City Council

DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SEAT PLEASANT REGULAR WORK SESSION MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2022 6:00P.M. 1. OPENING 1.1 Call to Order Council President McCarthy called the meeting to order at 6:01p.m. 1.2 Roll Call Present: Councilmember Monica Higgs, Councilmember Hope Love, Council President Shireka McCarthy, Mayor Kelly Porter, Councilmember Gerald Raynor, Sr., Councilmember Kizzie Scott (Excused), Councilmember Gloria Sistrunk, Councilmember James Wright Staff: Beverly Barber, Human Resources Manager, Dual Belnavis, Acting Director of Environmental Justice, Beverly Barber, Human Resources Manager, Demetrious Harris, Acting Chief, Dashaun Lanham, City Clerk, Stanley Mosley, Interim City, Kyrthlyn Rhoda, Grants Manager, Lorrie Scarfo, Acting CFO, and Pearl Umoh, Public Engagement Manager 1.3 Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance: Councilmember Higgs gave the invocation. 1.4. Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the Regular Work Session Agenda Motion by Hope Love, second by Gerald Raynor, Sr Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Monica Higgs, Hope Love, Shireka McCarthy, Gerald Raynor Sr, Gloria Sistrunk, James Wright, Jr. 2. PRESENTATIONS 2.1 Small Business Program Presentation-Anne Alston  Ms. Alston stated that she is a fifteen-year resident of Seat Pleasant  Ms. Alston stated that she provides the program to assist small or new businesses to get starter due to lack of confidence and information Page 1 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Ms. Alston stated that SBA reports that 13 billion businesses are started each year but 1/3 fails within the first 1 t0 3 years. They would like to increase the success rate for the businesses.  Ms. Alston stated that they want to increase the confidence of the businesses owner and they would like to have 15 students virtually or in-person. Sponsorship requires the business to participate in the mentorship.  Ms. Alston stated that the proposal is to become a partner with Seat Pleasant, and she has been trying for some time and the program can be tailored to what Seat Pleasant wants to see in the program. The city will be the first to implement the program in Prince George's County and Seat Pleasant residents.  Ms. Alston stated that the proposal timeline is starting in December, registration in January and classes will begin in mid-February through mid- April 2023. The city will be provided with a program report.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that on page 7 it says $4,850 the city will pay for each of the students.  Ms. Alston stated that it will pay for the course book, mentoring, and registration fee.  Councilmember Sistrunk inquired on the ARP Legalization steps?  Ms. Alston stated that she will assist the student with applying for the EIN, etc.  Ms. Sistrunk stated that once the training is complete are they provided with assistance to raise funds to start the business?  Ms. Alston stated that they discuss with the student about building credit and what they can use to build funds.  Mayor Porter inquired of where the business is being housed.  Ms. Alston stated that she held onto her office for nine months in the beginning of COVID, and she lost her assistants as well. 2.2 Blue Line Corridor Discussion-Delegate Jazz Lewis  Delegate Jazz Lewis stated that the Blue Line Corridor has secured $400,000 Million Dollars. They felt that the promises made regarding the stadium did not occur. The money does not go to the stadium but to businesses along the corridor. There are limits on how the money can be spent.  Delegate Lewis stated that the city should be contacting the incoming County Councilwoman Krystal Oriadha for the funding and work with Town of Fairmount Heights and the Town of Capital Heights. The towns need to Page 2 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F form brokerage to allow EDC to work with the towns, and organization such as LISC and Delegate Lewis would like to see Seat Pleasant in the game.  Delegate Lewis stated that the towns need to work together to assist with the growth in the area.  Delegate Lewis stated that the purple line put together a non-profit broker to assist the communities that will be impacted with the purple line. The community development corporation and continuing to engage in WMATA and the tax rate.  Delegate Lewis stated that WMATA wants residential buildings around their bus and metro stops.  Delegate Lewis stated that they want to assist with the Transient Orient Development (TOD) projects.  Delegate Lewis informed of the process for the BOND Bill with shuffle ready projects with cost analysis by contacting anyone on the 24th District Team. You will need to have matching funds for the project.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that the city has a small concern with the tobacco stores opening in Seat Pleasant and want to know if there are any plans with the new delegation coming in to provide a definition of what a convenience store should be.  Delegate Lewis stated that they already brought up legislation to address the concern and it is a disgrace. They had received push back and they are hoping that they have a governor that will work with them. They had presented legislation to regulate the tobacco stores in the same manner as the liquor stores, and they had presented legislation three years in row, and it is some of the senators that are stalling the bill.  Ms. Rhoda inquired on what accounts as a grocery store and would like to know if anything in the legislation that states what cannot be sold?  Delegate Lewis stated that beer and wine is one of the items listed that cannot be sold.  Councilmember Raynor inquired on the bill that was passed regarding the concerns?  Delegate Lewis stated that the bill was a tax credit legislation that provided definition of a grocery store.  Mayor Porter stated that it is matter of the times of operation that puts a strain on our police force.  Mayor Porter stated that the city will meet with the local jurisdiction as mentioned earlier in the presentation.  Ms. Umoh inquired of the different taxes and curfews on what time the items that can be sold? Page 3 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Delegate Lewis stated that on the alcohol there are restrictions but no restrictions on tobacco but bands the selling to certain age.  Councilmember Wright stated that he has been following the Blue Line Corridor and wanted to know if the Federal had committed to make a match to the monies? 3. REPORTS 3.1 Mayor’s Report  Mayor Porter stated that his written report can be viewed on BoardDocs.  Mayor Porter stated that he had submitted recommendations in his report to amend Chapter 30-Personnel Appeals Board. 3.2 City Manager Report  Mr. Mosley stated that his report is included in BoardDocs and there is a lot going on in the city.  Mr. Mosley stated that he agrees with everyone regarding the stores that he intends to visit.  Council President McCarthy inquire on the status of the departmental SOP that he sent two department SOPS that does not include his department.  Council President inquire if there is an update on the sign? No permit has been provided by DPIE.  Council President inquired on the status of the installation of the equipment in Council Chambers?  City Clerk Lanham stated that we are still on target with the delivery of the equipment in late December and the installation date will be scheduled upon 80% of the equipment is received.  Councilmember Higgs inquired of the address of the sign as DPIE does not have the address provided.  Mr. Mosley stated that he will provide the address tomorrow.  Mayor Porter inquired of the cable franchise agreement.  Mr. Mosley stated that he had reviewed and will inquire as what the city needs to do. 3.3. Departmental Reports Human Resources  Mrs. Barber stated that her report is uploaded in BoardDocs.  Mrs. Barber stated that she had completed the payroll duties. Page 4 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Mrs. Barber stated that she would like to present the recommendation to the City Manager and Council updating sone Personnel Rules and Regulation Manual policies as it pertains to Telework and Leave Payout policies. We need to hire a professional company to conduct a compensation study.  Mrs. Barber stated that the defensive driving training for the staff through LGIT.  Mrs. Barber stated that they have the city manager, EJD has four positions posted. City Clerk  City Clerk Lanham stated that her report is uploaded in BoardDocs.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the monthly report is from September 26-October 31, 2022.  City Clerk stated that we had five meetings of the City Council, two committee meetings and one ward meeting. Final Ward II Prayer Breakfast meeting and attended the Ethics Commission Meeting.  City Clerk Lanham stated that she attended training with the University of Delaware for the Master Municipal Certification.  City Clerk Lanham stated that she attended a meeting with Mayor Porter to discuss the revision of the Chapter 30-Personnel Appeals Boards.  City Clerk Lanham stated that she had a meeting with a Business owner in Seat Pleasant regarding his business Personal Property taxes.  City Clerk Lanham stated that she had received two MPIA request and closed out two MPIA request in the month of October.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the meeting minutes will be on the agenda for next week for the month of October.  City Clerk Lanham stated the prepared Resolution for Municipal Government Works month will read tonight.  City Clerk Lanham stated that she had billed eight invoices for Business Personal Property Taxes $500,581.60 and received $134,931.20. EJD/DPW  Mr. Belnavis stated that his report is in BoardDocs.  Mr. Belnavis Waste Management collected four days of recycle per month at 9.31 tons at $27.00 per ton totaling $251.37, Yard Waste was collected four days at 4.46 tons at $25.00 per ton totaling $111.50, and Bulk Trash collected four days at 9.03 tons at $70 per ton totaling $632.10. Page 5 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Mr. Belnavis stated that the Waste Management manager picked up the trash trucks from the Peterbilt for serving.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the division was clear of injury and received very little complaints this month.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the DPW staff had been continuing the fall beautification project throughout Wards 1-5. The department has three new employees. The department continues with the daily cleaning throughout the city.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the department had cleared the boxes from the third floor and secured the items in the EJD department.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the department had painted the doors at the police department and assisting with the bi-weekly food give-away.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she would like to commend the fine work that the staff had done with clearing the third floor.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that watching the department perform the fall clean-up was incredible. Job well done! FINANCE  Ms. Scarfo stated that her report should be in BoardDocs.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she has been working on the past due payments where there will be no overlapping in payments.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she has figured out the concerns with the audits and the reason that a lot of the years that was not closed out, was due to the past dates in NetSuite.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she completed the general ledger and will be meeting with the auditor on Monday.  Ms. Scarfo stated that they are working to ensure that bills are paid in a timely manner. PUBLIC SAFETY  Chief Harris stated that the report can be found in BoardDocs.  Chief Harris stated that the department will be going back to ten-hour shifts.  Chief Harris stated that they are training the officers with mental health awareness and the officers will be doing mental health evaluations. Unfortunately, there were two officer that had taken their lives las week.  Chief Harris stated that the PALS program registration had been shut off due to the program having sixty children. Page 6 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Chief Harris stated that the calls for service increased but they are slowing down on Central Avenue.  Council President McCarthy thanked the department and officer Matthews who stayed on the grill to cook the food donated for Trunk or Treat. PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT  Ms. Umoh stated that she is really excited about the upcoming meeting for Seat Pleasant. She began her work on October 11, 2022.  The residence had requested the newsletter and she would like to highlight the things that had transpired as well as upcoming events.  Ms. Umoh stated that she had the opportunity to attend the Trunk or Treat and the Bicycle Rodeo.  Councilmember Higgs inquired about the Welcome brochure that was done and it was discussed, and the council had discussed it? The previous person in the position had provided the council with some figures and it was going to be done in Spanish as well.  Councilmember Wright stated that he wanted to reiterate the Welcome Packet and to have it completed in Spanish.  Councilmember Love stated that there was a yellow bag put out with the trash information and it was not done in Spanish, and they are putting the wrong cans out. Grants Division-  Ms. Rhoda stated that a virtual Brownfield Station will be hosted on November 16th. They had an onsite meeting two weeks ago and they started on phase II and had taken thirty-two soil samples. They are looking to apply for a site analysis of the surrounding areas of the brownfield development. They have chosen a contractor for Foote Street development. The fence has been replaced at the Fit and Fun Park and the dead trees has been removed.  Council President McCarthy stated that she had received two calls about what will be in the dog park and feature that it will have.  Ms. Rhoda stated that it will be the largest dog park in the county away from kids, and it will be twenty-five hundred square feet, and there may be an issue with the water, and they will get a pipe to allow water to be provided to the dogs. It is slated to be finished by late April 2023. Page 7 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Ms. Rhoda stated that we had a storm water tributary in Goodwin Park, and it has become clogged with sediment, and they met with Chesapeake Bay Storm Water, and they presented the program, and we can get up to $250,000.  Mr. Mosley stated that it rolls into one package with the vehicle storage.  Councilmember Love inquired on who will maintain the grounds when the dog park is up and running. She would like to see the dog park be maintained.  Mr. Mosley stated that the maintaining will be the responsibilities of DPW.  Council President McCarthy requested that the council receives information regarding the Turkey Give-Away without the newsletter. Ms. Rhoda stated that it will be 500 for Thanksgiving and 500 for Christmas. Council Committee Reports 3.6 Finance & Budget Committee-Councilmember Love  Councilmember Love stated that she called for the meeting on 10/31/22 read the attendee list and absentees.  Councilmember Love stated that the discussion on the Fiscal Year 2019/2020 Audit the city is behind in the audits, and she wanted to understand when the audit will be completed. The resolution of the committee stated that the auditing firm had received the balanced general ledger, trial balances, bank reconciliation, leave accrual, retirement statements and meeting minutes for the fiscal year 2019-2020.  Councilmember Sistrunk inquired of the date of the audit? Councilmember Love stated that the date for the audit is from 7/1/19- 6/30/20  Councilmember Love stated that she wanted to thank everyone who attend the Prayer Breakfast and the staff, as it was a success. 3.7 Government Affairs & Technology Committee-Councilmember Raynor  Councilmember Raynor stated that the committee met on 10/26/22 and read the attendee list.  Councilmember Raynor stated that the committee discussed the term limits new section C-623 and sections C-301, C-302 and C-401 to make changes to the language gender neutral.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the committee requested for the City Attorney to attend the next meeting on November 3, 2022. Page 8 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  Councilmember Raynor stated that the committee met on November 3, 2022, with the city attorney presents and the language was provided for C- 301 to distinguish the difference between Ward Council and At-Large.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the committee recommended changes to C- 310 Forfeiture of Office to add the language for missing three committee meetings, and additional language in C-623.  City Clerk Lanham stated that the proposed Charter Amendment Resolution must be re-advertised in accordance with the state law.  Requested for the Council to accept the recommendation from the Committee.  It was requested for the discussion to be scheduled on the Public Session agenda for Monday, November 14, 2022, regarding the committee recommendations. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4.1. Garry Jones- Stated that he wanted to ask delegate Lewis a question tonight and wanted to know what the rules are to allow the guest to speak during the presentation. He requested for someone to review to the rules regarding the citizens being able to speak during the presentation from guest. 5. LEGISLATION 5.1 Resolution R-23-04 Approval of Municipal Government Works Month Motion to approve Resolution R-23-04 Declaration Municipal Government Works Month Motion by Gloria L Sistrunk, second by Gerald Raynor Sr. Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Monica Higgs, Gerald Raynor Sr, Gloria L Sistrunk, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr Abstain: Hope Love 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6.1 None 7. NEW BUSINESS 7.1 Consensus and Team Building Meeting Date The council agreed to table the discussion until Monday, November 14, 2022. 7.2 January Regular Work Session Meeting Date Page 9 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F  The Regular Work Session will be held on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. 7.3 Addison Station Brownfield Update  The city council requested for Mr. Gault to come before the council to discuss the brownfield. 7.4 Approval Small Business Program  Council President McCarthy stated that she like the program, but the optional features should be provided by the students.  Councilmember Higgs stated that she would like to understand the process of the application.  Ms. Rhoda stated that there will be a criterion for the applicants to be considered for the program.  Motion to approve the Small Business program for Five Residents in the amount of $4,825.00.  Motion by Hope Love, second by James Wright Jr. Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Hope Love, Gerald Raynor Sr, Gloria L Sistrunk, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr No: Monica Higgs 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS 8.1 Public Session, Monday, November 14, 2022, by Zoom Webinar at 7:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 8.2 Ward V Breakfast Meeting, Monday, November 28, 2022, Seat Pleasant City Hall, 6301 Addison Rd., Seat Pleasant, MD 20743 RSVP with Councilmember Sistrunk or the City Clerk Office by calling 301-336-2600 8.3 Regular Work Session, Monday, December 5, 2022, by Zoom Webinar at 6:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 9. ADJOURN Page 10 of 11 DocuSign Envelope ID: 3DC4D328-CFEF-481D-AF42-EB865D67133F 9.1 Adjourn-The meeting adjourned at 8:07pm Submitted by, Dashaun N. Lanham, CMC City Clerk Page 11 of 11