REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006

CALL MEETING TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, November 20, 2006, 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 Brady, Councilmembers Conroy, Jenkins, Kroemer, Lyles, and Turner; City Manager Deutsch, Asst. City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Robert 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. Jim Loftus, 2702 Federal Lane, spoke about and gave a brief history of the proposed widening of Route 197. He felt that the construction needs to be kept to a minimum and there was no need for a median.

B. Ms. Elveeda Dixon, Chairman of the Bowie Diversity Committee, reminded everyone that there are certain months and weeks on the calendar that are set aside to reflect the contributions of various communities and groups of people. She said that Native American Heritage Month is recognized in November each year. Ms. Dixon gave a history of the Native American culture.

PRESENTATIONS:

A. Teacher of the Month Recognition - Ms. Pat Dolan, Chairman of the Bowie Education Committee, introduced the Teacher of the Month for September, Ms. Judy Decker, who is a Special Education teacher at Tulip Grove Elementary School. Mayor Robinson presented Ms. Decker with a Certificate of Recognition and a savings bond from Washington Savings Bank.

Ms. Dolan then introduced the Teacher of the Month for October, Ms. Mary Louise Brittain a first grade teacher at Yorktown Elementary School. Mayor Robinson presented Ms. Brittain with a Certificate of Recognition and a savings bond from Washington Savings Bank.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT:

City Manager Deutsch reported: 1) The Maryland Health Care Commission met and the hospital issue was removed from the agenda at the request of Dimensions; it will be rescheduled for the January agenda. 2) The Melford plan was scheduled for review on November 30; it has now been moved to December 21 to allow the developer to make changes requested by the Park and Planning Commission staff.

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved the approval of the following items: A. Approval of Resolution R-91-06, Authorizing the City Manager to Enter Into a Contract to Purchase Carpet for the Hallways at City Hall; B. Approval of Resolution R-92-06, Accepting the Storm Water Management Facility Located Within the Fairview Subdivision; C. Approval of Resolution R-93-06, Approving a Site Lease Between the City of Bowie and Clearwire US LLC to Install Radio Communication Facilities at the City of Bowie Water Tower Located at 3107 Belair Drive; D. Approval of Resolution R-94-06, Accepting Bid Proposal for Battery Backups for Traffic Signals; E. Approval of Resolution R-95-06, Accepting Bid for the Construction of a Water Main Extension at Whitemarsh Park; and F. Approval of Resolution R-96-06, Authorizing the City Manager to Issue Proclamation P-22-06, Suspending the Effective Date of Resolution R-64-06. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Preliminary Plan #4-06063 - Rodenhauser Property - Mr. Frank Stevens, City Planning staff, summarized the staff report dated November 16, 2006, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He reported that the subject property is located on a 73-acre parcel located on the east side of Church Road between U.S. Route 50 and Dunwood Valley Drive. He displayed a PowerPoint presentation showing lot layouts, and aerial photograph, stream valley, wetlands and woodlands, neighboring subdivisions, zoning of the area (R-E), environmental features, a subdivision plan, which shows the street pattern, lot layout, and Church Road access. Mr. Stevens reported that under the Subdivision Regulations of Prince George’s County Subtitle 24, there are several findings that need to made in order for Preliminary Plan to be approved: the first finding is that Adequate Public Facilities either exist or are programmed in the area of the property; the second finding is that the Subdivision is designed in concert with Woodland Conservation and Tree Preservation Regulations; and the third finding is that a submission may be required of a Stormwater Concept Management Plan. He said a Stormwater Management Plan has been submitted and approved in May of last year; with respect to APF, the criteria for public water and sewer is met for the project, the response times for emergency and non-emergency police calls is met under CB-69; fire and rescue facilities the subdivision is located within the required 7-minute response time; the County can impose a school surcharge school facilities under CB-31-2003, and in this case it would be over $13,000 per lot which would be payable to the County prior to the issuance of building permits; staff is recommending that since all 3 school clusters exceed the 100% capacity that the City send a letter to the County requesting that this inadequacy be resolved. Mr. Stevens then said with regard to traffic, the Church Road Task Force had 3 recommendations for this segment of Church Road which include improvement for an off-road bicycle/pedestrian/hiker-biker trail along Church Road, working with developers for the construction of entrance and roadway improvements, and for installing shoulders along Church Road; staff is recommending that these 3 items be incorporated into the developer’s roadway improvement plans for Church Road that are submitted for review and approval by the Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation. With respect to Woodland Conservation, Mr. Stevens said that under the previously submitted plans, Woodland Conservation were proposed to be mitigated off-site; under this plan all the Woodland Conservation requirements are being met on site. He also spoke about recreational amenities and wildlife guidelines.

Mr. Stevens concluded his report by saying that staff recommends approval of Preliminary Plan #-4-06063 subject to the conditions on Pages 9 and 10 of the staff report with modifications: Condition #1a - delete; Condition #3 - change to read that a trail segment will be provided within an easement between Parcel A and Lot 23; and Condition #8 - the language would be changed so that the developer will provide a fee-in-lieu to Prince George’s County Parks Department.

Mr. Craig Leonard, employee for PDC, Inc. on behalf of the applicant, referred to the conditions and noted that: Condition #1b and c will be issues that are ultimately be up to the County Department of Public Works with regard to the specimen trees, there may be one specimen that will be able to be retained in the area where the access way is going to go; Condition #3 - felt it is a good idea to put the right-of-way between the pump station and the adjacent lot, but need to confirm that it will be fenced and need to look into having sufficient room for screening; Conditions #6 and 7 relating to alignment of homes, are builder issues and they will be discussed with them. Mr. Leonard indicated that they are in agreement with the other conditions.

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

Following questions of the applicant’s representative, Councilman Turner moved to approve the Preliminary Plan #4-06063 with the following amendments to the conditions: 1) 1a to read “Payment to the County of a pro rata contribution for improvements to Church Road, as recommended by the Church Road Task Force, shall be made prior to the issuance of building permits”; 2) Delete Condition #4 and renumber other conditions, 3) Condition #5, vehicular access to Church Road be prohibited for Lots 1, 2, 3 and 33; 4) Conditions #3 and #8 - change the language as proposed by staff. Councilman Conroy seconded the motion and it carried with a vote of 6-1 (Lyles).

B. City Hall/Police Station - City Manager, David Deutsch, summarized the staff report dated November 16, 2006, a copy of which is on file at City Hall. He reported that an RFP was issued last spring for an architectural firm to analyze City Hall space needs and to determine the space needs for the new Police Department; a contract was awarded to Fentress Bradburn with an office located in Washington, D.C. He said they have done a thorough job of analyzing the issue both at City Hall and the need for space for the Police Department; they have examined the future of the City Hall property as well as the consideration of placing a new municipal center at city-owned property at Bowie Town Center; they also examined a “split scheme” which would involve building a new City Hall at the Town Center and retaining the current City Hall for police and some other operations.

Mr. Brian Chaffee and Mr. Bill Vinyard, Fentress Bradburn, displayed a PowerPoint presentation that showed the findings of the space needs. He said they have conducted a site analysis of the Town Center site and the Kenhill Drive site, assessed some of the existing building conditions, and developed some concept schemes for each of the two sites as well as a spit scheme. He said that out of this study, they developed one scheme they feel is appropriate for each of the sites in addition to the split scheme; they generated a preliminary schedule of design and construction for each of the schemes, which enables them to prepare a cost estimate. Mr. Chaffee then said they created criteria for an evaluation with weighted priorities and they have some thoughts about an appropriate civic image. He described several buildings that have been constructed by Fentress Bradburn. He said their objective is to analyze and study and to provide a basis for Council to make an informed decision on how to proceed with space use needs, and the impact a new police department will have on space usage; some critical questions that need to be answered include what are the current and future needs projected out, how much might city hall and the police department really grow, will the current building meet those needs and, if not, which of the site alternatives, the Kenhill Drive site or the Bowie Town Center site, would best meet the growth needs, how long will it take to build and how much will it cost? Mr. Chaffee further reported that an 8-page questionnaire was issued to city departments; they were reviewed to understand the space needs and then the findings documented in a summary table; this effort yielded a building requirement of just under 81,000 square feet projected out to the year 2026.

Mr. Bill Vinyard then summarized the site analysis of the two sites and the individual schemes for each site. He then reviewed the building formats and displayed plans for the current building showing new construction, parking, traffic flow, etc. on both sites.

Mr. Chaffee said for planning purposes, the project would have about an 8-month design schedule irrespective of the scheme; permitting would take about 9 to 12 months; this would put the construction start date at approximately April 21, 2009. Mr. Chaffee spoke about the time frame for construction and/or renovation and construction costs for both sites.

In response to a question posed by Councilman Jenkins regarding whether discussion had been held on the two sites contained in the report, City Manager Deutsch replied that when the RFP was prepared some months ago, it was sent to Council for review and it contained the two subject sites; had Council come back to staff to suggest that additional sites need to be considered, the proposal could have been modified before sending out for solicitation. He said Council did not submit any other suggestions, thus staff felt Council was individually and collectively supportive of the examination of two sites.

Councilman Jenkins then asked about what would happen to the current site for City Hall if the Bowie Town Center site were chosen. Mr. Deutsch replied that although the property was deeded to the City by Prince George’s County, there is a reversion clause that indicates that unless the property is used for municipal offices, the property would revert to the County; if Council decided to vacate this property, perhaps in partnership with the County a future use would be demolition and creation of senior housing on the site which the neighborhood might find compatible.

City Manager Deutsch then advised Council that if Council makes a decision in the next couple of months, staff would then work on a RFP for an architect for design of the project; financing will be discussed at the next Council worksession in conjunction with the FY ’08 budget and staff would be in a position to present a funding scheme to Council that could move the project forward into FY ’08.

City Manager Deutsch said, in response to a question from Councilman Jenkins, that discussion of other sites that would have to be leased or purchased is a subject for discussion in executive session.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mayor Robinson wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and asked that everyone take a moment to think about the men and women serving our country overseas.

ADJOURNMENT:

Mayor Pro Tem Brady moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Jenkins seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Pamela A. Fleming, CMC, City Clerk