Mayor and City Council

CITY OF NEW CARROLLTON MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2022 The Council Workshop Meeting was held at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, as a virtual meeting. Attending were Chairperson Cynthia DB Mills; Councilmembers, Sarah Potter- Robbins, Katrina R. Dodro, and Briana Urbina; Mayor Phelecia Nembhard; City Administrative Officer Latasha Gatling; Assistant City Administrative Officer Michael McMahon; Chief of Police David G. Rice; Director of Public Works Andre Triplett; Information Technology Administrator Andrew Facey; and Administrative Assistant Araceli Guzman. Councilmember Allyne Hooks was absent. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Mills welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order. 2. REPORT OF THE MAYOR AND ADMINISTRATION Mayor Nembhard wished everyone a happy new year and referred to Chief of Police David Rice for his report. Chief Rice began by offering condolences to long-time resident Lloyd Creger, Jr. who recently passed. He then stated that the National Night Out organization has ranked the City’s 2021 event third in its category nationally. Chief Rice then presented the crime statics for December 2021. The Chief then discussed the recent snow storm and stated the Police Department worked closely with public works during the event to clear downed trees, blocked roadways, and various safety hazards that needed to be addressed. City Administrative Officer Gatling was called on to deliver the administration’s report. Ms. Gatling noted that the we continued to work on the ARPA Implementation Plan and are preparing two upcoming public workshops. She also stated a new annexation plan is being developed and will be coming before the Council soon. Ms. Gatling advised that the City will be conducting interviews for some vacant positions; one being the City Clerk. She reported that Andrew Facey is now in charge of the website and will be making some updates. She concluded by reminding everyone that during inclement weather, the City follows the lead of Prince George’s County. When PGC close their offices, the New Carrollton municipal center will be closed. Director of Public Works Triplett provided an update on the Clean Water Partnership’s installation of the foot bridge. The bridge has been completed but it is not open to the public while awaiting final inspections. We are collecting Christmas trees that are placed by the trash. Leaf collection has been halted until next week. He then reported on the recent snow event and thanked the Chief for his assistance. He stated that he and his crews began mobilizing by 1:00 am Monday. With the amount of snow coming down, the salt laid out MINUTES OF COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING JANUARY 5, 2022 2 | PAGE did not take effect. He also stated a lot of trees came down and by 7:00 pm Monday all streets were cleared and passable. Any trees that came down were set a side and will be collected later in the week. There is another storm forecasted for Friday and PW will be ready. Mayor Nembhard concluded by stating she is working on a meeting with our senators and state delegates to see about ways to partner with New Carrollton. She then thanked City staff that assisted with the Christmas food box distribution and all the staff that worked the recent snow event. 3. COUNCIL QUESTIONS/COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Urbina gave an update on her recent experience with the current COVID variant and reminded everyone to take it very seriously. Councilmember Dodro began by thanking PW and PD for all their work during the resent snow event. She commented that no one was answering the phones at PW and asked that during future events someone is there to take calls. She also asked that the City utilize the email listserv to disseminate information to the residents prior to these events. She concluded by asking Mayor Nembhard to be included in the meeting with the senators. Councilmember Potter-Robbins wished everyone a Happy New Year and sends her condolences to Susan Krieger. Chairperson Mills commented that we need more citizen participation in these City Council Workshop meetings. She then asked the Mayor if the Municipal Center is open to the public in which she received an affirmative response from the Mayor. 4. CURRENT RESIDENTIAL PARKING SUGGESTIONS/DISCUSSION/PATH FORWARD Chairperson Mills began by stating this council has not made a decision on how to address the current parking problem. She commented that she received some information from the CAO about Hyattsville’s parking system. Ms. Gatling described Hyattsville’s current computerized parking permit system and stated she will send a link to Hyattsville’s program to the Council. Councilmember Dodro suggested that we request someone from Hyattsville to give a presentation to this Council and also requested that she receive the same information that was sent to Chairperson Mills. A discussion followed. Chairperson Mills concluded the discussion by stating this item will be back on the first meeting in February agenda. MINUTES OF COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING JANUARY 5, 2022 3 | PAGE 5. DISCUSSION OF STANDARD PROCLAMATIONS Chairperson Mills stated that in October a list of all the proclamations that the Council approved in the past was distributed and one proclamation about National School Choice Week was voted down. She stated she did some research on this proclamation and did not understand why it was voted down. Councilmember Urbina stated she did not vote for that proclamation because New Carrollton does not have any charter schools. A discission followed. Mayor Nembhard commented that she can approve and sign proclamations without City Council approval. Councilmember Dodro stated she did not receive that list and would like to see a standardization of how proclamations are approved. Ms. Gatling said she would resend the list. 6. FY22 BUDGET AMENDMENT SUGGESTIONS Chairperson Mills opened by stating she added this to the agenda to gather items that the City Council would like to see in the upcoming budget. Councilmember Urbina would like to use ARPA or City funds to offer retention bonuses to City staff, especially the Police Department, who worked through the pandemic. She also suggested the City conduct a salary study to see if our police officers are earning similar salaries to neighboring municipalities. Councilmember Potter-Robbins would like to increase staff at Public Works. 7. FOUR CITIES COALITION MEETING (JANUARY 27, 2022 – HOSTED VIRTUALLY BY THE CITY OF COLLEGE PARK) AGENDA ITEMS Chairperson Mills stated the upcoming Four Cities Coalition Meeting will be held by College Park and asked if is there anything that you would like to add to that agenda. Councilmember Dodro stated she would like to add residential parking. Councilmember Urbina would like to discuss a Four Cities municipal composting program. 8. CITY OF NEW CARROLLTON FY2023 BUDGET SCHEDULE Chairperson Mills asked the CAO to present a memo about the FY 2023 Budget schedule. Ms. Gatling stated she provided three scenarios and asked for comments. A discussion followed. Councilmembers decided to conduct workshops over four nights with each major section having one night. It was also suggested to conduct a separate meeting on April 18th for the public to provide input. MINUTES OF COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING JANUARY 5, 2022 4 | PAGE 9. MEETING MINUTES a.) Council Workshop Meeting Minutes (December 13, 2021) b.) Council Legislative Meeting Minutes (December 15, 2021) 10. PUBLIC COMMENT - RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS, AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION AND TELEPHONE CALLS Ms. Crystal Garrett commented that Public Works did an excellent job clearing the snow. She then stated we need an emergency system to communicate with the public during these types of emergencies and she hopes the new phone system will help. She asked what event is taking place on January 22nd at the United Baptist Church? Mayor Nembhard stated it is a vaccination event. She then stated something needs to be done about illegal parking in the City. 11. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Potter-Robbins moved to adjourn the Council Workshop Meeting of Wednesday, January 5, 2022, seconded by Ms. Urbina. The motion was approved (4-0-0). The meeting ended at 8:37 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Michael McMahon Assistant City Administrative Officer Adopted by the City Council on ___________________________. Note: The official recording of the City of New Carrollton’s Council Workshop Meeting of Wednesday, January 5, 2022, has been posted to the City of New Carrollton’s website.