Dear Neighbors:
With the City Council on break now from formal meetings until after Labor Day, this blog includes a report on our most recent meeting on July 29, plus some other announcements and updates. You can see the agenda for the July 29 meeting through this link: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-july-29-2020/, and my blog which previewed that meeting here: http://www.councilmemberkovar.com/blog/2020/7/27/agenda-for-july-29-2020-city-council-meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES
Montgomery College Tree Commission Hearing -- Wednesday, August 12, 6:45 PM. The Tree Commission will be holding a hearing on the multiple appeals that have been filed in response to Montgomery College’s application to remove several score trees as part of the construction on the North Takoma campus of their new Math-Science Building. The hearing documents can be seen through this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wepvsdvhr1hrce1/AACArIP2XSRpxVu8b0_1KSN8a?dl=0. The hearing will be conducted virtually. Only those who have submitted appeals will be able to participate formally, but interested residents may attend as observers. In order to do so, send an email to UrbanForestManager@ takomaparkmd.gov and request to be sent the relevant link.
The process around this tree removal permit has demonstrated that the Tree Ordinance doesn’t adequately cover situations in which large numbers of tree removals are applied for. Under the ordinance, the same time frames and procedures apply as for more routine single tree removal permits. This has meant that residents haven’t in my opinion had sufficient opportunity to review the potential impact of the proposed removals or the background documents. That’s been exacerbated by the closed construction site and the inability to schedule in-person meetings because of the pandemic. I’m also disappointed that the College was not more forthcoming about its tree removal plans during the extensive series of meetings and charrettes they held on the project, particularly given the language in the Council-approved resolution on the Math-Science project that called for community consultation.
In order to help ensure a better process in future cases, I proposed a change during our recent City Council work on amendments to the Tree Ordinance calling for a public meeting prior to the submittal of any permits for 10 or more tree removals, with improved communication and publicity requirements also added. I’m pleased this amendment was approved and is now part of the ordinance, though it doesn’t apply to this Montgomery College case.
PEPCO Street Resurfacing. Residents are likely aware that some curb work has begun on Fenton Street near the intersection with Takoma Avenue in preparation for resurfacing along Fenton. PEPCO contractors also plan to start working on the repaving of Eastern Avenue between Piney Branch Road and Baltimore Avenue by late August, with the expectation that the work would be completed in mid-to late September. The resurfacing work on Fenton Street in Silver Spring is planned for later in the year.
COVID Data. Takoma Park's updated COVID-19 infection rate was 3.2% as of Friday, August 7. Montgomery County's infection rate was 1.7%. The updated count of confirmed positive cases - 561, which is a 22 case increase from last week - will be posted on our COVID-19 Resource Page (scroll down on the right to view the details). The total number of deaths for zip codes in our area since the start of the pandemic remains unchanged from the previous week’s numbers: 40 in 20910 and 20 in 20912. Online scheduling and registration for COVID-19 testing is available here:
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/testing/appointments-en.html
Takoma Junction Development.
As detailed in my last blog on July 27, NDC recently submitted a large group of documents as part of its updated plans for the development. Links to where those documents are posted on the County Planning website are included in the July 27 blog. Several documents in the submittal weren’t initially posted on the County site, including a letter from NDC’s traffic consultant (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aEV5pLOIGP_h44TNOOWbwySTf6TJsorA/view) and an updated Justification from NDC, which gives their description and concept for the development (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mAjISrD6MHeXBYpJq7BYKfUxOLIoQDxc/view). Since these documents were not initially available, interested residents may want to review to them. Of particular interest, the traffic letter states that the plans include eliminating the Carroll Avenue entrance to and from the Coop’s parking lot on Sycamore Avenue, leaving only the Sycamore side for both ingress and egress.
I’d add that County Planning staff stated in our July 22 Council meeting that the staff review period for the development has been extended to the end of September, the full review process would likely take at least a month or two beyond the end of September, and the project would not in any case formally go before the Planning Board for a vote until the City Council votes on it first.
Voting Information. This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our November 3 elections for Mayor and City Council will be conducted by mail-in ballot. Note that this is separate from the Maryland ballot that includes the Presidential and Congressional elections.
Regardless of how you vote in the State elections, you will need to vote separately in the mail-in election for the Takoma Park Mayoral and City Council elections. In October all Takoma Park registered voters will receive local election ballots in the mail. Any that are postmarked by Election Day will be counted as long as they are received by the City no later than 5 days after the election. There will also be one or more ballot drop-off sites (details to be announced later), and the Community Center will be open on Election Day for in-person voting for anyone unable to vote by mail. You don’t have to apply for a City mail-in ballot -- all registered voters will receive them in the mail.
Separate from the local Takoma Park ballots, the Governor has announced plans for in-person voting centers for the Maryland State ballots that include the Presidential, Congressional and other elections. You can also request a State mail-in ballot in any case if you’d prefer to avoid the crowds and the lines: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/OnlineVoterRegistration/InstructionsStep1. For information on voter registration use this link: https://takomaparkmd.gov/register-to-vote/.
My Plans for the November Local Election. I’m pleased to announce I’m running for reelection to the City Council. Here’s a link to the campaign website: https://www.peterkovarforcitycouncil.com/
JULY 29 CITY COUNCIL MEETING
COVID-19 Staff Presentation:
Staff provided an update on City efforts to assist residents and small businesses with the health, housing and financial challenges posed by the pandemic. The specific actions the City takes going forward will depend on how the Coronavirus continues to affect us, as well as the funding and other assistance that may become available from other levels of government. We set aside over $640,000 for our COVID fund, and put another $1.3 million on hold for potential use in responding to the pandemic. After the presentation, I urged the staff to inform us if the initial tranche of funds is running short and/or if there are significant additional unanticipated needs, so we can consider tapping into the on-hold funds. There’s no reason for us to limit ourselves to $640,000 since we have the other funds available on hold for this purpose.
Among the key details presented by staff were the following:
Since mid-May they’ve been receiving an average of 15 calls a day from residents seeking help or information about rental issues. Staff are also working with a group of pro bono attorneys who can help with inappropriate evictions. In general, the County plays the lead on housing/eviction issues and we’re coordinating with them. The earliest we’d potentially see eviction cases in the courts would be after August 31, and that would involve cases from the March to July period. Evictions are on hold for now, and there are efforts underway at the Federal and State level to continue the eviction moratorium. The initial City emergency assistance funds have been used to provide help not only on rent, but on food, prescriptions, PPE, etc. Going forward, the current staff plan is to assist 250 families with three months of rental assistance, plus additional help for condominium owners, who are less likely to have Federally backed mortgages and are therefore less likely to be given forbearance by their banks.
A total of $105,000 was provided initially through the business mini-grant program to 92 businesses, which represented 98 percent of those who applied. The staff is now running several rounds of the healthy business grant program, which they hope will ultimately assist 80 - 100 businesses with PPE, signage, testing, and cleaning. In the initial round, 38 businesses -- selected by an evaluation team -- received funds out of a total of 57 eligible applicants. These businesses have a total of 430 employees, and have been in operation for an average of 14 years. The ownership roughly mirrors the racial and ethnic breakdown of the City, with a majority of the businesses that received funds owned by persons of color.
Park Presentation: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/. City staffers are developing tools to help 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. While these tools not yet fully developed, staff made an initial presentation on them, which you can see through the above link.
City Manager Comments: You can see City Manager Suzanne Ludlow’s official comments from the July 29 Council meeting here:
Election votes: We approved on unanimous votes three separate election-related measures, one making changes to the City Charter, one to the City Code, and one concerned specifically with this year’s vote. The key point in all three was the switch to the mail-in voting system described above. I proposed two amendments that were adopted. The first added a third required candidate report on contributions and expenditures closer to Election Day in order to promote more transparency. The other, which was revised based on input from City staff, was aimed at addressing the longer time it’s expected to take to count the mail-in ballots. Because they can be accepted until up to 5 days after Election Day (if they’re postmarked no later than Election Day), the final certification of the votes won’t occur until 8 days later. The amendment requires the implementation of a process to ensure that there’s a reasonable system for members of the public to observe and be informed about the ballot counting in real time.
Tree Ordinance Vote: The revised ordinance was approved 7 - 0, with one addition to what we had approved preliminarily in the previous Council meeting: an amendment setting the effective date of the changes to the ordinance at 90 days after its passage. That additional time will give staff the opportunity to make the necessary administrative changes to implement the changes.
Amicus Brief on Cell Tower Health Issues: As outlined in my July 27 blog, several of my Council colleagues and I signed onto a Friend of the Court brief in July supporting a lawsuit against the Federal Communication Commission over its refusal to update the radio frequency health standards for cell phone towers. Since this is a Federal legal proceeding, and given that the policy is in line with positions the Council took in our small cell tower ordinance, the City Attorney drafted a resolution formally authorizing Councilmembers to join the Amicus Brief.
I don’t have any objections to the resolution on policy grounds, especially since I already lent my name to the brief. However, I do have concerns about the potential precedent we could be setting in authorizing Councilmembers to sign. It may make sense in a judicial proceeding of this type, but I don’t think the Council should have to sign off on individual Councilmembers taking public actions in their official capacities on non-judicial legislative or policy positions. We’ll be discussing these matters in more detail in the fall, but I voted against the resolution to go on record in opposition to that idea (the resolution was approved 5 - 2).
Other Votes: We also unanimously approved the following: a resolution to allow the return of quasi-judicial proceedings in the Tree Commission, the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs, and the Noise Control Board; term extensions for members of resident committees, boards and commissions; appointments to the Youth Council; and a resolution formalizing our summer recess.
I hope the rest of the summer is enjoyable and safe for all. Please feel free as always to be in touch with questions or comments about any of the topics 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.