Mayor & City Council

MINUTES College Park City Council Regular Meeting Council Chambers Tuesday, March 22, 2022 7:30 p.m. – 8:37 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Kennedy, Esters, Whitney, Adams, Rigg, Mackie and Mitchell. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Kenneth Young, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Terry Schum, Director of Planning; Teresa Way-Pezzuti, Director of Human Resources; Michael Williams, Economic Development Manager; Ryna Quinones, Communications and Events Manager. Mayor Wojahn opened the Worksession at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Kabir said there is a community clean up on April 16 and talked about spring happenings in the City. Councilmember Esters said there is a meeting tomorrow night on the Greenbelt Road Corridor Plan. District 2 Councilmembers will hold a community forum on April 9. Councilmember Whitney said there is still a chance to share your ideas about the Age Friendly Community survey. Councilmember Adams discussed recent storm drain improvements in Calvert Hills. Councilmember Rigg announced a Calvert Hills Spring Clean Up on March 26. Councilmember Mackie said the Hyattsville Library will be reopening on March 30. Councilmember Mitchell announced the District 4 quarterly community meeting and said there will be a District 1 and District 4 Budget Town Hall. She also bragged on Councilmember Kennedy who presented at the NLC Conference last week about the Community Preservation Trust. Mayor Wojahn said he will attend the Maryland Mayor’s Association meeting next week. He wished the students a happy spring break. College Park City Council Minutes March 22, 2022 Page 2 CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Young announced the U.S. 1 travel lanes will shift next week. AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA: • Add Agenda Item 22-G-60 to the Consent Agenda: Letter in support of Juneteenth Legislation, HB 227, Mitchell/ Kennedy, passed 8-0. • Approve the agenda as amended, Mitchell/Rigg, passed 8-0. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mary King, resident: After 2 presentations on the Community Preservation Trust, the City is ready to commit $3M of ARPA funds. Who else is providing funding? How does 100 homes make a significant difference in the stability of College Park neighborhoods? She is not convinced this program will make any difference in the City of College Park. She disagrees that the fiscal impact to the City will be zero. Richard Biffl, non-resident, Chair of Local Advisory Committee and Old Town Property Owner: Suggested changes to the proposed amendments to the Homeownership Grant Program. The categories seem arbitrary. Open it up to everybody. PRESENTATION: Mayor Wojahn presented the State of the City address. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Esters. The consent agenda consisted of: 22-G-54 Approval of a new full-time equivalent position to be added to the Communications and Events Office. 22-G-55 Approval of a reclassification of the existing Administrative Specialist position to an Executive Assistant for the City Manager's Office. 22-G-56 Approval of an Agreement between the City of College Park and the College Park City-University Partnership regarding a $3M grant from City ARPA funds for the College Park City-University Partnership’s Community Preservation Trust Program. 22-G-57 Approval of a request by the College Park City-University Partnership for a letter of support for their application to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Housing Affordability Planning Program to support CPCUP’s Community Preservation Trust Program. 22-R-03 Approval of Resolution 22-R-03, amending the guidelines for the College Park New neighbors Homeownership Grant program. College Park City Council Minutes March 22, 2022 Page 3 22-G-58 Approval of a task order in substantially the form attached under the on-call engineering services contract with Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP (RK&K) in the amount of $54,370.35 to perform a feasibility study to determine if the site of the Calvert Road Soccer Field could provide underground attenuation to reduce flooding in the Calvert Hills neighborhood. 22-G-59 Approval of minutes from the February 8, 2022 Regular Meeting. 22-G-60 Letter in support of HB 227, State Government – Legal and Employee Holiday – Juneteenth National Independence Day (Added to the Agenda). The motion carried 8-0. ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Esters and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adjourn into a closed session. Mayor Wojahn read the closing statement: Pursuant to the statutory authority of the Maryland Annotated Code, General Provisions Art. § 3-305(b), the Mayor and Council of the City of College Park are providing notice that they will meet in a closed session after the meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom this public body has jurisdiction. Specifically, the Mayor and Council will review applications for the Restorative Justice Commission and discuss the City Manager’s performance evaluation. They will not return to open session after the Closed Session ends. The motion passed 8-0 and the meeting was adjourned at 8:37 p.m. ________________________________ Janeen S Miller Date City Clerk Approved CLOSED SESSION March 22, 2022 On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at the conclusion of the Regular Meeting, a motion was made by Councilmember Esters and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to adjourn into a closed session. Mayor Wojahn read the closing statement: College Park City Council Minutes March 22, 2022 Page 4 Pursuant to the statutory authority of the Maryland Annotated Code, General Provisions Art. § 3-305(b), the Mayor and Council of the City of College Park are providing notice that they will meet in a closed session after the meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom this public body has jurisdiction. Specifically, the Mayor and Council will review applications for the Restorative Justice Commission and discuss the City Manager’s performance evaluation. They will not return to open session after the Closed Session ends. The motion passed 8-0. Mayor Wojahn and Councilmembers Kabir, Kennedy, Esters, Whitney, Adams, Rigg, Mackie and Mitchell were present. City Manager Kenneth Young attended the meeting. Assistant City Manager Bill Gardiner, HR Director Teresa Way-Pezzuti and City Clerk Janeen Miller attended a portion of the meeting. The Mayor and Council reviewed the applications for the Restorative Justice Commission. No action was taken. The Mayor, City Council and the City Manager discussed the City Manager’s 6 month performance evaluation. No action was taken. ADJOURN: At 9:49 p.m., a motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Whitney. The motion passed 8-0.