Dear Neighbors:
I hope that, even with the continuing uncertainties around the pandemic, residents have been able to find some enjoyment this summer. The City Council is on our annual August break, with the next meeting scheduled for September 8. While we had anticipated being able to have that meeting in-person in the Community Center auditorium (with an option for remote participation via Zoom), that’s now up in the air, given the COVID resurgence we’ve seen recently connected to the delta variant. As noted below, our new City Manager Jamal Fox has announced a tightening of the mask requirements in City facilities. I’ll provide further details on the Council schedule and local COVID restrictions as they become available.
COVID UPDATE
The Takoma Park COVID-19 Data Dashboard has been updated with data through August 5, 2021. Key data points noted by City staff:
· Since the previous week, the county's data showed 176 more Takoma Park residents became at least partially vaccinated and 151 more became fully vaccinated, bringing the city's at least partially vaccinated residents to 15,040 and fully vaccinated to 13,214. However, we suspect these figures may overestimate the City's vaccination totals. In the Montgomery County data, the total number of partially vaccinated residents in Takoma Park now equals or exceeds the City's total population aged 12 and over (people under 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccine). It is unlikely that 100% or near 100% of the City's eligible population have been at least partially vaccinated; for comparison, around 79 - 81% of eligible County residents have received at least one dose of a vaccine. We have contacted the County and will report back when we have an explanation for this possible discrepancy.
· There were 9 new cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the City's total cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,753. The City and County seven day rolling average of new cases per 100,000 residents also continued increasing, reaching the City's highest point since early May 2021.
· Effective Saturday, August 7, City Manager Jamal Fox has implemented a mask mandate for all city buildings and facilities. The mandate applies to all employees -- both vaccinated and unvaccinated -- and all visitors. On August 5, Montgomery County voted to implement a mask mandate for all indoor public spaces after COVID-19 reached "substantial" levels of transmission in the County, consistent with CDC guidance.
· Unvaccinated residents are encouraged to get vaccinated. Even though the more-contagious delta variant increases the risk of getting COVID-19 for both unvaccinated and vaccinated people, vaccines still substantially reduce the risk of getting COVID-19 and experiencing severe symptoms compared to remaining unvaccinated: "the CDC has estimated that unvaccinated people are up to eight times as likely to be infected with Covid-19 and experience symptoms. They are also 25 times more likely to be hospitalized with serious symptoms, and 24 times as likely to die of the infection, compared to people who are vaccinated."
Here is the City Manager’s newly announced mask mandate: https://takomaparkmd.gov/news-alert/city-manager-fox-implements-a-mask-mandate-for-all-employees-and-visitors-to-city-buildings-and-facilities-beginning-saturday-august-7-2021/
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Recruitment for Council-appointed Committees. The City is actively recruiting for membership on the full range of City Council-appointed committees, with an application deadline of September 30: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/boards-commissions-and-committees/. If you’re looking for ways to become more involved in municipal affairs, you may want to consider applying to serve on one of the committees. If you have questions about what’s involved, you’re welcome to reach out to me.
As detailed below in the updates on the Juy 28 meeting, the Council endorsed the idea of recruiting members only for those committees which are planned to be retained as part of our overall committee reform efforts. That means we aren’t recruiting for certain committees tentatively scheduled for elimination (e.g. the Personnel Board and the Façade Advisory Board). In addition, for now we’re holding off on recruiting new members for the Nuclear Free Committee, pending a decision by the Council in September on whether to retain that committee (we’ll be formally voting on all of the committee changes at that time).
Police Backpack Drive. In preparation for the school year, the Takoma Park Police Department is mounting a backpack drive. Donors are asked to purchase a backpack and fill it with basic supplies (or just drop supplies in the box). Donations can be dropped off in the collection container in the Police Department lobby in the Community Center through August 23.
Folk Festival -- September 12. https://www.tpff.org/. This year’s festival will be live-streamed on Sunday, September 12 from 4:00 - 9:00 PM.
Takoma Park Street Festival -- October 3. The 40th Annual Takoma Park Street Festival will return this year, live and in-person, on Sunday, October 3rd from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, rain or shine. City streets will be filled with artisans, community groups, green companies, food vendors and live music.
Stormwater Fees. As outlined in previous editions of this blog, the new stormwater fee structure is now in effect, with the first payments under the new system due this fall. All property owners should have received a mailer from the City listing their specific fee amount, which is based on a calculation of the impervious surface on each property. If you believe there’s an error in the calculation, you can appeal. Information on how to appeal and other details about the new fees can be found here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/public-works/stormwater-management-program/stormwater-fees-frequently-asked-questions-faq/
I have described previously the problems with the property boundary lines that have emerged in some portions of the County map the City used to calculate the fees: https://mcplanning.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=942cd080339342d3b8c39bf8ccfb65ae. I appreciate those Ward One residents who alerted me to this issue. In part because of my questions about this situation, City staff have been in consultation with relevant County personnel, who are now conducting a comprehensive review of the boundary lines, a process that will take several weeks. I had a brief exchange with the Acting City Manager about this matter in the July 28 Council meeting, which you can watch through the following link, starting at the 49:15 mark: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/
KEY UPDATES FROM JULY 28 COUNCIL MEETING
Maryland Municipal League Legislative Priority Requests: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210728-1.pdf. Every year, the City has an opportunity to recommend to the Maryland Municipal League up to three State legislative priorities, which we’d like them to highlight in the upcoming legislative session in Annapolis. This year our recommendations are focused on housing and climate change. The Council approved the resolution making those requests on a 7 - 0 vote.
Continuation of Laurel Avenue Streetery: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/resolutions/2021/resolution-2021-27.pdf. We voted 7 - 0 to continue the Streetery, including the closure of one lane of Laurel Avenue, which had been scheduled to expire in September. It will now be continued for another year, with automatic year-long extensions unless the Council takes action to end it. The resolution includes language based on proposals I put forward that call for exploration of potential financial assistance to the Farmers Market in light of the higher costs they have to pay for renting the parking lot behind Laurel Avenue, as well as the possibility of financial assistance for businesses which can’t benefit from street closures because of where they are located in the City.
Budget Amendment: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210728-3-4-rev.pdf. The budget amendment includes a number of transfers of funding from last fiscal year to the current one, as well as initial funding allocations from the money the City has received under ARPA (the massive Federal COVID aid package championed by President Biden). There were two separate Council votes: on the overall budget amendment (approved 7 - 0) and then on the separate component containing stormwater funds (approved 6 -1; I voted in favor).
As I detailed in an earlier blog, the ARPA proposal drafted initially by City staff called for hiring personnel and making technology upgrades to help administer the funds, as well as $150,000 for eviction prevention and assistance. I supported that eviction help, but I thought the number was too low. So in a previous Council meeting, I proposed increasing these funds to $250,000, and I’m pleased my Council colleagues voted for that idea. In addition, I had urged that we also allocate ARPA funds for food insecurity/nutrition support. In response to that idea, City staff suggested including $250,000 for these purposes from the ARPA account, through a grant program, with the monies going to area non-profit groups working on food insecurity. That idea also drew unanimous Council support and I’m glad to say both of these amounts were included included in the final version of the budget amendment we approved on July 28.
I understand the suggestion from some in the community that we should provide more direct financial assistance for residents in this budget amendment, separate from the $500,000 we’ve designated for food and housing. However, I’m concerned we don’t currently have the staff capacity and bandwidth to do that in an effective way that’s aligned with the Federal requirements on using the funds or well-coordinated with Montgomery County’s ARPA assistance efforts. It’s true that releasing the food assistance funds -- as we have voted to do -- through a grant process could conceivably mean a less immediate impact than if we provided the funds through a direct aid program. However, I have some doubts that a plan focused on direct financial aid to individual residents would actually be much quicker, given everything that would be involved in setting up and administering such a program. So it’s my sense that, on balance, this initial allocation of $500,000 is a reasonable first step. But, I see the food and housing money we approved as a down payment -- we have a lot more to do in terms of addressing residents' COVID-related difficulties. And in the fall, I look forward to taking further steps to channel additional ARPA funds to those in the community who are most in need.
Purchasing Code Amendments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210728-5-rev.pdf. This comprehensive re-write of the City’s purchasing code, which includes a number of useful reforms, was approved on a 5 - 2 vote. I voted against it due to my concerns about the increase to $50,000 in the purchase threshold amount above which Council approval is required. I would have preferred a $30,000 threshold.
Resolution on State Economic Development Grant: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210728-5-A.pdf. This was a late addition to the agenda. The City had previously been awarded a State economic development grant in the amount of $500,000 for use in potential future purchases of properties to advance our affordable housing efforts. This resolution, approved 7 - 0, authorizes the City Manager to execute the necessary legal documents connected to receipt of the grant.
Youth Council Appointments: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/resolutions/2021/resolution-2021-29.pdf. The Council approved a new slate of Youth Council members on a 7 - 0 vote.
Discussion on Council-Appointed Committees: This was another in the series of discussions -- led by a working group composed of Councilmembers Dyballa, Kostiuk and Searcy -- on Council appointed committees, boards and commissions. The goal of the discussions has been to develop ways to make these panels more effective and to promote a diverse membership that’s more reflective of the City’s population. We’re likely to vote in September on an overall group of changes aimed at improving and standardizing committee operations, and modifying or eliminating several committees.
I’m in general agreement with most of the proposed changes, but I do differ on the working group’s idea of phasing out the Nuclear Free Committee. I’d like to either keep the committee, or if there isn’t support for retaining it, at a minimum I’d like to explore creating a task force to work on the Committee’s recommendation that the City use for all its financial transactions a bank that doesn’t have an investments in the nuclear weapons industry. Such a task force could also look at ensuring we use a bank that isn’t involved in fossil fuel industries.
This set of issues was discussed at some length in our July 28 Council meeting, and — with no clear consensus on the Council regarding the Nuclear Free Committee — we agreed to discuss the matter further in September when we vote on the whole package of reforms. We did agree on July 28 not to include the Nuclear Free Committee among those for which we are recruiting members at this time (see above in Announcements). However, if we ultimately decide in September to retain the committee, we’ll of course then take the necessary recruitment steps. If you have thoughts on the future of the Nuclear Free Committee or any of the other proposed changes please let me know.
You can watch the discussion on this topic via the following link starting at the 2:27 mark: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/. In addition, below you will find links to background information on the committee proposals; draft changes to the City code to effectuate all the proposed changes; details on the proposal to transform the Committee on the Environment to the Green Team; and the working group’s presentation.
Background Information: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/council-20210728-7.pdf
Draft Changes to City Code: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/draft-committee-code-concepts-7-28-21.pdf
Proposal for Green Team: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/green-team-committee-proposal-2021-07-27.pdf
Working Group Presentation: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2021/committee-presentation-july-28-2021.pdf
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As always, let me know if you have 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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