Dear Neighbors:
There’s no City Council meeting this week because of the Maryland Municipal League’s fall conference in Annapolis from October 10 - 12. I plan to attend portions of the conference along with some of my Council colleagues. Our next Council meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 17. Among the agenda items for that meeting will be further discussions on both the housing component of the Housing and Economic Development Strategic Plan and the LED Streetlight Conversion program. Below is more information on LEDs.
LED Walking Tour: This evening (Monday, October 8) there will be a public LED walking tour beginning at 7:30 PM. The City Council will tour the areas where sample LED streetlights have been installed (which include lights of varying Kelvin levels and wattages). City staff and Pepco representatives will be on hand to answer questions.
Residents who wish to participate should meet in the parking lot behind the Community Center shortly before 7:30 PM. The tour, which will require some short distance walking, is expected to last about 90 minutes. Here’s the tentative schedule for those who may wish to participate in only a portion of the tour:
• 7:35 PM: Buses leave Community Center, proceed down Flower Avenue from Piney Branch Road to Erie Avenue, park on Erie Ave
• 7:45 – 8:05 PM: Brief walk around Erie and Flower Avenues to observe two types of LED lights
• 8:05 to 8:10 PM: Drive to Elm Avenue near Hickory, park on Elm
• 8:15 – 8:45 PM: Walk up Hickory, to Columbia Ave., turn on Columbia to Pine Ave., turn down Pine to Montgomery Ave., arrive back at Hickory and walk to buses on Elm
• 8:50 to 9 PM: Return to Community Center
For more information about LED streetlights: https://takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/streetlight-update-project/
Residential Light Bulb LED Swap: Through October 31 residents can exchange up to 2 old incandescent or Compact Fluorescent Lamp light bulbs at the City’s Public Works building for new LED bulbs. The new bulbs are warm white 40 and 60 watt equivalent type A bulbs. Household LED bulbs can last 10 years or more, use 75% less energy than incandescent and 5-10% less energy than CFLs.
More details about this program and other important Energy Action Month initiatives is available here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/city-blog/energy-action-month/.
Youth Town Hall Meeting: The City’s Youth Council is sponsoring a Town Hall on Sunday, October 14 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM at the Community Center. Young residents who wish to participate can register through this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/takoma-park-youth-town-hall-tickets-47533388645. Additional information on the Youth Council can be found here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/boards-commissions-and-committees/takoma-park-youth-council/.
Montgomery College Math-Science Building Design Charrette: The next charrette meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 16 from 7:00 - 9:30 PM at MC’s Cultural Arts Center (7995 Georgia Avenue). http://mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/tpss-math-science-building/design-charrette-architectural-and-systems-concepts-2/
Please be in touch with questions or comments about any of these matters.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com