The Greenbelt City Council meeting on February 27 was short but informative. In attendance were Mayor Emmett Jordan and Councilmembers Judith Davis, Colin Byrd, Silke Pope and Rodney Roberts. A discussion with School Board Member Jonathan Briggs is in a separate story on page 7.
Charter Amendment
Due to an omission by the city from its advertisement in the News Review, notice of the originally scheduled public meeting to discuss the charter amendment on city manager residency was too late and had to be postponed. The new date for the meeting is Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building. At Jordan’s suggestion, a second meeting will be scheduled during the day on Saturday, March 25 (time TBD). Roberts objected that Thursdays or Saturdays were atypical meeting days and nobody would come, but the remaining councilmembers prevailed.
Car Tag Readers
Police Chief Richard Bowers and Captain Tim White spoke about the acquisition of an updated and automated license-tag reader that first reads and then compares the tag in real time with a statewide list of stolen cars or cars suspected of playing a part in a crime. White said it would keep Greenbelt’s technology in step with the county and other municipalities.
Byrd was concerned about the possible effect of false positives – where a tag was misidentified and the person driving the car subjected to being pulled over, possibly with dire consequences. White replied that with their current system, he knew of only one occasion (the database had not been updated to show a stolen car was recovered) where a person had been pulled over in error. Byrd replied that he wanted such events to be systematically recorded and not merely informally remembered.
WMATA Partnership
In other news from the police, Bowers reported a partnership with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which has a shortage of officers. Two Greenbelt officers (funded by Metro) cover the Metro station during peak hours – this is an overtime role and doesn’t affect policing levels otherwise. Greenbelt officers are on duty during morning and evening rush hours in the parking lot and approaches to the station, while the transit police monitor platforms and trains.
In response to questions, Bowers noted that crime in the parking lot is generally included in the police blotter but not that on the platform as it is not within Greenbelt’s jurisdiction. He said that the secured nature of the parking lot makes it less vulnerable than is generally the case in the city and that the incidence of auto-related crimes was thus much lower. He noted that the arrangement with WMATA was to be reviewed in June.
City Report
Interim City Manager Tim George reported that work on American Rescue Program Act projects was proceeding and that the program for microgrants for neighborhood organizations was in the planning stages. Staff are working on a stumbling block that recipients are required by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to be registered with SAM.gov, which qualifies contractors and grantees to receive funding. To be registered, an organization must be incorporated and complete a complicated registration process out of reach of small neighborhood associations.
George also reported that they are keen to increase the proportion of electric vehicles and to increase the number of charging stations. In response to questions by Roberts, George said the city is guided by affordability and practicality, depending on the class of vehicle. Now, he stated, only smaller vehicles like F-150 pickups are feasible; F-450 pickups and buses are not.
Petitions and Requests
During the petitions and requests section of the meeting, resident Robert Goldberg-Strassler requested that the Greenbelt Cemetery be expanded to permit a kosher section of the cemetery for Jewish members of the community who wish to be interred there.
Also, during this portion of the program, Robert Marin spoke on the “bring your own bag” ordinance that will be coming before council. He requested an exemption for food service establishments where it may not be appropriate for either practical or sanitary reasons to allow the purchaser’s own bags or to insist on charging for all the paper bags food is delivered in.
Ethan Sweep introduced himself in his role as community liaison for U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey, aiding council in such areas as grants or legislative concerns. He pointed out the grants newsletter is online on Ivey’s website, and noted that there was also community project funding through the House appropriation process.
Legislation
Council supported two pieces of legislation headed for the state legislature: a bill funding flood prevention, promoting environmental equity in inner Beltway communities prone to flooding, and a $1M grant for police mental health and stress management. A bill requiring a smoking policy for public areas in multi-family buildings also was of interest to council, with GHI and several large condominiums in the city, but they elected to take no position on it at this time, though Davis remarked that the increasing use of marijuana was exacerbating the problem as the smoke is so pungent.
Council was also in support of an amendment to a bill providing recruitment and hiring bonuses for police statewide from which Greenbelt and other larger municipalities had been excluded. Because the bill is also supported by Maryland Municipal League, of which the city is a member, council itself took no position.