BUDGET WORK SESSION OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held Wednesday, April 26, 2006, for the purpose of reviewing the Public Safety sections of the proposed FY 2007 budget.

Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. It was held in the Multipurpose Room of the Community Center

PRESENT WERE: Councilmembers Konrad E. Herling, Leta Mach, Edward Putens, Rodney M. Roberts and Mayor Judith F. Davis.

STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; Jeffrey Williams, City Treasurer; Chief Jim Craze, Capts. Mike Craddock, Tom Kemp, and Dan O’Neil, Sgts. Maria Parker, Dave Buerger, Jim Parker, and Carl Schinner, Police Department; David E. Moran, Assistant City Manager; Deirdre Allen and Leslie Nataro, Finance; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Chief Brian Rudy, President Chris Fleshman, Vice President Jay Remenick, and Trustee George Moore, Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad; Laurel Police Chief Dave Crawford; CERT Team Members Bill Holland, coordinator, Leonie Penney, Ken Silberman, and Dave Alexander; Diane Oberg, Greenbelt News Review.

GVFD&RS

Mr. McLaughlin said the Fire Department’s budget request was straightforward, since there was a funding set-aside for equipment for $56,000. Mayor Davis asked about the plan for repaying the $50,000 that had been advanced by the City toward the restoration of the fire truck. Mr. Fleshman and Mr. Remenick said they would prefer to have that taken out of their set-aside rather than having to pay it back separately. It was agreed this would leave the balance at $6,000. [Note: It was subsequently determined by Mr. McLaughlin that the loan had previously been taken out of the account balance, with the result that the available balance for FY 2007 was $56,000.]

Chief Rudy then reviewed a page he distributed giving revised numbers on equipment to be replaced in the future. Mr. Roberts said it appeared the amount of the City set-aside was not keeping up with equipment costs. Mr. McLaughlin confirmed that the set-aside amount had remained fairly flat over the years. The Mayor commented that the county might have to absorb the cost of a new ambulance. There was also discussion of a new county policy whereby ambulances are rotated among stations rather than being kept at the same site. Everyone agreed that this policy appeared to have many disadvantages and no advantages for Greenbelt.

Mayor Davis raised two other pending issues: the new fire station and the resurfacing of the asphalt road at the existing station. She said County Councilmember Doug Peters was working on the issue of the new station. Regarding the roadway, Mr. Fleshman said the county had replaced the apron and would put up $4,000 for the resurfacing. If the City provides the remaining $5,000 needed, they would like to go ahead with the work while NZI is still in town doing City work. The Mayor asked where the money would come from. Mr. McLaughlin replied the City has been doing resurfacing under Capital Projects. He suggested the grant money coming from the governor be placed there and this project be taken out of those funds. Mayor Davis suggested that it be done this year by using the newly recalculated highway user fees for FY 2006. It was agreed to put the latter plan on the consent agenda of the next meeting.

Mayor Davis asked for an updated bingo report. Mr. Remenick said bingo was going very well and that they would provide a report.

In response to a question about what the county supplied, Chief Rudy said they supplied things on the inside building, including plumbing, as well as $12,000 per year toward the operating budget.

The Mayor asked that consideration of increasing the amount of the City set-aside be added to the “wish list.”

CERT Team

Representatives of the CERT team presented a budget request. Mr. Holland said they had received some limited personal equipment from the county but nothing else. The Mayor asked them if they would submit a prioritized list of these items, in case some of the funding could be deferred. Mr. Holland said they would do so; he said unquestionably the trailer is the most needed item.

There was discussion of where the trailer could be stored. Mr. Holland said that the City has access to cheap storage at GHI storage area because of owning the Museum house and that no other City space seemed appropriate at the moment. Security is needed, but the Police Department lot is crowded already, and there are access issues with Public Works. The Mayor suggested, and Mr. McLaughlin concurred, that for the long term, the Public Works lot might be the best choice, once construction of the addition was completed.

The Mayor asked Mr. McLaughlin to add the CERT request to the “wish list.” Mr. Herling said he thought the CERT Team was something that might appeal to local businesses for funding.

Police Department

Chief Craze first noted that, although the Police Department lot looks crowded, they can make room to store the CERT trailer if need be.

The Police Department presented an extensive slide show, and Council then reviewed the budget. The Mayor asked about the rate for closing cases, noting that it is troubling that it has dropped from over 20% to about 10%. She also noted that, unfortunately, Greenbelters are making up a larger proportion of those arrested.

There was discussion of the problems, which are not peculiar to Greenbelt, with recruiting. The Mayor asked about reinstating the cadet program as a recruiting tool. The Chief said he had hoped to fund that from the proposed increase in per capita funding from the state, but in the absence of that, it would cost about $24,000 to do it. It was agreed to add this to the “wish list.” The Police Explorer Program was mentioned as another possibility.

Regarding the funding for the School Resource Officer, the Mayor said County Councilmember Peters had put $80,000 in the Sheriff’s Department budget for this year and next year. She said she had emphasized to him that this needed to become regular funding that did not require a special request every year.

Regarding replacement vehicles, Mayor Davis asked if they could do with fewer than eight this year. Sgt. Parker said they had requested more than that, but the number had already been reduced following discussions with the City Manager.

Sgt. Schinner gave an update on the department’s accreditation activities for CALEA. He invited Council to attend the November 15-18 CALEA conference in Reno where it is hoped that the department will receive its first accreditation.

Mr. Putens left the meeting shortly before it was over.

There were a few questions about miscellaneous matters and a couple of informational announcements.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 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