WORK SESSION OF THE GREENBELT CITY COUNCIL held Wednesday, January 23, 2008, for the purpose of receiving a quarterly update from the City Manager.

Mayor Davis called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m. It was held in the Senior Classroom of the Municipal Building.

PRESENT WERE: Councilmembers Konrad E. Herling, Leta M. Mach, Rodney M. Roberts, and Mayor Judith F. Davis. Councilmember Edward V. J. Putens had a work conflict.

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

ALSO PRESENT WAS: Bill Orleans.

The Mayor suggested going through the Management Objectives lists page by page.

Under Administration, Mr. Herling commented that the theater manager was not happy with the mauve color being recommended by the architects for the lobby.

Regarding the December 2007 financial report from the City Treasurer, Mr. McLaughlin said that the overall report was good, with revenues ahead and expenses behind where the City usually would be mid-year. The Mayor questioned the increase in usage of electricity. Mr. McLaughlin said this was the first occurrence, and he did not yet know the reason. Following a comment from Ms. Mach, there was discussion of a change in the Homestead Property Tax Credit program that would require active application by eligible taxpayers.

Under Public Information, it was noted that Municipal Government Month would be moving to November this year..

Under Planning, Mr. McLaughlin said Terri Hruby was working with county schools staff to set up a meeting with the Advisory Planning Board to present the latest plan for Greenbelt Middle School.

Under Community Development, the Mayor asked if Council could get a report on code enforcement issues in Springhill Lake, including the status of the various buildings in which there had been fires. She also asked if staff had looked into inspecting businesses that sell pets yet. Mr. McLaughlin said that was still pending.

Regarding the Police Department, Mr. McLaughlin noted that the RFP is out for the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. He also said that Hyattsville wants to use the $600,000 received in federal funding entirely for the bricks-and-mortar Communications Center, whereas Greenbelt had wanted CAD to be the focus of its share. Mayor Davis said there was also federal funding going to Bowie and Laurel for radios but not to Greenbelt. Mr. McLaughlin replied that this was because Greenbelt had identified the Joint Communications initiative as being its top priority. He added that Delegate Gaines was working on state support for radios for the other municipalities. Mayor Davis also asked whether the City had considered asking for redevelopment money from Congressman Hoyer, noting that College Park was receiving some. Mr. McLaughlin said Greenbelt had not done so to date, primarily because the City had been so successful in getting state monies in this category.

Under Public Works, Mr. McLaughlin reported on the status of the facility expansion and said the Four Cities street cleaning was going very well now that there was one driver.

There was discussion of the illegal removal of trees from City property on Crescent Road. Mr. McLaughlin said the City was penalizing the contractor rather than the resident. Council asked for further detail on the fine to be imposed.

Under Parks, Mr. McLaughlin said the Canning Terrace playground would be done in February.

Under Traffic Control, the Mayor said Greenbelt East residents would like to see more of the Speed Sentry over there.

Under Greenbelt CARES, Mr. McLaughlin said that CARES has always been based in a cognitive behavioral therapy approach and is now looking at filial family therapy, which has increasingly become of interest at the county and state levels since it is more subject to measurement. Greenbelt CARES is experimenting with it. Ms. Mach said that she had passed on to Christal Batey information on senior cooperative housing.

Under Recreation Centers, Mr. Roberts asked where things stand on doing something about the Springhill Lake Recreation Center. It was agreed that there was a need to discuss this during budget work session time.

Under the Aquatic & Fitness Center, Mr. McLaughlin gave an update on the handling of the reported MRSA infection.

Under Greenbelt’s Kids, there was some discussion of camp revenues.

Under Leisure & Fitness, the Mayor noted that, unlike the other programs under Recreation, for this section there was no mention of the number of participants. She said it would be helpful to have those reported, since the criticism is often made that there are not enough programs for teenagers.

Under the Top Ten List, Mr. McLaughlin said a follow-up meeting on vending boxes was being held next week, and he hoped a work session could be scheduled during February.

Other Business

Mr. McLaughlin filled Council in on the status of investigation of the green liquid that had been spotted in the stream behind Roosevelt Center.

The Mayor said she had received a voice mail message from the Gazette asking for comment on a suggestion by the county that the D.C. United Soccer stadium be built at the Greenbelt or New Carrollton metro stations. She 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.

 The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 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