REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, March 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.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

A. Mr. Ken Freelain, producer of a cable television program and a member of the Bowie Community Media Corporation, said that he produced a series called “The Engineering Tribute to the Presidential Inauguration”. He asked for permission to hold the next tribute in Bowie.

B. Col. Harlan Tucker, Chairman of the Community Recreation Committee, 3100 Teton Lane, requested that Council add William Davies to the Hall of Honor. He said the Recreation Committee had voted unanimously to recommend that a softball field at Blacksox Park be named in Mr. Davies’ honor. He gave some background of Mr. Davies’ accomplishments.

C. Mr. Mort Diamond, 4119 Crosswick Turn, also spoke about the recommendation to add Mr. Davies to the Hall of Honor and said he heartedly endorsed naming the softball field after him as well.

D. Mr. Dave Leissner, representing the Bowie Interfaith Recreation Council, spoke in favor of adding Mr. Davies to the Hall of Honor and naming the softball field after him.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

A. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved the appointment of John Parikh as a member of the Civic Affairs Committee. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

B. Mayor Robinson swore Mr. Parikh into office in accordance with Sec. 91A of the City Charter.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

City Manager Deutsch reported: 1) Staff is working with the County to establish the first meeting of the Church Road Task Force; a date for a meeting will be scheduled shortly with County Councilman Doug Peters. 2) The Memorandum of Understanding regarding the sign has been sent to the Bowie High School Principal; an ordinance for appropriation of funds is scheduled to be introduced at the next Council meeting; 3) Police Force - The second installment of additional information on the Police Force question will be provided to Council shortly. 4) It was Council consensus to hold an elected officials forum after the General Assembly session closes in mid April.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Councilman Lyles moved to approve Consent Agenda Items A. Approval of Proclamation P-2-05, Proclaiming March 17, 2005 as Camp Fire USA’s “Absolutely Incredible Kid Day”; and B. Approval of Resolution R-15-05, Accepting Bid for the Supply and Installation of Spectator Bleachers at Church Park Road. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Auditor’s Presentation - Mr. Thomas Newkirk, Clifton Gunderson, explained the responsibilities of the City and Clifton Gunderson under generally accepted auditing standards. He said during the course of the current fiscal year, there were no significant accounting policies or application that were initially selected or changed during the year. Mr. Newkirk also reported on Management Judgments and Accounting Estimates, Significant Audit Adjustments, Other Information in Documents Containing Audited Financial Statements, Disagreements with Management, Consultations with Other Accountants, Major Issues Discussed With Management Prior to Retention, and Difficulties Encountered in Performing the Audit. The conclusions found by Clifton Gunderson are contained in the attached letter dated February 23, 2005, a copy of which is on file at City Hall.

Mr. Gregory Bussink III, Clifton Gunderson, displayed a Power Point graphic presentation of financial information, a copy of which is on file at City Hall.

Mayor Robinson thanked Messrs. Newkirk and Bussink for their presentation, and also congratulated the City Manager and the Finance Department for their excellent work.

B. Detailed Site Plan #04005 - Mitchellville Montessori School - Ms. Cynthia Fenton, City Planning staff, reported on the Bowie Advisory Planning Board (BAPB) hearing. She said when the BAPB reviewed this project there were still significant problems with the Site Plan and, for that reason, the Board recommended disapproval of the Detailed Site Plan and denial of the variance request that was also attached to this application for reduction in the size the play area. She further reported that since that review, the applicant has made some significant changes: reduced the number of enrolled students from 150 to 132, redesigned the internal circulation, eliminated the need for the variance, increased the number of parking spaces above the minimum County requirements, and eliminated the mulch pathway through the wetlands. Ms. Fenton then displayed a Power Point presentation which showed that the school has been reduced to 8370 square feet, the site is zoned R-R, and is 5.3 acres; the school is located on the west side of Hillmeade Road south of Fletchertown and Prospect Hill Roads. Ms. Fenton said the applicant is proposing a two-story, private elementary school with 10 full-time staff, 7 classrooms are proposed; the school will contain a gymnasium, a multipurpose room, media center, library, and staff lounge. She noted the locations of the play areas and tot lots, the ingress and egress locations along Hillmeade Road, and 29 parking spaces; there will be staggered and departure times which greatly alleviates the potential for queuing; the number of compact spaces has been reduced from 8 to 3 so that more spaces are available for larger vehicles; staff is recommending that the 5 spaces closest to the entryway and the 2 non-handicapped spaces in front of the school should be designated for staff only. Ms. Fenton concluded her report and said the applicant has made significant changes to the proposal that has resulted in an acceptable site design. She added that Condition #8 be revised to read “30 families” instead of “30 students”; staff finds the application represents a reasonable alternative for satisfying the site design guidelines and recommends approval subject to the 8 conditions found on Page 7 of the staff report, a copy of which is on file at City Hall.

Ms. Michele LaRocca, attorney for the applicant, reported that the applicant agrees with all findings and recommendations made by City staff.

Mr. Jacob Weaver, the architect, displayed rendering depicting the layout of the school as well as the architecture of the building.

Public Hearing:

1. Diane Hauf, 12115 Quick Fox Lane, President of the Evans Overlook Homeowners Association, said the main concerns with the proposal are traffic and parking; with the conditions added by City staff, the current plan will reduce the traffic and parking problems. She then said she had additional concerns regarding arrival in the 8-8:30 a.m. time frame and there will be parking and queuing problems on a daily basis. She felt that plans need to be made now for parking and traffic control and that the administrators do everything possible to encourage a more staggered arrival time.

2. James Adams, 6805 Irene Court, Hillmeade Station, spoke in support of the school and noted he was a parent of a student at the school.

3. Marcel Desroches, Jr., 15900 Ann Arbor Court, spoke in support of the school and its staff.

Following Council discussion and questions posed to the applicant, Councilman Kroemer moved for approval of Detailed Site Plan #04005 with the 8 conditions noted in the staff report, and an additional 2 conditions: parking for handicapped spaces be appropriately marked per City guidelines, and to prevent parking around the primary playground. Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins seconded the motion.

Mayor Robinson added that a letter would be sent to the Department of Public Works and Transportation urging them to move forward to include the acceleration/deceleration land on the adjacent road, appropriate street lighting, appropriate no parking signs, and signage. Councilmembers Kroemer and Jenkins concurred and the motion carried unanimously.

C. Amendments to Prince George’s County Ten-Year Water and Sewer Plan - Mr. Joseph Meinert summarized the staff report dated March 2, 2005, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He reported that there was one major application filed in the Bowie area: #04/W-20 - Lynch Property; the request is for a change from Category 5 to 4 on approximately 18 acres. He said the proposal is for 17 single-family detached dwellings with a minimum floor area of 3,500 square feet and a minimum sale price of $600,000; the property is located on the north side of Mount Oak Road, approximately 1,000 feet east of Church Road in the R-E zone.

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

Councilwoman Booker Jones moved approval of the staff recommendation for support of the change from Category 5 to 4. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to adjourn the meeting into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing legal matters. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk