Town of Cheverly
Meeting Minutes
December 9, 2012
Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm in the Cheverly Community Center.
In attendance: CMs Riazi, Coolen, Eldridge, Thorpe, Cook.
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda/Approval/Changes
Mayor I have been asked to add a brief discussion of the reintroduction of the Prince George’s County bag bill.
Minutes – Town Meeting 11/8/12
Approved as written.
Minutes – Worksession 11/29/12
Approved as written
Town Administrator Report
Mr. Warrington we apologize to the groups that had scheduled events this weekend as activities had to be cancelled this weekend due to a water main break. You have a memo in front of you from Mr. Torres regarding pending Pepco activities/tree trimming. One of the issues is whether the row of Bradford Pears should be trimmed or removed. We will reach out to the residents where these trees serve as street trees. We are working to wrap-up leaf collection in the next month. We also ask folks not to put yard waste out on the wrong day.
Chief’s Report
Mayor the Chief and his staff are in training this evening and he could not attend tonight’s meeting. He did leave some brief notes that I will convey on his behalf. The crime stats for November are the lowest since we have kept track and overall is down 29%. Theft accounts for 50% of our crime so please lock your car doors and keep items out of view. We are looking for a slogan to reduce thefts. The shop with a cop effort was very successful.
Committee Reports
Recreation Council Report
CM Eldridge the Holiday Party was really a well attended and fantastic event. Thanks to everyone who worked on it to make it so successful.
Green Infrastructure Report
Mayor they are working hard with the Neighborhood Design Center to revamp Town Park. One fifth of the community has composters.
Cheverly Day Report
CM Thorpe Cheverly Day is May 18th and we have started planning for the event. I would like to get some feedback on entertainment. Do we need more advertising?
Planning Board Report
CM Eldridge last Thursday was the 202 Sector Plan meeting at the PG Ballroom. Basically it looks at 202 from the Beltway to the Parkway. There were discussions for adaptive use around the Landover Metro Station. The most interesting were the redesign of some of the intersections. They should be loading these items on their website. All are welcome to come and participate at their meetings.
Citizen Input
No input.
Mayor and Council Announcements
CM Riazi. I want to thank everyone who came and helped during the tree lighting. I wanted to thank Public Works for the Yule Log as well. We will be judging the light judging on December 21st so please be sure to turn on your lights.
CM Coolen the last market last Saturday was very successful and I thank everyone who came out all season. I was overwhelmed by the number of people I knew and didn’t know at the market. There is going to be a market on Cheverly Day.
CM Eldridge I wanted to thank everyone involved in the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot. It was a fantastic event. We had over 100 5K runners and 130 for the 1K and we raised a good amount of money for the Capital Area Food Bank.
CM Coolen I want to also give a shout out to our Public Works Staff regarding the Tree Lighting.
Mayor we do not have a December Worksession so we have no agenda items. The boom last Monday night, it was generated from FedEx Field for Monday Night Football. We did take a position of opposition for the Fuego Adult Entertainment Club, which is just outside our boundaries on Jackson Street.
Backyard Hens
Mr. Jacob Howly I am from the City of Mount Rainer and am with my associate Mr. Pete Macavoy and we represent the Prince George’s County Hen group, which is a grass roots organization to promote the keeping of small flocks. It is a County Zoning issue. The MNCPPC issued a report in September with a lot of agriculture recommendations. The report included a recommendation for backyard hens. The handouts I have provided tonight includes a lot of the background information. We do not include roosters, only female egg laying hens. Your handout has a lot of benefits. The eggs are healthier than store bought eggs and they are cheaper. It also reduces food waste and packaging waste. It is an economic stimulus for the purchase of feed etc. The final item is
chicken excrement as it is a very valuable fertilizer. People will save money on fertilizer. The local soils can carry this capacity while large producers will exceed their soil capacity so it is better for the Chesapeake Bay. Right now people are keeping hens in the County they don’t register their hens with the State and they are not informed of any avian public health risks that may occur. We would love for you to consider a Resolution supporting this.
CM Thorpe prior to the meeting, I knew who was involved, but I am hearing this visceral reaction against backyard hens from residents. How have you dealt with that in your own areas and how do you go about overcoming that type of reaction. Also, if there is an outbreak of some sort, how would the County deal with that?
Mr. Howly it is banning backyard chickens, which is not the norm rather than permitting them. It was a non-issue for most of the U.S. History. It is done in a lot of places and it is not an issue. There are more people with dogs than will be keeping chickens and chickens don’t deposit waste on other peoples’ front lawns. We recommend a reasonable set back and certain coop requirements along with no roosters. What if there was a salmonella or bird flu outbreak, I believe MDA would try to get the word out, but since it has not happened, I can only assume what they would do. We can control the sanitary aspects of a small coop.
CM Riazi what sort of process do you recommend to make sure people are properly taking care of their chickens by installing best practices.
Mr. Howly we have the University of Maryland that does educational programs about raising backyard hens. Our group would very likely step up to the plate as well. There will be ample resources for pushing best practices. There are a lot of resources out there. There is the MDA Poultry Registration System.
CM Eldridge I have dogs and cats, could you talk about weather conditions, vacations and how they affect chickens.
Mr. Howly you can have them taken care of when you go on vacation just like dogs and cats by a neighbor or friend. They can live up to 10 years and they are egg producers for 3-4 years. Laying hens are not that good to eat. They can survive with a heat source as simple as an incandescent light bulb.
CM Coolen what happens if you end up with 5 hens and a rooster through an order? I worry about that and animals that get into the coop? I am in this for all the animals.
Mr. Howly getting a rooster will be very rare and most places will take them back and the breeder will find a venue for the rooster. There are best practices to prevent predators into your coop. We believe this will be coming before the County Council in their next session.
Mayor from a timetable perspective, we will probably consider a Resolution in February to then get it to the County Council.
Ms. Daphne Levin ward 2 and I wanted to put forth my support. We have community gardens and recycle water, so we are making steps for sustainability and this is another step in that direction.
Mr. Howly you can go to www.pghens.com if you would like more information.
Adoption – R-4-12 Appointing Election Board Supervisor
Mayor we are filling the spot for Al Dwyer and we have an election coming up in May and we need to fill this spot. Tonight we will be appointing Elizabeth Stewart who has experience in the County elections.
- CM Thorpe to adopt Ordinance O-4-12 Appointing a Board of Election Supervisor. CM Coolen seconded. Approved unanimously.
Introduction – CAR-1-13 Amending the Tax Cap
Mr. Warrington this legislation amends the portion of the Charter regarding the Tax Cap by actually eliminating the Tax Cap. This is being introduced tonight.
Mayor we were looking at different tax rates for different categories of properties. We found that the tax cap became an obstacle in accomplishing this goal and we found the tax cap and tax rate was very confusing for residents. Of the 157 municipalities in the State, we are only one of thirteen towns that continue to have a tax cap.
Mr. Micah Watson, Ward 2 I oppose the lifting or elimination of the tax cap. I think it is an important part of the Charter. The purpose of the cap in the Charter is so that it is more difficult to change. I think it was put there as an institutional break on the Mayor and Council. It is not designed to be easy. It is confusing, but so are a lot of things. It is valid that the cap is inflexible and the Council should look to find flexibility in the cap. I have not heard any compelling reasons.
CM Eldridge I do feel that it is confusing amongst the public. I hear what you are saying, but the tax cap does add confusion to the process and is not necessary.
Mr. Watson I absolutely agree that it is confusing and will continue to confuse folks.
Mayor this is the introduction this evening and we will have it before us for many weeks and look forward to gathering input from the citizens.
Discussion – Bag Bill Legislation
CM Riazi the legislation in DC and Montgomery County have been successful in reducing bags in those jurisdictions. Disposable bags do not include bulk items. I have some examples of how the bags are a problem in our community and proffered arguments for the passage of such legislation.
Mayor the Prince George’s County Delegation endorsed such a bill last year, but only by the narrowest of margins. It did not come out of Committee in the State legislature. This is not an easy process. CM Riazi is asking us to lend our support at all levels of government.
CM Riazi we need communities to look at how it will affect us in the form of property values and litter and it impacts us every day.
Mayor we will be discussing this matter perhaps at the Workession and will address at that time. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday. I thank the Council for all their efforts this year.
Mayor meeting adjourned.
Town of Cheverly
Summary of Action
December 9, 2012
- CM Thorpe to adopt Ordinance O-4-12 Appointing a Board of Election Supervisor. CM Coolen seconded. Approved unanimously
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