Staff Report

MINUTES OF REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2009

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

            The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, April 20, 2009 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, Assistant City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Robert Levan, City Clerk Fleming, Members of the Staff, the Press and the Public.   

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG:

            Girl Scout Troop 992 led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

            A.  Ms. Nancy Wlodarski, National MS Society, urged everyone to participate in the MS Walk at the Bowie Town Center.  She said that people can register on line; this is the largest fundraiser for the MS Society.  She thanked the City for its support.

            B.  Ms. Jo Bolig, 12128 Long Ridge Lane, spoke on behalf of CLAW and said they hoped the City Council would be able to find a way to help during budget deliberations.

            C.  Ms. Connie Carter, 12100 Rustic Hill Drive, spoke about CLAW and said their mission was to advocate for the interest and welfare of animals in the City of Bowie and surrounding area; she referred to their web site and the information provided.

            D.  Ms. Nancy Freeman, 2903 Twisting Lane, also spoke about CLAW and the sense of community she found in the City.  She related a story about a missing bird and how it was reunited with its owner.

            E.  Chief Rodney C. Taylor, Prince George's Animal Management, said he was in support of CLAW and felt a temporary shelter in Bowie would be beneficial since the Prince George's Animal Shelter is at capacity most of the time.

            F.  Ms. Gloria Brown, a long time Bowie resident, spoke in support of CLAW and related a story about losing her dogs and how she retrieved them from the County Shelter just before they were to be euthanized. 

            G.  Ms. Chris Hedman, 13404 Overbrook Lane, spoke about 2 of the City's proposals that would impact the current and future budgets - the second gymnasium and the temporary shelter for lost pets.  She applauded the forming of a task force to consider the animal shelter.  Ms. Hedman said she felt the second gymnasium was unnecessary since Bowie already has at least 3 such businesses and another one is opening in Hilltop Plaza. 

PRESENTATIONS:

            A.  Paraprofessional Award - Ms. Carrie Bridges, member of the Education Committee, introduced the winner of the award, Ms. Nancy Zipper.  She said Ms. Zipper is a Teacher's Aide at Rockledge Elementary School.   Councilmember Marcos presented a Certificate of Recognition and congratulated Ms. Zipper on behalf of the entire Council.  Ms. Zipper thanked the principal and staff of Rockledge Elementary School and thanked the Council for the recognition.

            B.  Teacher of the Month Recognition - Ms. Valerie Hall, member of the Education Committee, introduced Mr. Matthew McCorkle, Chapel Forge Elementary School as the Teacher of the month for March.  Councilmember Valentino-Smith presented a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the City Council.   Mr. McCorkle thanked the Committee and members of the City Council for the recognition.

            C.  Diversity Committee Heritage Month Recognition - Ms. Sade Dennis, member of the Diversity Committee, spoke about the civil rights movement and said it was aimed at eliminating racial discrimination and restoring freedom, dignity and social equality for all Americans.  She reported on some key events during the movement.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

            A. Councilmember Polangin moved the appointment of Kimberly Adams as the Student Member of the Environmental Advisory Committee.  Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

            B.  Mayor Robinson swore Ms. Adams into office in accordance with Sec. 92A of the City Charter.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

            City Manager Deutsch reported that 1) The Stream Teams worked on City drainage areas and streams this past Saturday; almost 300 volunteers participated; and 2) A couple of months ago, the City launched a program at no cost to residents of a prescription discount card in conjunction with the National League of Cities; in each of the past 2 months, 25 Bowie residents have taken advantage of the program with average savings of $24 on prescriptions.

CONSENT AGENDA:

           Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved the approval of Consent Agenda Item A: Introduction of Ordinance O-2-09, Amending Chapter 6, "Elections", to Clarify the Hearing Procedure Required in Section 6-33 Entitled "Penalties", To Reletter and Establish That Certain Repetitive Violations Shall Constitute a Misdemeanor As Set Forth in Section 6-33(b) Adding Subsection (f) to Section 6-33 Authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Elections to Corrective Remedial Action for Inadvertent Or Unintentional Violations, And to Grant the Board Discretion in Assessing Fines for Infractions.  Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

            A.  Ordinance O-1-09 - Approving and Adopting a Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2009 and Ending June 30, 2010 -

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

            Councilmember Valentino-Smith, who was not present at the previous meeting on the budget, provided some comments:  1) City should continue to communicate to the public about the tax differential and its benefits; 2) The budget reflects the City's priorities, recognizes the sluggish economy, and the convergence of the severe County and State deficit; stated her intent that anything proposed be offset with a consistent cut in another area; 3) With regard to the budget itself, was concerned that the budget has no tax implications, but it does that because spending has been deferred and this has the potential to catch up in future years and there is a need to approach decision-making and make difficult decision with respect to the structural parts of the budget that will continue to grow; 4) Public Safety - Has a concern about limiting the hiring of only 2 police officers; if federal funding is not forthcoming, hopes that there will be an opportunity to hold some money in the budget so that officers can be hired; 4) Emergency Preparedness - Continues to believe that communicating with citizens is a priority and, beyond Bowie Alert, need to continue to investigate whether to devote resources on how to alert citizens, i.e. evaluating the cost of a siren system; 5) Traffic Calming - continues to believe that money be invested in additional devices and tools; 6) Police Equipment - continues believe that police should have sufficient money for equipment to address and respond to calls; 7) Environment - How is the $400,000 in budget to be dedicated; some should go to individual home energy audits; 8) Land Acquisition Priorities - Continue to evaluate how Open Space money is to be used and try to set aside a match so ability to develop and preserve land can be maximized; 9) Seniors - Should have a summit to help understand their needs; best way to assess needs is through a survey; 10) Aging Infrastructure - Encouraged programs to look at lighting, etc. as well as getting grant money; 11) Mitchellville Road - Look at long-time range for a multi sports facility; 12) Will continue to encourage funding of programs already started such as funding for teachers and police towards home buying, the business incubator program, CLAW.  Councilmember Valentino-Smith concluded by saying that she did not support the use of slurry seal to save money.

            B.  Resolution R-23-09 - Adopting a Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2010-2015 -

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

            C.  Draft City Position Statement Re: Maryland Route 197 Alternate 4 - Modified With Sidewalks and Street Trees - Councilmember Marcos moved to put this item on the table for discussion.  Councilmember Brady seconded the motion.

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

            Councilmember Brady said he agreed that the footprint needs to be as small as possible and with the issue of the 8 foot wide tree planting area and the hiker/biker trail; these are issues that will be decided later on and need to stay in the discussion.  He suggested 2 minor changes: Item 5 - dedicated right-turn lanes - delete the reference to the feasibility of adding dedicated deceleration lanes; and Item 2 - add paragraph that the proposed 16 foot wide bicycle compatible lanes shall be reduced to standard sized lanes; add a sentence "The 16 foot wide by compatible requirements for this project are inconsistent with the existing road conditions on Maryland Route 197 immediately to the north and south of this section of the road.  Both sections were reconstructed without provisions of any bicycle compatible lanes.  According to SHA's Design Waivers for Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation guidelines, requests for waivers from this requirement are made at the time of design rather than during project planning.  Please be advised that the City will request a waiver of the 16 foot-wide bicycle compatible requirements at the design/engineering stage".   Council concurred.

            Mayor Pro Tem moved to approve the City position statement.  Councilmember Marcos seconded the motion and it carried unanimously,

NEW BUSINESS:

            A.   Legislative Update - Mayor Pro Tem Turner noted, for the record, that he was recusing himself from discussion on this matter.  Mr. Leonard Lucchi, City Lobbyist, summarized his report dated April 16, 2009.  A copy of Mr. Lucchi's report is attached.

            B.  Preliminary Subdivision Plan #4-08012 - Walker Pontiac - Mr. Joseph Meinert, City Planning Director, summarized the staff report dated April 16, 2009, a copy of which is on file at City Hall.   He displayed a PowerPoint presentation which showed the location of the property, zoning, topography, an outline of the boundary of the property, stormwater management concept plan, and the tree conservation plan.  He reported the application was reviewed by Council in 2004 and at that time the Council took a position against the Preliminary Plan being approved; issues were found relating to the compatibility of the project on the adjacent Amber Meadows community, as well as some access concerns; the County Planning Board approved the Plan in September, 2004 imposing a cap of 7700 sq. ft. and a cap of development traffic trips of 13 a.m. and 16 p.m. peak hour trips, and imposing a condition on the approval of the Detailed Site Plan.  Mr. Meinert said the City Council also reviewed an amendment to the County Water and Sewer Plan recently which would allow the property to be placed from Category 4 to Category 3; the City Council voted to support Category 3.   He further reported that the proposal before Council has more development than previously proposed totaling 37,700 sq. ft. and there is no actual site plan since the review is for adequate public facilities and looking at the tree conservation requirements; water and sewer, police, fire and rescue, and traffic have been met; the developer has proposed a mitigation proposal which includes providing a separate right-turn lane eastbound along Mitchellville Road, modifying the traffic signal that exists at Route 301 and Mitchellville Road and providing an additional separate left turn lane in the median area across from Queen Anne Bride Road.   Mr. Meinert said that with these improvements, the applicant will be meeting the County's APF traffic mitigation test.  He said the site is not wooded and there is a requirement to carry up to 15% woodland condition after development; the applicant is proposing to meet the 1-acre requirement by finding a site off-site to do the mitigation; staff is recommending that mitigation be satisfied within the same watershed as the subject property.  He concluded by stating that staff recommends approval.

            Mr. Norman Rivera, attorney for the applicant, said they are seeking reapproval of the site to pursue an automobile dealership for the property; his client concurs with the staff recommendation and asked the City Council for approval of the project. 

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

            Following discussion, Councilmember Trouth moved approval of Preliminary Plan #4-0812 with the conditions noted in the staff report.  Councilmember Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. 

ADJOURNMENT:

            Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved to adjourn the meeting into an Executive Session for the purpose of discussing legal and personnel issues. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Pamela A. Fleming, MMC
City Clerk