REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2002

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, June 17, 2002 in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Robinson at 8:00 p.m.

QUORUM:

In attendance were Mayor Robinson, Councilmembers Aleshire, Bannister, Bennett, Booker Jones, Brady and Jenkins; City Manager Deutsch, Asst. City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Elissa 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. Mr. Wayne Tolson, 1006 Spa Road, Annapolis, spoke about the reorganization of the Bowie Jaycees and announced there will be a meeting at the Bowie Library on July 1 and urged everyone to attend.

B. Mr. Gary Mendenhall, 12020 Maycheck Lane, spoke about his concerns regarding code compliance.

C. Mr. Jon Lee, 16707 Governor Bridge Road, said he supports County Bill CB-55.

D. Ms. Suzie Combs, Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of Dry Clean Depot, spoke about the proposed Dry Clean Depot to be located in Bowie and said 11 stores have been built throughout Maryland and Virginia. She said the store proposed for Bowie is just under 6000 square feet and asked the Council to reconsider support of CB-55.

PRESENTATIONS:

Proclamation P-15-02 - Congratulating the Bowie Knights of Harmony on Winning the Southern Division Intermediate Chorus Championship - Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins read and moved approval of P-15-02. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Members of the Knights of Harmony accepted the proclamation and noted they appreciated the recognition.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mayor Robinson announced that non-perishable food will be collected at the summer concerts held at Allen Pond to support the Food Pantry.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved approval of Consent Agenda Items A. Approval of Minutes of November 5, 2001 Council Meeting; B. Approval of Resolution R-43-02 - Engaging a Certified Public Accountant for the 2001-2002 Annual Audit; B. Approval of Resolution R-44-02, Adopting the Recommendation of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board in the Case of BV-5-02; C. Approval of Resolution R-45-02, Accepting Bid Proposal for Construction of Pedestrian Bridge Over Route 197; D. Approval of Resolution R-46-02, Authorizing the City Manager to Enter Into a Memorandum of Understanding With the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for Animal Services; E. Approval of Resolution R-47-02, Waiving the Bidding Requirement of Section 61 "Purchasing and Contracting" of the Charter of the City of Bowie and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Agreement With EBA Engineering, Inc. for Engineering Design Services for the Improvements to 12th Street in the Huntington Section of the City; F. Approval of Resolution R-48-02, Authorizing the City manager to Execute an Annexation Agreement With Siegfried and Dina Pichler Establishing the Terms and Conditions Governing the Proposed Annexation Into the Corporate Limits of the City of Bowie of Approximately 2.14 Acres of Land Located at 8101 Laurel-Bowie Road, on the East Side of Maryland Rte. 197, North of Rustic Hill Drive and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Sewer Right-of-Way Agreement for Future Construction of a Public Sewer Line on a Portion of the Bowie Golf Course Property; G. Approval of Resolution R-49-02, Authorizing the City Manager to Enter Into an Agreement With the Prince George's Financial Services Corporation to Administer a Revolving Loan Fund; and H. Introduction of Ordinance O-4-02, Amending Chapter 1A, "Administrative Review Board", Section 1A-4, "Request for Review", Subsection C, to Increase the Time for the Board to Hold a Hearing Upon a Request for Review of a Municipal Infraction Cititation From Thirty (30) to Sixty (60) Days. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. Ordinance O-6-02 - Amending Chapter 26, "Zoning" of the Bowie City Code to Add Article III, "Service Volume Standards for City Streets" to Provide a Mechanism for Evaluating the Effect of New Development on City Streets - City Manager David Deutsch said that in January, 2002, Council adopted a resolution adopting a methodology for evaluating the impact of traffic from new development on the City's residential street system; at the public hearing on this item, Council directed staff to prepare an Ordinance to incorporate the level of service standards into the City Code. He added that staff worked with the City Attorney and the transportation consulting firm which created the methodology to prepare Ordinance O-6-02; staff recommends adoption of the ordinance.

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

Councilman Brady moved adoption of Ordinance O-2-02. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Resolution R-41-02 - Approving the Change of Control of the Cable Communications Franchise - Ms. Elissa Levan, City Attorney, summarized the resolution and said that in February, 2002, Comcast provided a request for the merger of Comcast Corporation and AT&T Broadband Corporation into a new corporation to be called AT&T Comcast; the franchise agreement between the City and Comcast Cablevision requires the approval of the City when a transfer is proposed, and FCC regulations provide the City with 120 days in which to review the legal, financial and technical qualifications of the new corporation. She further reported that in order to sufficiently review the material, the City joined with 15 municipalities in Prince George's County and our legal consultant to determine whether or not the new corporation had the qualifications necessary to continue to operate the City's cable system in accordance with our franchise agreement. Ms. Levan concluded by saying that having reviewed the report, and given the assurances received from Comcast Cablevision, the Guarantee and Performance by the parent company, the advice of our legal consultant, and the recommendations of the Baller Herbst Law Group, staff is recommending the Council approve Resolution R-41-02, consenting to the transfer of control of the cable franchise.

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

Councilman Brady moved approval of Resolution R-41-02. Councilwoman Booker Jones seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Revision to Detailed Site Plan (DSP) - Babies "R" Us at Bowie Gateway Center - Mr. Frank Stevens, City Planning staff, summarized the staff report dated June 13, 2002, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He gave some background information and noted that the proposal is to relocate the existing entrance from the northern end of the store to the center. With regard to signage, Mr. Stevens reported that the proposed signage consists of building-mounted, internally lit channel letters; the applicant has agreed to install signage with red lettering to be consistent with the color scheme established for the stores on Block C. He said that staff recommends that the Limited Detailed Site Plan for Babies "R" Us be approved with the conditions outlined on Pages 7 and 8 of the staff report and that Condition 2E be added to reflect that no flags or banners be erected on the building. He indicated that the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation.

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

Councilwoman Booker Jones moved to accept the staff recommendation of approval to include Condition 2E. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk