REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2005

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, February 7, 2005 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, Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins, Councilmembers Aleshire, Booker Jones, Brady, Kroemer and Lyles; City Manager Deutsch, Assistant 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.

SWEARING-IN CEREMONY:

Mayor Robinson swore Kurt Kroemer into office as the newly appointed Councilman for District 1. Councilman Kroemer thanked the members of his family, and those in the audience who had supported him and were present for his swearing-in.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

1. Mr. Bill Britton, 12219 Malta Lane, spoke about a public forum by elected officials that was held in January and felt it was not promoted sufficiently. He again requested a public forum for elected officials.

2. Mr. Fred Tutman, 1800 Queen Anne Road, President of the Patuxent River Civic Association, spoke about the item on the Consent Agenda dealing with the sale of city-owned property. He asked about the City working with the community and the builder in order to obtain residential housing uses that were consistent with the surrounding community.

3. Mr. Tom Topping, 16820 Swanson Road, also spoke the 2 properties being sold by the City and about being a good neighbor. He encouraged the City to structure a deal so that Winchester Homes would have to follow the same green space and wildlife guidelines that Bowie would require if the development were within the City limits. Secondly, he spoke about an incentive built into the contract that would financially benefit the City if the developer were to get incremental homes on the 2 sites.

4. Mr. Jeff Loveless, 16711 Swanson Road, said he was concerned about how Marlboro Meadows was developed where as many houses as possible were built; felt it would be terrible if such a beautiful piece of property was developed this way.

Mayor Robinson commented that the sale of these properties in no way creates any changes in the zoning in the Master Plan; any kind of ultimate of construction on these properties would have to be consistent with the Plan.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mayor Robinson noted that the several groups are sponsoring a concert this Sunday for the Tsunami Relief Fund to be held at the Center for the Performing Arts.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

City Manager Deutsch reported on the following items: 1) Provided Council with a draft letter to Governor Ehrlich concerning the proposed changes in funding to Youth Services Bureaus; the Governor’s budget essentially consolidates a number of programs that serve youth and families, however, it will require service providers to compete via a Request for Proposal so that there is no guarantee that even if the funding level which is in the budget, that the Bureau would still be able to continue to operate. He said staff is working with the 23rd District Delegation and staff believes the letter to the Governor is appropriate; $113,400 is received in State support for this program that serves a number of Bowie families; the funding has been frozen at this level for over 13 years and the State has not kept up with the increase in cost at the local level. Mr. Deutsch urged Council to approve the letter to the Governor; staff is working with other municipal counterparts who manage these kinds of agencies across the State. 2) Council received the cost benefit analysis on the proposed police department and although the entire report has been posted on the City’s web site, staff is aware that not everyone has a home computer; as a result a couple dozen copies of the report have been placed at the front desk at City Hall for the public to pick up.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Councilman Aleshire moved approval of the following Consent Agenda items: A. Approval of Resolution R-6-05, Approving Entering Into Letters of Intent with Winchester Homes to Sell City-Owned Property on Central Avenue Commonly Known as the Entzian Property and City-Owned Property Located on Swanson Road Commonly Known as Hohensee; B. Approval of Resolution R-8-05, Adopting the Recommendation of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board in the Case of #BD-2-04; C. Approval of Resolution R-9-05, Accepting Bid for the Supply and Installation of Spectator Bleachers at Jericho Park; D. Approval of Proclamation P-1-05, Recognizing February 2005 as “Black History Month”; and E. Approval of Minutes of January 10, 2005 Special Meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Resolution R-7-05 - Approving Application 04-4 to Provide Category 1 Water Designation for Ten Proposed Single-Family Houses at the Beall Crossing Subdivision Located on Race Track Road 1000 ft. North of Annapolis Road and for the Existing Robert E. Evans Funeral Home Located at 16000 Annapolis Road - Mr. John Fitzwater, Asst. City Manager, summarized the staff report dated February 4, 2005, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He noted a correction in the staff report in that the subdivision is ten single-family units rather than twelve. He then reported that City Council had previously approved water and sewer application for these properties in 1995, but this lapsed since it was not used in a two-year period; all conditions in the City Code for Category 1 designation for both the 10 lot subdivision and the Beall Funeral Home have been met with the exception of preliminary Category 2 designation; all Category 2 requirements have been met and staff is recommending that the Category 2 designation be lumped in and approved at the same time as the Category 1 designation. Mr. Fitzwater said that the City Code requires that Director of Planning to review the application to make sure that it is in conformance with the approved Master Plan and zoning on the property and this is the case; the City Engineer has evaluated the application and determined that City water and sewer service is available to serve the property; water usage is estimated at 4,000 gpd and sewer service is estimated at 32,000 gpd for the Beall Crossing Subdivision; water usage is estimated 2,600 gpd and sewer is estimated at 2,000 gpd at the Beall Funeral Home. He further reported that adequate water and sewer capacity exists to serve this property and the City’s Public Works Director has also reviewed the project and determined that he would recommend approval; public notice was required at least 10 days in advance and letters were sent to all properties within 500 feet of this project. Mr. Fitzwater concluded his report and said staff would recommend that because all conditions of Chapter 25 of the City Code have been met for Category 1 designation as well as the Category 2 designation, Resolution R-7-05 be approved.

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

Councilman Kroemer moved approval of the staff recommendation in the case of Applicant 04-4. Councilwoman Booker Jones seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Prince George’s County Green Infrastructure Plan - Mr. Joseph Meinert, City Planning Director, gave an overview to the Council on what is being requested; the Plan is the first comprehensive functional master plan ever approved for environmental echo systems in Prince George’s County; the Plan consists of a text and maps that identify contiguous network in environmental areas throughout the County and set forth goals, objectives, policies and strategies to preserve, protect and enhance these elements by the year 2025; it goes hand-in-hand with the City’s Green Infrastructure Plan which was approved in 2003. Mr. Meinert concluded by saying that it is staff’s recommendation that Council support the Plan and forward a letter to the Prince George’s County Council and Planning Board before the record closes on February 10.

Public Hearing:

Mr. Gary Allen, 13003 Beechtree Lane, said that Council’s action to approve the Green Infrastructure Plan was a positive precedent for municipal government and a first for Prince George’s County. He added that he strongly supports and highly praises the Preliminary Plan before Council and urged the Council to support it.

In response to a question posed by Councilman Aleshire, Mr. Meinert said the next step in the process would be worksessions of the County Council on the Green Infrastructure Plan; there will be a recommendation from the County Planning Board as a result of their hearing and then the County Council will consider those comments during their worksessions; once the Plan is approved by the County Council then work begins on the implementation of the policies and strategies.

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved approval of the staff recommendation that Council support the proposed Preliminary Countywide Green Infrastructure Plan. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

C. Bowie and Vicinity Master Plan - Public Facilities Element Mandatory Referral - Mr. Joseph Meinert, City Planning Director, provided an overview of the contents of the Public Facilities Element. He listed the floating park sites for new parkland acquisition contained on Page 1 of the staff report dated February 3, 2005, some of which are shown on the current Master Plan and many that are new. He then spoke about schools and said the Public Facilities Element recommends building the Bowie elementary school on Northview Drive, adding a floating symbol for a future middle school, and building a high school on the 36-acre property owned by the Board of Education on Mitchellville Road; the text should be clarified, to be consistent with current City policy, to state that the existing Samuel Ogle School is being converted to a middle school and the former Meadowbrook School building is being converted back to an elementary school; then there would be no need for a floating symbol. With regard to libraries, Mr. Meinert said there is a floating symbol shown on the Public Facilities Map for a library in the South Bowie area; given the Council has already endorsed 4 sites and recommended them to the Library Board, 2 on private and 2 on public property, this Plan could be more specific as to location. With regard to Police and Fire Facilities, he said the Public Facilities Element endorses the construction of the Leeland Road Fire Station, the Bowie EMS station on Mitchellville Road, as well as a future police station on Glenn Dale Blvd., which is consistent with the City’s past support of the CIP projects for police, fire, and rescue facilities.

Mr. Meinert then addressed the area of transportation system and reported that the Public Facilities Element addresses transportation adequacy, transit, roads, and trails. In terms of the transportation adequacy, the Council’s past position has been that the levels of service for traffic in the Regional Center be no less than Level-of-Service D as it is elsewhere in the Rural Tier. He further reported that the concept of a transit center within the Regional Center, described in the proposed Public Facilities Element, is consistent with City policy; Council has endorsed the WMATA Regional Bus Study which calls for a route restructuring of the bus service serving the City of Bowie; the transit portion of the Public Facilities Element is very consistent with the City Council’s past policies and plans. Mr. Meinert then commented on the section of the report dealing with roads; the County is producing an official document which addresses the issue of A-44; it has been the City’s long-standing policy to oppose A-44 or the Intercounty Connector; as a result of the Public Facilities Master Plan, this future arterial roadway is now being removed as is the facility known as A-58 and the Public Transit facility known as PT-1; A-19 is also being considered for removal; the only roadway which is being recommended for upgrading is the segment of Laurel-Bowie Road just to the north of Old Town Bowie from 9th Street going towards Laurel. Mr. Meinert pointed out that the Public Facilities Text describes Rte. 450 and Rte. 197 specifically mentioning these roads will be four-lane facilities; it has been Council’s policy that the roads not be expanded in the future to beyond four lanes; a statement in the in the Public Facilities Element says that the segment between Rte. 450 and Rte 50 should be limited to four lanes within the existing 150 ft. right-of-way until forecast travel demand warrant further expansion; this would be inconsistent with the City’s policy to allow this phrase to remain in the Public Facilities Element. With regard to the last segment of the presentation addressing trails, Mr. Meinert said there are a number of trail facilities that have been proposed and some of the facilities are not currently in any of the City’s recommended plans; a trail connection between Old Town Bowie and the MARC line is consistent with the City’s emphasis on multi-modal transportation solutions; providing a second pedestrian crossing or a bridge across the MARC line should be an issue addressed during the Master Plan review and should not be part of the Public Facilities Element. He added that the Plan also calls for a pedestrian overpass in the Ballpark Road area near Rte. 301 and Bowie Gateway to provide access from the west side of Rte. 301 to the east side; this facility should be incorporated into the plans for the Rte. 301/197 interchange; the recommendation for paved trails in Tanglewood Park is included in the PFE; this park is a natural area and paved trails are inconsistent with the City’s current policy on the property. Mr. Meinert concluded his report by saying that staff recommends that a letter identifying the Public facilities inconsistencies be sent to County Councilman Peters and the County Executive.

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

Councilman Lyles moved to approve the staff recommendation with amendments to add sidewalks, trails, curbs and gutters on county and state roads. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

D. Bowie High School Sign - Mayor Robinson reported that he had discussed with Council the matter of a City contribution towards a new sign for the high school; while there was some support there was also concern that the City would need assurance that all permits and approvals to complete the project are on hand and this participation would complete the project.

In response to a question posed by Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins concerning Council’s vote on this issue, Ms. Levan said the vote would have to be a super majority of five votes rather than the normal four votes.

Mr. Jenkins then said he was opposed to the timing and urged the Council to take this expenditure under advisement until the budget discussions; it is only 60 days from considering the new budget; to continue the practice for discretionary spending reflects lack of budgetary discipline on Council’s part; it represents a lack of setting priorities, a lack of weighing against priorities particularly on an issue that was not on a published agenda; it sets bad fiscal manage-ment policy and bad public policy for the Council to be engaging out of the budget process. He said he does not debate the merits of the need and urged the matter be taken under advisement until the budget discussion.

Councilman Brady said the lack of proper notification is an issue and the matter should be tabled for two weeks; there is a need for additional information as to whether there is an urgency where it needs to be done during the current fiscal year or whether it is something can wait until the next fiscal year. He felt these types of requests whether it is the Tsunami relief, the hate crimes, grants to educational or other entities under a structured program and this is what needs to be discussed during the upcoming budget process. Mr. Brady then moved to table this matter for two weeks with the requirement that staff obtain additional information relative to the urgency of this matter. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried with a vote of 6-1 (Aleshire).

COUNCIL COMMENTS

A. Councilman Brady reported that at the legislative dinner held last week, Council was informed about the cost estimates for the Church Road widening in the vicinity of Hopkins Park. He asked for consensus to look at holding a public informational meeting within two weeks at the Tall Oaks facility so that homeowners can attend. City Manager Deutsch suggested that since other agencies are involved that there be a relaxation of the two week period in order to get the appropriate parties the appropriate notice. Mr. Brady concurred.

B. Councilman Aleshire thanked staff for the press release regarding the recognition of Black History Month and which listed various locations within the City of activities.

C. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins referred to the suggestion of Mr. Bill Britton about a forum of elected officials. He felt that the City should proceed with scheduling and asked for concurrence of Council to ask staff to do investigate how this could come about.

D. Mayor Robinson said, on behalf of the Council, he would like to formally welcome Mr. Kurt Kroemer as a member of the Council.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilwoman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk