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December 10, 2014 Town Meeting Minutes

Town of Cheverly
Meeting Minutes
    December 10, 2014

Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm in the Cheverly Community Center.  

In attendance:  CMs, Riazi, Coolen, Eldridge, Rodgers, and Cook.

Pledge of Allegiance

Agenda/Approval/Changes

Addition of Holiday Schedule
Addition Item 8.5 WMATA Meeting

Minutes – Town Meeting        11/13/14
Approved.

Minutes – Worksession         11/20/14
Approved.

  • CM Cook to excuse CM Thorpe. CM Riazi seconded. Approved 5-0.
Proclamations

  • CM Coolen to honor the 60th Anniversary of the Garden Club. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Riazi to congratulate the Champions of the Green Infrastructure Plan. CM Eldridge seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Cook to honor the 60th Anniversary of the Sons of the American Legion. CM Coolen seconded. Approved 5-0.
Town Administrator’s Report

Mr. Warrington had no report.  

Chief’s Report

Chief Robshaw crime is down 10% throughout this year.  80-90% of our crime in town is theft and specifically theft from auto.  If you want to donate a car to the Town of Cheverly it must be done by December 31st to apply to this tax year.  The house check program is available if you are going out of town.  All you have to do is notify us you will be out of town.  To reduce theft from auto; park in a lighted area, lock your car door and hide your valuables from plain sight in the auto.  If we can reduce the theft from auto crime, our crime rate would go down by 75%.  We still have available to all residents a free home security survey by the police to take measures to prevent burglary.

Recreation Council

Mayor the Holiday Party was last weekend and it was a delightful event and we thank them for everything they do.

Green Infrastructure Committee

Ms. Salo the plant propagation project has begun and you can learn more about native grasses.  You can help rid the Cheverly Nature Park of invasive species on January 19th at 10 am our weed warriors will continue their work.  On February 14th and 15th join us for the backyard bird count.  Help us map our backyard environmental successes.  There will be a survey on www.greencheverly.org.  The popular rain barrel workshop will be back in the Spring, help reduce erosion and pollution.  

Cheverly Planning Board

CM Eldridge met Tuesday night and the big topic of discussion was the WMATA hearing about the proposed rail yard at the Landover Station.  We discussed the progress on Envision Cheverly.  There was a discussion of a parking variance and the Planning Board decided to write a letter of support for that matter.  We meet the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30

Citizen Input

Ms. Leila Price 4th Ward.  I am here to speak about World Recycling and here is a picture of what we have to see every day.  There is trash on top of trash at this site.  Whatever the Town can do we would greatly appreciate it.

Mr. Enrique Young Ward 2.  I want to discuss the over flight path for the helicopters going to the hospital.  It is disruptive to the residents and it interrupts sleep, which is important to health.  It is causing some foundation and structure problems to my home.  Whatever can be done to divert the flight pattern will be greatly appreciated.  

Mayor and Council Announcements

CM Riazi the Cheverly American Legion will be having a New Year’s Eve Party from 10 pm to 1 am in the dug-out and the cost is $10.  There will be gift cards and a raffle drawing.  The Cheverly Village Planning Group had a meeting which drew over 60 people.  You can email chevvillage@gmail.com and we can get in touch with you if you are interested.

CM Coolen we will have a Community Market Saturday for the Holiday Market with over 50 vendors from 8-Noon.  

CM Eldridge I want to thank the Councilmembers for such a great tree lighting ceremony.  Thanks to SHA for upgrading the sidewalks on Route 202.  

CM Cook I want to announce that CM Harrison will be hosting her annual Holiday celebration call 301-952-3864 if you wish to attend.

Mayor there will be no Worksession in December.  If you need a gift for the Holidays, we have wonderful post cards for sale for 50 cents at the front office.  We recently met with the Hospital regarding Helicopters.  There are some 2012 Cheverly Day T-Shirts on Ebay, so you can shop for the holiday and buy one.  

WMATA Rail Yard Discussion

Mayor read the introduction of a letter that was drafted about expanding the rail yard at New Carrollton and creating a rail yard maintenance facility at the Landover Station.  They will remove 8.1 acres of woodland to do this because they are going to 8 train cars.  We have invested a lot of time in the County Plan 2035, the 202 Corridor Plan and the Sector Plan to push for development and higher density around Metro Stations and this does not comply with these plans.  

CM Eldridge I am frustrated by this plan.  We only found out about it about a month ago.  I am personally concerned about the fact that there are residential neighborhoods nearby.  I understand that every time a train moves in the rail yard that they have to honk a horn.  I am very concerned that putting a rail yard at a fantastic mixed use site will essentially kill any prospects of that being developed.  Personally I feel Cheverly’s economic future is tied to the Landover Station.  I hope we are able to influence WMATA of other options.

CM Coolen let’s make sure all of our elected officials at all levels are aware of this issue and encourage their assistance.

  • CM Eldridge to send a letter to WMATA about our concern about the process and the proposed rail yard at Landover Station. CM Riazi seconded. Approved 5-0.

Budget Adjustment Recycling Equipment

Mr. Warrington as everyone may be aware, the County no longer will accept any type of plastic bag at the recycling facility.  We found this out on very short notice and it has had an impact of folks who exceed the capacity of their current recycling bin.  This was very different from the ban that occurred at the yard waste facility allowing folks to get paper bags.  We are proposing the purchase of a pilot program 32 gallon lidded and wheeled containers.  The 32 gallon can be handled by our guys.  You can supplement that with your existing buckets.  We want to get them out and see how it goes.  If it goes well, then we can factor additional buckets in our FY16 program.  We can hear back from the resident and workers to see if this will work.  We are asking for a budget adjustment of $13,000 to buy some and get them out there to see if this is the solution.  You can use another type of container for recycling, just like you can use a container for your yard waste.  This will allow a purchase of about 130 since we are not buying in volume and they are about $70 a piece.

CM Eldridge this is a big pilot program and it seems like quite a few houses for a pilot program.

Mayor for someone to purchase this, it would be $70.  I want to purchase these and offer them at a discount of $25 to encourage people to use them.

CM Riazi I like the idea of people paying something toward it and I don’t know if we should do it until people actively seek this program via orders.  Instead of doing such a large number in purchasing, maybe we should only order 25 or 50.

CM Cook how soon will we be getting them?  People really need to get them soon.

CM Eldridge I like the idea of getting a sense of what the demand is?  My concern is that we will have lots of these things sitting down at Public Works.  I think it would be worth getting a sense of the community.

Mayor people have indicated a need according to the Staff.  So can I get a motion?

  • CM Riazi to make a budget adjustment to the Sanitation Materials and Supply Account in the amount of $13,000 for the purchase of recycling containers. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.
Discussion December 26th and January 2nd

Mr. Warrington I brought to the Mayor and Council’s attention that the Federal Government is going to close on December 26th and January 2nd.  Our Code lists the holidays that we close, which mirrors the Federal Holidays and these are not listed.  We have received inquiries as to whether we will follow suit and I just passed that on to the Mayor and Council.

Mayor we have had a couple of conversations about showing our appreciation to the employees and this is an opportunity.  Our Police have to work regardless, but I would like to recommend that we give them both these days as a way of saying thank you to our employees.

  • CM Coolen to make a motion to close operations on December 26th and January 2nd in appreciation for a job very well done. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.
Adjournment to Executive Session

Mayor under Maryland State Law, we are going to adjourn to a closed meeting in order to discuss a potential land purchase.  I will take a roll call vote as required.

  • CM Cook to adjourn to executive session. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.

Town of Cheverly
Summary of Action
December 10, 2014

  • CM Cook to excuse CM Thorpe. CM Riazi seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Coolen to honor the 60th Anniversary of the Garden Club. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Riazi to congratulate the Champions of the Green Infrastructure Plan. CM Eldridge seconded. Approved 5-0
  • CM Cook to honor the 60th Anniversary of the Sons of the American Legion. CM Coolen seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Eldridge to send a letter to WMATA about our concern about the process and the proposed rail yard at Landover Station. CM Riazi seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Riazi to make a budget adjustment to the Sanitation Materials and Supply Account in the amount of $13,000 for the purchase of recycling containers. CM Rodgers  seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Coolen to make a motion to close operations on December 26th and January 2nd in appreciation for a job very well done. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.
  • CM Cook to adjourn to executive session. CM Rodgers seconded. Approved 5-0.