Mayor & City Council

MINUTES College Park City Council Meeting Tuesday, March 12, 2024 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. HYBRID In Person in Council Chambers of City Hall Virtual over Zoom PRESENT: Mayor Kabir; Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell (virtual); Councilmembers Hernandez, Hew (virtual), Esters, Whitney, Mackie, and Adams. Councilmember Rigg arrived at 7:45 p.m. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Kenneth Young, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk; Stephanie Anderson, City Attorney; Jatinder Khokhar, Director of Public Services; Jim Miller, Parking Enforcement Manager; Miriam Bader, Director of Planning; Erik Valentine, Community Development Planner; Ryna Quinones, Communications and Events; Michael Williams, Economic Development Manager; Gannon Sprinkle, Deputy Student Liaison. Mayor Kabir opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilmember Hernandez announced the North College Park Civic Association meeting on Thursday. There will be a Ramadan Iftar event at the College Park United Methodist Church this Thursday. Councilmember Esters announced the Lakeland Civic Association meeting. Councilmember Whitney stated that the City of Hyattsville is offering Narcan training and announced the Berwyn neighborhood egghunt. Councilmember Mackie reminded people to check their headlights and taillights and said that Thursday is Pi day. College Park City Council March 12, 2024 Page 2 Councilmember Adams announced the Calvert Hills Civic Association meeting and said a new healthcare facility is opening in the City this week. Mr. Sprinkle commented on last week’s general SGA meeting that was attended by Mayor Kabir and Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mr. Young announced the DCPMA meeting tomorrow, the Lakeland Park Ribbon Cutting, and the State of the City next Tuesday. AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Mackie and seconded by Councilmember Adams to remove 26-G-46 from the agenda. This will come back next week. The motion passed 7-0. A motion was made by Councilmember Mackie and seconded by Councilmember Whitney adopt to agenda as amended. The motion passed 7-0. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ON CONSENT AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS: Robert Catlin, resident: Spoke in support of the City’s letter on 24-G-47 to prevent overdevelopment of the Berwyn Road commercial area. Announced the BDCA meeting will be held in a new location - in the wellness center on Berwyn Road, first building next to trolley trail. Announced an upcoming special edition of the Berwyn News: March 1974 was the first newsletter so this is the 50th anniversary. CONSENT AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Mackie and seconded by Councilmember Whitney to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of the following: 24-G-47 Approval of a letter of support to the County Planning Board and County Council in favor of proposed text and minor map amendments to prevent overdevelopment of the Berwyn Road Commercial area The motion passed 7-0. [Councilmember Rigg joined.] ACTION ITEMS 23-G-189 Follow up on the petition request for permit parking on Gettysburg Lane – Jim Miller, Parking Enforcement Manager College Park City Council March 12, 2024 Page 3 Mr. Miller said the property was issued an infraction on December 3. The tenant did not leave the property on Feb 29. The case is now in the court system. The City may want to consider other measures in the future. Councilmember Mackie thanked staff for their engagement on the matter. Councilmember Hew provided information from another town on how they handle items like these. A motion was made by Councilmember Mackie and seconded by Councilmember Mitchell to suspend action on this matter until further notice to allow time for the central issue to be resolved. Councilmember Mackie explained why this is the recommended motion and that implementation of permit parking would not have the desired outcome. Councilmember Mitchell thanked staff for answering her questions. The motion passed 8-0. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Presentation from Susan Slingluff Hartmann, Executive Director, College Park City University Partnership Ms. Hartmann reviewed the PowerPoint. Discussion: Community Preservation Housing Trust: This is an affordable housing land trust. 5 home purchases so far - 3 in north College Park, 1 Calvert Hills, 1 Berwyn. Mechanics of how the program works, how they conduct outreach to potential home buyers, goals of affordable housing and community stabilization. How to be effective in neighborhoods where the home prices are very high such as Old Town, Lakeland. Homeownership program provides downpayment assistance. 8 years old, provided funding for 83 different home purchases in the City. Budget and staffing: They have 3.5 people with one vacancy. The operating budget is separate from the capital and program budgets. The different funding sources have different obligations and deadlines, with the ARPA deadlines coming first. We will soon receive their FY 25 budget request and which will show how they plan to use the funds. College Park City Council March 12, 2024 Page 4 What about their other priorities such as education, transportation, public safety, sustainability. They will soon launch a new Live-Work CP program which will address housing and sustainability. It’s a 7 year forgivable loan; after 7 years in the home there is no need to repay. Education committee was looking at teacher housing – the Live-Work CP program will help them. Public Health and Safety Committee hasn’t met recently; no current action items. How do they provide notification of their meetings? 3 public meetings per year. April 15, June 17 and November 11. We will add to City Calendar. They want to develop a strategic approach to placemaking, in concert with community organizations, businesses, residents. B. PALS Program Graduate Student Presentation – Visioning Lakeland: Restorative Justice Through Scenario Planning – UMD Graduate Students Dominique Gebru, Mimi Sanford, Asia Jones: Full information available at the links in the staff report. They took a Scenario Planning Approach. Three scenarios: Status Quo, Reform, and Revolutionary scenario. They addressed three themes: Housing and Land Use, Community Infrastructure, and Climate Change adaptation and mitigation. They created a fictional person, Shauna, to personalize and illustrate each scenario in 2033. Review of each scenario. C. Presentation of new City website: Ryna Quinones, Communications and Events Manager: • This is HTML 5 • Can agenda packets be posted in HTML so they can be translated? We will look into that. • Can the walking tours be updated? • Ensure that the website is fully accessible. • Push notifications, splash pages. • Integration with other City website, College Park Life? • Can student liaisons be listed on the website. • Include College Park Connect on the bottom of every page. • Make sure it is evident that the headers are links. • Instead of Report, say Report An Issue Hope to go live very soon. College Park City Council March 12, 2024 Page 5 D. Legislative Review – Discussion of HB1306 – Sales tax on municipal level for food and drink, and CB 007 County Bill – revised elderly tax credit. Do we want to send a letter of support? We will monitor. REQUESTS FOR / STATUS OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Councilmember Adams/Councilmember Mackie: City Charter review of when a special election is needed, passed 8-0. Councilmember Esters/Councilmember Whitney: Discussion about moving forward with the RJC request for a scholarship program, pending receipt of form. Passed 8-0. Councilmember Adams/Councilmember Rigg: Traffic study on Edmonston Road, at intersections. Passed 8-0. COMMENTS: Councilmember Rigg: CHCA events – spring clean up, annual meeting and election of officers. Councilmember Adams: Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell’s leadership at NLC. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell: NLC conference. Councilmember Hernandez: District 1 budget discussion is being planned ADJOURN: A motion was made by Councilmember Adams and seconded by Councilmember Esters to adjourn into a closed session. Mayor Kabir read the closing statement: Pursuant to the statutory authority provided by the General Provisions Art. § 3- 305(b) of the Maryland Annotated Code, the Mayor and Council will meet in a closed session 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; any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. They will not return to open session after the closed session ends. College Park City Council March 12, 2024 Page 6 The motion passed 8-0 and the regular meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk Closed Session March 12, 2024 At the conclusion of the March 12, 2024 Council meeting, a motion was made by Councilmember Adams and seconded by Councilmember Esters to enter into a Closed Session. The possibility of the Closed Session was listed on the public meeting agenda. Mayor Kabir read the closing statement and indicated the Council would not return to open session: Pursuant to the statutory authority provided by the General Provisions Art. § 3-305(b) of the Maryland Annotated Code, the Mayor and Council will meet in a closed session 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; any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. The motion passed 8-0. The Closed Session began at 10:40 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Mayor Kabir, Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell (by Zoom), and Councilmembers Hernandez, Hew (by Zoom, until 11:42 p.m.), Esters, Whitney, Adams, Rigg, and Mackie were present. Mayor Kabir was the designated Open Meetings designee. Also present: City Manager Kenneth A. Young; Assistant City Manager Bill Gardiner; and City Attorney Stephanie Anderson. City Clerk Janeen S Miller attended a portion of the session. Staff provided an update to Council on discussions with certain individuals who are members of appointed bodies over whom the Council has jurisdiction. The Mayor and Council discussed individual appointees. The City Council discussed a personnel matter with the City Manager and City Attorney. No action was taken. A motion was made by Councilmember Rigg and seconded by Councilmember Adams to adjourn the meeting, and with a vote of 7-0, the Closed Session was adjourned at 11:47 p.m.