Weekly Status Report - 4/30/09

MEMORANDUM

TO:               City Council

FROM:         David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT:  Status Report   

DATE:  April 30, 2009

Status Report

1.  Election 2009

As of today, the following have filed for re-election:  Councilmember Marcos – District 1; Councilmember Turner – District 3.

2.  3rd Bowie Stream Team Clean-up

On April 18, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., approximately 345 volunteers and 20 City staff cleaned five City streams in eight different locations.  This year a Bowie resident in the Essington neighborhood organized a Neighborhood Cleanup as well.  The largest number of participants (93) met at the Whitehall Swim and Tennis Club.  Approximately 1,745 lbs. of trash and 2,135 lbs. of recyclables were removed from the streams.  Some of the Teams sent pictures to the Bowie Blade-News and a reporter visited the Foxhill Park site.  Leaders reported finding some interesting bulk trash items such as scooters, exhaust systems, a game cube controller, shopping carts, tires, an oil filter and engine block, mattress with a tree growing through it, bricks, balls, old signs, and some barbed wire.  Some of these items will be recycled.

Thanks to the tremendous leadership skills of the 14 Stream Team Leaders, participants reported that the work was rewarding as well as a lot of fun, according to quite a few students!  This cleanup is a joint effort between the City’s Community Services, Planning and Public Works Departments, which helped organize, supply and staff the event.  The City provided recycling and trash bags as well as gloves, trash grabbers, first aid kits and a new Green Bowie t-shirt.

  • Middle Collington Branch/Pointer Ridge neighborhood, 31 Kids/25 Adults (56) at Peach Walker Drive near the ‘No Dumping’ sign and Panther Lane
    • Lee Jaenichen and son, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • Green Branch/Heather Hills neighborhood, 14 Kids/16 Adults (30) at the Holiday Lane Pumping Station
    • Tom Sykes and Larry Clemens, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • Upper Collington Branch/ Kenhill neighborhood, 13 Kids/8 Adults (21) at Benjamin Tasker Middle School parking lot
    • Elizabeth Williams and Mike Shumacher and daughter, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • Upper Collington Branch/Long Ridge neighborhood, 6 Kids/7 Adults (13) at Foxhill Park parking lot
    • Karen Woolfley and Councilmember Geraldine Valentino-Smith, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • White Marsh Branch/Buckingham neighborhood, 4 adults at Buckingham Drive and Bradford  Lane
    • Louisa Woolery and Mike Bottega, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • Millstream Branch/Idlewild neighborhood, 19 Kids/12 Adults (31) at Idlewild Drive near Ivy Hill Lane
    • William Garmoe, Leader
    • City Staff
  • Millstream Branch/Meadowbrook neighborhood, 60 Kids/28 Adults (88) at the Bowie Swim and Racquet Club
    • Diane and Mike Traweek, Leaders
    • City Staff
  • Saddlebrook Branch/Whitehall neighborhood, 55 Kids/38 Adults (93) at the Whitehall Pool and Tennis Club parking lot
    • John Gabel and Diane Cohen, Leaders
    • City Staff

3.  Railroad Avenue Trail Stakeholders/Informational Meeting

The first Stakeholders/Informational meeting for the Railroad Avenue Trail will be held on Thursday, May 7th at 7 p.m. in Class Room #1 in the Huntington Community Center.  The City’s consultant (Toole Design Group) will provide an overview of the project, identify the limits of the first phase, which will be from Zug Road to the 10th Street cul-de-sac, and describe the tasks to be completed under this stage, which include visualization techniques to aid in defining preliminary design details.  This portion of the project is funded by a grant (Transportation-Land Use Connections Program), awarded to the City from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).  The City and our consultant will hold a series of public meetings regarding this project over the next two months.  At the conclusion of this process, the consultant will provide the City with a report summarizing its findings and recommendations for subsequent steps in the development of this trail.

4.  Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day this year is Friday, May 15th.  Once again this year, the City will have two designated pit stops:  at the Food Court in the Bowie Town Center; and at the Huntington Fire Station on 9th Street in Old Town Bowie.  Event hours at each location will be between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.  This will be the sixth year that the City has been a participant in this region-wide event, which is designed to promote biking to work.  Please feel free to stop at one or both of the City’s pit stops to greet the participants and enjoy early morning food and beverages.

5.  Proposed County Budget and CIP and M-NCPPC Budget

The Proposed County Budget and Capital Improvement Program has been released.  Staff is reviewing it and will prepare comments for Council's approval.  One item of note thus far is that there is no planning money for the new Bowie Area High School project in the proposed budget.  In fact, the entire project is now postponed until beyond FY 2015.  Staff is also reviewing the M-NCPPC Budget and will have a letter for Council review and approval shortly.