DRAFT
Town of Cheverly
Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2011
Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm in the Cheverly Community Center.
In attendance: CMs Schachter, Eldridge, Tevault, Riazi and Watson.
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Callahan made exiting remarks about CM Tevault, CM Watson and CM Schachter and presented gifts to each of the Councilmembers.
CM Schachter made some exiting remarks and making some public good-byes and thanked the elected officials, staff, the Town Attorney and citizens of Cheverly.
Former Mayor Mosley made remarks about each of the retiring Councilmembers.
Swearing in of Councilmembers: Riazi, Eldridge, Cook, Coolen & Thorpe
The County Clerk’s Office Representative Ms. Nicely administered the oath of office.
Agenda/Approval/Changes
Mayor I have one change. We have representatives from Pepco here tonight and they are prepared to give us a report on the line upgrades that are occurring throughout the town.
Minutes – Town Meeting 4/12/11
Approved as written.
Minutes – Worksession 4/26/11
Approved as written.
Town Administrator Report
Mr. Warrington reported that the staff has been working toward this Saturday’s Cheverly Day.
Police Department Report
Chief Robshaw if you intend to come to the parade, please note that from 9:30 am to 11:00am Cheverly Avenue will be closed. The Police Department is running the 3 on 3 basketball tournament sign ups are immediately after the parade by the gym. 301-789-7743 is the cell phone for Officer Webb to address traffic issues. It lessens the red tape of passing on communications. We have been working with the County as to how to help the County for fingerprint analysis. We have had staff at the fingerprint office and for the past two weeks we have had a staff member feeding fingerprint information into the system. As a result of that action we have been able to close out two of our burglaries. I am trying to get other municipal Chiefs to do this to speed up the process. Our
crime rate is down from last year at this time.
CM Eldridge I want to thank you and your officers for the bike to school day last week. I was very impressed with your officers to keep the traffic from the kids.
Mayor I want to recognize County Executive Baker, State Delegate Jolyn Ivey and State Senator Victor Ramirez.
Committee Reports
Barbara Pejokovich the Recreation Council had the Easter Egg Hunt and it was a big success with over 200 people present. Our next meeting will be the 24th of May and will be our last meeting until September. The summer playground will be held at Spellman. The Rec Council will be giving out pens from the Recreation Council.
CM Eldridge you will all learn that I have something to say about everything and I will say that the Cheverly Easter Egg Hunt is preferable to the White House Easter Egg Hunt.
Nick D’Angelo Cheverly Day is May 14th this weekend rain or shine.
CM Tevault Chev Prom tomorrow May 13th. We will see you tomorrow night and it should be a great time. Starts at 8 o’clock
CM Eldridge the Green Infrastructure Committee met earlier this month and we have funding recommendations and should provide a good clear road map. We want to bring the new council up to speed, getting this adopted and get this going.
Citizen Input
Helen Crosky Ward 4 and I have lived here a long time. I am now a certified cancer patient navigator. I work under the recommendation of the Cancer Treatment Center of America. I speak at various groups. If you have someone who needs help please call me 301-341-5236. I have the support of the Mayor as he is behind me.
John Sullivan Ward 1. First, I want to thank Chief Buddy since we lost one of our own last month, Officer Duke Day and how you showed support for a former officer. Second, the new councilmembers need to do their research and reading, that will support your Mayor.
Patricia King 5900 Forest Road and I am concerned about the upcoming summer vacation and the teens and pre-teens this summer. The kids at the bus stop in front of my house shows these kids exhibiting behavior that is unpleasant. This is a time to mold these children into sensitive people. I want to voice my interest in putting together some initiatives to aid these children and families of this age group.
Mayor on May 18th a resident Chris Dwyer will be attempting to do something and he will look forward to your involvement.
Mayor and Council Announcements
CM Eldridge I want to thank the residents of Ward 3 for re-electing me. Not to sound like a one trick pony, but this is bike month. We are trying to make a connection between Cheverly and the Anacostia Waterfront and eventually you will be able to ride from Cheverly to RFK Stadium and then hook around and go all the way to Pennsylvania. Next Friday is Bike to Work Day.
CM Riazi I want to thank all those in Ward 1 that supported me in my first election. The Cheverly Young Actors Guild will be in the Parade and Judith P. Hoyer Montessori program will have a dragon in the parade. It is becoming warm weather and we need to focus on our speed. Please send me your concerns via e-mail or call me.
CM Thorpe It has been a pleasure of meeting the members of Ward 4 and I look forward to serving you. I look forward to working with the youth in the years to come.
Mayor your Council people are here for you and these are the people you should contact and they can work to address your problems. I would refer you to the tree trimming layers noted in the FYI about Pepco tree trimming. Pepco will be helping us replace trees that have to be removed. There has been a blow-up in the blogosphere or list serve about a speeding incident at Gast Park this past week. We will measure some empirical evidence and some directed patrols on Parkway in that area. CM Eldridge I will be working with people to look at speeding around Gast Park and we will be having a number of meetings and this could be a model as to how to treat speeding throughout the Town. Mayor the Worksession agenda: Aldi’s, FY 12 Budget, Election of Vice-Mayor,
Brief Orientation of New Councilmembers, Wall Boarding of Priorities, Discussion of Speed Humps on Crest Avenue, Green Infrastructure Funding Recommendations.
Public Hearing – Speed Hump Request 2500 Block Crest Avenue
Mayor I would like to open the public hearing.
Mr. Warrington a speed hump petition was received and the Town Clerk has certified that the required number of signatures has been met. We did put a notice in the Newsletter. We also received a speed hump petition request for the 2600 block of Crest after the Newsletter had gone to print. We will be placing a notice for a public hearing in the June Newsletter and we would urge the Mayor and Council to hold the record open on this petition so our Public Works Director and Chief of Police can prepare a technical report that encompasses both blocks.
Mayor explained the process of a speed hump submittal. Our process leaves the record open for two televised Town Meetings.
Rachel Dabney-Rice Ward 2. We feel like it is the random car traveling at 50 mph, which happened last week during a birthday party. This is an issue.
Patricia King I don’t live on Crest, but travel Crest. I am all too often terrified by the speed on Crest and the danger is multiplied by the type of road they are traveling on. It is extremely dangerous for pedestrians. We need to safeguard the quality of life on that street.
Tammy Whittaker I too would like to see speed humps. I would appreciate it. It is scary, really scary.
CM Coolen provided a letter from Rachel Audi for the record.
Mayor let the public record open.
Peace Remarks
Mayor I have been asked to make a few comments. What peace means to me is teaching people to handle conflict in a non-violent manner. I didn’t come with a quote, but our Town Administrator’s son, who is training to be a police officer, wrote a 13 page paper that was excellent. I just wanted to read the last sentence in the paper and quote Robert Warrington who is training to keep the peace. “For now, the best thing for a parent to deter aggressive behavior would be to remain a figure within the child’s life, be careful not to act distant and give the love to their child they need and deserve “. This is simple, straight forward, but true.
Ms. Lang read a quote related to peace.
Pepco Remarks
Mayor introduced Ernie Baker, Brad Zellmer and Nathan McElroy. This will be a very narrow focus on just the line upgrades. I know there are other issues, but we want to deal with this one subject.
Brad Zellmer we will be replacing 60,000 linear feet of lines in Cheverly in an attempt to improve the delivery of service. We are removing open wire and putting in tri-plex fully insulated wire. Most of these operations will be commencing in about a week.
Nathan McElroy I am a resident of Cheverly and a Forester and Arborist. Presented an example of a tree growing too close to a wire that caught fire noting that this is why it is important to trim trees from the wires. We are communicating with private property owners and now we are in the process of doing the work. We have distributed door hangers a second time.
Mayor Callahan our wire structure is 40 years old and our trees have interacted with wires and Pepco has spliced the wire. This new wire and new poles should really improve delivery of service. We thank you for the cooperation and enhanced communication this week.
CM Riazi we know you are trying to provide reliable service, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt to see the tree canopy cut. Do you need any other assistance regarding communications.
Nathan McElroy my only pause is that during the construction process that if additional work is needed then we will get in touch with the property owner. Months after the dormant season, things look different, so additional work may be identified.
CM Riazi a five year plan comes as a great shock and more frequent trimming lessens the impact.
CM Eldridge regarding communications are those households where you are going to change the drop to the homes, please communicate it to the owners.
Meeting adjourned.
Town of Cheverly
Summary of Action
May 12, 2011
No Motions.
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