Dear Neighbors:
Here’s a link to the agenda for the March 4 City Council meeting: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-march-4-2020/. The key agenda item is a vote on the revised version of the Climate Change resolution. There will also be a vote on the closure of a segment of Anne Street for the Crossroads SpringFest on May 2. The work session includes discussions on Election Code amendments, a public engagement contract for the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center renovation; a budget amendment; and possible appointments to resident committees. Prior to the start of the meeting, the Council will meet in a closed session at 7:00 PM to obtain legal advice regarding a possible contract dispute on a Public Works project.
UPDATES FROM LAST WEEK’S COUNCIL MEETING
Library Renovation. We received an update from Greg Lukmire, the project’s architect. One important piece of positive news is that there don’t appear to be any additional serious problems connected to the floodplain analysis that would require further costly revisions (beyond those that are already incorporated into the current design). Unfortunately, while the detailed cost estimates we were anticipating were not provided in time for this meeting, the projected costs for the project have continued to grow. This is partly due to the fact that several years have elapsed since the work on the current design began, but also because construction costs have been steadily rising in part as a result of the low unemployment rate in this area, higher costs of materials in some cases connected to the trade wars, etc.
In any case, the estimated hard construction costs for the current design are $8.3 million, as compared with last year’s estimate of $7.6 million. Both of these include about $500,000 for renovation of the Recreation Department facilities within the Community Center. I understand the value in potentially undertaking that work at the same time as the Library project. But given these latest numbers -- which don’t include “soft” costs like permitting, hiring a construction manager, storage during construction, furnishings, etc. -- my current inclination is to take the Recreation Department component out of the project.
The decision on that and other potential changes to the design that may be needed to help bring down the price tag can be made once we have a better accounting of all the soft costs. We’re expected to receive a schedule for getting that information at this week’s Council meeting. There are other sources of funding for some aspects of the project, beyond the $7 million we borrowed through the State of Maryland’s bonding authority and the other State grants we received, including for example some cable television money the City has. But it’s clear that, once we get the fully updated detailed cost estimates, we’ll have a challenging set of decisions to make. And community input will have to be a big part of that decision making process.
You can see the hard cost construction estimates through the Library project sublinks in last week’s agenda information: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-february-26-2020/.
And for those who are interested, you can view my part of last week’s Council discussion on the project through the following link, by going to the February 26 video and scrolling ahead to the 1:34 mark: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/.
City Manager Comments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-manager/city-manager-comments/2020/cm-comments-20200226.pdf
VOTING SESSION
Climate Change Resolution: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200304-1.pdf. Links to the revised climate change resolution and several other relevant documents are below.
As I’ve stated previously, while I was a strong supporter of last year’s climate emergency declaration and I favor the City taking affirmative steps to address climate change at our local level, I thought the initial draft of the resolution needed substantial modification before we’d be ready to vote on it. Among the changes I thought were necessary would be to clarify that the resolution represents a structure to analyze costs and impacts, receive community feedback and input, and enable focused Council consideration, rather than being a set of mandated requirements we’d be putting in place now. In addition, I felt the resolution needed to better reflect what would be the appropriate level of government for taking on the ideas under consideration, since some of the proposals contemplated in the original version didn’t seem to scale well for a City of our size. Also the resolution needed to mesh better with other key local initiatives like our Housing Strategic Plan, our tree initiatives, the Public Space Plan, etc.
I think that in general the resolution has moved in a positive directions on these and other key points. Its overall structure provides a solid framework for our future work on climate change, while ensuring that any specific actions or ordinances we consider will have to go through a robust public process with detailed reviews of potential costs. Of particular importance, under the approach laid out in the resolution each step would be able to build on the previous ones as opposed to having us decide in advance a schedule for multiple steps. While I’m continuing to review the draft, and I’m considering a few clarifying amendments, I intend to vote in favor of the resolution.
Revised Climate Resolution: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/climate-change-response-resolution-revised-2020-02-25.pdf
Youth Council Climate Statement: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/Youth-Council-Statement-Climate-Emergency-Response.pdf
Committee on the Environment Climate Statement: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/CoE-Support2020Resolution.pdf
Anne Street Closure Resolution: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200304-2.pdf. I’ll be voting yes on this proposal.
WORK SESSION
Election Code Amendments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200304-3.pdf. In the past our municipal elections were held in odd years when there were no other elections on the ballot. As we prepare for this year’s ballot --when our local elections will coincide with the Presidential and Congressional votes -- the City Board of Elections has proposed a number of changes and updates to our Election Code. The Council has held a series of work sessions on these proposed modifications, and with a final round of refinements having been made, I anticipate this will be our last discussion. The Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the Code changes later this month.
Recreation Center Community Engagement Contract: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200304-4.pdf. This year’s budget includes funding for an outside firm to conduct public engagement in order to help ensure that the fullest range of residents is consulted in advance of more detailed planning for renovation of the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center. The City received 5 responses to the RFP for this contract, and City staff is recommending that we hire Brick and Story, a Washington, DC-based firm. We’ll hear from staff on the background for this recommendation. The agenda material from the February 12 Council meeting has some information on Brick and Story and the other four firms: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200212-2.pdf
Budget Amendment: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200304-5.pdf. Periodically, during the course of a fiscal year the Council considers changes to amounts that have been budgeted for various purposes, often because of such factors as delays in filling City positions, slower than anticipated progress on projects and initiatives, or delays in receiving funds from other levels of government. We’ll be reviewing a package of changes along these lines.
Resident Committee Appointments: We may review some proposed appointments to one or more City committees, boards or commissions, but specific appointment details were not available at the time this message was prepared.
Please feel free to be in touch with questions or comments about any of the issues covered in this blog.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
Important Privacy Notice: All correspondence, including emails, to or from City of Takoma Park agencies, officials, and employees is subject to the Maryland Public Information Act and may be disclosed to the public.