MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION held
Wednesday, February 4, 1998,
for the purpose of discussing memorial garden concepts
and service recognition for volunteers.

The meeting began at 8:10pm. It was held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Community Center.

PRESENT WERE: Council members Edward V.J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, Alan Turnbull Thomas X. White and Mayor Judith F. Davis.

STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; David E. Moran, City Clerk and Joe McNeal, Community Center Supervisor.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Eileen Peterson, Andrew Nitz, Janet Parker, Kevin Hammet, Booker Hughes, Sheldon Goldberg and Barbara Simon

Memorial Garden Concept

Ms. Peterson began summarizing the history of the development of a memorial garden concept. She noted that the present concept was a garden to all Greenbelters. Ms. Parker indicated that the original task was to find a method of recognizing specific individuals.

Mr. White asked if the Arts Advisory Board had rejected the concept of a recognizing specific individuals. Ms. Simon responded that the Board felt this was an inappropriate thing for the Community Center.

Mr. Roberts believed the Council had moved away from the tree of fame concept. Mr. Putens liked both concepts. He noted that Greenbelt East favored a memorial grove over in Schrom Hills Park.

Mr. Turnbull thought that the city needed to determine what the goal was. He indicated the city might be better served by providing support to the organizations that volunteers helped start.

Ms. Davis indicated that we might need to pursue several ideas. She liked both the garden and the tree concept.

Mr. Hammet liked both ideas. Ms. Peterson suggested that the city consider many ways to memorialize people. Mr. White wanted to return the focus to a method of dealing with the many requests. Mr. Putens still stressed the need for a vehicle to recognize individuals who performed a significant service for the city.

Ms. Simon stated that there was no need for the city to recognize people. She believed it was inappropriate for Greenbelt. Ms. Parker noted that there are people who have done tremendous things for Greenbelt and deserved to be recognized.

Council supported the memorial garden concept and urged the Arts Advisory Board to continue to pursue it. Council also asked the Community Relations Advisory Board to continue to work on developing ideas for honoring specific individuals.

Service Recognition for Volunteers

Mr. Moran provided a brief overview of previous proposals to recognize volunteers. Council asked staff to pursue service pins for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 year increments. The service pins would be presented at the annual appreciation dinner. Council agreed to provide a recognition gift upon retirement for volunteers with more than 5 years of service. The retiring member’s Board or Committee would select the recognition gift. The value of the gift would be based on the $5 per year for each year served. Council wanted to provide recognition gifts for volunteers who had retired since 1990.

Staff was directed to prepare a formal proposal for inclusion in the upcoming budget.

  The meeting was adjourned at 10:15pm.

 Respectfully Submitted,
 David E. Moran
City Clerk

City of Greenbelt, Maryland
City Offices, 25 Crescent Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Phone: 301-474-8000 FAX: 301-441-8248