At its meeting on February 27, the city council took steps to develop Greenbelt’s very first recreation and parks facilities master plan, a project long anticipated by recreation staff and the city’s Park and Recreation Advisory Board. Other matters included an annual presentation from the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, Inc., discussion of the city’s practice for selecting auditors and clarification of matters related to the county zoning rewrite. Several requests were also presented to council for future consideration, including one regarding possibly high lead levels in the water at some local schools.
Two resolutions for negotiated purchase that had been introduced for first reading at the February 13 meeting were adopted. Assistant Recreation Director Joe McNeal was present to answer questions about the resolution for $50,000 to develop the recreation and park master plan. Of the firms responding to a Request for Proposals (RFP), the firm recommended by staff to undertake the job was GreenPlay, LLC. Although the firm is based in Colorado, the project manager assigned to Greenbelt is located in Silver Spring. Staff and council both found the proposal to be thorough and impressive in its approach to evaluating current facilities and framing recommendations for the future. A telling indicator of the proposal’s thoroughness was that Councilmember Judith Davis shook her head and said, “I couldn’t find any questions to ask!”. For more information on this story, click here.