Weekly Status Report - 10/15/09

MEMORANDUM

TO:               City Council

FROM:         David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT:  Status Report

DATE:     October 15, 2009

Status Report

1.  Swearing-in of Police Officers

The following officers will be sworn in at your meeting Monday night:

• Private First Class John McMaster of Laurel was previously a member of the New York City Police Department for four years.
  
  
• Private First Class Mathew Slack of Laurel was previously a member of the Maryland State Police Department for three years.
  
  
• Private Brian Mathew of Burtonsville is an April 2009 graduate of the Southern Maryland Police Academy.

• Private Brian Arnold of Bowie is an August 2009 graduate of the Anne Arundel County Police Academy.

• Private Harry Booth, Jr. of Bowie is an August 2009 graduate of the Anne Arundel County Police Academy.

• Private Erick Gonzalez of Lanham is an August 2009 graduate of the Anne Arundel County Police Academy.

• Private Christopher Wuthrich of Lutherville is an August 2009 graduate of the Anne Arundel County Police Academy. 

2.  City Exhibits at Mid-Atlantic Food, Beverage & Lodging EXPO

The City's Planning and Economic Development Directors, together with the general manager for Bowie Town Center, operated the City's exhibit booth October 7 and 8 at the "Maryland Restaurant Show" in Baltimore.  The City teamed with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) for this show.  The Bowie exhibit team sought restaurant operators for various available locations in Bowie.  More than 3,000 people attended the two-day exposition.

3. Sewer Foam Injection for Root Control

For the past three fiscal years, the Public Works Department has piggybacked on a contract for sewer root control through Baltimore County.  This contract, which was previously reviewed and approved by the City Attorney, contains a renewal provision if agreed to by both parties. The contractor, Duke’s Root Control, is willing to renew our contract with the same prices and terms.  The foam injection program has been very successful in controlling root growth inside City sewer lines and helping to prevent sewer backups.  This year $65,000 has been budgeted for this program.  We will sign a contract and issue a purchase order to Duke’s Root Control in an amount not to exceed $65,000.  This notification is consistent with Charter Section 62 of the City Code regarding cooperative bidding.

4. Traffic Calming Signs

Public Works has analyzed the data provided from the traffic calming signs that were placed on Kembridge Drive and Peach Walker Drive from July 23rd to October 7th.  The signs measure the ongoing speed of individual vehicles that it detects.  As a summary, the sign at Peach Walker Drive counted 50,134 vehicles having an Average Peak Speed of 28 mph and an Average Low Speed of 24 mph for the same vehicles. This indicates that on average, after seeing the traffic calming sign, drivers slowed from 28 mph down to 24 mph.  For Kembridge Drive, the sign counted 50,134 vehicles and the corresponding average speed was reduced from 24 mph to 18 mph, after drivers saw the sign.

The traffic calming signs are now on Whitehall Drive and Atlantis Drive.  Receipt of the new sign is expected in about a week and it will be posted on Quill Point Drive.

5.  Community Forum on School Boundary Changes

On Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00 p.m., Prince George’s County School officials will hold a community forum at Bowie High to discuss boundary changes at the elementary and middle school level.  This forum is one of four being held around the County during the month of October.  Based on the information already on the PGCPS website, there will be no specific boundary change proposals presented at the forum.  School officials will review the decision making process and the criteria for making any future changes. Then there will group discussions and an opportunity for public comment. 

According to the forum information on the school system website, the criteria used to identify the need for boundary changes will include the following:

• Schools with utilization below 80% or above 105%;
  
• Current boundaries which are illogical or ill-formed; adjacent schools overcrowded or under-utilized;
• Sufficient empty seats in a cluster of schools that one school can be made available as a specialty/choice program or taken off-line for refurbishing;
• Sufficient empty seats in an elementary school with a dedicated gym that the potential exists for a PreK-8 school;
• Sufficient empty seats in a 7-8 middle school that the potential exists for a 6-7-8 school;
• Blocks within walking distance of a school which are assigned a school which requires busing.

Some of the other factors to be considered during the evaluation process include the performance of the school, the condition of the school building, transportation costs and the number of temporary classrooms being used.

City staff has sent information about this meeting to PTA/PTO contacts at each of the local elementary and middle schools.  An announcement about the meeting is also posted on the city website and on the government channel.

Below is a chart of current enrollments for schools in Bowie. 

	State Rated Capacity	Current Enrollment 9/09	% of Capacity
Heather Hills	347	336	96.83%
High Bridge	443	427	96.39%
Kenilworth	619	395	63.81%
Northview	742	870	117.25%
Pointer Ridge	566	453	80.04%
Rockledge	456	527	115.57%
Tulip Grove	411	292	71.05%
Whitehall	365	431	118.08%
Yorktown	457	305	66.74%
Benjamin Tasker	1029	1161	112.83%
Samuel Ogle	850	1035	121.76%