Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:02 p.m.

ROLL CALL was answered by Councilmembers Edward V. J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, Alan Turnbull, and Mayor Judith F. Davis. Councilmember Thomas X. White was away. Mayor Davis introduced Mohammed Gir, whom she had invited to assist her with the beginning of the meeting.

ALSO PRESENT were Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; Robert A. Manzi, City Solicitor; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

Mayor Davis asked for a moment of silence in memory of Mr. White’s sister, Mary W. Lockman. She then led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

CONSENT AGENDA: Mr. Turnbull moved that the consent agenda be approved as presented. Mr. Putens seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

Council thereby took the following actions:

MINUTES

- Work Session, April 7, 2003

- Regular Meeting, April 14, 2003

- Work Session, April 21, 2003

Approved as presented.

PARK & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD, REPORT #03-04 (BUDGET REVIEW FOR CONTRIBUTION GROUPS): Council received this report and agreed to consider it at the budget work session on April 30, 2003.

SPONSORSHIP OF GREENBELT PINK RIBBON RIDE: Council approved a request from Sylvia Lewis at the last regular meeting to include the City on the list of sponsors for the Greenbelt Pink Ribbon Ride to be held in October.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT INSURANCE TRUST (LGIT) BOARD OF TRUSTEES BALLOT: Council authorized the City Clerk to return the ballot on Council=s behalf with an Aagree@ vote for the recommended candidates.

REAPPOINTMENT TO ADVISORY GROUP: Council reappointed Robert Trumbule to the Advisory Committee on Trees.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Council voted unanimously to approve the agenda.

PRESENTATIONS

MML Essay Contest: Three students from the fourth grade at Springhill Lake Elementary School who entered the “If I Were Mayor, I Would . . .” essay contest sponsored annually by the Maryland Municipal League were invited to attend the meeting. Mohammed Gir was the Prince George’s County winner. He and Donnie Moreland read their essays and were congratulated by Council and given Greenbelt games and t-shirts. The third entrant, Hawa Jalloh, was unable to attend. Mayor Davis recognized the students’ family members who attended, as well as Linda Sherwood, principal of Springhill Lake Elementary School.

Recognition of Police Officers: Several Greenbelt Police Officers were honored. MPO Seung Lee, who was named Greenbelt Police Officer of the Year for 2002 in honor of his actions in stopping an armed felon endangering school children at Braden Field was recognized for subsequently being named Officer of the Year by both the Prince George’s County Chiefs of Police Association and the Maryland Law Enforcement Officer Association. MPO Edward Holland and Officer Gordon Rose were present to receive awards from Chief Craze in recognition of their actions taken during the same incident. Cpl. David Buerger could not be present but was also recognized. In addition, by request of his department, Chief Craze was presented a Silver Star by the City Council in recognition of his role in these events.

Oath of Office for New Greenbelt Police Officers: Chief James Craze introduced three new police officers to Council: Tammy Harris, Kelly Lawson, and Stephen Cohen. Mayor Davis administered the oath of office to the new officers and congratulated them and their families.

Bike-to-Work Day – Proclamation: Mayor Davis read a proclamation declaring May 2 to be Bike-to-Work Day in Greenbelt. Bill Clarke, chair of the Greenbelt Bicycle Coalition, received the proclamation and described local and regional plans for the day’s events.

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2004 BUDGET: Mayor Davis declared the first of the two public hearings on the budget to be open. There being no questions or comments, she closed the public hearing, noting that there were still a number of public work sessions scheduled on the budget. Mr. Roberts in particular encouraged citizens to attend the final budget work session on May 19.

PETITIONS AND REQUESTS: There were none.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Mr. McLaughlin announced that three of the events scheduled for last Saturday were postponed till May 3 because of the heavy rain, including Earth Day, Arbor Day, and the Public Works Open House. The Celebration of Spring at Springhill Lake went on as scheduled, though with somewhat reduced attendance.

Mayor Davis reported on attending the Golden Age Club anniversary luncheon April 16 and the Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Recreation Department on April 19. She spoke at the Hunting Ridge annual meeting on April 23 and attended the 60th Anniversary celebration of the West Lanham Hills Volunteer Fire Department on April 25. She not only presented a proclamation to them but also received a plaque from them in thanks for the efforts of Greenbelt and the Four Cities group to retain the paid county fire personnel in the local fire departments last year. Mayor Davis also announced that April 30 is the deadline for application for Prince George’s County Municipal Association scholarships.

LEGISLATION

An Ordinance to Authorize and Empower the City of Greenbelt, Maryland, to Contract with SunTrust Bank, N.A., to Borrow Not More than One Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($175,000) for the Public Purpose of Acquiring a Telephone system for City Facilities Described Herein Pursuant to the Authority of Section 59, “Contracts Over One Year,” of the City Charter

Mayor Davis read the agenda comments. Mr. Roberts introduced the ordinance for second reading and adoption. Mr. Turnbull seconded the motion. Mr. Roberts asked what the life expectancy of this phone system would be. Stephen Robinson, Director, Information Technology, responded that the company said ten years but that he thought it could last much longer than that unless the City decides it needs additional features that the system cannot accommodate.

ROLL CALL:

Mr. Putens - yes
Mr. Roberts - yes

Mr. Turnbull - yes

Mayor Davis - yes

The ordinance was declared adopted (Ordinance No. 1234, Book No. 11).

REQUEST FROM GVFD FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT FOR RESTORATION OF FIRST FIRE TRUCK: The Mayor read the agenda comments. Lt. Chris Fleshman and Randy Magnum appeared on behalf of the Fire Department. Lt. Fleshman explained that the contract with the vendor would still need to come to the department for a vote of approval. He said although there are other vendors who do this type of restoration, a number of fire departments in this region have been very satisfied with the work of Delmarva. Mr. Magnum added that this is an important piece of the Fire Department’s history, and they want to have the truck restored by their 50th anniversary celebration. Mr. Turnbull asked if there was adequate space for housing of the renovated truck. Lt. Fleshman said that planning for that will need to be addressed as the work progresses. Mr. Mangum described one idea under consideration of attaching a glass garage to the fire house to display the truck. The Mayor commented that there might be a possibility of getting state grant funding for the addition to the building but not for the renovation.

Mr. Roberts made a motion that Council approve advancing $50,000 of funds designated for equipment purchases by the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad for the purpose of restoring the company’s original fire truck, with the understanding that no further funding for new equipment will be drawn down from the City until the $50,000 has been repaid. Mr. Putens seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

REQUEST TO REMOVE BASKETBALL HOOPS FROM WINDSOR GREEN BALL FIELD: The Mayor read the agenda comments and noted that Hank Irving, Director, Recreation, and Lt. Thomas Kemp of the Police Department were both present. Lt. Kemp said patrols of this area had been increased. The Mayor said she had no doubt that drug use and other inappropriate behaviors were a problem at this location, especially since they seem to be occurring in late afternoon and evening when police personnel are already stretched thin. Lt. Kemp said he hoped the situation might improve now that the department is at full staff, particularly if the park rangers can assist. Lt. Kemp made the point that the people causing the problems are as likely to be adults as young people. Of the parked cars, he said some were waiting for youngsters playing baseball and some had out-of-state license plates. He added that from observation it could be told that some of the individuals came from the direction of Chelsea Woods and Brittany Place. “It’s not just one area,” he added.

Mr. Putens encouraged coordination between the Police Department and code enforcement officers on monitoring parking. He also said that there problems on weekends as well as in the evening during the week. Mr. McLaughlin commented that if parking is restricted, there may be complaints to Council and staff from the legitimate users of the ball fields. This provoked some discussion of whether limiting the parking would unfairly restrict residents and users of the fields, but Mr. McLaughlin said he did not think limiting it on one side of Mandan Road near the fields would create any undue hardship. There was further discussion of limiting the time of no parking to the period of 4 p.m. until 8-9 p.m. Mr. Roberts said he had heard there were also problems there later at night. In response to Mr. Turnbull’s question of why City parks are open so late if there is no legitimate purpose for use of the park after a certain hour, Mr. Irving explained that there are always people who want to jog or walk dogs late.

Sheldon Goldberg, chair of the Greenbelt East Advisory Committee (GEAC), said GEAC is still of the opinion that the basketball court is detrimental to the area. He said both Greenbriar and Windsor Green have removed all of their hoops for this reason, and it is because Windsor Green no longer has hoops that the request was made not to refer to the court on Mandan Road as the Windor Green basketball court. Mayor Davis responded that Greenbriar had taken that action only as a last resort and that all other options should be exhausted before removing the hoops in question. She said the majority should not be penalized if the two percent of young people causing the problem can be dealt with. Mr. Putens responded that “those two percent of kids aren’t always kids.” He added that Windsor Green had removed its hoops because of adults drinking alcohol and engaging in inappropriate behavior, not because of any behavior of young people. He assured Mr. Goldberg that this would be “the next to the last straw” and that if these measures did not work, the hoops would be removed. Mr. Roberts said he thought the City needed to accept that simply increasing patrols would not solve the problem and that “it needs a sustained presence.”

It was then moved by Mr. Roberts and seconded by Mr. Turnbull that Council approve the recommendations made by PRAB, with the goal of finding a way to address the concerns while keeping the court open, including the following measures: providing increased presence by police and park rangers, removing low underbrush to give better visibility from Mandan Road, installing “no parking” signs along Mandan Road adjacent to the court to discourage gathering around cars and in the street, installing a sign with a code of conduct, and seeking to establish a neighborhood watch program for the area. It was understood that the efforts would be made on a probationary basis and that if the problems cannot be remedied, the rims will be removed. It was further understood that staff will review the situation with PRAB in June, with PRAB returning a recommendation to Council in July. The motion passed 4-0.

SELECTION OF AUDIT SERVICES FOR FY 2003: Mayor Davis read the agenda comments. It was moved by Mr. Putens and seconded by Mr. Roberts that the City retain Reznick Fedder & Silverman to conduct the FY 2003 audit. the motion passed 4-0.

MEETINGS: Council reviewed the schedule of meetings. Mr. Putens moved, and Mr. Turnbull seconded, that the regular Council meeting that would fall on June 23 be rescheduled for June 30. The motion passed 4-0.

ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Turnbull and seconded by Mr. Putens. The motion carried 4-0. The Mayor adjourned the regular meeting of April 28, 2003, at 9:46 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Gallagher
City Clerk

"I hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct report of the regular meeting of the City Council of Greenbelt, Maryland, held April 28, 2003.@

Judith F. Davis
Mayor

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