Also Present: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Janeen Miller, City Clerk. Topic Discussed: The City Council received legal advice on proposed revisions to the City Charter. Next steps were discussed. Action Taken: None. Adjourn: A motion was made by Councilmember Brennan and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adjourn the closed session, and with a vote of 6 – 0 – 0, Mayor Wojahn adjourned the closed session at 11:13 p.m.