As reported in another article, the Greenbelt City Council meeting of August 8 opened with the swearing in of two new police officers and the presentation of other awards by the Police Department. One more presentation remained to be made, however, as Mayor Emmett Jordan read a proclamation declaring the week of September 1 to 7 as Zero Waste Week in Greenbelt.
The ultimate goal of zero waste is to have no trash to be sent to landfills or incinerators. This goal can be supported by reducing waste, reusing materials, composting food scraps and yard waste and increasing recycling. In addition to the benefits to the environment, practicing zero waste can support green employment and business opportunities.
Receiving the proclamation were a number of members of GreenAces, the Green Team and others. Susan Barnett gave an overview of anticipated activities, which she said would be further developed in articles in this newspaper in coming weeks. Noting that Zero Waste Week will overlap with the Labor Day Festival, she said they can use more volunteers and urged anyone who can help to call the Public Works Department.
Other agenda items included selection of a search firm to assist in filling the position of city manager, purchase of ballistic door panels for police vehicles, revisions to the Detailed Site Plan for Greenbelt Station Phase 3, a grant application for playground renovation, and approval for a resident to construct a temporary connection to the Buddy Attick Park Lake path.
Petitions and Requests
During the Petitions and Requests segment of the meeting, Colin Byrd of Mathew Street presented a request that the city council adopt an anti-discrimination ordinance providing protections based on sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity, including letting transgender people use public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, rather than their gender at birth and barring business from refusing services to same-sex couples. He said although the State of Maryland has enacted a law providing some protections, it is not comprehensive since it exempts churches, clubs and — most importantly — schools.
In addition to taking a public stand on these issues for reasons of equity and civil rights, Byrd cited pragmatic reasons for doing so, including the city’s bid for the new FBI facility and the lack of protections for transgender individuals in the rival state of Virginia.
Robert Snyder of Hillside Road requested that the city look into issues with its cablecasting of city council meetings and worksessions. He said there are times when there is no audio accompanying the video when he tries to watch on Comcast. He also said that as far as he can determine, meetings and worksessions are no longer replayed on the public information stations during the week.
Executive Search
The city council had held a series of closed meetings to determine whether to contract the services of an executive search firm to assist them in identifying candidates to fill the position of city manager. Current City Manager Michael McLaughlin will retire at the end of the year. Five firms responded to a selective solicitation. Of those, council interviewed representatives of four, whose bids all fell within a narrow range. Council then conducted second interviews with two of the firms, GovHR and the Novak Group.
Six of the councilmembers came into the meeting split three to three on the two companies. Nonetheless, all six spoke very highly of both, saying either company had the capability to do a very good job. Supporting Novak were the mayor and Councilmembers Konrad Herling and Silke Pope. Supporting GovHR were Councilmembers Edward Putens, Leta Mach and Judith Davis.
While there were several points of divergence of opinion, the major difference appeared to be that supporters of GovHR preferred its more national experience and its currently being less involved in searches local to Greenbelt. Those supporting Novak thought that this company’s greater local experience would be of more value to Greenbelt in the current environment in which a number of competitive searches are taking place.
Roberts refused to give any reasons for supporting a choice of one firm over another and instead apologized to the residents of Greenbelt for the selection of the firm not having been a completely open process. He said the city manager works for the residents. Davis replied that it is the council that is elected by the residents to assume responsibility for contracts, which is all that was being undertaken at the time. Putens added that the process of the search itself would be as open as possible and that seeking community opinion at that point is appropriate and a priority.
Council voted unanimously to suspend its standing rules, which was necessary to enable making a decision that night without bringing the matter back for a second reading. A motion to adopt a resolution to contract with Novak failed. A motion to adopt a resolution to contract with GovHR at a cost of up to $21,000 then passed 4 to 3, with Councilmember Rodney Roberts joining the vote to support GovHR with no further explanation.
Ballistic Door Panels
At its July regular meeting, the city council approved the purchase of five Ford Police SUVs but asked whether ballistic door panels were an option for these vehicles. The Police Department solicited the vendor for a quote and found the panels would cost $4,830 per vehicle, raising the price to $24,150.
Lt. Gordon Pracht thanked the council for having raised this option as a possibility. Since it was determined it could be covered by the Police Department budget, council voted to support it. Pracht pointed out that this would likely become an ongoing expenditure. He said at this time the department’s recommendation would be to limit the panels to marked cars as they are replaced, while not retrofitting any cars and not using them on unmarked cars.
Phase 3 DSP
In April the Prince George’s County Planning Board approved the Detailed Site Plan (DSP) for Greenbelt Station, Phase 3. According to Community Planner Jessica Bellah, the majority of the city’s conditions were incorporated. The revised site plans from Woodlawn Development Group had now come back to the city council for approval.
The only issue flagged by city staff for council review was that two houses no longer met the city’s requirement that there be a setback of at least four feet between sidewalks and privately owned homes. Staff recommended that instead of the one-foot setback presented in the revised plan, a setback of at least three feet be required, with the landscape buffer between the sidewalk and the street then reduced to at least two feet. The city council approved the revised plans with that change on a 6 to 1 vote with Roberts objecting to the generally increased density of the project.
Justin Frye, representing the developer, told council that sales are good at Greenbelt Station. About 140 permits have been pulled, with 100 houses occupied and 40 under construction.
Playground Proposal
Last year the city’s application to the State Community Parks and Playgrounds Program to renovate the Community Center playground was not funded. Although that was the first time the city had been denied funding since the program started in 2002, it was also the case that the program’s funding was halved last year.
City staff recommended that the same project be submitted this year, with a restructuring of the budget to include cost sharing of 25 percent ($42,228) by the city. The renovated playground would serve children 2 to 5 and would be significantly redesigned. The council voted unanimously to support the plan.
Access to Lake Path
Lawrence Schmid, a resident of Maplewood Court, requested permission to construct a path that would span from his property line to the Buddy Attick Park Lake path. About 40 feet of this path would be on city property. Schmid has mobility limitations requiring that he use a walker or an electric scooter to get around. He has an accessible ramp from his house to the rear of his property. Extending the path as requested would give him a way to travel to Roosevelt Center.
The council voted to approve the request by granting an exception to what would otherwise be a violation of the city’s Greenbelt Lake encroachment policy. Schmid will maintain the path, which will be made of a crushed stone compatible with the lake path. The need for the path will be reviewed every two years, and it will be removed at the resident’s expense if no longer needed.