REGULAR MEETING OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held January 28, 2008.

Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:03 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 soon thereafter.

ALSO PRESENT were Michael P. McLaughlin, City Manager; John F. Shay, Jr., City Solicitor; David E. Moran, Assistant City Manager; and Kathleen Gallagher, City Clerk.

Mayor Davis asked for a moment of silence in memory of resident Harry Shaw and former residents Mary Laurita Pranger and Mary Elizabeth Sullivan. She then led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

CONSENT AGENDA : It was moved by Ms. Mach and seconded by Mr. Herling that the consent agenda be approved as amended. The motion passed 4-0.

Council thereby took the following actions:

MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS

- Regular Meeting, January 14, 2008
- Interview, January 23, 2008

Approved as presented.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA : Mayor Davis asked to add to the agenda as item #15 “State Legislation – H.B. 74 – Maryland Housing Rehabilitation Program, Loans to Members of Cooperative Housing Corporations” and to special-order this item following #11. She then moved, with a second from Ms. Mach, that the agenda be approved as amended. The motion passed 5-0.

PRESENTATIONS : None.

PETITIONS AND REQUESTS

Darlene Portney, 110 Rosewood Drive, spoke to say that her house backs onto Crescent Road and that the removal by her contractor of four trees on City property was the result of a misunderstanding and had not been intentional. She said she had maintained that strip of land since owning her house and had thought she was abiding by the City Code in removing two dead cherry trees and two pine trees that she and the contractor believed to be leaning in a dangerous fashion. She said she would not have done this had she realized it was City property. She said she was appearing tonight 1) to request that she be allowed to remove the stumps or that the City do so, since there had been a stop-work order and these now presented a hazard, and 2) to ask that the City reassess its fine against Ed’s Tree Service. The Mayor pointed out that the fence lines of her neighbors’ houses should have indicated to her where her property ended. She also said that the City had evaluated the trees in the past and found them healthy. She said the fact that the trees are leaning does not make them unhealthy and that pines of that vintage may come down in the snow whether they are leaning or not. Alice Fernandes, representing the contractor, also appeared and apologized, saying they have many clients in Greenbelt and have never had any infractions from the City previously. She said they had offered to provide some services in lieu of part of the fine but that they were not really equipped or qualified to plant trees. She said she had signed separate contracts to undertake the service and to pay the fine but subsequently had received verbal agreement from James Sterling, Assistant Director, Community Development, that when the fine was paid, he would void the contract for service. She asked if she could have a written commitment that the service contract would be voided upon full payment. Mr. McLaughlin said he would provide the requested commitment in writing, if acceptable to Council, and that the City would assume responsibility for removing the stumps. There was consensus that this plan would be acceptable.

Mary Anne Scott, president of the Charlestowne North Tenants Association, said she had spoken with Don Stocks of Realty Management on December 21 and told him that some tenants but not all had received letters regarding changed terms. Mr. Stocks told her that he would deal individually with the others, but she said that had not been the understanding. After further discussion, it was agreed to direct Mr. McLaughlin to send a letter to Realty Management objecting to their refusal to meet with the Tenants Association and indicating that they were supposed to present a multi-year plan to County Councilmember Turner and to the City Council before sending letters to the tenants. Mr. McLaughlin said that prior to doing so, he would like to check with Ms. Turner to be sure it would not conflict with anything she was already planning to do. It was noted that her office was already attempting to set up another meeting with Realty Management, possibly for February 4 or 6. Mr. Putens asked that this meeting be no earlier than 6:00 p.m. to enable attendance by residents and Councilmembers who are otherwise engaged during the day. He also asked Mr. Shay to look into rent control legislation.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

Mr. McLaughlin said the second Community Visioning session had been held Saturday at the Municipal Building and that the third and last session would be held on February 2 from 9 a.m. to noon in the Multipurpose Room of Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Ms. Mach said the comment had been made that Saturday morning was a difficult time for parents who have children with Saturday activities, and she suggested there be an opportunity for on-line comment.

Ms. Mach said she, Mr. Herling, and Mayor Davis had attended John Sisson’s Eagle Scout event. She also announced that the COG Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee had completed a draft plan, which is open for public comment and is available on the COG Web site.

Mr. Herling thanked everyone for their help and good wishes during his recuperation.

Mayor Davis asked Mr. McLaughlin to look into purchasing windpower and carbon offsets as a way of reducing utility costs. She suggested Coop America as a source of information. Mr. Roberts remarked that there had just been an article in the Washington Post that suggested that carbon offsets were sometimes problematic.

Mayor Davis also announced that COG’s Climate Change Steering Committee would recommend participation in the Cool Capital Challenge but that this had no impact on participating in the Cool Cities program. She said she had attended a Maryland Municipal League meeting at which Governor O’Malley spoke. She added that National League of Cities committee appointments had been announced for the year and that she had been reappointed to the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Steering Committee, Ms. Mach had been reappointed to the Human Development Steering Committee, and Mr. Putens had been reappointed to the Small Cities Steering Committee.

COMMITTEE REPORTS : None.

LEGISLATION

Resolution to Amend Resolution 1019, a Resolution to Purchase Certain Goods and Services from Various Vendors as Enumerated Herein When Total Fiscal Year Purchases from Each Vendor Exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000)

2 nd Reading, Adoption

Mayor Davis read the agenda comments. Mr. Putens introduced the resolution for second reading and moved its adoption. Mr. Herling seconded the motion.

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

The resolution was declared adopted (Resolution No. 1027, Book No. 8).

STATE LEGISLATION - H.B. 74 – MARYLAND HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAM, LOANS TO MEMBERS OF COOPERATIVE HOUSING CORPORATIONS : Mayor Davis said she had asked to special order this item for Council to vote to support H.B. 74, which would give eligibility to co-op members for loans under the state housing rehabilitation program. She introduced Sylvia Lewis, president of the board of Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI), who said this was not a new funding program, but this bill would do away with discrimination against senior members of co-ops, who had previously not been eligible to participate. She said it would be a very good thing for GHI, and she encouraged the City to support it. Ms. Mach commented that this was a good first step, but only a first step, and that it was necessary to go further in making other programs available to cooperative members (for example, the program to benefit first-time homeowners). Mr. Roberts offered to make the motion to support the legislation, but the Mayor said it had been her intention to do so in placing it on the agenda. Following some additional competition for the privilege of seconding, Mr. Putens relinquished the second to Mr. Herling, and the motion carried 5-0. Ms. Lewis added that the federal government is considering legislation that would open reverse mortgages to co-op members, which would also be beneficial. Mr. McLaughlin said he wanted to note that the City Council had been bringing to the state delegation’s attention for several years now the legislative inequities that impact cooperatives.

SELECTION OF BANKING SERVICES : The Mayor read the agenda comments and asked how much the City would save on the new services that could be provided by some of the banks. Jeff Williams, City Treasurer, said about $5,000 per year on daily armored car pick-up service, but he could not guess what the savings would be on the early deposit or credit card rebate services. The Mayor said it was still a big factor for her that Bank of America had closed the Roosevelt Center branch. After further discussion of the services offered by each bank, it was moved by Mr. Roberts and seconded by Mr. Putens that the City contract with M&T Bank for banking services. The motion carried 5-0.

PRESENTATION ON FY 2007 FINANCIAL REPORT : Mayor Davis read the agenda comments.

Mike Stephens of Clifton Gunderson was present. He said they issue five separate reports, and the only area in which the City had comments was Green Ridge House. He noted that more changes are forthcoming that will impact the financial report in the future. One is the impact of the GASB 45 standards. The other is the imposition of eight new post-Enron audit standards that will affect the audit process itself. Ms. Mach asked if the audit would take longer. Mr. Stephens said estimates were 20%-60% longer, though Clifton Gunderson has already incorporated some of the changes into their methods, so they anticipate the increase in time to be closer to the 20% end of the spectrum for them. Council thanked him for the presentation and thanked Mr. Williams for his work on this and the banking issue.

COUNTY INTEREST IN SOCCER STADIUM AT GREENBELT METRO STATION : The Mayor read the agenda comments and added that County Councilmember Dernoga had said that he had been told the City supported this plan, while County Councilmember Turner had said she had not been informed about the matter at all. Mr. Putens moved that a letter be sent to the County Executive expressing the City’s strong reservations as to whether a soccer stadium is a good use for that location and asking that the City be involved in this and any other future discussions related to the development of the Greenbelt Metro station. Ms. Mach seconded the motion. Mr. McLaughlin was asked to copy the letter to David Harrington for the County Council, Petrie Ross, and WMATA. Mr. McLaughlin said that since the City had information that there was state interest in this matter, as well, he would add copies to appropriate state officials. Joan Falcão, 14 Julian Court, said despite being a soccer fan, she supported Council’s position, since she did not think the City needed the traffic a stadium would bring. Mr. Roberts asked if the City had any specifics on how much land the county was talking about. Mr. McLaughlin said approximately 25 acres or about one-third of the North Core. When the vote was taken, the motion carried 5-0.

MEETINGS : Council reviewed the schedule of upcoming meetings. The Mayor said the stakeholder meeting with the School Board would be put off since their staff was reviewing the Middle School plans with the Advisory Planning Board. Ms. Mach said she wanted the Advisory Committee on Education to have the opportunity to comment as well.

ADJOURNMENT : A motion to adjourn the meeting was then made by Ms. Mach and seconded by Mr. Putens. The motion carried 5-0. The Mayor adjourned the regular meeting of January 28, 2008, at 9:50 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 January 28, 2008. "

Judith F. Davis
Mayor

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