Mayor & City Council

WORKSESSION MINUTES College Park City Council Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. – 11:27 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Kennedy, Brennan, Dennis, Day, Rigg, Kujawa and Mitchell. ABSENT: None. 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; Gary Fields, Director of Finance; Terry Schum, Director of Planning; Brenda Alexander, Assistant Director of Public Works; Chris Keosian, Student Liaison; Julianne Heberlein, Deputy Student Liaison; Mayor Wojahn opened the Worksession at 7:30 p.m. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Somers announced Third Thirsty Thursday and said Public Works is brining the streets in anticipation of icy weather. AMENDMENTS TO/APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was approved without amendment (Kabir/Rigg) 8-0-0. AGENDA ITEMS: 1. 2017 Election debrief - Board of Election Supervisors (Jack Robson, Terry Wertz, Mary Katherine Theis, John Payne and Maria Mackie): Mr. Robson reviewed the BOES memo: Item 1 – City Attorney will address. Item 2 – Council interested in exploring this further. Staff to provide options. Item 3 - Council is interested in relaxing the rules. Staff will determine whether a change in code is needed. Item 4 – City Attorney will provide input. Item 5 – Err on the side of transparency. Explore following state/federal/county guidelines and require reporting where needed. Consider whether the BOES has the capacity to handle an additional layer of forms to review. Bring back. Item 6 – Council supports Item 7 – Pursue this and bring back options. Item 8 – Let the Ethics Commission have some discretion in these matters. Interest in making past-due election fines an obstacle to future candidacy. Item 9 – Consider Early Voting on a Sunday. Item 10 – Support Item 11 – Pursue this. Many issues need to be addressed. Item 12 – Attorney will review. Item 13 – Be consistent with state law. College Park City Council Worksession Minutes February 6, 2018 Page 2 of 3 Is there a need to increase the election budget and expand the BOES to address these issues? Council requested feedback on the resources needed to accomplish these goals. Discussion of no-excuse absentee voting. Provide a report on what it would take. Return future Worksession on items above, and also on efforts to clean up the County voting list. 2 Discussion of long term plans for Duvall Field – Terry Schum and Brenda Alexander: Ms. Schum reviewed the staff report. Proceed with staff recommendation for a consultant. Outreach to entire City, including to our immigrant community. Some neighborhoods have fields already; needs vary. We will either issue an RFP or try to ride an existing contract. Return for award of contract. 3 Recommendations for award of Community Services grants – review of subcommittee recommendations. Why is funding by College Park Community Foundation a disqualifier to the National Museum of Language – what does a “beneficial” grant mean? Criteria need better definition. Move forward with recommendations. Request to reconsider funding the Free Yoga group. Council can made amendments next week. Consider outsourcing the grants to the College Park Community Foundation in the future. Subcommittee will continue to discuss the broader issues. 4 Annual renewal of liquor licenses for establishments within the City – to Consent. 5 Discussion of proposed Charter Amendments – Mr. Somers provided the overview. Option 2 described in the memo brings you back to where you thought you were; the Mayor votes only to break ties in most cases. Option 1 - which is before you - allows the Mayor to vote in certain circumstances whether or not there is a tie. Either option is constitutional. Councilmember Kabir wanted to review why we are doing this. He said the main reason was to conform our charter to state law, and to define/clarify the “legislative body.” He requested that we use the earlier version of the Charter amendment (described as Option 2 in the staff memo) that was discussed in the beginning – just to bring our Charter in compliance with state law – instead of the draft included in the packet that gives the Mayor additional voting opportunities. He said if other members of Council want to go further, they can bring that back later. He said it would be divisive to try to do it all at once, and that it puts us at risk if it doesn’t pass. Councilmember Rigg said both options solve the problem before us. He favors Option 1 because not allowing the Mayor to vote on a Charter Amendment could allow the minority to subvert the majority with an abstention. Mayor Wojahn said a previous straw poll gave direction to proceed with Option 1 for introduction. Another straw poll was conducted of which version to introduce: College Park City Council Worksession Minutes February 6, 2018 Page 3 of 3 Option 1 (the version that is attached): 3 votes – Kennedy, Rigg, Brennan Option 2 (the Mayor votes only in cases of a tie): 5 votes – Kujawa, Mitchell, Day, Kabir, Dennis Prepare Option 2 for introduction next week. 6 Discussion of an ordinance regarding small cell infrastructure and a possible franchise agreement – Ms. Ferguson said this infrastructure is for the 5G network. We need to determine a fee structure and decide if this is a franchise or license agreement. More work to be done. Return future W/S. 7 Review of state/county legislation – Letters next week in support of plastic bag fees, ban on polystyrene, vehicle laws supporting bicycle safety, and funding for complete streets programs. 8 Requests For/Status of Future Agenda items – None. 9 Appointments to Boards and Committees – Janice Bernache to Recreation Board. 10 Mayor and Councilmember Comments – • NCPCA Meeting (Kabir) • M-NCPPC briefing on Campus Drive Complete Streets Project (Day) • Coffee Club cancelled (Dennis) • Bike race in Old Town on April 15 (Keosian) • SGA legislation (Heberlein) • Mayor’s report on PGCMA, Greater Greater Washington Happy Hour, the Maryland Mayor’s Association conference, NLC Future of Cities Forum, “If I Were Mayor” visits. 11 City Manager's Comments – None. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Brennan and seconded by Councilmember Day to adjourn the Worksession and with a vote of 8 – 0 – 0, Mayor Wojahn adjourned the Worksession at 11:27 p.m. __________________________________ Janeen S. Miller Date City Clerk Approved