BUDGET WORK SESSION OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held Monday, April 7, 2003, for the purpose of reviewing the Public Safety sections of the proposed FY 2004 budget.

Mayor Davis started the meeting at 8:02 p.m. It was held in the Council Room of the Municipal Building.

PRESENT WERE: Council members Edward V.J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, Thomas X. White, and Mayor Judith F. Davis. Mr. Turnbull had said he would be away.

STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; Jeff Williams, City Treasurer; Chief Jim Craze, Lts. Dan O’Neil, Tom Kemp, and Mike Craddock, Sgt. Jim Parker, and Cpl. Maria Parker, Police Department; David Moran, Assistant to the City Manager; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Chief Randy Krob and Lt. Chris Fleshman, Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad; Sheldon Goldberg, Advisory Planning Board; Diane Oberg, Greenbelt News Review; and visitors from Green Hills, Ohio, who taped part of the meeting.

Fire Department

After noting that the Fire Department will need to purchase a new fire truck in three years, Chief Krob described a pending FEMA application for a grant to support thermal-sensing equipment. He told Council the Department was also interested in finding grant funding and sources of donations to refurbish the fire house’s first fire truck, a 1935 Ford, which they are keeping under a tarp at the station. Mr. White suggested that the Greenbelt Museum staff might have suggestions for grant sources for such a purpose.

There was mention of the situation on funding for first-responders under Homeland Security.

Mayor Davis asked about the status of the county-funded career firefighters. Chief Krob said he thought it was likely that the county had heard so much on this issue last year that they would not attempt further changes this year.

Mr. McLaughlin raised the issue of $53,000 in FY 2001 funds that were budgeted but never transferred to the Department. Mr. White said he would like Council to “make it whole” by taking the money from the current Fund Balance. Other Council members indicated their agreement.

Police Department

Chief Craze reviewed the Department’s personnel, activities, and accomplishments for the year, indicating that crime statistics show a downward trend in Greenbelt while they have gone up at the county level.

In response to a question from the Mayor, the Chief said they were proposing to create one more Corporal position to supervise the Canine Unit but that this would not add to the FTEs.

Red-Light Cameras: It was noted that the overall level of citation activity was about the same this year as last. Having ascertained from the Chief that the proposal was to remove the same light that Council decided not to remove last year, at Kenilworth and Cherrywood, Mr. Roberts asked why this light could not be moved elsewhere. The Chief responded that it would not only be very expensive, but engineering studies indicated no other location warranted a red-light camera. Mr. Roberts said he continued to be of the opinion that if the overall system was working and was not losing money, there was no need to remove an individual camera that was not paying for itself. The Chief responded that the camera could be left in and that it was essentially “a business decision.” Mayor Davis asked that Council be given the more detailed figures on the cameras, saying that although she had supported keeping this camera active last year in order to give it more time, she wanted to reevaluate the situation this year. Mr. White disagreed with Mr. Roberts’ position, saying the point was not the revenue but the fact that the activity on the camera was so little as to indicate that it was not needed at that location. Mr. Putens said he agreed with Mr. Roberts. Mayor Davis reiterated that Council should see the breakdown and be able to compare the data examined previously with current data.

Mr. White raised the issue of the service of the Greenbelt police in support of federal activities without reimbursement. Chief Craze said the City is keeping track of these costs in the hope of eventually being reimbursed.

In response to a question about a figure for Special Program Expenses, the Chief explained $10,000 of that was for the accreditation process the Department wishes to begin. He said seeking accreditation was the most important thing the Department was engaged in now. Lt. O’Neil pointed out that, once accredited, the Department would receive a 10% discount on liability insurance, and accreditation would quickly pay for itself in many ways.

Regarding equipment, Chief Craze said the Department is proposing to purchase three 4-wheel drive Blazer-type vehicles as part of the seven police cars to be purchased this year. Using a state bid, the City can now purchase them at the same price as cruisers, whereas before they were $5,000 more than cruisers. He said this year’s snow reinforced the fact that the police need some 4-wheel drive vehicles in their fleet. Mr. McLaughlin said although he had not supported this request last year, he supported it this year, because of the decreased purchase price and because it was proposed to eliminate 4-wheel drive vehicles in other departments. The Chief noted there is an April 22 deadline for getting on the state bid. Ms. Oberg asked if these would be take-home vehicles, and Chief Craze said they would.

Mr. White asked if there had been any further progress on resolving the increased costs of the change to LEOPS. Mr. McLaughlin said this would be a high priority once the state legislative session had adjourned.

Mayor Davis said Council had recently met with the Greenbelt East Advisory Committee, and she had also attended the annual Greenbriar meeting. At both, there were requests for greater police presence in Greenbelt East. The Mayor added that she thought the police were visible in Greenbelt East and did not know how much more could be done to change that perception. Nevertheless, she said residents in Greenbelt East have observed that there is more crime there now and that it is not just break-ins and car thefts but such crimes against persons as armed robberies and car-jackings. She added that Delegate Justin Ross, who now lives in Greenbelt East, had called her to express his concern about the crime statistics for Greenbelt East.

Other Business:

It was announced that word had been received that Congressman Hoyer had responded to the City’s earlier request for a town meeting on the Iraq war and would be here from 4:00-5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 14.

Mayor Davis noted that a lake clean-up was held last Saturday and that beavers have once again taken up residence lakeside.

The meeting ended at 9:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Gallagher
City Clerk

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