REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2002

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Wednesday, August 1, 2002 in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Robinson at 8:05 p.m.

QUORUM:

In attendance were Mayor Robinson, Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins, Councilmembers Aleshire, Bannister, Bennett, Booker Jones, and Brady; City Manager Deutsch, Assistant City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Robert Levan, Members of the Staff, the Press and the Public.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG:

Boy Scout Troop 1688 led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

A. Art Eisenstein, President of the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce, said the GBCC was founded in 1983 for the purpose of improving the commercial climate in the area and to promote planned economic and community development; the Board of Directors looks forward to working with the community and the following action items have been identified during the June meeting: 1) The Board of Directors will establish quarterly work planning sessions and request several worksessions with the City Council throughout the year; 2) the economic development and retail committees have been combined since both committees have many of the same action items; 3) looking forward to working with the City's new Economic Development Committee; 4) Education Committee will continue support of the Bowie Youth Leadership Program, proceeds of the Jim Twigger Golf Tournament will go to GBCC and the education committee scholarship fund; 5) Women in Business Committee will continue events to raise money for their scholarship fund, as well as a series of seminars on health issues.

B. Russ Ideo, 16403 Pointer Ridge Drive, announced the Citizens Association of South Bowie is sponsoring a County Council candidates forum on August 19 at City Hall.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

A. Appointments/Reappointments/Swearings-in - Mayor Robinson moved to appoint Kathy Ladipo as cochair of the Diversity Task Force. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Councilwoman Bennett moved to appoint Edward Leyden, Arthur Brooks, Boyd Campbell, Alan Coppola, Ruth Davis, Michael Doaks, Art Eisenstein, Al Golato, Edward Henry, Susan Kirby, Ricardo Pallia, Gregory Park, Stanley Rodenhauser, and Jerry Williamson as Members of the Economic Development Committee. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

Mayor Robinson swore the new member of the Economic Development Committee into office in accordance with Section 92A of the City Charter.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mayor Robinson announced the Council will be in recess until September 3, 2002. He added that the Council and staff are meeting with interested parties in the community to discuss the appropriate way to recognize September 11th.

CITY MANAGER'S REPORT:

A. City Manager Deutsch reported on the following: 1) Twig Lane Property - Significant progress is being made; the bank which owns property through foreclosure has hired a firm to remove the deteriorated material in the house; a tent-like structure is over the driveway and they have already removed 3 dumpster loads of contaminated material; the intent of the bank is to demolish the house and then market the lot for sale. 2) Ardleigh Court property - This property was expected to close about 10 days ago, however, an extension was received from HUD; date has passed and staff have been trying to learn what the status is of the property; Congressman Hoyer has also been involved to try to resolve this issue. 3) National Night Out Program - is an evening dedicated to public safety and will be held at City Hall; various members of County and City staff, Citizens on Patrol, Public Safety Committee members present. 4) Mayor, City Manager and Assistant Planning Director participated in a meeting with their counterparts from Greenbelt and College Park, as well as Andrian Gardner of the Park and Planning Commission, to discuss the on-going quest of municipalities to obtain planning and zoning authority; issues were outlined and it was decided to proceed with a meeting with staff and respective Mayors, Chair of the County Council, Chair of the County Planning Board. 5) CB-72 - Re: property disposition - one of the items in the bill related to the County intent to dispose of property at Health Center Drive which was slated for the construction of a fire station/EMS facility; a letter was sent to the County Executive objecting to the inclusion of this property in the bill and an amendment was proposed by County Councilwoman Scott to delete that property and the Meadowbrook School from the bill, but it was defeated on a 5-4 vote. Mr. Deutsch said information has been received from the County Chief Administrative Officer which indicates the County is not abandoning the plan to install a public safety facility at the site.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Councilman Aleshire moved approval of Consent Agenda items: A) Approval of Minutes of April 15, 2002 Special Council Meeting; B. Approval of Minutes of April 15, 2002 Regular Council Meeting; C. Approval of Minutes of April 22, 2002 Regular Council Meeting; D. Approval of Resolution R-52-02, Approval the Recommendation of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board in the Case of BD-02-02; E. Approval of Resolution R-53-02, Accepting a Contract With the Faux Group, Inc. in an Amount Not to Exceed $75,000 for Professional Services for the Continued Implementation of the Master Plan for Redevelopment of Old Town Bowie; F. Approval of Resolution R-54-02, Accepting Bid Proposal for Hot Mix Resurfacing and Cold milling; G. Approval of Resolution R-55-02, Adopting the Recommendation of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board in the Case of BV-6-02; H. Introduction of Ordinance O-7-02, Amending Chapter 22, "Streets and Sidewalks", Article II, "Road and Street Improvements", Division 2, "Design and Construction Standards", Section 22-47, " Driveway Entrances", to Permit Circular Driveways With Two Driveways Aprons on Residential Properties Exceeding 30,000 Square Feet in Area; and Introduction of Ordinance O-8-02, Amending Chapter 5, "Building and Property Maintenance", Article II, "Property Maintenance Code, "Section 5-7, "Standards" to Add a Subsection (B)(2) the Term "Litter" to the List of Items That May Not Accumulate on the Exterior Property Areas of Any Building or Structure and to Add in Subsection (B)(3) the Phrase "Gutters, Downspouts, Sump Pumps" to the Sources of Water That Must Be Prevented From Flowing Across Neighboring Property. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Resolution R-57-02 - Directing the City Manager to Suspend Further Payment to the Bowie Cable Access Corp. - Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to place R-57-02 on the table for discussion. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion. Mayor Robinson reported that during the development of the City budget ordinance, Council approved a funding for BCTV with conditions for approval. He asked if those conditions have been met. City Manager Deutsch replied they have not.

Public Hearing:

1. Mr. Ed Brown, 15101 Dundee Drive, spoke in support of the professional staff and noted the Council should be very proud of the new studio.

2. Ms. Patricia Dingle, 1412 Perrell Lane, spoke on behalf of the City cable studio and said she found the staff outstanding, professional and commended them for their work.

3. Mr. Irv Resnick, 16207 Audubon Lane, spoke about the show he produces and said he has come to the conclusion that he must support the resolution before Council that freezes BCTV funding; felt the BCTV Board cannot deal with internal disagreement and has chosen litigation over discussion, and is wasting City funds.

4. Mr. George Wood, 14015 Heatherstone Drive, said he has been producing shows for 10 years and made a plea for BCTV's survival; felt they provided a valuable service to the community.

5. Ms. Jan Butler, 16122 Parklawn Place, said she was very happy with the results of the show she helps to produce and with the staff in the City studio.

6. Ms. Diane Polangin, 3006 Savoy Lane, said she was on the BCTV Board and serves as the Treasurer. She addressed the issue of mediation between the City and BCTV and said they will not tolerate the continuing involvement of one of the staff members with BCTV; felt government should step back and permit the free and open access to public television originally envisioned the resolution creating BCTV in November, 1983 and the supporting 1994 ordinance which promoted the provisions for safeguards against direct or indirect program censorship and control of program content.

7. Ms. Angelese Robinson, Deepwood Drive, said she also serves on the BCTV Board of Directors and produces a television show; felt the important issue was operation of the access television and not personalities; appealed to the Council to not put BCTV out of business.

8. Mr. Richard Stein, 2712 Filbert Lane, said he was concerned about the money that is rightfully due public access television; felt the money should used for production and not sent to any other uses.

9. Mr. Richard Padgett, 2910 Tallow Lane, said it should be remembered that Bowie citizens pay for access television through their monthly cable bill and there are several questions to be noted: 1) does the performance and opportunity offered to the Bowie community reflect the cost of operation; 2) is the Bowie community getting what it is paying for; 3) does community cable televison reflect the community interest and information needed in Bowie; 4) are all Bowie citizens given appropriate or fair access to programming; and 5) are non-Bowie residents (i.e. citizens who do not pay) given priority programming, access and cable air time? He felt these questions needed to be considered in making a decision.

10. Ms. Natasha Small, 6230 Gothic Lane, said she has had a good experience with BCTV and her shows were of excellent quality; asked if BCTV is gone, what is going to take its place?

11. Ms. Milly Hall, Acting Executive Director of BCTV, 14404 Dunstable Ct., addressed the Council. A copy of her statement is attached.

12. Mr. Ed Stone, 13200 Forest Drive, asked that the resolution to impound the money be passed this evening.

13. Felicia Todd-Banks, 14805 Darbydale Drive, spoke on behalf of BCTV and said she enjoys its benefits.

14. Mr. Ronnie Screen, 400 Jaystone Ct., spoke in support of BCTV and opposes the elimination of funding; the Council, instead of behaving as unbiased trusted steward, have chosen act as overbearing, meddlesome, government opportunists.

Councilman Aleshire said he supports the resolution as it is written.

Councilwoman Bennett said this is a difficult issue; conditions were made during the budget process for funding to take place; a mediator was selected, a letter sent to BCTV asking to discuss these issues and giving the City's choice for a mediator; their response was that BCTV refused to mediate since their points were not addressed; BCTV did not tell the City what those points of concern were; law suit was filed and City is in a position where conditions of funding have not been met; until law suit is resolved, does not know what is going to happen with BCTV; have to move forward and there is no alternative except to suspend funding and when law suit is resolved will move forward and do the best thing for BCTV.

Councilman Bannister said he does not support law suit; felt the City created the controversy and committed the first divisive action by commandeering the studio and rehired two employees and gave them preferential treatment; in addition, the City took an adversarial stance against the community-owned portion of BCTV and appeared to want to resolve the issue through mediation. Mr. Bannister also said he was disappointed that an issue can be discussed in executive session held by the Council and it can appear in a local paper the next day to shade public opinion in one way; it is clear that the paper has expressed its views that it wants to be the dominant media voice that will shape the minds and hearts of people in the City of Bowie; it is obvious that the Council cannot trust one another in these executive sessions and does not feel comfortable in saying certain things without worrying that it will end up in the local paper. He said BCTV should run its studio independent and free of control of local government so we can get an unadulterated view of the citizens of the community from different regions whether it be northern or southern Bowie, we will not have one high school or one middle school since growth will not allow it, or one media voice or one boys and girls club.

Councilman Brady said because the law suit is pending, he finds its difficult to speak freely on this issue; is prepared to support the resolution which impounds funds until BCTV complies with the requirements as stated during the budget session; the resolution formalizes the City's position on this issue. He added that when BCTV meets the requirements, funding will be unfrozen and encouraged BCTV to come to the table.

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins said he wanted to address the comments of the last citizen that spoke. He said he found them offensive and rejected them; there are not many citizens in this City that consider this Council as overbearing, meddlesome, and opportunists in the way the Council adopts budgets or raise or lower taxes and respectfully disagreed with these comments. Mr. Jenkins then said what is before Council does measure the worth of BCTV and thinks that they are an asset to the City; it is not an effort for the City to control the program content, has never been the Council's purpose or objective, is not the Council's purpose or objective, and hopes it never will be the purpose of objective of the Council; the measure before Council is totally independent of any other issue or action and has nothing to do with the pending legal action. He added that the Council said they were going to something while in the budget process, and felt the Council must do something now. He said he planned to vote in support of the resolution.

Councilwoman Booker Jones asked the City Manager if the restoration of the facilities to BCTV was one of the elements or factors that would not be subject to the negotiation discussions. Mr. Deutsch reminded the Council that the letter provided to BCTV regarding those issues not subject to mediation was approved by Council, and was not an administrative action; staff was acting on Council's direction and Council is aware of those issues that Council determined were inappropriate as a result of having made those budget decisions.

Ms. Booker Jones then listed the 3 elements she believed were taken off the table: 1) restoration of the facilities; 2) funding from 40% to 30%; and 3) employment of 2 employees that were removed from BCTV and placed on City staff. She then gave the two elements that were left on the table for discussion: 1) to come together with the 2 employees removed from BCTV and placed on the City payroll; and 2) unify both studios. She noted that BCTV has an option of relocating their facility to another location outside of City Hall; there is no requirement, that she is aware of, that mandates a public access channel that is paid by the franchise agreement must remain at City Hall. Ms. Booker Jones then said once the relocation takes place, the elements regarding the median are moot, the unification of the studios belong to the City.

Mayor Robinson said the issue is cut and dry and recognizes that people can disagree over the issues; will not engage in the legal issues, but will indicate that this is not a matter of whether BCTV is good, bad or indifferent, but is a question of the City's budget ordinance which appropriated money to BCTV and attached conditions, which have not been met; the City Council has a fiduciary relationship to its taxpaying constituents to monitor those conditions; the resolution before Council specifically says that in failure to achieve the conditions attached to the appropriation, Council is obligated to impound the funding unless and until those impediments or deficiencies are corrected.

Following further discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins said that passing this resolution does not obviate the possibility that Councilman Booker Jones is suggesting taking place; the resolution simply suspends funding at this time; if Councilwoman Booker Jones wishes to pursue the possibility of relocating the facility, which is unclear as to where it would be located or what the terms would be, it can still take place in terms of other discussions and considerations.

Councilman Brady said he agreed that what Councilwoman Booker Jones is suggesting is just a suggestion; there is nothing in writing from BCTV and there was no formal request for delay, nor a formal proposal for relocation. He said it was his understanding that nearly all of the equipment in the BCTV studio is owned by the City.

The motion to approve Resolution R-57-02 carried with a vote of 5-2 (Booker Jones; Bannister).

B. Special Exception #4426 - BP Amoco Corporation - Mr. Mike Nagy, attorney for the applicant, said the subject property is located in the median of Route 301 and is zoned C-M; the proposal is for a 4,200 square foot food and beverage store, 8 multi-product dispensers, 16 fueling positions, and a car wash on site. Mr. Nagy reviewed traffic patterns and noted that SHA and M-NCPPC determined that the proposal will not result in any adverse impacts; the proposed use is compatible with the surrounding auto-related uses in the neighborhood.

Rev. John Cooper, Chairman of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board, reported that the Board concurs with the staff recommendation of denial due to concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety.

Ms. Cynthia Fenton, City Planning staff, summarized the staff report dated July 25, 2002, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. She reported that in order for Council to make a recommendation of approval, there are certain required findings that must be met; the applicant has met only three out of the six required findings for special exception approval; there are also additional requirements for gas stations, food and beverage stores. Ms. Fenton said the first finding that has not been met is that the proposal use will not substantially impair the integrity of the Master Plan; the Master Plan is clear in what is designated on the map as showing this particular site as being within the F-10 right-of-way; it specifically discourages all temporary or permanent construction within that right-of-way, and does not show commercial service use to be designated in that particular area, but is shown as either being incorporated into the right-of-way or as open space. She further reported that the Master Plan specifically discourages the intensification of commercial median properties and the application is not in compliance with the Master Plan since criterion has not been met.

Ms. Fenton continued by saying another criterion that has not been met is that the proposed use will not adversely affect the health, safety or welfare of residents or workers in the area, and that the proposal will not be detrimental to the use or development of adjacent properties or to general public; a primary safety concern is the provision of safe access to and from the site; the applicant has submitted a traffic study that concluded the proposal would not have an adverse affect on traffic conditions, however, the data provided in the traffic study shows otherwise. Ms. Fenton explained the additional traffic that will be generated by this proposal and that an additional 113 vehicles are anticipated to make a left turn back onto southbound Route 301 from the site; because delays are estimated to exceed 60 seconds, the median will be unable to accommodate the backed-up traffic. She reported that SHA, unfortunately, has determined that the surrounding roadway network can support the proposed development and that signalization is not necessary; the proposed use will clearly have a greater adverse impact at this location than it would at another location due to its impact on the median crossover intersection; unless a solution is found, staff does not find that the proposed use should be supported. She said an additional requirement for a food and beverage store also has not been met; the applicant needs to show a reasonable need for the use in the neighborhood and because of flaws in the methodology in the applicant's market study, staff cannot find that the criterion has been met; based on this analysis, staff finds that the proposal does not meet all the required findings for special exception approval and recommends that the application be denied.

Public Hearing:

1. Mr. Russ Ideo, 16403 Pointer Ridge Drive, spoke about the overcrowded Route 301 Corridor in which this proposed use lies. A copy of Mr. Ideo's statement is attached.

2. Mr. Richard Schroder, 1305 Port Echo Lane, spoke in support of the staff recommendation of denial. A copy of Mr. Schroder's statement is attached.

3. Mr. Edward Vargas, 3001 Alexander Place, said he uses Mt. Oak Road to access Route 301 and found it to be a dangerous intersection. He said he felt that the fuel tanks were not as safe as the applicant is claiming.

Mr. Nagy said that regarding the Master Plan, this property is exempt from the provisions that staff pointed out as not meeting the criteria of the Master Plan; the gas station is a permitted use in the C-M zone.

Councilman Bannister moved to accept the staff recommendation of denial. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

Councilman Aleshire asked for concurrence to send a letter to the Chairman of the County Council and Chairman of the Park and Planning Commission to declare a moratorium on all development within the Route 301 median in Prince George's County. Council concurred.

C. Highway Priority Listing - Mr. Joe Meinert, City Planning staff, summarized the staff report dated July 26, 2002, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. Mr. Meinert presented an overview of the City Transportation Priority List for 2002-2003 and noted that the priorities are communicated to State and County officials as early input to the next year's budget cycle. He showed slides which he referred to as part of his presentation on State Transportation Projects which included Construction Projects, Right-of-Way Acquisition Projects, Design and Engineering Projects and Project Planning; County Transportation Projects include Construction Projects, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Planning Projects (including Design and Engineering Projects).

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

Following discussions and questions posed to staff, Council directed staff to prepare a letter to Senator Green and County Executive Curry with the recommendations as amended for the City Transportation Priority List for 2002-2003.

D. Legislative Action Requests/Maryland Municipal League - City Manager Deutsch summarized the staff report dated July 25, 2002, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He said four actions were submitted last year and staff recommends that Council renew its request regarding planning and zoning authority as a legislative priority for the 2003 session; a meeting will be held shortly between MNCPPC and municipal representatives to continue the dialogue on the issue.

COUNCIL COMMENTS:

1. Councilman Aleshire asked the City Manager to review the procedures regarding the scoping process, as well as looking into an ordinance to protect well heads.

2. Councilman Bannister spoke about the South Bowie Boys and Girls Club and the loss of the use of ballfields. City Manager Deutsch said staff will follow up to see how the SBBGC can be accommodated and will report back to Council.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to adjourn the meeting into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing legal and property matters. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk