Dear Neighbors:
Due to the pandemic, the City Council meeting on Wednesday, July 29, will be held remotely. Sign-up for public comments will be open until 5:00 PM on Wednesday. Link to sign-up for Live Public Comments. Here’s a link to the agenda: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-july-29-2020/. This is the last meeting before our annual break. Meetings will resume in mid-September.
We’ll begin this week with an initial meeting at 5:00 PM, during which we’ll receive two presentations: first, an update from City staff on Takoma Park’s COVID-19 response, and then an Assessment of Park Quality, Accessibility, and Race. At 7:30 PM the Council will reconvene for our regular meeting, which includes votes on the following: three resolutions on this fall’s elections; and final votes on the revised Tree Ordinance and the budget amendment (actually two separate votes). There will also be votes on extending the terms for members of City committees; re-starting our quasi-judicial proceedings; authorizing Councilmembers to sign a friend of the court brief concerning small cell towers; appointments to the Youth Council; and lastly a resolution formalizing the Council recess covering August and early September. There’s more information on all these topics below.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ward One Community Meeting Reminder. Tonight (Tuesday, July 28), I’m hosting a Ward One virtual community meeting. Here's the registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrf-qspjwsGdUPIjIlAO869e0ANnCwVDhw. After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email with more details. All topics are welcome.
Updated COVID-19 Data. City staff posted updated COVID-19 data on the website on Friday, July 24. Takoma Park's updated COVID-19 infection rate was 2.9% as of that date. Montgomery County's infection rate was 1.6%. The updated chart showing numbers of confirmed positive cases -- 509, which is a 32 case increase from the previous week -- is posted on the City's COVID-19 Resource Page. There’s other useful data there, as well.
Some residents have asked about data on COVID-related fatalities within Takoma Park. While we’ve continued to seek additional data from the County, the data on deaths is not available by exact address, only by zip code. So the County Department of Health and Human Services can’t separate out deaths that are specific to Takoma Park. When it comes to confirmed cases, those data are available from the State of Maryland by exact address, so DHHS staff is able to provide City data on overall case numbers.
On a related matter, DHHS cannot send us raw data with geo-coordinates or addresses which would enable City staff to separate out Takoma Park data, because those geographic details are protected health information under law. Releasing the data could violate individuals’ privacy, especially in areas where the caseloads are relatively low, and it could be easier to identify people. While DHHS is short-staffed and they’re receiving high volumes of data requests from municipalities, they are continuing to expand the information provided on the data dashboard: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/data/.
Takoma Junction Development. Last week NDC submitted a series of updated drawings and site maps for the project to the County Planning Office. You can see them through the following links (click on the submissions dated July 20, 2020; there are several dozen documents):
There are many highly technical images, which may be of interest to residents with a background and experience in documents of that kind. For those who prefer more easily understandable visuals, I’d suggest starting in the second of the two links above, with the submissions that have the designation ARCH, in particular numbers 001, 002, 004 and 007 - 012. You may also want to take a look at the submissions designated LL, specifically 001, 002 and 007.
I had the opportunity to participate in the most recent monthly City call with NDC about the project, which took place on July 17. You can see a summary of the call via this link: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/project-directory/Takoma-Junction/2020_NDC-Updates/20200717-Council-NDC-Staff-Call.pdf. While the notes on the call refer to a potential two-week review process for the new submissions, we heard further details from County Planning Office staff in last week’s Council meeting which suggest the process still has several months to go. Specifically, Elza Hisel-McCoy stated that the County staff review period has been extended to the end of September, that he didn’t expect there to be a Planning Board hearing on the project in September, and that he anticipated the full process would take at least a month or two beyond the end of September. He said specifically that the Junction project would not formally go before the Planning Board for a vote until the City Council votes on it first. You can see video of the discussion starting at the 1:05:30 time stamp through this link: City Council Presentation - Wednesday, July 22, 2020.
SSI Park Improvement Project. The County Planning Board approved the Silver Spring Intermediate Neighborhood Park improvement project plan on September 5, 2019. This is the park between Boston and Philadelphia Avenues near Montgomery College. After approval, Montgomery Parks entered the detailed design phase of the project. As of July 2020, the detailed design process is 50% complete. During the design phase, several revisions have been made to the plan to improve the constructability of the project and as cost saving measures. Details on the updated plan and project timeline can be viewed on the project page under “Status/Project Update.” I would welcome resident feedback on the plan.
City Manager Comments. You can see Suzanne Ludlow’s official comments from last week’s Council meeting here: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-manager/city-manager-comments/2020/City%20Manager%20Comments%20_%2007.22.2020.pdf
PRESENTATIONS
COVID-19 Response: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-1.pdf. In our budget process earlier this year, I was pleased to join with my Council colleagues in establishing a COVID fund containing over $600,000 to be used for assisting renters, homeowners, small business owners and others in the community who are negatively affected by the pandemic. We also put more than $1 million in additional monies intended for other purposes on hold, pending further analysis of our COVID response needs going forward. Our Takoma Park staff have been putting in long hours responding to the wide range of health, housing and economic needs in the community connected to the Coronavirus. We’ll be receiving an update from staff on the use of the funds and progress on responding to those needs.
I’ve asked for the presentation to include more details about details on how many people and businesses are projected to be assisted through the various pots of money that have been set up within the overall COVID fund, as well as how our success can be measured going forward. I’d also like to hear more specifics on how we’ll assess whether and when we may need to tap into the additional funds that have been put on hold for potential COVID response.
Assessment of Park Quality, Accessibility, and Race: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-2.pdf. As part of Takoma Park’s work on racial equity, City staff is developing tools to guide decisions about access and improvement in public spaces. These tools include a park amenity data collection process, a park grading scale, and an analytic distance matrix process with racial demographics to look at accessibility.
VOTING SESSION
Takoma Park Fall Election
https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-3.pdf
https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-4r.pdf
https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-5r.pdf
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Takoma Park’s local elections for Mayor and City Council will be conducted entirely through mail-in ballots. Every registered voter will receive a ballot in the mail in October, and any ballots postmarked or dropped off by Election Day will be counted. The Community Center will be open on Election Day for limited in-person voting for anyone who is unable to vote by mail, including those who don’t receive their ballots.
This information doesn’t apply to the Federal, State and other elections this November. The Governor has announced he intends to keep all regular voting precincts open on Election Day, though voters may still apply for a mail-in ballot: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/OnlineVoterRegistration/InstructionsStep1. Takoma Park residents who choose this option will still need to separately mail in their City ballots for the Mayor and City Council elections. We can’t combine with the other ballots because we allow 16 and 17-year olds and non-citizen residents to vote in City elections.
While we normally adopt an ordinance laying out the details of our local elections, this year (because of the need to change the City Charter and City Code to incorporate the mail-in voting procedures), we’ll be taking three separate election related votes. I’ll be voting for all three measures, but I am considering offering a couple of amendment. One would clarify that -- with the longer amount of time expected for counting the mail-in ballots -- the vote counting should be done in a way that the public can observe. The other would move the due date for the final candidate report of donations and expenditures closer to the election and potentially requiring three instead of two financial filings.
Tree Ordinance Revisions: In last week’s Council meeting, in addition to approving the resolution establishing forest policies and tree canopy goals, we addressed two key outstanding issues in the Ordinance that hadn’t been resolved up to that point. First we agreed that less healthy trees approved for removal shouldn’t be entirely exempt from replanting requirements, subjecting them instead to a one for one replacement mandate. That change will substantially close the tree replacement gap, which can be further closed based on the plans for expanded planting as called for in the resolution. We also agreed to remove language that would have exempted trees in “imminent decline” from replacement -- we’re completely eliminating the term “imminent decline.”
In addition, we agreed to add language I proposed requiring the annual staff report to include an analysis of progress in meeting our tree canopy goals with recommendations for changes if needed, and also requiring a written explanation of the reasons for tree removal permit denials. With these and a few other modest changes the Council signed off on, the ordinance is in good shape for final passage -- especially given passage of the resolution -- and I’ll be voting yes.
Budget Amendment: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-7-8.pdf. As noted before, we periodically approve shifting temporarily unspent funds from one fiscal year to the next. With the transition from Fiscal Year 2020 to 2021 having only occurred on July 1, there’s a large list of such changes. There are also three relatively small new expenditures (totaling a little over $17,000) connected to enhanced staff technology and communication during the pandemic. Because our stormwater funds are technically separate from the rest of the budget, we’ll actually be taking two votes.
I see most of the budget shifts as being non-controversial. However, while the main budget amendment isn’t formally about COVID relief, because it does involve moving some COVID funds into FY 21, that issue will enter into our consideration. And given my concerns about the need for more details on the COVID funds that were approved during our work on the budget, I’ll be deciding how to vote on the main budget amendment based on the kind of information we receive on COVID projections and metrics in the 5:00 PM presentation session.
Committee Term Extensions: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-9.pdf. This is another COVID-19 related vote. It would extend the terms of members of the City’s committees, boards and commissions for up to another year. This will help keep the committees in operation without the additional challenges of recruiting, appointing and orienting new members during the pandemic. It will also give the Council the opportunity to complete its overall review of City panels, including recruitment, training, and meeting procedures, with the ultimate goal of having more effective committees with more diverse membership. I’ll be voting in favor of the resolution.
Quasi-Judicial Hearings: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-10.pdf. The City has three panels (the Noise Control Board, the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs, and the Tree Commission) which hold quasi-judicial hearings. Such proceedings were on hold owing to the pandemic, but with Maryland’s court system now starting up, it makes sense to make plans for our quasi-judicial bodies to do the same. This resolution will set that process in motion, and I’ll be voting for it.
FCC Amicus Brief: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-11.pdf. Along with several of my Council colleagues, earlier this month I agreed to sign onto a Friend of the Court brief in support of a lawsuit against the Federal Communication Commission over its refusal to update the health standards connected to cell phone towers. Since this is a Federal legal proceeding, this resolution was drafted to formalize the City position on this topic. The Amicus Brief is in line with steps we took in our local cell tower legislation. I don’t have any objections to the resolution on policy grounds, especially since I already lent my name to the case. Before I decide how I’ll vote, however, I’m interested in gaining a better understanding of the extent to which this type of Council approval for the actions of individual Councilmembers could apply to non-judicial actions we may take. To be clear, I don’t think the full Council should have to sign off on individual Councilmembers taking public action in their official capacities on non-judicial legislative or policy positions.
Youth Council Appointments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-12.pdf. I’ll be voting in favor of the appointments.
Summer Recess Resolution: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200729-13.pdf. I’ll be voting yes on this resolution.
The public can view City Council meetings on City TV (RCN -- 13, HD 1060; Comcast/xfinity -- 13, HD 997; Verizon Fios -- 28), on the City Council Video Page of the City website; on YouTube, or on Facebook.
Please feel free to contact me 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)
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