Mayor Emmett Jordan, after a moment of silence in remembrance of Tom Simon and Rhea Serlemitsos, who both died recently, opened the council meeting of December 13 by praising former Councilmembers Ed Putens and Leta Mach. He handed off to Tom Reynolds, director of education for the Maryland Municipal League, to present an award to both. Because neither former councilmember was present, Councilmember Judith Davis requested a more in-person celebration of their service in the near future.
Silence is Golden
In the petitions-and-requests period, resident Daniel Theis pointed out that the rules pertaining to petitions and requests provide a span of time for comment by the public. He requested that council not respond to or comment during this time – partly to speed up the process and partly to avoid giving the impression that a particular item might be treated more or less seriously. He also suggested that a derisive response discouraged petitioners. He noted that in the last regular meeting in November, despite a request to councilmembers to refrain from comment, a quarter of the time devoted to petitions and requests was taken up by council responses. This included a minute and a half spent “admonishing” a resident for speaking for over five minutes to present three requests. Theis said that if council continues “speaking when it should be listening,” they are “taking a freedom for themselves that they are not extending to the public.” Jordan, presumably in the spirit of Theis’s request, merely acknowledged the comment.
Braden Field Baseball
Ruth White, a College Park resident and Greenbelt baseball coach, expressed her disappointment that requests for improvements on Braden Field are not in the new Master Plan. While congratulating the city on its overall maintenance and care of the ballfields, she requested the inclusion in the Master Plan of a three-year schedule to upgrade the facilities, covering equipment improvements and regrading of the uneven field surfaces.
Reparations
Lore Rosenthal pointed out that she has seen no mention of the reparations commission in any forthcoming agendas and that she feels it is time to get going.
GreenACES Reports
Michael Hartman was saddened that the GreenACES reports were put on the consent agenda because he felt they should get an airing but, as Davis explained, the process through which the various recommendations go means most reports become subjects for a worksession and may also be routed through the various planning boards.
City Manager
In a reference to City Manager Nicole Ard, a series of closed meetings were held during summer and fall to discuss her performance evaluation but no comment was forthcoming during the meeting on anything resulting from those meetings nor was any action taken during the closed meetings. (However, see story, page 1.)
Administrative Reports
Assistant City Manager Tim George reported that staff had kicked off preliminary budget discussions. He announced two new public information staff, James Wisniewski for city written materials and Leila Brown for videos, council meetings and workshops. George noted that active petitions and requests will be part of the city report in the future. He also noted that Public Works Director Jim Sterling was in his last few weeks on the job. After 37 years of service to the city, Sterling is retiring.
Councilmember Rodney Roberts questioned why asphalt millings are being dumped at the end of Northway and George took the action to research the concern. In response to a question from Councilmember Kristen Weaver, he noted that the number of households assisted by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds is now in Section 9 of the weekly city report (editorial note: and will also be in the News Review’s City Notes column going forward).
Police Information
Jordan commented on the recent decline in the amount of information appearing in the weekly police report that is posted on the web and which forms the basis of the weekly Police Blotter in the News Review. (Editorial note: editorial staff are engaged with Chief Richard Bowers and his staff in framing a workable process to acquire essential information promptly.)
The motion relating to Police Reform Procedures for the Greenbelt Police Department was recommended for a second reading. There had been some expectation that it would come to a vote that evening but some information was missing, effectively postponing any action.
Pickleball
Council reacted positively to a proposal to place pickleball lines on several tennis courts to accommodate the current pickleball peak. This action would increase pickleball courts in the city from 0 to 8.
Jordan, a well-known tennis afficionado with a commanding court presence and a deadly serve, recused himself from the discussion.
ARPA Funding
As of December 13, 136 Greenbelt households have received rental and utilities help from ARPA funding, using about $475K of the $500,000 originally funded for rental assistance. CARES Director Dr. Elizabeth Park requested the city transfer money from a similar fund set up for assistance on mortgage/homeowner’s associations (HOA) payments to take them through February. This money remains untouched, with only nine inquiries and zero completed requests. Council agreed to transfer $300,000 from that fund to the rental and utility assistance fund, despite resistance from Roberts. Discussion ensued on why the HOA/mortgage assistance fund remained unused with Jordan and Councilmember Silke Pope both noting that their respective HOAs had not distributed any information and suggesting higher levels of outreach. There was also speculation that hardship may be more prevalent among the rental community, with Councilmember Ric Gordon noting that there was generally a significant difference in pay and employment status between those who rent and those who can afford to own.
Legislative Program
In building the city’s list of legislative priorities that relate to the state, county and school board, city staff recommends a small number of priorities as the most effective approach to capture the interest of other legislative bodies. The current list contains several items and Jordan noted that the first several things on it are all things the city opposes. He felt that the city would do better to stress what it wants – the positive – rather than what it doesn’t want. Expanding on his thoughts, Davis also suggested dividing up the list by jurisdiction level, with city “asks” for state, county and school board listed separately. Though, as Weaver pointed out, the city currently has its students going to Greenbelt schools, Pope emphasized that the new developments coming soon would escalate school demands and that it was important to be vigilant about school boundaries. She did note that Springhill Lake Elementary was on the list for replacement in the next few years.
There was a discussion on the relative merits of demanding that all new developments be all electric – with environmentally conscious councilmembers not necessarily agreeing on what was environmentally sound. Most councilmembers seemed willing to jump on the electrification bandwagon, but Roberts noted that since most electricity was still generated from coal, electrification of buildings wasn’t yet a clean alternative and that electric heat can be particularly inefficient compared to natural gas – causing the burning of even more coal.
These recommendations were requested by city staff to inform them as they draft presentations to state, county and schoolboard officials.
