Greenbelt’s municipal code was last updated in 2012 and needs revision. The Greenbelt City Council has been requested to authorize the city manager to enter into a contract with Municode for approximately $18K. The scope of this contract includes recodification, regular code updates, moving the city code online and updating the language used in the code.
At the June 17 council meeting, Mayor Emmett Jordan pointed out that the city had planned to do this update in 2021 but Covid intervened. City Manager Josué Salmerón said the city code should be updated annually because the code needs to include any new ordinances passed by council, while the city charter should be updated every 10 years.
Councilmember Kristin Weaver wanted to know how it will interact with the improvements to the city’s website and if the effort included the city charter. Salmerón responded they had not decided upon a platform for the new website but that this contract would also cover the city charter. Weaver asked about the accessibility of pdf documents in terms of being 508 compliant. Under the contract the city would be responsible for providing pdf material to Municode and those documents that were compliant would remain so.
Salmerón clarified that the contract is for digitizing the city’s code, not for changing it; however, there may be limited changes that could occur only after approval by council. For example, if there is part of the code that is not in compliance with federal law that would need to be changed by council.
All councilmembers voted in favor of the proposed contract.
Updating the Charter
As with the city code, the city charter is also in need of review and revision in order to reflect current laws and community needs. Council considered a proposal to authorize the city manager to make payments for services to the city solicitor not to exceed $15K for a review of the city’s charter. Salmerón said the time frame for this is 18 months but depends on council needs. This effort will involve council’s input and there is a worksession scheduled on establishing a Charter Review Committee and the specific scope of work. Some aspects are already covered; for example, the use of gender-neutral language will be accomplished through the Municode contract, but other aspects need to be set by council.
Weaver said that some cities have a standing Charter Review Committee although Greenbelt does not. Councilmember Danielle McKinney suggested that at the Charter Review worksession she would like to see how this step fits within the larger process and how the public can have input on the effort. Councilmember Jenni Pompi pointed out that the charter review process does not preclude council from amending it at any time.
Council voted unanimously in favor of the contract.