The Greenbelt City Council’s regular meeting of April 25 included the first public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2017 city budget that was adopted on June 6, first reading of a negotiated purchase resolution for long-awaited heating and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements to be made at the Community Center, and a request to revise the Detailed Site Plan (DSP) for Phase 1 and 2 of the Greenbelt Station South Core. A variety of presentations were given, including one from State Comptroller Peter Franchot that focused on the recent upsurge of electronic tax fraud through identity theft. As is often the case, the public hearing on the budget produced no statements from residents. It did produce a question from Greenbelt Station resident Patricia Walters, who asked if the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for Greenbelt Station had any relationship to this city budget, but she was told it did not. Petitions and Requests Walters spoke further at the Petitions and Requests part of the meeting about a rash of recent attempted car break-ins that had occurred at Greenbelt Station. She requested that security be kept in mind as various trail plans and other points of access are developed for the property.  Councilmember Judith Davis suggested that further development and occupation of the property were likely to help a great deal with this problem.

HVAC

A resolution of negotiated purchase was introduced for first reading for the cost of improvements to the HVAC at the Greenbelt Community Center, an effort that has been underway for nearly two years. In December 2014, a city council worksession was held to review the recommendations of the engineering firm hired to conduct an assessment and make recommendations on the work to be done. The two major areas of deficiency identified were 1) that the ventilation unit for the 1937 portion of the Center had a design flaw that kept it from fully dehumidifying the outside air, and 2) that the HVAC unit in the gym is very noisy because the return air duct is too small. Other recommendations were also made.  Click HERE for more on this story.