WORK SESSION OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held Wednesday, June 21, 2006, for the purpose of holding a stakeholder meeting with the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) Board.

 Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. It was held in the Board Room at the GHI Offices.

 PRESENT WERE: Councilmembers Konrad E. Herling, Edward V. J. Putens, Rodney M. Roberts, and Mayor Judith F. Davis. Councilmember Leta Mach was out of town.

 STAFF PRESENT WERE: Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

 ALSO PRESENT WERE: GHI Board Members Julia Eichhorst, Dorothy Lauber, Sylvia Lewis, Don Hudson, Sheila Alpers, and David Morse; GHI Audit Committee members Diane Wilkerson and Marat Moore; Gretchen Overdurff, General Manager; residents Patricia Novinski, Suzette Agans, Ed James, Doug Love, and Bill Orleans; and Mary Moien, Greenbelt News Review.

 GHI’s “Greening Greenbelt” Initiative: Ms. Eichhorst and Ms. Overdurff described the partnership that is evolving between GHI and the Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) that will serve each group’s purposes. The AIA has identified Greenbelt, particularly GHI, for a project to provide a focus for their 150 th anniversary. At the same time, GHI has been considering developing a Green Ribbon Task Force to create a vision of how the cooperative should look at its 100 th birthday. Ms. Overdurff said the AIA project would be a three-year one, with a report to be produced in 2007 and an event in 2008 to reveal the plan. Mr. Hudson is the GHI Board liaison to the “Greening Greenbelt” project. He said that Carl Elefante, who has been working with the board on behalf of AIA, is an expert in turning older, historic structures into environmentally sound buildings and that this is the perspective with which they will look at GHI and the community. It was stressed that the interest is primarily in GHI and that the contract will be between GHI and the AIA. Ms. Lewis said they understand, however, that GHI is not an island, with the result that many other entities and neighborhoods, as well as the City itself, would be brought in as stakeholders. Mr. Hudson said they wanted the City’s participation and support.

 Mayor Davis said the City Council had budgeted $2,500 to begin a long-delayed process of visioning for the City this year and that it sounded as though participating in this initiative might serve the City’s purpose as well. Mr. Herling encouraged looking at transportation as part of the project.

 Ms. Lewis asked about meeting with Mr. Christacos, since Roosevelt Center is critical to the GHI community. There was discussion about the ownership of the various buildings that make up the Center and about the great importance of the preservation and vitality of the Center to GHI and to the “Greening Greenbelt” project.

 Mr. McLaughlin said he would see that there continued to be a staff liaison from the Planning Department on the project.

 Historic District Status: Mayor Davis said that residents ask her why there has been no action on historic district status. Ms. Eichhorst said the board thinks that issue needs to be suspended until the AIA project and plan are complete. In addition, there has been turnover in membership of about one-third since the vote was taken on seeking historic district status, with the result that extensive education would have to be undertaken, as well as possibly a new membership vote. Ms. Lewis agreed, saying the plan had changed since the membership voted on it. In response to a question about the exclusion of some City property from the plan, Mr. McLaughlin said the City thought there was a contradiction between its seeking greater planning and zoning authority, on the one hand, and potentially turning additional authority over to the County Planning Board on the other.

 19 Court Ridge: There was considerable discussion of the lack of visibility for cars coming out of the court onto Ridge Road. Since some improvement had already been obtained by trimming the hedge on the corner, Ms. Overdurff said they would pursue additional trimming as a remedy first; if that does not work, she will contact Mr. McLaughlin regarding consideration of placing a sign or removing a parking place.

 Shooting of Guns on North End: Ms. Alpers said residents at the north end sometimes hear gun shots that seem to be very loud and very close, but they claim not to be able to get the police to look into the problem. The Mayor said there were a number of possibilities, including the City’s and the Secret Service’s shooting ranges and the allowance by BARC and Goddard of deer hunting on their property. Councilmembers and Mr. McLaughlin encouraged residents to call the police nonetheless if they are concerned, and agreed there should be a better response on this from dispatchers.

 New Post Office: Ms. Lewis said she was very impressed with the new facility, but she cited problems crossing Greenbelt Road at Hanover to get to it since right-turning traffic will not yield right-of-way. Mr. Morse suggested a controlled right-turn light so there is a time of clear right-of-way for pedestrians. He added that, in general, pedestrian access to Greenway Center from Southway is very bad. There was discussion of improvements that had been made and others still being sought from the State Highway Administration.

 The Mayor thanked the Board and Ms. Overdurff for sending the board agendas and the membership’s newsletter.

 Ms. Eichhorst thanked the City Council and City staff for their ongoing helpfulness.

 The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 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