REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The Regular Meeting of the Bowie City Council was held on Monday, May 19, 2008 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 Turner, Councilmembers Brady, Marcos, Polangin, Trouth and Valentino-Smith; City Manager Deutsch, Assistant City Manager Fitzwater, City Attorney Bob Levan, Members of the Staff, the Press, and the Public.

PLEDGE OFALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS/AMENDMENTS

Mayor Robinson moved, with Council approval, Consent Agenda item D. Approval of Letter to County Council re: M-NCPPC Budget for FY09 to New Business, item B.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION

Ms. Charlotte Hartmann, 2952 November Court, spoke about a recycling/refuse pickup problem experienced a week ago. She asked that Public Works acknowledge that she had a problem and call her back. The Mayor asked the City Manager to handle her request.

Mr. John Butler, 16122 Parklawn Place, President of Ternberry Homeowners Association noted that about one quarter of their homeowners have children who are of high school age or are soon to be and they support the construction of a new high school in Bowie. They understand that money is an issue but this battle has been fought for some time and it is time to get the new school.

Ms. Deborah Sell, 2705 Birdseye Lane, commented that to keep property values up in Bowie, we need to maintain excellent schools in the community and a second high school is definitely needed.

Ms. Mary Nusser, 3631 Majestic Lane, thanked the City for the funding granted to help with Bowie High School’s after-prom event and noted it was a great success. She thanked the Bowie Police Department for helping to protect the kids, particularly Officers Ferguson and Simms. Mayor Robinson extended thanks to the PTSO’s leadership.

PRESENTATIONS

The Bowie Police Department sponsored its First Annual Poster Contest “Bringing Our Missing Children Home” for 5th graders; 83 children entered the contest. Chief Perez and Deputy Chief Nesky were present to introduce the contest winners, which were selected by the City’s Public Safety Committee. First Place was awarded to Rachel Bunger of St. Pius X School; she received a $75 gift certificate from Target and Baysox tickets and will throw out the first pitch at the Baysox game on Sunday, which is National Missing Children’s Day. Second Place was awarded to Lenisha Paige from Heather Hills Elementary School, and Third Place to Macela Sanidad from Rockledge Elementary School. Mayor Robinson presented certificates to the winners, who were congratulated by all Councilmembers. Chief Perez noted that the Police Department will be at Sunday’s Baysox game to fingerprint children for free.

CITY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

Councilmember Trouth moved the appointment of Ms. Michelle Gray as a regular member of the Community Outreach Committee. Mayor Pro Tem Turner seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Mayor Robinson swore Ms. Gray into office in accordance with Sec. 92A of the City Charter.

COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mayor Robinson thanked staff and corporate cosponsor PNC Bank for conducting the Community Shred Day event held at Bowie High School on May 17th. The event was very successful and it was suggested that another one be held in November. The Mayor mentioned he would like to see this event scheduled for the first or third weekend in May as well as November.

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Mr. Deutsch noted that approximately 700 people participated in the Community Shred Day. Staff is looking at scheduling another event and it is hoped that the next event will include electronics recycling, as well as paper.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved approval of the following Consent Agenda items: A) Approval of Minutes of April 21, 2008 Council Meeting; B) Approval of Proclamation P-10-08 Celebrating Memorial Day 2008, By Honoring Those Whose Lives Were Given in Service to Their Country; and C) Approval of Resolution R-29-08 Adopting the Recommendation of the Bowie Advisory Planning Board to Deny Variance BV-2-08, a Request for a Variance From Section 27-120.01(C) of the Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance to Allow a 14-Foot by 19-Foot Parking Area Within the Front Yard at 3005 Belair Drive at Approximately Ten (10) Feet From the Front Lot Line. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Marcos and carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

A. Ordinance O-1-08 – Approving and Adopting a Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008 and Ending June 30, 2009. Mr. Deutsch noted that Council has spent the last six weeks or so reviewing the Fiscal 2009 Proposed Budget, and until last Monday night, most of the changes had revolved around adjusting the proposed expenditures to recognize the increased cost of gasoline and diesel. Council recognized the problem and added about $170,000 recommended by staff to the Budget. Council made some additional changes a week ago on the expenditure side; as a result of that, in order to make those changes essentially budget neutral, Council asked staff to propose an equal amount of reductions in the Budget. This was addressed in a memo Council received last Thursday; those reductions total $87,000, the exact amount that Council challenged staff to come back with. There are nine items: deferring Blacksox field lighting controller into FY10 ($24,000); after additional checking found the per unit price for E-citation equipment is $2,000 instead of $4,000, saving $20,000 and affording an opportunity to do more vehicles in FY09 than originally intended; deleting $10,400 in Revolving Loan/Grant Fund, which leaves the program with a budget of $42,100 which staff feels is legitimate and appropriate for the program to continue; filling approved Watershed Manager position in Planning Department September 1, which saves $10,100; eliminating proposed new part-time, daytime summer Park Ranger, a savings of $5,500; delaying start date to August 1 of approved Arts Specialist position in Community Services, a savings of $5,200; trim by $5,000 the Professional Services line item in Public Works Administration account which included $15,000 for deeds and easement research both in subdivision annexation and new development, will still allow staff to move forward with that issue; in Nondepartmental, Council had approved $60,000 for consultants under Professional Services and staff suggests reducing that by $5,000; reduce Printing under Professional Services in Economic Development by $1,800. The Budget that results is a General Fund Budget of $44,643,700; about $200,000 higher than the Budget that was proposed. The Budget also includes the Equipment Acquisition and Replacement Fund of $2,898,200; Capital Projects Fund of $31,308,000; and Water and Sewer Fund of $8,156,600. The City Manager urged Council to support the Ordinance on the Budget and the following Resolution on the Capital Improvements Program.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved that Ordinance O-1-08 as amended by the City Manager this evening be adopted. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Brady.

Councilmember Trouth brought up the Senior Summit which had been discussed previously; he feels this would enhance the already marvelous job the staff and City are doing with regard to Senior Services. He would like to see the City utilizing County resources to provide information on Medicare Part D plan and housing. This is not something that will impact the Budget; a lot of these services are provided by the County. There was Council concurrence to give staff direction to help Council with a plan to accomplish this by the fall.

Councilmember Polangin commended the City Manager and staff for the Budget; also for going back through the Budget to find the additional money for projects. An across the board cut would have been the easy way out but would not have not been the fiscally responsible way of doing it.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner thanked staff for their efforts over the last several weeks and months. He also thanked his colleagues, particularly the new members of Council, recognizing how daunting the budget process can be. He appreciated their input and discussion along with the senior members of Council and their patience. Council understands its fiscal responsibility to the City and residents to make sure we have a budget that is fair and balanced, and provides exceptional City services that residents have come to expect. The Mayor Pro Tem mentioned expenditures for pilot programs and useful devices to address speeding and traffic calming, as well as starting down a road with a Business Incubator Program to have businesses currently at home grow and expand into commercial office space or retail space and become full taxpayers to expand the tax base. Mayor Pro Tem Turner also said he thinks most people in the City will be satisfied with this Budget and with the direction in which we are headed.

Councilmember Brady commended staff, not just on preparation and development of the Budget, but also on what they do day in and day out. Councilmember Brady said he thinks the citizens should be proud of the action taken in this Budget; we continue looking forward and continue to raise the bar. The City is staying on target when it comes to the issue of developing the new Police Department and in heading to the completion of the City Hall project; in the end when both of these are completed, the citizens will be proud of what this and past Councils have done. His15th Budget, he said he is as impressed with the Finance Department and the City Manager in this whole process; they have responded to queries and questions, they have given Council information – sometimes the information is not what Council wanted to hear but it is the right information, and from that Council can make sound reasoned decisions when it comes to the budget process. As was predicted when the City went to referendum on the Police Department, the tax differential will result in a very marginal decrease in the total tax rate to the citizens this year. The Police Department will be at about 80% of staffing level within three years of its start. Councilmember Brady thanked his colleagues for their joint effort and looks forward to implementing the Budget.

Councilmember Marcos concurred with Councilmember Brady’s comments. He noted it has been a pleasure working with staff; they have done a wonderful job. Councilmember Marcos said he hopes everyone understands that Council has tried to listen to the needs of all who have approached Council.

Councilmember Valentino-Smith thanked staff. She emphasized that as priorities were rearranged last week, staff’s ability to be able to incorporate those new priorities without adding any additional cost to the Budget is appreciated. In going forward, she thinks that next year will be a difficult year; sees that there are structural issues whereby City departments will continue to grow beyond what our ability may be to keep up with just revenue from property taxes; may have to take stronger looks into the Budget to see what efficiencies can be created for the upcoming FY10. In this Budget, the recreation needs of the community could not be addressed but we realize that that is necessary; also need to recognize that the County recently has sent different signals regarding the second high school and the priority that it is or is not placing with respect to Bowie, and the change that it is incorporating with respect to allocation of fields and the Bowie Boys and Girls Club. Councilmember Valentino-Smith went on to say that in the next Budget she thinks that Council will have to make a serious attempt at figuring out how to create policy that ensures the City is going to maintain access to those fields for the citizens of Bowie and create additional recreation facilities; that may mean looking at cost structures for residents vs. nonresidents and any other measures.

Mayor Robinson commended staff. The Mayor expressed confidence that the support and advice that Council gets from the City Manager and staff is second to none across the State and he’s very proud to say that Council really appreciates it. The Mayor commended his colleagues, particularly the new members; it was not an easy task to jump into what will be the largest budget Council has ever approved, the largest capital project the City has ever initiated, the largest expenditure for City services that we have ever done and the broadest array of services that we have done. He also expressed thanks to those people who during the Budget process made observations, gave advice, guidance and comments.

Mayor Robinson noted the motion on the table to adopt Ordinance O-1-08 Approving and Adopting a Budget for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008 and Ending June 30, 2009. Council unanimously approved the Ordinance.

B. Resolution R-21-08 – Adopting a Capital Improvement Program for the Fiscal Years 2009-2014. Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved adoption of Resolution R-21-08. The motion was second by Councilmember Brady and carried unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

A. New Bowie Area High School – Discussion of Project Status and Funding Timetable. Council had requested a discussion on current correspondence received from the County and news reports about potential deferral of the new Bowie Area High School. The Mayor noted the City’s interest in this and that Council heard from some speakers on this. This is a matter that Council has addressed for a number of years and is concerned with some of the reports it is receiving about the potential movement.

Mr. Deutsch said Communications Coordinator Una Cooper is prepared to provide a PowerPoint presentation that helps to set this issue in context and provides some background on the entire process involved in the funding of public school facilities in our State. A copy of the presentation is on file at City Hall.

Mrs. Cooper reviewed the history of this project. 2007 was the first time the project appeared in the County CIP; planning was to start the following year, with construction in FY08 through FY11. Last year, discussion took place about including the Fairmont Heights High School which needed to be replaced. That project was added and the Bowie Area High School project was deferred for, what we were told at the time, a single year. When the proposed budget was received for this year, the planning had been extended out to FY14 and construction considered in the out years, beyond FY14.

Mrs. Cooper outlined what happens during the school construction approval process at the School System level. An evaluation of need takes into account enrollments; developments that are coming in the area; adequacy of boundaries with adjustments if necessary to solve problem before new schools are built. In the Fall of 2007, there was a move in the Board of Education CIP Committee to remove the Bowie Area High School project and there hadn’t been any community input to that proposal. The Board saw the error of doing that without community input and did not vote then to remove the project.

Mrs. Cooper gave an overview of the Maryland Public School Construction Program. The State Board of Public Works is going to meet on Wednesday, May 21st to do a final allocation for the year; through the process, they have made a determination on where all of the funding will go. The Bowie Area High School project is rated a “C” for this year, so even if there were enough money, it is not eligible for funding at this point. Ms. Cooper went over the chart showing the Board of Education’s priority projects; for FY08, the Bowie Area High School was number 14 and the IAC did not approve it. It is distressing that in FY09, not only is the project being pushed out in the CIP, it is also going down in the priority list (19). It is highly unlikely to get any funding at 19 with a rating of C.

The Mayor reiterated Council’s interest in this project and thanked Senator Doug Peters, Delegates Jim Hubbard and Gerron Levi, and County Council Member Ingrid Turner for meeting with Council tonight to discuss this project. He noted how difficult it was to accept that Bowie was not chosen as the site for the Henry Wise High School. Council had received absolute assurances from the County Executive and the Superintendent of the Schools that our project was next and should the County move forward on Fairmont Heights High School for necessary repair and replacement, both projects would go forward simultaneously, with the worst case scenario, our project would drop back a year from 2010 to 2011.

Senator Peters said he was not here to attack anybody or point fingers because that is exactly what other jurisdictions would like us to do and is exactly why some people are funded, and others not. In case there is a split decision, someone may step in and say I’ll take the money because you can’t make up your mind – this happens at the State, County, and City levels. He gave a brief history of how they were successful in the past in obtaining funding, using the Northview Elementary School as one example. The IAC will not even look at funding the school unless you have planning money in for the school; so at a minimum, plan of attack should be to get planning money in for the school, construction money can come in later. Senator Peters also talked about the situation with Greenbelt Middle School, which has been in the CIP for many years. County Council Member Turner provided an update on this project: Greenbelt is still working for funds; the plan is to do the school in sections so the students would stay in Greenbelt, alleviating the need to move to another facility. Senator Peters noted that Greenbelt was actually the next school that was scheduled to go into the Belair Annex; underlining that the Annex was a temporary solution for the Bowie High overcrowding; there was a gap after Bladensburg High School left so Bowie was able to use the facility. We continue to need to make a case for adding new schools or obtaining other buildings to allow for continued growth.

County Council Member Turner said this is going to take a team effort. One piece that is always forgotten in whatever involves the educational system is the need to include the School Board. They are a key and integral part of anything that involves education. Times are difficult and the County Executive has indicated that he will not provide County funding for any school that doesn’t receive funding through the IAC and the Board of Public Works so we have to figure out a way to overcome that. From what she can gather, no new high school was funded this year at the State level; the reason being an $80 million price tag. As a County, we submitted 10 schools and only 3 came back with total funding. In previous years, the County was able to forward fund a lot of schools with the hopes of receiving reimbursement; now the County Executive has said we can’t afford to do that.

Delegate Levi said she is new to the discussion around the Bowie Area High School and commended everyone’s leadership on this. Since this has come up, she has inquired with the State and it raised some potential challenges that we should look into. In other words, four agencies have to look at the site (including SHA, Department of Planning, Historic Trust) and return a consolidated letter. She has gotten mixed answers on whether that has actually happened; in order to get out of the “C” status and be an eligible project, that does have to happen. We should at least make sure that that step has been taken. The other issue is capacity, even with that step taken in order to get out of “C”; although there is an acknowledgement that Bowie High School is overcrowded, there is some feeling that there is capacity at the nearby or catchment schools -- Largo, DuVal, Henry Wise, Frederick Douglass. The IAC is going to be looking at that so we have got to some extent answer that, even if it is from other historical projects where there have been similar situations. Delegate Levi commented that from what she understands, the Greenbelt Middle School will be recommended for funding this year by the IAC; there was a Historic Trust issue that was resolved.

Delegate Hubbard said he thinks the way to resolve this is that after tonight, the group needs to get together and start working as a team again and make sure the planning money is in. What he tends to see on the chart are a lot of projects that were forward funded by the County, looking for reimbursements at a later date; because of the economic changes, that forward funding has stopped, as County Council Member Turner talked about. The County Executive has said he will not forward fund any more projects, which threw this project for a loop. Henry Wise was forward funded all the way. A lot of counties do that – Montgomery and Howard Counties, Baltimore City. Money that they receive through the CIP process is a reimbursement for their forward funding; they don’t wait for the IAC. We are frozen by this joint signature letter. When the County Council and the County Executive signed the joint signature letter, all the Delegate can do is fight for the money because we are frozen out of changing the projects. The Council and the County Executive make the final determinations, not the School Board. The County is going to have to forward fund some of these projects to get them rolling, because it would take years for the State to fund everything in the capital budget.

Mayor Robinson talked about Bowie contributing significantly to the County tax base and the Park and Planning tax base, but there seems to be a repetitive pattern of projects getting shorted. Delegate Hubbard agreed with County Council Member Turner that we need to get School Board members around the table with this group; especially since we are being opposed on this issue by some of the School Board members. We need to find out what the opposition is and why the opposition; if we have to overcome it, we need to overcome it as a team. County Council Member Turner said she would not stop at planning money; the way the economy is right now, make sure that you have more than planning money. The County won’t want to spend the planning money if they are not going to be able to build the school.

There was concurrence from the Delegation when Mayor Robinson asked if they would be amenable to having an informal worksession one evening to bash out ideas and a strategy. School Board member(s) will also be invited.

Delegate Hubbard said he agreed with County Council Member Turner on the planning money to start with; get a commitment from the County and then get the State’s commitment. With regard to forward funding, he said we will also need to get a representative of the County Executive around the table as well.

Councilwoman Polangin commented on the utilization rates chart which showed there are an additional 540 seats available at DuVal High School, which had gotten an additional 600 seats. Couldn’t we have gotten additional seats at Bowie High to relieve that pressure while we are waiting for the other high school to be built; she further commented that it seems like seats were put where they weren’t needed and not put where they were needed. Delegate Hubbard said there was a process that had been gone through with relation to these seats which starts with the Board of Education. It was his understanding that the intent of the Board when they added seats to DuVal was that there were certain boundaries that were going to be encompassed in new development around the DuVal area, including Fairwood; other boundary areas had changed somewhat at the last minute, so some of those boundaries now include Bowie schools as opposed to DuVal area schools. The process moved forward politically, with approval of County Council and County Executive and they signed the letter for 600 seats at DuVal. They were attempting to broaden that border to serve the DuVal area and to build those seats, they thought, would bring the capacity of the high school to that needed to serve a certain center area of Prince George’s County that wasn’t being served at the time.

Councilmember Valentino-Smith asked who creates the borders for the high school so we understand who actually is in the school and who is filling it to capacity. County Council Member Turner responded that the School Board does.

Councilmember Brady followed up on a comment made by Delegate Levi, regarding the requirements that four agencies have to sign off. He asked if that is a requirement stated in law or is that something that needs to be codified to set a requirement? It sounds like some of these projects are going up purely based on political rationale/reasoning that may or may not have valid supporting documentation. Delegate Levi said that in the COMAR regulations, it is apparently codified; as she understands it, all projects have to meet those various requirements and submission to the IAC, with these four agencies signing off and sending back a consolidated letter being a requirement and it is spelled out. Councilmember Brady agreed that we need to have a meeting fairly quickly and maybe periodic meetings on this issue to develop a strategy; he suggested two levels of meetings -- meeting with partners, those School board members who serve our area and at-large, and subsequent to that the stakeholders, the County Executive, the Superintendent and others. Because of the high ticket value for new schools versus a lower value for renovations – maybe that’s where we need to go instead of forward funding new schools; do renovations at County level and argue that the State step forward and be more supportive in construction of new schools upfront because of the higher risk, larger dollar value, the more immediate need. Six or eight years ago, the number presented at that time , school system needed 2.4 billion dollars to cover renovations of existing facilities that had nothing to do with new schools needed – a serious situation. Councilmember Brady suggested that maybe we can make it more palatable by distinguishing between renovations and new schools.

Councilmember Trouth thanked Delegate Levi for presenting some of the challenges. He asked how special schools play into this with regard to borders. He mentioned that there is supposed to be a special bus stop in the “A” section of Bowie for Suitland High School students. Councilmember Trouth commented that maybe we should look at a specialty school for the new high school. Delegate Hubbard said he doesn’t think the County is going to move forward with any more specialty schools; that was in the era of talented, gifted and magnets and trying to voluntarily get people from outside the Beltway to go to inside the Beltway schools. For those schools in existence now, there are no boundaries. Special schools have special pickups; special money is spent to send buses out to bring students to schools like Suitland. Those boundaries don’t reflect the same as for a high school in a city or municipality.

Mayor Robinson said he would like to see the group meet in four or five weeks and will ask staff to coordinate schedules. Senator Peters said County Councilman Dean should be included; the City Manager noted he was invited to attend this evening but his staff indicated he had another meeting. The Mayor again thanked the Delegation members and County Council Member Turner for their attendance and expressed appreciation for their seeing this issue as being important as well.

B. Approval of Letter to County Council re: M-NCPPC Budget for FY09. Mayor Robinson had asked that a couple of modifications be made to the letter. The City Manager said that in a revised draft, in the middle paragraph of page 3 we recounted that the grant for Allen Pond Park has remained at $78,600 and suggested to Council that you ask for $99,822, which is a 3% inflation adjustment for the last eight years. Council concurred.

In response to Councilmember Brady’s question regarding the availability of demographic data about the users so the City can say that a certain percentage of users are County residents, Mr. Deutsch said it would be extremely difficult to go beyond wild assumptions on that. Staff feels there are more than just Bowie residents by the crowds that come to the Park every week and the Commission has accepted that notion; we believe that is the reason they have funded it to the level that they have. As a point of information, for years the Commission merely cut a check to the City, based on it being in the Commission budget. They changed their process about three years ago to require a little more rigor; we have to submit statements indicating the level of City expenditure. The level of City expenditure at Allen Pond for all of our various activities of maintenance, lighting of fields, etc., exclusive of the Ice Arena, comes to about $250,000 a year. If you were asking for $100,000 plus or minus, that is less than half of the operating cost of the Park.

Mayor Robinson said given the various conversations concerning the high priority being placed on indoor facilities, he would suggest Council might want to ask that the phasing of the indoor facility for Green Branch Community Park be reconsidered, moving it to Phase I from Phase IV. Mayor Pro Tem Turner expressed concern that if Council asks them to reorder the priority, that may mean pushing it farther back; we need to be careful what we ask for. The Mayor said he doesn’t have a problem with asking them to consider moving it forward, as long as it doesn’t adversely affect their long-term planning. Councilmember Brady said he thought it would be helpful if instead of referring to the demands in the Bowie community, we say Bowie and surrounding community (two such references) because this will be a site used by the greater Bowie area.

Councilmember Valentino-Smith mentioned discussing general concern about the amount of money that we pay into M-NCPPC and asked if this letter is the type of letter where Council starts to raise our concerns, or do we save that for another forum where we ask for more specifics (an audit and how much money is actually being spent) so we have information on how much money is coming back to Bowie. The Mayor indicated that it would be handled separately.

Mayor Robinson noted that for the last several years, we have tried to go through the legislative process to get a greater return on our investment in the Planning Commission, or even get a set aside not unlike the County does when we provide local services. He would like to suggest that Council at least make an initial comment to that effect, specifically asking for a direct grant from the Park and Planning Commission to be used as we see fit for recreational purposes in an amount equivalent to 10% of our contribution to Park and Planning or $1 million, whichever is greater. In response to Councilmember Polangin’s question if this would be in addition to the $800,000 for the Collington Community Park, the Mayor indicated that it would be separate; this is a project already underway.

Mayor Pro Tem Turner said since the FY 2009 Budget and CIP will be adopted on Wednesday, maybe this would be a step Council could take for the next fiscal year; it is important to start laying the foundation. Mayor Robinson then suggested there could be an entry that Council would like to open discussion/dialogue about a more equitable distribution of Park and Planning funds that come to the City. Council had no objections to this suggestion.

Councilmember Valentino-Smith asked if when fields are built out as designated soccer fields, are they retrofitted so you can play lacrosse on them. Mr. Deutsch said there are different dimensions for soccer and lacrosse fields and he didn’t know if they are trying to design for both uses. Staff can check with the Commission staff that we have been working with. The Mayor commented that a soccer field has a rise in the middle and the lacrosse field is flat, so the shape would be the biggest challenge. Councilmember Valentino-Smith noted there is an incredible growing community of lacrosse and it’s offering many young people opportunities for college scholarships.

Regarding Mayor Pro Tem Turner’s comments, Councilmember Brady said he concurred and would suggest Council not put this in this letter, but rather in the coming months develop a strategy and then approach Park and Planning and start looking at the out years. He also reminded Council that they will be looking at a new gymnasium, and there is a possible opportunity to partner with the Commission in the funding of that capital project so that would tie in well with what you are trying to get. The consensus was to instead of indicating a specific number, indicate that it is time to have a serious discussion and then follow-up with something at a future time.

ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Pro Tem Turner moved that Council meet in Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Brady and carried unanimously.

The Regular Meeting adjourned at 9:43 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Anne S. Ford, Acting City Clerk