Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Regular Meeting of the College Park City Council Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Davis Hall, 9217 51st Avenue 7:30 p.m. – 9:44 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 S. Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Robert Marsili, Director of Public Works; Gary Fields, Director of Finance; Julia Nikhinson, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Wojahn opened the Regular Meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Kabir announced a Walk & Talk with police in Hollywood. There will be a candidate forum on Thursday at Davis Hall for Mayoral, District 1 and District 4 races. Mayor Wojahn mentioned additional candidate forums at Attick Towers, the Old Parish House and the Berwyn District Civic Association. He also said College Park Woods held an event honoring John Moore, the longtime Chair of the College Park Housing Authority who will soon be relocating. A tree will be planted in his honor at Attick Towers. Councilmember Rigg announced that College Park Scholars In Action will hold a technology help center on Saturday at St. Andrews Church. Councilmember Mitchell said October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and asked her colleagues to wear pink. Councilmember Dennis announced the Coffee Club meeting tomorrow. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Somers discussed the community survey that is coming out soon. A random sample of residents will receive a postcard saying they have been selected to participate in the statistically measured survey. He discussed the upcoming City Hall relocation and reviewed last Saturday’s College Park Day. PROCLAMATIONS AND AWARDS: Mayor Wojahn read the Proclamation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilmember Mitchell wishes to make an additional appointment during the “Boards and Committees” agenda item. Since the item is already on the agenda, an amendment is not needed. The agenda was approved (Dennis/Mitchell) 8-0. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 2 PUBLIC COMMENT ON CONSENT AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS: Dave Dorsch, resident: When will the guardrail be built on US 1; open-up Rhode Island Avenue to Campus Drive; the timing of the traffic signals on US 1 needs to be reviewed; what % of the population will get a survey, and how will you hear from everyone else? David Gray, resident: When will the Campaign Finance Reports be posted; a link on the City election page goes to the wrong page; the College Park Day card could have been smaller; the timing and/or names of the Resident Information Guides is confusing; there has been a 3rd murder in 6 months. PRESENTATION: Mr. Fields reviewed the PowerPoint. He summarized the public sale of the bonds last Thursday: We got five bids. The low bidder was from Robert W. Baird; the true interest cost was 2.46%. We originally planned to borrow $19M ($14M for City Hall and $5M for Duvall Field). We got final City Hall estimates from the project manager and determined we would only need $12.5M in bond proceeds; requiring a total of $17.5M in proceeds needed. In order to get that amount we only had to borrow $16.37M because we received a premium on the sale of the bonds. As a result the annual debt service is about $200,000 less than projected. The City’s bond rating is AA+. One reason we may not have received a AAA bond rating is that our tax base is not big enough. Our median income is lower than average due to the number of students. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Day to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the following: 19-G-137 Approval of a letter to the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission with City comments on the FY 2021 Budget 19-G-141 Approval of minutes from the September 3, 2019 Worksession The motion passed 8-0. ACTION ITEMS 19-G-140 Approval of a letter to the Prince George’s County Council with City comments on County Bill CB-46-2019, Prince George’s County Animal Control Ordinance Councilmember Kennedy suggestion revisions to the draft letter that was in the packet. She wants the main point of the letter to be that the Council supports the new broad legislation which will update and modernize the County animal code. A sub-point of the letter would to request that the County Council consider repealing the pit bull ban. Mr. Somers added that the County Council committee is meeting Thursday, so it is timely to get our letter in now. A motion was made by Councilmember Kennedy and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to send a letter to the County Council as described above. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 3 Councilmember Kennedy commented on the need to regulate/address dangerous animals, animal safety, and concerns from families about having their pets removed. She believes the pit bull ban perpetuates the problem; the dog’s behavior comes down to the owner, not the breed. She added that the Animal Welfare Committee voted unanimously to support the repeal of the pit bull ban. Comments from the audience: Stephanie Butler, resident: Supports the Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) to ban pit bulls. Scarlet Jimenez, resident: Don’t ban the breed. Ban abuse and irresponsible owners. Christine Nagle, resident: Supports the pit bull ban. Take time to get more information. Kathy Rodeffer, Co-Chair of Animal Welfare Committee: In favor of a ban of a dangerous dog, but not the BSL. Legislate the owners, not the breed. Linda Lachman, resident: It is time to end the pit bull prohibition. Councilmember Rigg discussed research showing that pit bulls have a bad reputation, that there is a misattribution of some dog bite reports, and studies that report no strong correlation of bites to pit bulls specifically. Councilmember Kabir said the bill is still in committee and that the pit bull ban is not in the current draft of the bill. He wants to wait and see what the bill amendments are. A motion was made by Councilmember Kabir and seconded by Councilmember Day to postpone this item until we know what the bill amendments are. Comments from the audience on the amendment: Christine Nagle: Supports the amendment. Stephanie Butler: Council should be more concerned with safety and welfare of the residents rather than the dogs. Scarlett Jimenez: We should voice our opinion now and again when it goes to public hearing. Bonnie Greenslade, resident: We should act now. Councilmember Brennan said there is merit in the County updating the old legislation but the burden should be on the County, not the City, to explore this matter and aid in the public education process. Councilmember Day is in favor of removing the BSL but thinks we should delay until we see the bill amendments. Councilmember Kennedy struggled with the timing but thinks the City’s input now is important. Councilmember Mitchell supports the amendment to wait. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 4 Councilmember Rigg isn’t sure what we gain by delay. Vote on the amendment to postpone: Yes: Kabir, Day, Kujawa, Mitchell No: Kennedy, Rigg, Brennan, Dennis Mayor votes No. Amendment failed, 4-5. Discussion of main motion: Julia Nikhinson said the issue is not the breed, it is the humans. She supports the repeal of the ban. Councilmember Day said we are trying to add something to a bill that is already struggling. It is too soon to write a letter about a bill we are unsure about. We haven’t reached out to our colleagues. Councilmember Mitchell will not support the motion. We are being too reactionary. She prefers to wait and see the bill with amendments. Councilmember Brennan supports sending the letter now. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but this will begin an important dialogue. Councilmember Dennis thinks it is better to go on the record at this point. Vote on the main motion: Yes: Kennedy, Rigg, Brennan, Dennis No: Kabir, Day, Kujawa, Mitchell Mayor votes Yes. Motion passed 5-4. 19-G-138 Consider joining the North American Butterfly Association, Bee City USA, and taking the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge Mr. Marsili and Ms. Alexander reviewed the staff report and PowerPoint. Public Works will identify locations where the City can establish pollinator gardens so that Monarchs will visit College Park as they migrate. Locations will include signage and education. The City uses minimal amounts of pesticides so joining these organizations shouldn’t impact our practices. A motion was made by Councilmember Day and seconded by Councilmember Kennedy that the City of College Park join the North American Butterfly Association, Bee City USA, and take the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge. Comments from the audience: Anahi Espindola, resident, pollination biologist at the UMD: She was part of an intergovernmental panel that recommended many of these actions to the United Nations. She said we should promote other pollinators as well. She offered her services in this effort. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 5 The motion passed 8-0. 19-G-142 Support for Prince George’s County Council, Sitting as the District Council, Bill CB-55-2019 Ms. Ferguson said CB-55 is a response to a concern by the City to balance the need to get variances when building on residential properties with requirements of the design guidelines in an historic district. This was sponsored by County Council Member Glaros at our request. It will help residents by reducing the need to request a variance. A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Day to send a letter in support of CB-55-2019. There were no comments. The motion passed 8-0. 19-G-143 Appointments to Boards and Committees A motion was made by Councilmember Mitchell and seconded by Councilmember Kujawa to appoint Domini Artis to the Recreation Board. The motion passed 8-0. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilmember Kennedy said that Councilmember Rigg was on the Kojo Nnamdi show and did a fantastic job discussing the unruly social gathering ordinance. Councilmember Day withdrew his previous request for a bike station in College Park Estates/Yarrow because of growing concern about dockless bikes and scooters being left all over the place. This is becoming a nuisance. Councilmember Brennan spoke about College Park Day and thanked staff for their efforts. Councilmember Dennis is on the planning committee for Good Neighbor Day, which will be held on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Councilmember Mitchell requested a proclamation at the next meeting for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Ms. Nikhinson said Mr. Alpert is absent due to Yom Kippur, and Mayor Wojahn noted that Mr. Alpert was also on the Kojo Nnamdi show. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Brennan to adjourn the Regular Meeting, and to enter into a Closed Session to discuss the performance evaluation of a specific employee. The Mayor and Council will conduct the City Manager’s evaluation. With a vote of 8-0, the regular meeting was adjourned at 9:44 p.m. College Park City Council Meeting Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 6 _______________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date City Clerk Approved Closed Session Statement Pursuant to the Maryland Annotated Code, General Provisions Article, Section 3-305, on October 8, 2019 at 9:44 p.m. at Davis Hall, 9217 51st Avenue, a motion was made by Councilmember Dennis and seconded by Councilmember Brennan that the Mayor and Council of the City of College Park meet in a Closed Session for the following purposes: To discuss the performance evaluation of a specific employee. The motion passed 8-0, and after a brief recess, the closed session began at 9:55 p.m. The Mayor and all Councilmembers were present. Scott Somers, City Manager, also attended. The Open Meetings Trainee was Mayor Wojahn. The Mayor and Council conducted the City Manager’s performance evaluation. No action was taken during the Closed Session. At 11:05 p.m. a motion was made by Councilmember Brennan and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adjourn the closed session, and with a vote of 8-0, the closed session was adjourned.