REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2006

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, March 6, 2006 in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Robinson called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. He announced that Councilman Kroemer is out-of-town on business.

QUORUM:

In attendance were Mayor Robinson, Mayor Pro Tem Brady, Councilmembers Conroy, Jenkins, Lyles, and Turner; 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

Mr. Richard Stein, spoke about BRAVA. His statement is attached.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

A. Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved the appointment of Benjamin Woolery as Chairman of the Ethics Commission. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion and it carried 6-0-1 (Turner - abstain).

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

City Manager David Deutsch reported on the following items: 1) Staff has completed collection of tree limbs and debris from the recent storm; 2) The County scheduled new a hearing in early April on Hall Road; change has been requested by the developer relating to the timing, procedure and financing of proposed library; this item will be placed on the March 20 agenda for approval of position that will be transmitted to the Zoning Hearing Examiner.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Councilman Jenkins asked that Items A and B be moved to New Business for the purpose of discussion and modification. Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved approval of the following Consent Agenda items: C. Approval of Proclamation P-3-06, Supporting the Camp Fire USA’s Absolutely Incredible Kid Day; D. Approval of Resolution R-12-06, Accepting Bid for Vehicle Storage Bays at Public Works Facility; E. Approval of Resolution R-13-06, Approving Entering Into a Letter of Intent With Toll Brothers, Inc. to Sell Woodland Conservation Easements on City Owned Property Located at Swanson Road Commonly Known as the Hohensee Property; and G. Introduction of Ordinance O-2-06, Amending Chapter 12, “Cable Communications”, of the Code of the City of Bowie to Provide for Penalties to be Imposed Upon Cable Franchises for Failure to Abide by Certain Consumer Standards by Inclusion of Such Penalties Within the City’s Cable Franchise Agreements. Councilman Turner seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. County Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Legislation - Mr. Joe Meinert, City Planning staff, summarized the staff report dated March 2, 2006, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He reported 3 pieces of legislation are being proposed, CB-4, CB-5 and CB-6; CB-4 and CB-6 concern the subject of conservation subdivision design and CB-5 is the County’s transfer of development rights (TDR) program. He said the City sent over 240 notices to residents notifying them of the worksessions and hearings, the BAPB and EDC held a worksession in January, the BAPB held a hearing in February to take public testimony, and a representative of County Councilman Peters’ office distributed material concerning the major issues facing the County Council and concerns raised by residents of the Rural Tier about the TDR program. Mr. Meinert then presented an analysis of CB-4 and CB-6, as well as CB-5. He also presented the staff recommendations and recommended that the City send a position statement to the County Council that includes the recommendations contained in the staff report.

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

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved to approve the staff recommendation on CB-4 and CB-6. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion. Mayor Robinson asked the maker of the motion that a reference to a sunset for development clause be added and the motion carried unanimously.

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved to send a position statement to the Council to include the recommendations contained in the staff report with regard to CB-5. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion. Mr. Brady said the motion includes APF and quality of life in the receiving areas. Mayor Robinson amended the motion so that the staff recommendation reads “A receiving area shall not be increased above zoning levels by rezoning….” The motion carried with a vote of 4-1-1 (nay - Jenkins; abstain - Lyles).

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Resolution R-12-06 - Adopting an Annexation Policy Establishing the Principles to be Used by the City to Facilitate the Annexation Process - City Manager Deutsch summarized the staff report dated February 28, 2006, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He reported that Council held two worksessions regarding the City’s annexation policy; the focus on the issue grew out of the Strategic Plan, which Council recognized the need to focus on the issue of annexations. Mr. Deutsch said that Resolution R-52-91 has been revised and a set of procedures added by reference that address how staff analyses annexations and the procedures that are in place, as well as a recommendation of a growth boundary map that addresses the anticipated limits of the City for some time to come. He referred to a map attached to the staff report, which shows the current boundary of the City and anticipated properties that may be annexed in the future. Mr. Deutsch then referred to the attributes of “Possible Growth Limits” Area as described on Page 2 of the staff report. He reported that a time frame has not been placed on the growth boundary; it is a future oriented planning model and a specific year is not necessary to be applied since it is not a regulatory system; the area includes a significant portion of potential commercial property and the various commercial areas that could enhance tax base value is described on Page 3 of the staff report.

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

Councilman Lyles moved to adopt Resolution R-12-06. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion. City Manager Deutsch noted that a change to Section A to change the words “adjacent” to “abutting and contiguous” and to Section D to add the word “abutting and” in front of “contiguous” for clarification purposes had been suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Brady. He asked if the motion includes these changes. The maker and seconded of the motion concurred. Mr. Deutsch asked that the two documents, “City Procedures Regarding Annexation” and “Annexation Process” be included by reference. Council concurred. The motion to adopt R-12-06 as amended carried unanimously.

B. Minutes - Councilman Jenkins noted there was an error in the February 6th minutes. He noted that under Item A, Old Business, the motion was reported as being carried unanimously. He said that he and Councilman Conroy actually voted “no” and asked that the minutes be corrected. Councilman Jenkins moved that the minutes be approved as amended. Mayor Pro Tem Brady seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

C. Resolution R-9-06 - Jones Property Annexation - Mayor Pro Tem Jenkins noted that on February 6, the Council approved the Colt’s Neck annexation, which reflected 54 acres and 10 lots; the Jones property proposes 19.4 acres and 29 lots. He noted that 39 lots and 73.4 additional acres have been added to the City and no additional police officers have been hired.

Councilman Lyles moved to introduce R-9-06. Councilman Turner seconded the motion and it carried with a vote of 5-1 (Jenkins).

COUNCIL COMMENTS

A. Mayor Robinson announced that Councilman Kroemer is home recovering from surgery, and Council wishes him well and looks forward to his return to his seat.

B. Councilman Brady asked for consensus to send a letter to the appropriate person and copies to the appropriate elected officials. He reported that a tragic accident occurred on Rte. 50 at Rte. 3 involving a tractor trailer that was parked on the shoulder; local residents’ car struck the rear end of the tractor trailer and they were killed. He asked that the letter be strongly worded to ask for enforcement of the no parking in the shoulder in the area. Council concurred and directed staff to draft a letter. Councilman Conroy asked that the letter note that the parking of trucks occurs up and down Rte. 50 corridor.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk