SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOWIE CITY COUNCIL
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2006

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The Special Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, April 10, 2006 in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Robinson called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m.

QUORUM

In attendance were Mayor Robinson, Councilmembers Brady, Conroy, Kroemer, and Lyles; City Manager Deutsch, Assistant City Manager Fitzwater, the Press, and the Public.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

PRESENTATION:

Mayor Robinson presented the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to Finance Director Robert Patrick and Assistant Finance Director Byron Matthews. On behalf of the Council, he commended them and their staff for a job well done.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved approval of the Consent Agenda item: A. Approval of Resolution R-21-06, Revising the Purpose and Function of the Public Safety Committee and B. Proclamation P-6-06, Recognizing Jerry Alderman for his Selection by the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce as Prince George’s County Paramedic of the Year. The motion was seconded by Councilman Jenkins and carried unanimously by those members of the Council present: Robinson, Brady, Conroy, Kroemer and Lyles.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Ordinance O-5-06 - Approving and Adopting a Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2006 and Ending June 30, 2007 - Mayor Pro Tem Brady April 10, 2006 -2-moved to introduce Ordinance O-5-06. Councilman Lyles seconded the motion and it carried unanimously by those members of the Council present.

B. Resolution R-20-06 - Adopting a Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2007-2012 - Mayor Pro Tem moved to introduce Resolution R-20-06. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion and it carried unanimously by those members of the Council present.

City Manager Deutsch gave a brief overview of the proposed ordinance and said it contains the numerical summaries of the budget; it asks for the Council to appropriate $30,391,000 in the General Fund, Equipment Acquisition & Replacement Fund - $2,298,000, Capital Projects Fund - $8,696,000 and Water & Sewer Fund - $12,426,000; the review will begin tonight and two public hearings are scheduled for April 17 and May 1 for residents to address City Council. Mr. Deutsch added that the property tax increase of 3 cents bringing the rate to .352 cents per $100 of assessed value; there is a major new expenditure of the first installment of the police department which is slightly over $1,700,000 in FY ’07, and that follows the implementation schedule which was presented to Council at the end of February; $6.4 million dollars of State grants are expected for the conversion of the Wastewater Plant to enhanced nutrient removed. He said that in addition to the major expenditure for a police department, there are several issues that put cost pressure on the budget: diesel fuel and gasoline, electricity and natural gas, asphalt because of a 20% increase in resurfacing, and worker’s compensation.

Mayor Pro Tem Brady commended staff for an outstanding job on the budget document. He cautioned his colleagues that the budget numbers don’t mean as much as the significance of them. He pointed out that this budget is unique because the City has never undertaken such a significant expansion of City services in the past and the Council will be held accountable to the citizens to do the job right. Mr. Brady added that he was pleased to see money in the budget for public art. He asked for information on looking at networking the Council and Mayor together to come up a way to get the Council packet on a CD ROM instead of a paper packet. He asked staff to put together information on what this would cost.

Councilman Conroy also commended staff on the budget document and noted that he felt the networking was a good idea. He noted the 3 cent tax increase and felt this is needed to get done what is needed; the County is proposing to reduce taxes in 2007 so felt there will be a slight offset for the residents.

Mayor Robinson thanked staff for a readable document; felt the budget is going to be a budget that is challenging and encouraged restraint of exchanges among Council members. He said there are 3 or 4 capital projects that are coming to fruition after years of planning and hopefully they will move forward this year.

ADJOURNMENT

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

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk