REGULAR MEETING OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held May 14, 2007.

Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:06 p.m.

ROLL CALL was answered by Councilmembers Konrad E. Herling, Leta M. Mach, Rodney M. Roberts, and Mayor Judith F. Davis.  Councilmember Edward V. J. Putens arrived shortly thereafter.

ALSO PRESENT were Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; John F. Shay, Jr., City Solicitor; David Moran, Assistant City Manager; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.
 
Mayor Davis asked that everyone observe a moment of silence in memory of resident Diane Ladnier King, former resident and Greenbelt Pioneer Tom Poston, and former resident and former Bowie City Councilmember Bill Aleshire.  She then led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

INTRODUCTIONS: Mayor Davis introduced the following special guests: State Senator Paul Pinsky and Delegates Anne Healey, Tawanna Gaines, and Justin Ross; School Board Members Rosalind Johnson and Donna Hathaway Beck; and Brian Madison and Janella Ward, aides to County Councilmember Ingrid Turner, who was unable to attend because of another meeting.

CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Davis asked to remove the minutes of the work session of May 2, 2007, from the consent agenda.  It was moved by Mr. Putens and seconded by Mr. Herling that the consent agenda be approved as amended.  The motion passed 5-0.

Council thereby took the following actions:

MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS

            - Work Session, April 18, 2007
            - Work Session, April 25, 2007
               Approved as presented.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advisory Planning Board, Report #07-01 (Greenhill/Hillside Roads Outfall Stabilization and Stream Restoration Project): Council received this report and agreed to discuss it on a future agenda.

Park & Recreation Advisory Board, Report #07-1 (Contribution Groups): Council accepted this report, which had been discussed at the budget work session for Contribution Groups.

RESIGNATION FROM ADVISORY GROUP: Council accepted with regret the resignation of Dorothy Bates from the Board of Appeals.

REAPPOINTMENT  TO ADVISORY GROUP: Council appointed Paul Sabol to a new term on the Park & Recreation Advisory Board.

APPOINTMENT TO ADVISORY GROUP: Council appointed Donald Martin to the Board of Appeals.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Mr. Putens and seconded by Mr. Herling that the agenda be approved.  The motion passed 5-0.

PRESENTATIONS

Recognition of ERHS Girls Track Team: The Eleanor Roosevelt High School girls’ track team made sports history at the 2007 Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania.  Under the leadership of Coach Desmond Dunham, the Roosevelt Raiders were the first American girls’ high school track team in the 113-year history of the Penn Relays to win both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay events the same year.  Mayor Davis said this was an exceptional team and the City Council had invited them to the meeting in order to be able to have the opportunity to congratulate them.  The Mayor introduced Assistant Coach, Tim McMahon, who brought the “Penny” award with him.  He introduced Principal Sylvester Conyers and Coach Tia Clemmons. The City Council presented congratulatory letters to the team members, including winning team members Tasha Stanley (Most Valuable Athlete), Doris Anyanwu, Takecia Jameson, Tameka Jameson, Dominique Lockhart, Zuwadi Rowe, Tashema Stephens, and Marika Walker; Abidemi Adenikinju, Afia Charles, and Jacia Montgomery also ran successfully to qualify the 400-meter team for the championship round.  Certificates were also presented on behalf of the County Council.

Advisory Committee on Education (ACE) Student Awards: Mayor Davis introduced Jeffrey Morisette, chair-elect of ACE, who spoke about the programs of the Advisory Committee on Education, as well as the gifts to be presented to the ACE students and the $750 scholarships to be presented to the high school winners.  Dr. Morisette then introduced ACE members Lauretta Baugh, Theresa Bugg, Kathy Lewis, Sudhanshu Sinha, Kilolo Ajanaku, and Paul Sciubba.  He also recognized Wendy Wexler as staff liaison and Leta Mach as Council liaison to ACE. 

            Dr. Morisette called the award winners forward, all of whom but Mohammad Walid were present: 
  
Greenbelt Elementary School:   Iniubong Eno and Brianna McClendon
Springhill Lake Elementary School:        Ian Hayes and Dixianelle Canales
Magnolia Elementary School:    Paul Abedajos and Den’na Jackson
St. Hugh’s School:                    Stephen Cox and Emilia Pedersoli
Greenbelt Middle School:                     Mohammad Walid and Nina Villa
Eleanor Roosevelt High School:            Jihad Ashkar and Leslie Primack

            Delegate Healey also presented a Maryland State Delegate Award to Eleanor Roosevelt High School student Michelle Firmin.

Recognition of Principal Katherine Curl, Greenbelt Elementary School: Mayor Davis first introduced all the principals present.  She then read a congratulatory letter to Principal Curl, who is retiring from ten years of service as principal of Greenbelt Elementary School and nearly 40 years of service as an educator for Prince George’s County.

Public Works Week – Proclamation: Mayor Davis read a proclamation declaring May 20-26 to be Public Works Week.  Public Works Director Kenny Hall accepted the proclamation on behalf of his department.

Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day – Proclamation: May 15 of each year is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and this year’s National Police Week is May 13-19. Mayor Davis read a proclamation and presented it to Lt. David Buerger.

Legislative Wrap-Up – 22nd District Delegation: Senator Pinsky and Delegates Healey, Gaines, and Ross were present to provide an update on the 2007 General Assembly Session.  Senator Pinsky said it had been a quiet session because of the significant deficit being faced.  He said because bills were introduced that recognized problems with little likelihood of funding, there was less debate than usual.  Nonetheless, he cited successes in the funding they had achieved for the renovation of the Old Greenbelt Theatre building, which he described as a result of team work by the delegation, and the passage of the Living Wage Bill and the Clean Cars Bill.  The Inter-County Connector and the Purple Line were problematic.  Delegates Healey and Gaines talked about their new committee roles.  Delegate Healey is the House chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review and a member of the Environmental Matters Committee; Delegate Gaines is chair of the Transportation and the Environment Subcommittee.  Delegate Ross spoke about the implications of the situation with the county hospital system.  For the future, Mr. Putens said the City would like to see rising electric costs addressed.  The Mayor added that predatory lending practices and amending the state pension system to permit the rehiring of retired police officers were also matters the City intended to raise with the delegation.  Mayor Davis presented to the delegation copies of prints of the Old Greenbelt Theatre as a thank-you gift from the City.

PETITIONS AND REQUESTS: Mayor Davis read a letter from Helen Barnes in support of adding the full-time case manager position for the GAIL program to the FY 2008 budget.  She said she had the letter at the public hearing on the budget last week but neglected to read it for the record at the time.

MINUTES OF MEETINGS

Work Session, May 2, 2007: Mayor Davis pointed out a typographical error and corrected an instance where Councilmember Mach, rather than she, had noted that County Councilmember Turner’s aide needed information on the issue of the Greenbelt West task force.  It was moved by Mr. Putens and seconded by Ms. Mach that the minutes be approved with these corrections.  The motion carried 5-0.

Executive Session of April 24, 2007: Mr. Roberts moved that the minutes of the executive session of the City Council held Tuesday, April 24, 2007, be approved as presented.  He further requested that the minutes of this meeting reflect that the Council met in executive session at 8:32 p.m. in the Library of the Municipal Building.  Council held this closed meeting in accordance with Section 10-508 (a)(1) of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Public General Laws of Maryland to discuss a recommendation from the Employee Relations Board on a grievance filed by an employee.  Mr. Putens seconded the motion.

             ROLL CALL:              Mr. Herling        - yes
                                               Ms. Mach          - yes
                                               Mr. Putens        - yes
                                               Mr. Roberts       - yes
                                               Mayor Davis      - yes

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Mr. McLaughlin reported on the It’s Municipal Government competition on May 4.  One of the two teams from Greenbelt Elementary school won.  Mayor Davis extended thanks to Beverly Palau, Public Information and Communications Coordinator, for her work on the event.  Mr. McLaughlin announced that there would be another Shred-It event from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, co-sponsored by the Greenbelt Federal Credit Union and the City.  He also announced that the Police Department is now part of a  network whereby automated phone calls can go out in the area where a child has gone missing.

Mr. Herling said the Green Man Festival over the weekend had been well attended.  The International Cultural Festival committee also met on Saturday.

Mr. Putens commented on the It’s Municipal Government competition, as did Ms. Mach.  Ms. Mach also commented on the Greening Greenbelt session held at Roosevelt Center.

Mayor Davis commented on attending a meeting of the Prince George’s County Police Chiefs’ Association, the Celebration of Spring, the county’s Teacher of the Year event, the Greenbelt Community Foundation breakfast, the It’s Municipal Government competition, Artful Afternoon, Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Goddard Space Flight Center, the Eleanor Roosevelt Awards ceremony, Pet Expo, and the Green Man Festival.  She announced that a 4th grade student at Springhill Lake Elementary School was named a finalist for the MML  “If I Were Mayor” contest and that she had been appointed to the COG Climate Change Steering Committee.

LEGISLATION

An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 12, “Parks and Recreation,” of the Greenbelt City Code for the Purpose of Establishing a Forest Preserve Advisory Board and Updating the Forest Preserve Article 
     
            Mayor Davis read the agenda comments.  Ms. Mach introduced the ordinance for first reading.

FOREST PRESERVE MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES: Mayor Davis read the agenda comments, indicating that the guidelines were being presented for information only tonight and would return for approval at the May 29 meeting.

EASEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST ON THE MOTHER & CHILD STATUE: Mayor Davis read the agenda comments.  It was moved by Mr. Roberts and seconded by Mr. Putens that the Mayor be authorized to sign the agreement, thereby granting an easement to the Maryland Historical Trust on the Mother & Child statue in perpetuity.  Mayor Davis asked Mr. McLaughlin about an earlier request from Council for a report on the lighting on the front of the Community Center.  He said it would be complete within a few weeks.  When the vote was taken, the motion carried 5-0.

NEW DEAL CAFÉ – EXTENSION TO PATIO OF LICENSE TO SERVE ALCOHOL:  The Mayor read the agenda comments.  Peter May, president, and David Ziegler, secretary, of the New Deal Café board were present.  The Mayor said that she believed that there was a consensus coming out of the work session on May 2 that if the Café applied to the Liquor Board to grant an extension of their license to serve alcohol to their existing outdoor eating area, the City Council would want to have an agreement with the Café to include conditions.

            Mr. May said the Café has been exceptional in having no violations whatsoever of its license.  He said they believe this change can be very positive if handled responsibly.  He said customers already assume that it is acceptable to have alcohol on the patio with their food and that permitting it would allow them to handle it properly.  He said the board of the Café had agreed to establishing an agreement with the City, since they would prefer to have the Council’s approval.  He said that if the Liquor Board gives its approval, the Café will delay implementation of the change until the agreement has been executed.

            Mr. Putens moved that Council support the request, since he thought it would be more logical to ask for conditions with a position of support rather than taking no position.  Ms. Mach seconded his motion.  Mr. Roberts said he would not vote to support the request but would be willing to support taking no position.  He said he did not want to see drinking in the Center, since there is already too much illegal drinking there, and this would make it that much harder to enforce.  Mayor Davis agreed and said she would not vote to support either.

            Mr. Shay said he and Mr. Manzi had discussed the matter and were in agreement that the City should convey any basic conditions to the Liquor Board, since if the Liquor Board chooses to adopt them, it will be easier for the City to enforce them.

            The four conditions stated by Councilmembers were: beer and wine must be served in glasses; they must be served by wait-staff, not carried to the patio by patrons; there must be adequate oversight of the area by Café staff; and plans for the delineation of the restricted outdoor area must be approved by the City Council.  Mr. Herling asked Mr. Shay if there would be any problem asking the Liquor Board to condition an approval if Council voted to take no position.  Mr. Shay said there would not be.  The vote was taken on the original motion to support the application, and it carried 3-2 (Davis, Roberts).

MEETINGS: Council reviewed the meeting schedule.  The Mayor asked to add to the list of meetings to be scheduled stakeholder meetings with AIMCO, BARC, Capital Office Park, the Roosevelt Center Merchants, and the Park & Planning Commission.  She also asked to resume efforts to schedule the stakeholder meeting with the School Board.

ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Ms. Mach and seconded by Mr. Putens.  The motion carried 5-0.  The Mayor adjourned the regular meeting of May 14, 2007, at 10:48 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Gallagher
City Clerk

"I hereby the certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct report of the regular meeting of the City Council of Greenbelt, Maryland, held May 14, 2007.

Judith F. Davis
Mayor

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