SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOWIE CITY COUNCIL
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The Special Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, April 11, 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 (arrived late); City Manager Deutsch, Assistant City Manager Fitzwater, Planning Director Meinert and Planner Stevens, the Press, and the Public.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

CONSENT AGENDA

Councilman Aleshire moved approval of the Consent Agenda Items: A. Introduction of Ordinance O-5-05, Amending City Code Chapter 1, “General Provisions”, Section 1-6, “Misdemeanor; Municipal Infractions; General Penalty, Continuing Violations” to Increase the Monetary Penalties for Municipal Infractions; B. Approval of Resolution R-19-05, Awarding the Contract to Trionfo Builders, Inc. for the Renovation of the Bowie Building Association As a Welcome Center; C. Approval of Resolution R-22-05, Authorizing Waiving Bidding Requirements By Two-Thirds Vote to Allow for the Issuance of a Purchase Order for Emergency Repairs to the Stormwater Channel in Saddlebrook East; D. Approval of Minutes of March 28, 2005 Special Council Meeting; and E. Approval of Minutes of March 7, 2005 Council Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins and carried 6-0 (Lyles absent).

NEW BUSINESS

A. Ordinance O-4-05 - Approving and Adopting a Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2005 and Ending June 30, 2006 - Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to introduce Ordinance O-4-05. Councilman Brady seconded the motion and the motion carried 6-0 (Lyles absent).

City Manager Deutsch made some brief comments and said the General Fund Ordinance counts for just over $27 million dollars; the budget is made up of more than the General Fund: Equipment Acquisition and Replacement Fund - $1,840,600; Capital Projects Fund - $5,840,500; Water and Sewer Fund - $4,426,100. He reported that a series of budget review meetings will be held over the next five weeks and residents can speak at public hearings to be held on May 2 and May 16, 2005, as well in the Citizen Participation portion of regular meetings.

B. Resolution R-21-05 - Adopting a Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2006-2011 - Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to introduce Resolution R-21-05. Councilman Aleshire seconded the motion and it carried 6-0 (Lyles absent).

City Manager Deutsch reported that the tax rate is recommended at the current year level of .322 per one hundred dollars of assessed value; this budget is balanced without using a penny of fund balance so the revenues and expenditures match. He said that the State Legislature is due to adjourn in a few hours; they adopted the State budget and late this afternoon staff learned that the number proposed of $2.7 million dollars will work and this represents an increase in revenue from the current year. Mr. Deutsch said there is a number of new positions proposed in the budget, new initiatives such as a feasibility study for a new city hall and a transit enhancement study is proposed; the budget does not contain any funds for a police department and if the process yields a positive result from the November ballot and the Council decides to move forward, it will be addressed in January of 2006 with an additional appropriation at that time.

Councilman Aleshire said he noted that there is funding in the budget for BRAVA and hoped that a closure to a required MOU can be reached this year. He presented a program by the National League of Cities regarding after school hours to the City Manager and said he would like to see the City bring back the after school counseling program. He noted it was important that a new city hall be studied. Counclman Aleshire requested that a letter be sent to the County Councilmembers Peters and Dean asking them to find money to bring “The Bus” to the City so that there could be a connection from the City to Upper Marlboro.

Councilman Brady said he had several concerns with the coming fiscal year; one of them being the uncertainly of outside revenues; the appearance of skyrocketing energy prices and the rippling effect this will have in the coming year; and the potentially significant increases the City may be seeing in the future on the cost of services and materials. He said he was encouraged with the technology aspect and video streaming of the Council. He said he totally agrees with the recommended approach to the police department; there is an uncertainly of what the citizens will have to say in November and the measurement should be as unbiased as possible, and to include any money in the current budget for the possibility of the outcome being favorable will then predispose certain people who go to vote to vote favorably. With regard to the approach to a new city hall, Mr. Brady said he agreed that a study is needed, as well as a study for the transportation issue. He said with regard to the issue of how the arts and culture in the City is looked at, he would like to recommend an approach to generate a funding mechanism into the public arts in the City; this would be in line with what former Delegate Pitkin was advocating regarding an arts district in the City.

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins said he agreed with the recommended approach to the police department and city hall issues. He said he had two initiatives he would like to pursue in this budget: 1) code enforcement streamlining with regard to cost and time consuming process, the time needed for processing of court cases, and the marked increase in cases that must go to court for adjudication. He asked the City Manager to explore the prospect of a full or partial appointment of an Administrative Judge; intended to ask the Council to establish an objective to instruct the City Manager to explore this concept with the Court and provide adequate funding for such an initiative in FY ’06 if an appropriate agreement can be reached between the City and the Court to pursue such a course of action. 2) With regard to fuel costs and efficiency, reduced dependency on imported oil, reduced environmental pollution, and reduced operating costs can be achieved if an objective is adopted to pursue incremental replacement and maintenance of appropriate vehicle fleet comprised of hybrid and/or more fuel efficient vehicles. Mr. Jenkins then suggested that the Council act with restraint regarding proposed new programs and expenditures; practice discipline by prioritizing expenditures; when proposing new expenditures also adopt practice of identifying off-setting reductions and identify major proposed new budget expenditures at the beginning of the process. He urged potential candidates to come forward now and participate in the process when it can make a difference.

Councilwoman Booker Jones reiterated statements made concerning funding related to BRAVA; had concerns with the timing of the MOU and asked for a status report to identify the parties that have not signed the MOU. She addressed the gymnasium and said that a request has been made by the Community Recreation Committee to increase the fees regarding the usage of the courts and hoped that staff and Council concur with the $5.00 increase. Ms. Booker Jones added that a feasibility study regarding a new city hall is necessary; asked if it is possible to consider alternative means of having an arbitrator to conduct ADR that is binding. Mr. Deutsch replied that it can be included as part of the report.

Councilman Kroemer said when 5-6 years is projected out, the fund balance gets to a point that violates a Council policy that was set a number of years back in terms of having the funds budget at a level no lower than 25% of expenditures; in 2011 that line will be crossed. He felt the Council needs to be cognizant of the fact that if this continues without any substantive changes, the City will be at a point where the general fund balance is not at the level at which it should be.

Councilman Lyles said he liked the idea of the transit study and can improve on what the County has done. With respect to BRAVA funding, he will not support any BRAVA funding based on how they have treated him and people that live in his district; was frustrated that when requests to use the auditorium and requestees were told the facility would be closed; cannot feel comfortable in putting taxpayers dollars at risk for a group that doesn’t see a need to open the facility up to people who live in the City of Bowie. Mr. Lyles said he agreed with the need for a new city hall, the need for improvements for resurfacing of streets, the stop sign issue is being dealt with regard to new stop signs on certain streets, upgrades in technology with regards to video streaming, improvements on the web site, and reduction of the amount of paper the Council receives by sending it electronically. Mr. Lyles added that he would like to see the possibility of an additional gymnasium, a summer jobs program for high school students, improvement upon contractual services by adding more competition, need to look at a sidewalk and street lamp program where there are none, and Council should look at increasing the Mayor’s salary.

Mayor Robinson noted that the City’s population is now about 56,000 which makes Bowie larger than 8 of Maryland’s counties in population; there are challenges associated with the growth and maintaining the high level of quality services that Bowie’s been known for in the past; the taxable base is 4 billion dollars and Council will be looking at an operating budget of $27 million dollars with a total budget of $36 million dollars; the total City debt is $790,000 which relates to $14.22 per capita. Mr. Robinson added there are serious energy challenges that will have to be faced and may cause some changes as the budget goes forward. He said the City Manager and staff should be commended for presenting a balanced budget, which requires no transfer from fund balance and proposes no new taxes, and yet maintains the high level of services that the citizens have come to expect.

ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins moved to adjourn the Special Meeting and to move into a Budget Worksession. The motion was seconded by Councilman Brady and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk