The January 25 meeting of the Greenbelt City Council opened with a proclamation presented by Mayor Colin Byrd in recognition of February as Black History Month. Dr. Lois Rosado, representing the Greenbelt Black History and Culture Committee, received the proclamation and introduced the other members of the committee.
Rosado described some of the many virtual programs to be offered over the month of February. Together with Leeann Irwin, she published an article about the programs that appeared in the January 28 issue of this paper, and there were notices and information on forthcoming programs in the city ad and in Community Events in subsequent issues.
Petitions and Requests
On behalf of the Greenbelt Climate Action Network, resident Josh Poland presented a request to council to send a letter to Greenbelt School Board Representative Joshua Thomas in support of a resolution currently before the school board to create a focus work group tasked with drafting a School Board Climate Change Action Plan for Prince George’s County schools. Poland identified the item as time sensitive because it would come to the board for second reading and action at its February 11 meeting.
Because of the time factor, Councilmember Judith Davis moved to special order taking action on this request, and eventually it was moved and adopted to direct staff to draft the required letter.
A request from resident Patrick Gleason was for consideration of an additional entrance sign to Buddy Attick Park and increased landscaping and upkeep in the areas of some of the tennis courts.
Konrad Herling asked that council support two pieces of state legislation regarding purchase of guns in a way that evades having a background check: long guns or rifles purchased at gun shows or private sales and “ghost guns” where parts of guns can be bought separately and assembled by the owner. There was agreement to consider these bills at the next meeting.
Davis had received a request from two residents who were concerned that the Festival of Lights appeared to represent only one religion. The residents suggested in the future including Christian, Jewish and Kwanzaa symbols, with other groups given time to highlight their religion or culture. The Community Relations Advisory Board (CRAB) has reviewed this topic in the past, but council supported Davis’ suggestion that it might be well to refer it to CRAB again for review.
Swim Team
Tris West, president of the Greenbelt Municipal Swim Team, met with council to review the group’s application for 2021 Recognition Group status. Following discussion of what it is like to manage a swimming team and its budget during a pandemic, council unanimously voted to approve the application.
ACE Grant Awards
Jon Gardner reported to council that this year’s Advisory Committee on Education (ACE) grant competition received 30 proposals from four of the six city schools. Those that applied were Greenbelt Elementary, Springhill Lake Elementary, Magnolia Elementary and Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
In general, ACE grants go toward needs or activities that are not funded by the Board of Education such as field trips, supplemental instructional materials, family engagement activities and teacher development.
Davis had high praise for ACE’s creativity in approaching the competition this year, including both face-to-face and virtual projects, with funding for the former to wait until in-person projects are feasible. She also commended the recommendation to provide $600 to each of the six schools to assist with problems of food insecurity. Other members of council joined in the praise for ACE’s work.
Community Relations
CRAB co-chairs Rick Ransom and Jamie Krauk had asked to speak with council about the role the board, as well as other city boards and committees, could play as efforts go forward to improve racial equity in the city. One area discussed was sponsoring or facilitating community hearings.
Greenbelt Station Parkway
The Greenbelt Station South Core includes both private and public streets. Woodlawn Development Group has completed Greenbelt Station Parkway and requested the city to accept it for city maintenance. Staff inspection confirmed that the work had been completed as planned, with some landscaping to be reviewed in the spring and minor asphalt sealing to be completed when weather permits, conditioned on the posting of a maintenance bond.
Board Appointment
In what surely will set a record or two, Sudhanshu Sinha, who had served on ACE for 15 years, retired from that committee recently, only to be appointed at tonight’s meeting to CRAB.
State Legislation
Council also discussed support for state legislation, which will be reported separately.