Dear Neighbors:
With Takoma Park having entered its annual budget period, the City Council schedule includes several special Monday evening budget sessions in addition to our regular Wednesday meetings. The work session on Monday, April 19, starting at 7:30 PM, is focused on the capital budget. There will also be an additional closed Council session on Monday starting at 6:00 PM to receive legal advice from the City Attorney regarding the Takoma Junction development, specifically with regard to the recent letter from NDC regarding the Co-op’s use of the parking lot. For more on both of these agenda items see below. Here’s a link to the agenda for Monday’s meeting, which includes information on how to watch the budget work session: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-budget-work-session-monday-april-19-2021/
This Wednesday’s meeting will also be closed, as it’s devoted to reviewing applications for the City Manager position (current City Manager Suzanne Ludlow is retiring at the end of June).
TAKOMA JUNCTION DEVELOPMENT
Many residents are likely aware of the recent developments around the Junction development, but here’s a brief summary.
This past week the Council began to move into a series of meetings to consider the Junction development, with a formal vote scheduled for May 5. On Tuesday the City received a long-awaited letter from the State Highway Administration on the lay-by which has been proposed for deliveries at the development site. That letter raised several concerns about the safety of the lay-by and stated that SHA “cannot approve [the lay-by] as proposed.” As a result of that letter, Mayor Stewart announced that the Council’s further planned meetings on the Junction were being postponed, pending further review of the issues raised by the letter.
Then on Wednesday -- citing that SHA letter and a statement by the City Manager raising questions about the safety of the Co-op’s current delivery process at the Junction parking lot -- NDC sent a letter to the Co-op directing them to stop making deliveries and informing them their sub-lease would be cancelled in 30 days. (The City currently leases the parking lot to NDC which sub-leases it in turn to the Co-op.)
It’s this set of developments about which the City Council will be meeting on Monday night in the closed session. A link to the State Highway Administration letter can be found here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/initiatives/takoma-junction-redevelopment/. The Co-op has posted on its website the letter from NDC and their response: https://tpss.coop/tpss-responds-to-parking-lot-sublease-termination/
For those who missed it, I circulated the following statement yesterday about this situation:
“I appreciate hearing from a large number of residents about the letter from NDC on the Co-op’s use of the parking lot in Takoma Junction. I believe the Co-op plays a very important role in the community, and I’d like to see this situation get resolved as quickly as possible so that uncertainties about the Co-op’s continued operation can be removed.
“I’m reviewing the relevant documents, and I’ll be consulting with my Council colleagues, the City Attorney and City staff on the best course of action. I’m hopeful the Council will be able to move forward in a positive direction in the very near future.
“As part of the process of determining an appropriate response, it’s helpful to have input from those in the community with concerns about this matter. So I look forward to continuing to receive comments from residents, and, I’ll be sharing information on the City’s response as soon as it becomes available.”
Again, it’s my view that this situation needs to be addressed quickly, and I’ll be pushing for us to do so as soon after our Monday night session as possible. I’d add that I’ve received a very large number of emails from residents on this topic, and I haven’t yet been able to answer them all. I hope to do so over the next few days.
COVID UPDATE
The Takoma Park COVID-19 Data Dashboard has been updated with data through April 16, 2021. City staff notes the following key data points:
· A quarter of the City's population (4,453 residents) are now fully vaccinated as the City's pace of vaccination continued to accelerate, with 1,310 residents receiving first doses and 973 residents becoming fully vaccinated.
· Most residents who have received the vaccine have received Pfizer (5,061 with at least a first-dose), followed by Moderna (3,074) and Johnson & Johnson (504). Distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been temporarily paused -- possibly for only a few days according to the CDC -- as the agency investigates a serious potential side-effect that may have affected 6 people of the more than 6.8 million who received the vaccine. Residents are cautioned to avoid disinformation spreading about the vaccine as regulators complete their investigation.
· There were 24 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last week, bringing the City's total to 1,641 and the percent of the City's population who have been infected by COVID to 9.3%.
COVID-19 testing continues in Takoma Park at the Recreation Center on New Hampshire Avenue, though there will be no testing there on Saturday, April 24. For details on other testing options, please see the information here: Montgomery County Testing Sites.
The State of Maryland’s vaccination sites are open for registration to anyone age 16 and over. You can pre-register for an appointment at a mass vaccination site by visiting covidvax.maryland.gov or calling 1-855-MD-GOVAX (1-855-634-6829). To Find the nearest vaccination site, input your ZIP code. Use vaccinefinder.org to see the nearest location with vaccines available. There’s a State mass site in Montgomery County in Germantown at Montgomery College. It’s also possible to try walk-up, no-appointment vaccinations.
In addition, you can sign up for Montgomery County vaccinations through their vaccine page: https://montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/, or you can call 240-777-2982.
CAPITAL BUDGET WORK SESSION: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210419-1-rev.pdf. My blog from last week includes background on the budget process, the proposed property tax rate and other related matters -- scroll down to the fourth paragraph in this link: http://www.councilmemberkovar.com/blog/2021/4/13/agenda-for-april-14-city-council-meeting-amp-more. As noted above, this Monday session will focus on capital expenditures, including the City’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan.
We’ll have additional Monday budget sessions on April 26 and May 3. The April 28 regular Council meeting includes public hearings on the budget and on the property tax rate. During the May 3 session, the Council will make preliminary decisions on changes to the proposed budget, with final votes scheduled for May 12 and 19. I’m also hosting two Ward One Community discussions on the budget this coming week. Here are the schedule details and Zoom links:
Tuesday, April 20, 7:30 - 9:00 PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItdu-qqDMjE9SPPtF1NCdaafIfQKMdB_iZ
Saturday, April 24, 1:00 - 3:00 PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtc-usrj8pH9WYv0cPdQLq6wwiD-GkscHm
MONTGOMERY COUNTY TAX DUPLICATION: https://takomaparkmd.gov/uncategorized/action-needed-to-ensure-fair-tax-duplication-payments/. One other important aspect of our budgeting work is seeking a fair level of reimbursement from Montgomery County for services the City provides instead of the County. Following the recent passage of a City Council resolution calling on the County to include additional funds in its budget this year to address tax duplication, Mayor Stewart posted the above blog on the topic. It includes details on how residents can express their views to the County Council. It’s vital that County Councilmembers hear from City residents about tax duplication, and I encourage residents to reach out to them as suggested in the Mayor’s blog. See also the City Manager’s comments below for additional details on Tax Duplication.
UPDATE FROM LAST WEEK’S COUNCIL MEETING
Work Session on Council Appointed Committees: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/Documents/appointed-committees-presentation-4th-update-rev.pdf The Council continued discussing Council appointed committees, with the aim of making the bodies more effective and having memberships more reflective of the City’s diverse population. We focused in this meeting on the recommendations of the working group (Councilmembers Dyballa, Kostiuk and Searcy) concerning the 8 quasi-judicial boards and commissions.
Their recommendations including keeping five of the panels in operation, with some standardization of their membership and structure: the Board of Elections; the Commission on Landlord-Tenant Affairs; the Ethics Commission; the Police Pension Advisory Board; and the Tree Commission. The working group also proposed:
· eliminating the Personnel Appeals Board and exploring whether the Human Resources Department could cover personnel appeals involving non-union City employees.
· reviewing the Noise Control Board’s work in the context of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force’s work and our ongoing look at code enforcement policies and procedures; and
· removing the Façade Advisory Board’s formal review role in commercial façade changes in the City’s historic district (the County Historic Preservation Commission would continue its involvement in these matters), and considering whether other aspects of the Board’s work could be incorporated into the work of other City committees.
The Council, including me, was generally supportive of all these recommendations, though I’m giving further thought to the proposed Façade Advisory Board change.
City Manager Comments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-manager/city-manager-comments/2021/cm-comments-20210414.pdf. The City Manager’s official comments last week included COVID, the recent tragic shooting at the Takoma Overlook apartments, additional tax duplication details, and more on the Takoma Junction development.
CITY MANAGER SEARCH PROCESS -- Closed Session on Wednesday, April 21
The Council will be meeting in a closed session with our contractor, Catherine Tuck Parrish of the Novak Consulting Group, to begin going over the applications for the City Manager position. I’m pleased we’ve received over 60 applications, and I look forward to delving into the candidates’ qualifications. In the coming weeks the Council will interview the best applicants.
I’d add that nearly 400 people responded to the City survey soliciting residents’ views on the qualities and backgrounds they’d like to see in the next City Manager, as well as key issues the new Manager should focus on. As we review the applications and conduct the interviews, I’ll be taking into account the survey results, along with the conversations I’ve had and the emails I’ve received from residents concerning their preferences for the next occupant of this position.
Don’t hesitate to be in touch with questions or comments about the topics 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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