DRAFT
Town of Cheverly
Meeting Minutes
July 9, 2009
Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm in the Cheverly Community Center.
In attendance: Mayor Mosley, CMs Callahan, Watson, Schachter and Tevault.
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda/Approval/Changes
Mayor noted that CM Schachter would be a little late this evening.
- Motion CM Tevault to excuse CM Eldridge. Seconded CM Watson. Approved 4-0 with Mayor casting the fourth affirmative vote. CM Schachter absent for vote.
Minutes – Town Meeting 6/11/09
Approved as written.
Worksession 6/25/09
Approved as written.
Town Administrator Report
Mr. Warrington reported that the staff is preparing for the annual audit. Palm Reader property out to bid for demolition. A salvage company will be in before hand and remove items that can be re-used. Mr. Torres is out to bid for the resurfacing of 64th Avenue. Both are slated to be on the August Town Meeting. May have the gutter repair bid on the August Town Meeting.
Mayor Mosley as much as can be will be recycled from the building? Is Second Chance a low to moderate income assistance company? Will failed areas on 64th be addressed?
Mr. Warrington yes a non-profit will come in from Baltimore to re-use materials. They are like Habitat and deal with low-income groups. There are some areas of 64th that will be re-built. The Town, per Mayor and Council directive, will hold back street tree replacement funds until October or November to ensure the survival of new trees. Mr. Torres will be assessing what trees are in need of being removed due to damage or disease.
CM Watson have we heard about the Department of Interior’s plan for the three houses near the Palm Reader.
Mr. Warrington noted that the Dept. of Interior indicated that it would not be in the near future, thus eliminating any partnering and cost sharing. The Town is moving forward and availing itself of the free MNCPPC assistance.
CM Callahan want to be clear that the first company is coming in for re-use rather than recycling and the second company will do the demolishing.
Mr. Warrington correct, but anything left after the first company the demolition company will recycle the remaining products.
Police Department Report
Chief Robshaw assured citizens that the month of June again saw a reduction of crime at 40% less than June of last year. Noted a car jacking on the fringe of Town and there are suspects in that case. The Task Force has made 52 arrests and written over 600 tickets. The issue on everyone’s mind is the homicide that took place on Cheverly Avenue on July 4th. The County, through a memorandum of understanding, will handle the incident. The Town has been working closely with them in the investigation. The Cheverly Task Force was working and responded to the scene within 40 seconds. I believe that the suspect is a local resident and perhaps a resident of our Town. I want to assure people that this was not a random shooting and was an isolated incident.
You are in no more danger now than you were 6 months ago or a year ago. There are witnesses that may not be aware that they have valuable information and we need to talk to those people. We particularly want to talk to a witness at the scene who has information. She is a black female, in her 40’s and wears glasses. We are moving in a very good direction, this is not a stagnant case.
CM Tevault wanted to thank you and your officers for their rapid response that day and the addition of a CPACT meeting this week to address this issue.
Mayor Mosley noted a great deal of involvement with the County on this matter.
Chief Robshaw the fact that the Lt. and I are both former County police officers has helped us to work with the County.
Mayor and Council Announcements
Mayor Mosley announced the upcoming Farmer’s Market at the Town Hall from 8 until Noon. Announced that there will be future meetings regarding the Tuxedo-Cheverly Fire Station closing and noted the date of the homicide, the Tuxedo-Cheverly station was closed and the Landover Hills station responded. In this incident this was not a factor, but is a concern.
CM Watson asked CM Callahan if there is a hearing regarding the Kenilworth Foreign Car Parts.
CM Callahan Noted that the Zoning Hearing Examiner hearing has been extended until July 29th at 9am. However, the Planning Board heard the case in early July and due to testimony in front of that body, we were fortunate enough to get the Planning Board to deny the Special Exception Request.
Mayor Mosley noted that there was a good strategy meeting with our neighbors in preparation of the ZHE hearing on the 29th.Announced the Worksession items: Pepco service upgrade proposal tentatively if the Pepco promised materials arrive in advance of next Friday, Request for improvements to Route 50 from 410 to 201, Discussion of reinstituting the Enterprise Zone and Focus Area in Cheverly, Discussion of a potential ordinance regarding rental license fines, Refuse Collection issues.
Mayor Mosley introduced Ms. Trudy Stanek, the 2009 Jack Wheat Award recipient, introduced Ms. Stanek’s family and read the award. The Mayor invited Mr. Torres to assist in presenting the award.
Mr. Torres noted that he has been blessed to have Ms. Stanek as an employee. She is the person that ensures that all the employees are guided well. We know you have thought of retiring to West Virginia, but stay with us. Thank you for all these years and it has been awesome.
Mayor Mosley asked Mr. Torres to stay and invited Mr. Warrington to come up and join her for a little surprise. Mr. Torres came to the Town 20 years ago in August and Mr. Warrington 20 years ago in October, but wanted to do this now. Read the Proclamation designating August as Juan Luis Torres Month in Cheverly recognizing his outstanding accomplishments.
Mr. Torres thanked the Town for the opportunity to serve.
Mayor Mosley we have a few gifts of appreciation. One is a tray that we will all sign and another is engraved ice bucket, we thought Mr. Warrington can use it for ice to put on his head for headaches we give him and Mr. Torres and use it for his juice. Read the Proclamation designating September as David W. Warrington Month in Cheverly recognizing his outstanding accomplishments.
Mr. Warrington thanked the Mayor and noted that if he had known what the Mayor and Council were up to he would have skipped-out. Noted that moving from his 9 years in Bowie, he has enjoyed his time in Cheverly because in a small town we get things done without the layers of bureaucracy. It has been made easy with Department Heads like Chief Robshaw and Mr. Torres not to mention all of excellent staff members: Sue, Mary Jane for 15 years and Ms. Lerch before that and now Barbara, Minnie make me look good and my job easier. The Mayor and Council as well like the 3 Mayors I have worked under show great civility and leadership. Mr. Torres and I hope to be here through our retirement plans.
Former Mayor Alan Dwyer in 1989 it was an especially good year for two good reasons here. In 1989 Johnny Carson was still on television and many different things were going on in Cheverly. I want to give credit to the Council at the time that brought these two to Cheverly: Larry Beyna, Norm Baxter, Fred Price, Bob Heffron and Pat Glaser since we had a lot of applicants and we got the cream of the crop. I hope they stay another 20 years and they will look just as young as they did in 1989.
Former Mayor Larry Beyna noted that 2 of the 3 best decisions he ever made was to vote for hiring Juan and David. The third best was to vote to retain Town Attorney Richard Colaresi. Juan, David, Richard, Julia and I had a great time concocting all kinds of schemes like the Citizen Bank building revitalization. We had great times in my 12 years as Mayor and I attribute a lot of that to these two gentleman. Thank you very much.
Mayor Mosley thanked former Mayor Dwyer and Beyna for coming this evening.
Committee Reports
Cheverly Day
Nick D’Angelo noted that next year’s date has yet to be chosen. Please go on line to vote for when next year’s Cheverly Day will be held.
Green Infrastructure Committee
No one present
Citizen Input
None
Speed Cameras
Mr. Warrington covered some of the aspects of the new law that will be implemented in October. One of the things was to hold off signing a contract until the MML Convention was over since it was an item there. Explained the limitations in the law for a per ticket payment to a vendor. It must be a flat fee. The Town is looking to do this for safety, not to make money. With the 3 schools, drawing concentric rings will just about cover the whole Town. Mr. Colaresi, the Chief and Mr. Warrington must develop guidelines and procedures. The state law does not allow a ticket to be issued for 30 days once instituted and a ticket can only be issued after the posted speed limit is exceeded by 12 miles per hour. All the schools and their parents will be notified so no one is surprised. Getting ready to get the RFP out for a contract.
Mayor Mosley noted that Cheverly Avenue is covered by the school zones. Mr. Colaresi is looking to draft an Ordinance on this authorization. Found that other jurisdictions have policies for their own employees.
Mr. Warrington noted that we have had an employee policy in place since the red light cameras were installed. We also have a cell phone use policy that does not allow our police, the public works employees can’t carry them during the day, to be on the phone while the vehicle is in motion.
CM Tevault 12 miles per hour seems like quite a fast clip in going over 25 miles per hour. Can we consider the starting speed when adding 12 miles per hour over.
Mr. Warrington noted that the speed limits are up to the Mayor and Council. Also, that some of the revenue requirements are still somewhat unclear.
Mayor Mosley said that this does not preclude our Police from writing a ticket if over the speed limit for less than the 12 miles per hour required by the speed camera law.
CM Watson what is the process for the policy and when all this will be instituted.
Mr. Warrington said that all of this should be done before the October roll-out date.
CM Callahan should we be considering a uniform speed limit policy to be consistant.
Mr. Warrington noted that a color coded map defining speed limits in the defined area for the Mayor and Council to consider to see if there is enough inconsistency that you may want to consider doing some alterations.
Mayor Mosley this is to assist the Police Department in covering more territory, to address the biggest complaint we get in Town, which is speeding. It has been the biggest complaint for as long as I have been on Council and hopefully this will serve to address the problem.
With no other business, thanks to Trudy, David and Juan.
Meeting adjourned.
Town of Cheverly
Summary of Action
July 9, 2009
- Motion CM Watson to excuse CM Eldridge. Seconded CM Tevault. Approved 4-0 with Mayor casting the fourth affirmative vote. CM Schachter and Johnson absent.
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