Mayor & City Council

AMENDED MINUTES College Park City Council Worksession and Regular Meeting Wednesday, August 3, 2022 7:30 p.m. – 9:16 p.m. This was a hybrid meeting: Online via Zoom; In-person in the Council Chambers of City Hall. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Esters, Whitney, Adams, and Mitchell attended in person. Councilmembers Rigg and Mackie attended virtually. Councilmember Kennedy joined the virtual meeting at 7:55. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Kenneth Young, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney (virtual); Gary Fields, Director of Finance; Robert Marsili, Director of Public Works; Kiaisha Barber, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services; Michael Williams, Economic Development Manager; Valerie Graham, Student Liaison. Mayor Wojahn opened the Regular Meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Kabir discussed last night’s National Night Out. Councilmember Esters said the pick-up of woody debris from the July 12 storm has been extended to August 15. Councilmember Whitney discussed the presentation by the Maryland Insurance Administration about filing storm related claims. It is available on-line. Councilmember Rigg joined the City Manager at the National Association of College and University Business Officers conference when he was in Denver last week. Councilmember Mitchell also discussed National Night Out; she thanked PEPCO for continuing to help storm clean up. Councilmember Mackie thanked City staff for their help during the storm. Mayor Wojahn announced the next Friday Night Live event. He attended the NLC Summer Leadership Conference last week, and also attended the COG Board Retreat over the weekend. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Young discussed the status of storm clean up; he attended the Big 10 City Managers meeting last week. College Park City Council Minutes August 3, 2022 Page 2 AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Whitney/Esters, add 22-G-116, Appointments to Boards and Committees, to Consent: passed 7- 0. Mitchell/Esters, adopt agenda as amended: passed 7-0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON NON-AGENDA / CONSENT ITEMS: Bob Lucian, non-resident, representing the College Park Moose Lodge on Metzerott Road: They have been at their location for 74 years, but their membership has dropped and they are facing hard times. Sold their property two years ago to a church and need to relocate. Want to find a location in the City. Need a 4,000 sq. ft. building with a parking lot that can hold 75-100 cars. They would need to transfer their liquor license. They need to find a space in 1½ years. They are looking for an existing building they can rent or lease until they can find a location to build a building. He wanted to know if they City could help them. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL PRESENTATION: Mr. Fields presented the Quarterly Financials. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Mitchell and seconded by Councilmember Kabir to adopt the Consent Agenda which consisted of the following: 22-G-110 Award of contract for purchase of a new Petersen TL-2 grapple truck to be funded from the Vehicle Replacement CIP 22-G-111 Approval to extend the Redistricting Commission Report delivery date from September 13, 2022 to September 27, 2022. 22-G-112 Approval of a contract with Hagerty Consulting Inc. in the amount of $36,103.00 for assistance with the administration of the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CLFRF) received under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and for other services. 22-G-113 Approval of Minutes of July 5, 2022 Worksession and July 19, 2022 Regular Meeting. ADD Appoint Rev. Latisha Cokely to the Restorative Justice Commission and Nikesha 22-G-116 Pancho to the Committee for a Better Environment. The motion passed 8-0. College Park City Council Minutes August 3, 2022 Page 3 ACTION ITEMS 22-G-114 Letter to Prince George’s County Board of Elections regarding the serious staffing issues and failure to open Ritchie Coliseum on time on Primary Election Day A motion was made by Councilmember Adams and seconded by Councilmember Rigg to approve a letter to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections regarding the issues that took place at Ritchie Coliseum polling place as described. Councilmember Adams said it is important to address these issues before the General Election. Mayor Wojahn would like to invite Ms. Alexander to meet with the Council before the General Election. Councilmember Mackie added that people in the community need to get involved in the election process. The motion passed 8-0. 22-G-115 Approve the City joining as a signatory on an amicus brief in the case of 303 Creative LLC, et al. v. Aubrey Elenis, et al., Case No. 21-476 (10th Cir.) to oppose an exception to Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act Ms. Ferguson reviewed the case. A motion was made by Councilmember Whitney and seconded by Councilmember Esters to authorize the City to join as a signatory on an amicus brief to be filed in the appeal of 303 Creative LLC, et al. v. Aubrey Elenis, et al., Case No. 21-476 (10th Cir.) and to authorize the Mayor to sign on behalf of the City. Councilmember Whitney said this is consistent with positions we have taken in the past. Councilmember Mackie spoke against the motion. She does not believe this relates to the government of the City and is not a City strategic priority. Councilmember Rigg spoke in support of the motion. This case is from his home state and members of his family have worked on it. He thinks discrimination anywhere impacts equality everywhere. This case is from his home state. Councilmember Esters said we need to be true to who we say we are: if we say we are a diverse community, we need to reflect that in the things we do. Councilmember Mitchell spoke in support of the motion; we are a welcoming City and this may come close to home one day. We need to have one set of standards. Councilmember Kabir drew parallels between this case and the Philadelphia case. He does not think we should take a position either for or against. College Park City Council Minutes August 3, 2022 Page 4 Mayor Wojahn said the issue is discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the goal is to make sure nobody experiences discrimination based on who they are. We have taken a position as a City that we are a welcoming community so it makes sense to support this motion. Roll Call Vote: Yes: Kennedy, Esters, Whitney, Adams, Rigg, Mitchell. No: Kabir, Mackie The motion passed 6-2. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. Follow-up discussion on a City Youth Advisory Committee: Ms. Barber reviewed the history of this item. Best tips from NLC on the most successful Youth Advisory Committees include City funding, staff management, few than 20 members (15-17 ideal), requesting nominations from local schools and community groups and then invite them to apply. Mayor Wojahn said the members must be proactive and identify ways that the City can engage youth. He asked if we should start with our own survey. Councilmember Adams asked if we would require residency on this committee. Ms. Barber recommends that we limit it to City residents. Councilmember Kennedy discussed the challenges we may face in starting this up. Student members are transient and will come and go; we don’t have a high school in our boundaries; school clubs are not currently meeting due to COVID; challenge of organizing the students. Could the University get involved. She supports a survey. Councilmember Esters supports a survey; it is important to gauge the interest in the community. Consider the “What’s in it for me” perspective. Ms. Barber said this will take a commitment of time and resources. She suggests adolescents 14-17 or 15-17. The members need to grasp what is happening in the City and be able to attend Council meetings at times. Councilmember Rigg wanted some examples of how the Greenbelt Youth Advisory Committee could inform public policy. We need to be very clear on what we are asking them to do and might suggest a couple of starter projects. There will be a fair amount of turnover. He questions the amount of response we will get to a survey. Mayor Wojahn said we will need to discuss staff capacity because this committee will require an active staff engagement process. Councilmember Mitchell discussed the students from Florida who attended the NLC Congressional Lobby Day. Councilmember Mackie supports a survey to get the youth involved in getting this off the ground. She mentioned the boy scouts and brownie troops. College Park City Council Minutes August 3, 2022 Page 5 Councilmember Kabir thinks recruitment will be a challenge. Our typical communication methods will not work. We need to use social media. Councilmember Whitney suggested we present various projects and let the committee vote. They can also bring new ideas to the table. Students themselves might be our most effective messengers. We need to emphasize the benefits and the time commitment. Councilmember Adams discussed time commitment and frequency of meetings. Give them a social media moment. Provide opportunities for conference travel. Next steps: consider the survey to identify specific tasks the YAC can take on and to identify interest; 14-17 year old College Park residents or currently in high school; do not recruit through the schools. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Councilmember Adams: Remove “City Match for the County’s Rain Check Rebate Program” from the master list. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Senator Cardin has earmarked $2.5 million for the Community Housing Trust. The search process is underway for the Executive Director. Adjourn: Mitchell/Adams, passed 8-0, 9:16 p.m. _______________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk