City Council

DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SEAT PLEASANT REGULAR WORK SESSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2022 6:00P.M. 1. OPENING 1.1 Call to Order Council President McCarthy called the meeting to order at 6:03p.m. 1.2 Roll Call Present: Councilmember Monica Higgs, Councilmember Hope Love, Council President Shireka McCarthy, Mayor Kelly Porter, Councilmember Gerald Raynor, Sr.(Excused), Councilmember Kizzie Scott, 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 Gloria L Sistrunk , second by Hope Love Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Monica Higgs, Hope Love, Shireka McCarthy, Gerald Raynor Sr, Gloria Sistrunk, James Wright, Jr. 2. PRESENTATIONS 2.1 None 3. REPORTS 3.1 Mayor’s Report  Mayor Porter stated that he met with Council President McCarthy to discuss his plans for his administration. Page 1 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Mayor Porter stated that he will be meeting with each of the councilmembers individually.  Mayor Porter stated that he attended all the council meetings in the month of November.  Mayor Porter stated that he attended the funeral services for Sheriff High, the NLC Conference, the rededication of the Peace Cross, and attend a meeting with Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.  Mayor Porter stated that he attended the Peaceful Protest on November 14, 2022.  Mayor Porter stated that he had submitted recommendations in his report to amend Chapter 30-Personnel Appeals Board in October.  Mayor Porter stated that he would like to collaborate with the council to propose legislation for the type of businesses that can come into the city. 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 his report provides on-going issues in the city.  Mr. Mosley inquired if the city council had received the e-mail on the national opioid settlement. He will provide the council with the e-mail to show the amount of money the city will receive.  Mr. Mosley stated that the Storm Water drains will be inspected throughout the city.  Councilmember Sistrunk inquired about the opioid settlement that the city will receive if is for the city, or to be provided to individuals.  Councilmember Sistrunk inquired if the city had filed suit on behalf of the city or for individuals. 3.3. Departmental Reports City Clerk:  Ms. Lanham stated for the month of November, the city had eight meetings, three ward meetings, and one event the Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, November 5, 2022.  Ms. Lanham stated that she attended a meeting with Ms. Rhoda at the Prince George’s County Economic Development Council to create a corporative across the municipalities regarding Economic Development. The municipalities requested support for displacement. Page 2 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Ms. Lanham stated that she prepared fifteen pieces of legislation and three are on the meeting for tonight.  Ms. Lanham stated that she attended the MML Board Retreat in Baltimore.  Ms. Lanham stated that she checked the city council into their flights for the NLC Conference.  Ms. Lanham stated that the city had received three Public Information Act Request, and two were closed.  Ms. Lanham stated she mailed thirteen business Personal Property taxes invoices for the month of November, and the city received $408,357.90.  Ms. Lanham stated that she had received an update from the vendor, and they had received the bulk of the items, and some are still on delay until March, 2023, and they changed some of the equipment to provide an earlier delivery date.  Council President McCarthy inquired if the delay would change the city timeline for in-person meetings.  Mrs. Lanham stated that it will as her intentions were to have the in- person meeting in March. However, with delay of the equipment, it will be later, and she will provide an update in January, 2023. Grants Division  Ms. Rhoda stated that her report is uploaded in BoardDocs.  Ms. Rhoda stated that Mr. Gault will not be able to attend the meeting but he will be in attendance in the January meeting.  Ms. Rhoda stated that in the third bullet in the report addresses the concerns of the city’s economic development, and the council can decide if they do not agree with the presentation, and provide information from the Master Plan.  Ms. Rhoda stated that the Park renovations are moving along with the trees being cleared out.  Ms. Rhoda stated that she attended the Government Grant Conference, and she met a woman he deals with returning citizenship.  Ms. Rhoda stated that she had mentioned to Council President McCarthy and they are currently brainstorming.  Councilmember Wright inquired about the new house of representative, and if would impact the money that comes to municipalities. Page 3 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Ms. Rhoda stated that it possibly could impact, but it is a lot of big pot grants for funding such as ARP, and the pots of money is billions of dollars.  Mayor Porter stated that money for seniors, and President Biden had increased the money for seniors.  Mayor Porter stated that it does not come through the Grants Division, but she may receive telephone calls.  Mayor Porter stated that the city needs to provide the information to the seniors so that they can contact the proper departments.  Mayor Porter inquired of the contractor for the grants, and if her contract was extended.  Ms. Rhoda stated that Monarch Butterfly is still working with the city. Human Resources  Mrs. Barber stated that department processed payroll and turned it over to the finance department.  Ms. Barber stated that she has completed twenty-two employment verification.  Ms. Barber stated that the city has had some issues with Paylocity, which is the health insurance payment cards for the employees.  Ms. Barber stated that she had assisted with ordering laptops for the employees.  Ms. Barber stated that she has been reviewing the resumes for the vacant positions in the police department, Public Works, Administration and Staff Assistant.  Ms. Barber stated that she had addressed four fraudulent unemployment claims.  Council President McCarthy inquired of where the position is being advertised.  Ms. Barber stated that the announcement are posted on indeed, and MML.  Council President McCarthy stated that she is requesting for the Chief of Police position to be advertised in accordance to the policies. PUBLIC SAFETY  Chief Harris stated that the report can be found in BoardDocs.  Chief Harris stated that he wanted to highlight a few things in the department. Page 4 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Chief Harris stated that the police department manages the data plan, and they were able to save the city over $5,000 and they will be transferring the devices in accordance to the e-mails.  Chief Harris stated that he is aware of the access control, and the keys are still on backorder.  Chief Harris stated that he has been reviewing the data as it pertains to Smart City, and the complaints or concerns regarding the council annexing Central Avenue.  Chief Harris stated that they have seen 60% reduction of accidents on Central Avenue.  Chief Harris stated that they are thankful for the food give-away through ARPA Funding.  Chief Harris stated that the department will have Santa with Badge this month.  Chief Harris stated that the PAL Christmas Party will be coming up this month. Officer Miller will send an e-mail to the council to attend the event.  Chief Harris stated that they processed over 17,000 speed camera and 9,000 red light camera violations.  Chief Harris stated that the department has been losing officers due to offers being made from other municipalities. He will be meeting with Mr. Mosley to discuss the retention of officers. We will be receiving four resignations at the end of the week. He would like to meet with the Human Resources department, and look forward to meeting with the Public Safety department in the coming weeks.  Mayor Porter inquired of the additional electronic signage.  Chief Harris stated that they had received two or three additional message boards that can be used throughout the wards, and messages regarding the meeting. He will be meeting with the City Manager and Mr. Dual to deploy the signs. They will set-up a training to show everyone how to program them if needed.  Mr. Belnavis stated that he has a concern with cameras in the EJD parking area.  Chief Harris stated that they can meet with the city manager, create a plan to have it in place for next year, if the budget does not support it for this year.  Ms. Umoh inquired if the volunteers for the upcoming programs, and if it need to be advertised. Page 5 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Chief Harris stated that they are looking for employees to volunteer, as some of their programs deal with children, and it requires a background check.  Mr. Mosley stated that the cameras at City Hall and EJD are in place, and they need to contact the vendor to see why the cameras are not operable.  Mr. Belnavis stated that he was concerned with the parking lot where the EJD vehicles are parked does not have surveillance. FINANCE  Ms. Scarfo stated that her report should be in BoardDocs.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she has been working on the audit and she hopes to have it completed in January.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she had sent an updated general ledger and trial balance to the auditor.  Ms. Scarfo stated that they had processed the payments for vendors.  Ms. Scarfo stated that billing system does not split the payments across, as it will show the full amount across each department.  Ms. Scarfo stated that the Accounting Manager has been assisting her with billing system and contacting the personnel in the tax offices.  Ms. Scarfo stated that she has been shifting the balance to ensure that they will not run into the problem in the future. PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT  Ms. Umoh stated that the My Seat Pleasant App has been having issues and the vendor is difficult to contact. She have a meeting scheduled, and the city has paid for the app until January 2023.  Ms. Umoh stated that she is seeking a refund for the time that the app was inactive.  Ms. Umoh stated that she had completed the training for the website, and she likes the newsflash feature. We can use for upcoming events, and any event that requires for individuals sign-up.  Ms. Umoh stated that they had a Seat Pleasant Day meeting to discuss the expectations, and she met with Mayor Porter. They had discussed what things will look like as far as logistic.  Ms. Umoh stated that with the timeline now, and the events should be planned eight months to one year in advance. We want the event to impactful for the community. Page 6 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Ms. Umoh stated that she suggested that May 6, 2023 should be used for the Grand Open and Ribbon Cutting for Goodwin Park, and the city host a back to school community day in August. This will allow the opportunity to gage more resources.  Council President McCarthy stated that the business concern with moving Seat Pleasant Day to August will require two Seat Pleasant Day’s in the same budget cycle.  Council President McCarthy stated that the budget cannot sustain two Seat Pleasant Days.  Ms. Barber stated that she had a few questions regarding the department budget for Seat Pleasant, and we assigned duties to each department, and we need to be cognizant of COVID, and we may want engage in this slowly.  Councilmember Love inquired of the money allocated for Seat Pleasant Day, and with the Omicron outbreak, we may want to slow it down.  Council President McCarthy stated that we have Seat Pleasant Day in May because it is a celebration of the city’s charter.  Councilmember Wright stated that he feels that we should have a Seat Pleasant Day.  Mr. Mosley inquired if any money from the ARP has been allocated to opening the park, as he would like to see Seat Pleasant Day, and we need to verify if any money had been spent from the budget. If there is money allocated, we can move forward with the celebration.  Council President McCarthy stated that the council had allocated $50,000 for Seat Pleasant Day.  Ms. Umoh inquired of the meaning of two Seat Pleasant Days in the same fiscal year.  Council President McCarthy stated that August and May are in the next fiscal year, and the budget cannot sustain two events.  Council President McCarthy stated that it will need to be scaled back for health and safety of the community and the city’s budget.  Ms. Umoh stated she very big on executing things in a certain way, and she feels that we can do the ribbon cutting in May, and this can be exciting for the people to see.  Councilmember Love inquired if any pricing has been done for the event, as the prices today are not the same prices as in 2019. Also, the concerns with COVID. Page 7 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Councilmember Love stated that what will be done with the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.  Ms. Umoh stated that the Ribbon Cutting will not be a grand event.  Ms. Umoh stated that Seat Pleasant Day is a grand event, and she would like to have enough time to plan the event.  Ms. Umoh stated that she had done research and we will need to do it on the smaller scale, as it does not have to be a grandiose event.  Councilmember Love stated that she feels that we need to slow down and discuss it with the council.  Council President McCarthy requested for Ms. Umoh to prepare a budget, and the residents are the targeted audience for Seat Pleasant Day. If the budget can be done for the next meeting or in January.  Ms. Umoh stated that she will have the budget completed by the end of the week for next week.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she agrees with the Council President as far as the budget. We will not have a parade, and we should combine the Community Day and opening up the park as one event. It is hard enough to get people to come out for events. The council need to see the budget for the event. Seat Pleasant Day has been the first weekend in May since the inception. She recommends checking into the surrounding municipalities as to when their community days are held.  Mayor Porter stated that there are free sources we can obtain from Park and Planning and we had received donations from the County Council from the Constituency Fund. We have an appropriate budget and it can be scaled down.  Ms. Umoh stated that she understands about the date, and we will need to scale the event down and the department had decreased in size. She does not have the institutional knowledge in what Seat Pleasant looked like in the past. The manpower is a big aspect of the event, and the manpower of public engagement is not what it used to be. We need to have realistic expectation of what the event should be. She will work on the budget as she had been collecting the cost and researching with other municipalities.  Council President McCarthy stated that the parade is free and she feels that it could be done as the city has it budgeted.  Mr. Belnavis inquired about the overtime.  Ms. Rhoda stated that ARP has allocated funds for Event Overtime. EJD/DPW Page 8 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Mr. Belnavis provided the numbers for the trash collection for the month.  Mr. Belnavis stated that DPW cleared out the area in EJD to make room for the boom container and the cobalter was successfully prepared and delivered to the police station.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the department received three snow blowers with the option to purchase.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the leaf machine was sent to be serviced.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the truck number 5225 was taken for repairs.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the climate container has been loaded with the electronic equipment, and the electric will be connected to the container.  Mayor Porter inquired on the salt to take care of the streets in the event of weather emergencies.  Mr. Belnavis stated that the salt has been ordered and should be delivered sometime next week and they will be connecting the snow plow to the front of the trucks to ensure that operate with ease. They have applied oil to ensure they operate accordingly. Council Committee Reports 3.5 Economic, Planning, Development & Housing Committee-Councilmember Wright  Councilmember Wright stated that he will be scheduling a meting with the committee soon. 3.8 Human Services, Health, and Education Committee-Councilmember Sistrunk  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that the Human Services Health and Education Committee reports are in BoardDocs.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated the committee met on November 9, 2022 to determine two issue, a letter for the Patriot Center and they had partnered with Seat Pleasant Elementary School to work with Delegate Alston to sponsor a trip for the 5th Graders to be taken to Annapolis for a day.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that they met with the Principal Early and her secretary on November 21, 2022 and the information was provided regarding the finger printing by the school board and they will need fifteen chaperone for sixty children. Page 9 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5  Councilmember Sistrunk stated the committee met on November 29, 2022 to develop a budget to make the trip happened of $4500 to cover the cost for the two buses and a caterer to provide food, and the buses and caterers are required to be approved by the School and delegation.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that the City Clerk had prepared the sponsorship letter and forms. The trip will be scheduled for the first week in February.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she is requesting for each of the councilmembers to donate funds and she will send the form to the council or have the city clerk submit the form to the council. The name of the event is the 5th Grade General Assembly Field Trip. Please contact Councilmember Sistrunk directly with any questions. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4.1. Garry Jones stated that he would like to support the event for the children. He will check his calendar to see if he can be a chaperone.  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that the trip will be between February 6-13, 2023. 5. LEGISLATION 5.1 Ordinance O-23-03 Cable Franchise Agreement 1st Reading  Ordinance O-23-03 Cable Franchise Agreement was introduced by the City Council and read by the City Clerk on Monday, December 12, 2022. 5.2 Ordinance O-23-04 Amendment Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget 1st Reading  Ordinance O-23-04 Amendment of Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget was introduced by the City Council and read by the City Clerk on Monday, December 12, 2022. and rea 5.3 Resolution R-23-05 Appointment of City Manager for the City of Seat Pleasant  Motion to Approve Resolution R-23-05 Appointment of a City Manager for Seat Pleasant Motion by Gloria L Sistrunk, second by Hope Love. Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Monica Higgs, Hope Love, Gloria L Sistrunk, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr Abstain: Kizzie Scott 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Page 10 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5 6.1 None 7. NEW BUSINESS 7.1 Elected Official Professional Development Budget  Council President McCarthy stated that the funding to increase the Professional Development Budget to be increased for the Mayor and Councilmember Wright to ensure the professional development for the mayor and councilmember to be deducted from the salaries of the mayor and the administrative contingency. 7.2 Letter of Support for The Patriot Training Center  Councilmember Sistrunk stated that Thurman Jones, founder, and CEO of the Patriot Center has provided STEM training and education for children for the past twenty-five years. The Bank of America Building is up for sell and Mr. Jones has requested a letter of support to be provided by the city that he has operated a business for over twenty five years, and a resident for over twenty years to seek grant funding. The letter is required to be on city letterhead for the letter of support. The building will be operated for the patriot center and providing training for senior centers.  Mayor Porter stated that he agrees with moving forward with the letter of support.  Councilmember Love inquired of the business that is requesting the letter of support.  The City Council was in support of the letter of support to be provided by Mayor Porter. 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS 8.1 Public Session, Monday, December 12, 2022, by Zoom Webinar at 7:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 8.2 7th Annual Christmas Light Contest Judging from December 18-21, 2022 from 6:00pm-8:00pm Winners announced on December 22, 2022 6:00p.m. Council President McCarthy stated that she needs help judging the houses and there is a form that is used to judge. Mayor Porter stated that he will assist with the judging Councilmember Sistrunk stated that she will be a judge Councilmember Higgs inquired of the flyer being translated in Spanish so that residents can participates. Page 11 of 12 DocuSign Envelope ID: 4973B56D-49D0-4A76-A6B4-C3B8968C99E5 8.3 Regular Work Session, Tuesday, January 3, 2023, by Zoom Webinar at 6:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 8.4 Charter Amendment Public Hearing, Tuesday, January 3, 2023, by Zoom Webinar at 7:30pm, Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD. 8.5 Public Session, Monday, January 9, 2023, by Zoom Webinar at 7:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 9. ADJOURN 9.1 Adjourn-The meeting adjourned at 8:25pm Submitted by, Dashaun N. Lanham, CMC City Clerk Page 12 of 12