WORK SESSION of the Greenbelt City Council held Monday, March 31, 2008, for the purpose of discussing the draft agreement on newspaper vending boxes, and security at Council meetings.

M ayor Davis started the meeting at 8:00 p.m. It was held in the Council Room of the Municipal Building.

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

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

ALSO PRESENT WERE: Sheldon Goldberg, Advisory Planning Board, Bill Orleans, and Edith Beauchamp.

Newspaper Vending Boxes

Following introductions, Mr. McLaughlin said that this meeting was primarily a briefing for Council, since Laurel and Annapolis did not believe they needed further discussion of the draft agreement. He said although the newspapers have said they are willing to make the draft document a model for use with other jurisdictions, their preference is to move slowly in expanding the number of towns involved.

Mr. Manzi said a unique feature of this project and the resulting agreement was the involvement of three cities (Laurel, Annapolis, and Greenbelt) that have some common features, including significant historic areas. He said both sides had compromised on points to reach agreement. He reviewed the list of key restrictions on boxes the papers had agreed to, as included in Mr. McLaughlin's March 28, 2008, memorandum. He said one of the most important aspects is that the cities will now have specific contacts for dealing with problems when they arise. He pointed out that it will also now be possible to declare boxes abandoned and remove them once they have been left empty for a certain time. He said the City would agree not to legislate while the agreement was in effect but that either party could cancel the agreement on 90 days notice.

Mayor Davis asked to go through the agreement page by page. Points noted or clarified included:

The term of the agreement in the draft is five years with automatic renewal.

The papers would be willing to use corrals in some locations but are not willing to pay for them.

In response to a question from Mr. Orleans, Mr. Manzi explained that language noted as missing in the agreement referred to language that needed to be customized for Greenbelt regarding locating the news racks in the grass behind the sidewalk.

The Mayor noted that on page 5 language had apparently accidentally been dropped from the prior draft saying that “Upon removal of any news rack, the Publishers agree . . . .”

There is no formal definition of historic district that applies.

Mr. Putens asked how the agreement would be monitored. Mr. Manzi said he thought observance by City staff who were regularly out and about, as well as complaints or reports from residents. In addition, he said the papers would do an enforcement themselves on an annual basis and that if the City had a preferred time for this (e.g., before Labor Day weekend), it could so specify. Mr. Putens said he wanted to be sure the papers would start out in compliance at the time the agreement is signed.

The Mayor commented on how long the City had been working on this problem, and she asked that Mr. Manzi convey Council's thanks to the mayors of Laurel and Annapolis. She also thanked Mr. Manzi for his work on the project.

Mr. Orleans asked a number of questions and made comments. He stressed the importance of not discouraging access to newspapers by overregulating the placement of the vending boxes.

Security at Council Meetings

The Mayor said she had asked to discuss this topic at a work session because of the incident that had occurred in Kirkwood, Missouri, where five people were killed by a gunman at a City Council meeting.

Mr. McLaughlin said he wanted a sense of whether Council wanted changes and of what type. He said what is most often reported is the presence of a police officer at meetings.

Mr. Herling said he would prefer to stick with lower-tech responses and that he thought it was important not to overreact. Some suggestions that were made included: having a police officer present at some meetings; putting a second emergency button and reinstalling the telephone in the studio; having the Police Department monitor the live cablecast of the meetings; have someone, possibly a police officer, monitor the entrance to the room and take sign-ins; limit the doors for entry to the building.

The Mayor asked that staff consider the matter and bring back suggestions.

Other Business

Mr. Putens asked about the question of whether the City could impose rent control. Mr. McLaughlin said Mr. Manzi had recently returned an opinion that the City could do it, but the subject had not been further explored.

Mr. McLaughlin distributed the draft agenda from GEAC with responses in preparation for Thursday's stakeholder meeting.

Mayor Davis proposed three dates regarding the City Manager's evaluation: Council forms to be given to her by May 12; an executive session on May 19 after the meeting at Green Ridge House; a second executive session following the May 27 regular meeting.

It was agreed that the Mayor would parade the flag for the MML conference. She also announced she was running for the MML board.

Several other informational announcements were made. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 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