REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Tuesday, September 2, 2008, in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Robinson called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m.

QUORUM:

In attendance were Mayor Robinson, Councilmembers Brady, Marcos, Polangin, Trouth, Turner and Valentino-Smith; City Manager Deutsch, Asst. City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Robert Levan, Members of the Staff, the Press and the Public.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG:

The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

A. Ms. Rhoda Pollack, 13318 Yarland Lane, spoke about the need for an animal shelter in Bowie. She felt it was an excellent time to ask the community to become involved with animal rescue.

B. Ms. Esta Keim, 12319 Stonehaven Lane, T-30, also spoke about the need for an animal shelter. She felt that an animal shelter could and should be an integral part of Bowie's emergency management plan.

C. Mr. Charles Burton, 12410 Canfield Lane, spoke about the traffic situation at Whitehall Elementary School. He said that cars were still holding up traffic and no signs have been posted. He asked that something be done before someone is hurt.

D. Ms. Deborah Sell, 2705 Birdseye Lane, spoke about the Community Ministry of Prince George's County and National Community Reinvestment Coalition. She spoke about the foreclosure crisis and announced an event to be held NCRC to assist residents.

PRESENTATIONS:

A. Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting - Mayor Robinson announced that this award has been presented to the City of Bowie for 34 years. He read and presented the plaque from the Government Finance Officers Association to Finance Director Rob Patrick and Asst. Finance Director Byron Matthews and thanked them for their good work in this regard.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

A. Councilmember Valentino-Smith moved the appointment of Carrie Bridges as a member of the Education Committee. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Councilmember Marcos moved the appointment of Samuel Williams as a member of the Financial Advisory Committee. Mayor Pro Tem Turner seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

C. Mayor Robinson swore Ms. Bridges and Mr. Williams into office in accordance with Section 92A of the City Charter.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mayor Robinson announced that the "Salute to America" concert will be held on September 7 at Allen Pond Park. He then advised residents to be prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Hannah.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

City Manager Deutsch reported on the following items: 1) The Playhouse renovation project is continuing on schedule with no significant issues; it is expected to be completed by November 1. 2) The adopted budget approved funds for two speed indicator devices and they have now arrived; staff is determining the best way to install them and they will be installed within the next two weeks; one will be located on Belair Drive and one on Pin Oak Parkway. 3) Staff will be reviewing plans to implement any emergency operations in connection with the arrival of Hurricane Hannah.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved approval of the following items: A. Approval of Minutes of August 4, 2008 Council Meeting; B. Approval of Proclamation P-13-08 - Declaring the Week of September 17-23, 2008 As Constitution Week in Bowie; C. Approval of Proclamation P-14-08, Declaring September 15, 2008 As "Got 2B Safe! Child Safety Day" and Recognizing Jessica Beamon For Her Work in Keeping America's Children Safe; D. Approval of Resolution R-50-08, Approving a Site Lease With Option Between the City of Bowie and T-Mobile Northeast LLC to Install a Monopole and Related Cellular Equipment at the City of Bowie Public Works Facility; E. Approval of Resolution R-55-08, Accepting Bid Proposals for Personal Computers, Servers And Color Printer; F. Approval of Resolution R-56-08, Accepting Bid Proposals for Computer Monitors, Client Licenses and Projector; G. Approval of Resolution R-57-08, Accepting Bid Proposals for Computer Tough Book, Laser Printers, Firewall; H. Approval of Resolution R-58-08, Amending the January 15, 1993 Lease Between the City of Bowie and Fred Ryder Enterprises To Extend the Lease for Five Years and Modify the Lease Payment Amounts; I. Approval of Resolution R-59-08, Authorizing Waiving the Competitive Bidding Requirements By Two-Thirds Vote in Accordance with Section 61 of the Charter of the City of Bowie Authorizing the City Manager to Enter Into a Contract with Altec Industries, Inc. for the Acquisition of a Bucket Truck; J. Approval of Resolution R-60-08, Awarding a Contract for the Removal of Existing Lighting and the Installation of New Lighting at the Whitemarsh Park Combination field to Paul J. Vignola Electric Co., Inc.; K. Approval of Resolution R-61-08, Authorizing the Waiving of Bidding Requirements By Two-Thirds Vote to Allow for the Razing of the Structure Located at 7927 Orchard Park Way; and Introduction of Ordinance O-4-08, Providing a supplement Appropriation for the Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2009 for the Purpose of Funding the Replacement of a Bucket Truck and Architectural and Engineering Services for the Solid Waste Office Building and Wastewater Treatment Plan Administration Office Addition and Interior Renovation. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

Ordinance O-3-08 - Providing Supplemental Appropriations for the Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2009 for the Purpose of Funding the Replacement of a Senior Center Bus - City Manager Deutsch said the bus was originally scheduled for replacement in the next FY 2010; the bus has now reached the end of its useful life and Council recognized this and agreed to proceed with getting a new bus; because this specific expenditure had not been contemplated in the budget, staff is seeking support for the supplement appropriation and moving the funding from FY 2010 to the current fiscal year.

Since there were no persons signed up to speak, Mayor Robinson declared the public hearing to have been held.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved the adoption of Ordinance O-3-08. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. City Contracting Practices - Ms. Una Cooper, Communications Coordinator, explained the City's current contracting policies and practices as contained in the staff report dated August 28, 2008, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. She said the City's authority with regard to contracting comes from the City Charter, Section 61 and 62; City practice is that purchases and contracts under $10,000 generally require at least three quotes and the vendor/contractor supplying the lowest quote that meets requirements is selected. Ms. Cooper then reported that there are exceptions such as City employees being used for construction or reconstruction without going out to bid and the City Council waiving bidding requirements, which needs a two-thirds vote. She then reviewed professional services, procurement and cooperative bidding, as well as the advertizing process and the standard bid package. Ms. Cooper also reviewed the process for contracts exceeding $10,000 and City of Bowie, Prince George's County and the State of Maryland contracting, as well as some other local governments.

Ms. Elveeda Dixon, Chairperson of the Diversity Committee, reported that the committee began reviewing data on contracting policies in April of 2008 and the review was completed in May. She said that one of the things the committee found is that the City does not set any percentages of contracts to women, minority or small disadvantaged businesses. She spoke about the increase of contracts that have been awarded to MBEs or noncertified minority owned businesses and noted that MBEs make up 27.72% of the subcontractors that are working on the new City Hall project; the City frequently awards its CDBG contracts to minority owned businesses. Ms. Dixon then summarized the Committee's conclusions and recommendations by saying that the City policies and practices seem to be appropriate for the current amount and volume of contracts; the number of contracts awarded to women and minority owned businesses is proportionately consistent to those awarded in state and local governments and has steadily increased over the past 4 years; the City could improve its outreach to certified and non-certified MBEs by developing a policy to encourage participation from women and minority owned-businesses and posting such on its website; to insure more minority participation, a vendor list or database of minority and women-owned businesses could be developed and maintained to announce contracting opportunities or minority businesses could be identified in the City's potential bidders database; further review of the ABA Model Ordinance for Municipalities on Contracting and Procurements is also recommended.

Following questions and discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved to approve the staff recommendation and added that the committee be directed to start looking at some other jurisdictions, not limited to Maryland, and come back to Council with policy language recommendations. Councilmember Trouth seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Proposed Bowie Area High School - City Manager Deutsch reported that the School Board issued a draft CIP document for funding years 2010 through 2015; staff attended a briefing on August 20 and Council has been provided with a summary and staff comments; the document, in addressing the proposed additional high school in Bowie, seemed to say two different things: 1) it has the high school listed in FY 2011 and 2) in earlier pages there is a note stating "that based on current and projected enrollment trends over the next several years, these schools will not be approved by the State." Mr. Deutsch said the School Board is holding a hearing on September 5 and Council is meeting in public session on September 3 with certain representatives of the School Board and local elected officials at the County and State level to help prepare Council for participation at the September 5 hearing. He said that staff has drafted a very short letter so as not to repeat all of the testimony that has been offered in the past and is asking for support for a much needed facility.

Public Hearing:

Ms. Mary Nusser, 3635 Majestic Lane, President of the Bowie High School PTSO, spoke against funding of a new high school and gave some statistics which are provided in the attached background and fact sheets.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved to authorize the Mayor to present public testimony at the Capital Improvement Program hearing in support of an additional high school in the City of Bowie. Councilmember Trouth seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned 9:45 at p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, MMC
City Clerk