REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2006

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, June 19, 2006 in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Robinson called the meeting to order at 8:05 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.

AGENDA ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, AMENDMENTS:

Mayor Robinson added Proclamation P-15-06 and P-16-06 to the agenda congratulating two City employees on their retirement.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:

A. Councilman Lyles moved the appointment of Tom Schoepner as a member of the Economic Development Committee. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Councilman Jenkins moved approval of the following Consent Agenda items: A. Approval of Resolution R-48-06, Pertaining to the Treatment of Member Contributions Under the Law Enforcement Officers Pension System (LEOPS) As Employer Contributions Under Section 414(H)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, As Amended; B. Approval of Resolution R-49-06, Accepting Bid for the Supply and Installation for Parking Lot Lighting at Allen Pond Park; C. Approval of Resolution R-50-06, Accepting Bid for the Construction of a Walking Trail on Chestnut Avenue From 10th to 11th Streets; D. Approval of Resolution R-51-06, Accepting Bid Proposal for Property Condition Evaluation Survey; E. Approval of Resolution R-52-06, Authorizing the Transfer of Certain Amounts in the 2005-2006 Budget; F. Approval of Resolution R-53-06, Accepting Bid Proposal for Street Repair; G. Approval of Resolution R-54-06, To Rescind Bid Award to ECS Mid-Atlantic LLC for Non-Performance and Award Bid to Independent Consultants & Engineers, Inc. for Third Party Inspection of Parks and Grounds Facility; H. Proclamation P-15-06, Congratulating Joyce Berman on Her 28 Years of Service to the City of Bowie; and I. P-16-06, Congratulating Marilyn Milio for Her 10 Years of Service to the City of Bowie. Councilman Turner seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. Ordinance O-7-06 - To Add Article VI to Chap. 2 “Administration” to Prohibit the Disclosure of Confidential Information, to Establish Regulations for Ex Parte Communications and to Provide Sanctions for Violations of the Article - City Attorney Robert Levan reported that the Council held a worksession several weeks ago with regard to ex parte communications; Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance; the Council has an existing ex parte policy which was adopted in 1992; an attempt to amend the policy failed, however, at the suggestion of Council, the matter is being brought back to Council with the amendments proposed. Mr. Levan said that in addition the Council is concerned about protecting information that Councilmembers receive in lawfully established closed sessions of the Council, which are outside the open meetings law; the Council has indicated it would like to ensure that matters discussed and information disclosed in those sessions remain in the session are not released to other parties.

Following questions posed by Councilmembers to legal counsel, Councilman Jenkins moved to table Ordinance O-7-06 in order to better define the point at which a contact becomes subject to ex parte filing. Mayor Pro Tem Brady seconded the motion.

Councilman Lyles said he was concerned about the separation of powers issue and asked the City Attorney to briefly touch on whether the Council is turning over enforcement to either the executive staff of the City or the judiciary of the County, and does this present a constitutional problem. He also said he would like to see one or two examples of an ex parte policy called “Ex Parte Communication-Prohibitions and Sanctions” by some other municipality. City Attorney Levan responded that staff was not successful in finding something similar in the State of Maryland; ordinances were found after doing a national search and these will be provided to Council again.

The motion to table O-7-06 carried unanimously.

COUNCIL COMMENTS:

A. Councilman Turner spoke about the carnival being held at the Bowie Town Center. He noted that Council was not informed of its presence and thought that the Town Center officials should advise the City when a carnival or similar event is scheduled.

Mayor Robinson reported that the applicant did go through the permit process; felt that the provision in the City Council that allows such carnivals should be deleted.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved to adjourn the meeting into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters with Council. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC
City Clerk