Town of Cheverly
Meeting Minutes
January 8, 2015
Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 8:00 pm in the Cheverly Community Center.
In attendance: CMs, Riazi, Coolen and Eldridge.
Pledge of Allegiance
Agenda/Approval/Changes
Minutes – Town Meeting 12/10/14
Approved.
Minutes – Worksession
Approved.
- CM Coolen to excuse Mayor, CM Rodgers and CM Cook. CM Thorpe seconded. Approved 4-0.
Recognition Holiday House Decorating Contest
Vice Mayor Eldridge read the names of the outstanding house decorating homes.
Town Administrator’s Report
Mr. Warrington mentioned calls/complaints regarding snow plowing about the speed at which their streets were plowed. The problem was the lack of compliant with the snow parking requirements. The Town hit 3 cars last year and we do not want to do that again, so please park on the correct side. Since we were all caught off-guard, we did not issue tickets, but we will be issuing tickets if this occurs again.
CM Riazi wanted to know information about the bridge leading to Metro.
Mr. Warrington the first bridge is SHA’s and the second is Prince George’s County and they do not clear the walks. We have a snow removal policy that includes these walkways after we have cleared all of our walkways. We do ours first for liability reasons. We can not use a snow blower on those walkways for various reasons and we have to shovel those bridges to the Metro by hand, so it takes a little longer.
CM Coolen asked about the broken water main on Cheverly Avenue.
Mr. Warrington WSSC responded pretty quickly, but it took all day. We put up signs and had police officers directing folks around the closed road, but with the volume of cars it really caused havoc. The patch is temporary, but it will not be fully repaired as the asphalt plants are closed until it gets much warmer. It will probably be the same time Washington Gas fixes their hole on Belleview Avenue. They put plates over their hole and they were not secured and two vehicles went into the hole with airbags being deployed. Thankfully no person was hurt and Washington Gas came out and fixed their error.
Chief’s Report
Mr. Warrington gave a quick update. There were 23 incidents in December and 2014 was the second lowest recorded crime year for the Town of Cheverly. Clearing sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of a snowfall is required by the Town Code. When the sidewalks aren’t cleared the kids head for the street, which is cleared and this is a dangerous situation.
Recreation Council
No Report
Green Infrastructure Committee
CM Riazi You can help rid the Cheverly Nature Park of invasive species on January 19th at 10 am until 1pm for the MLK Day of Service. The big focus is on English Ivy. The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up on the 14th of February. You can go to cheverlygreenconnect, which is the Facebook page. The next rain barrel workshop is coming in July. We also discussed the WMATA proposal for the rail yard at the Landover Metro site.
Cheverly Day Committee
CM Thorpe will be held May 16th. Planning is underway and you can contact me if you wish to volunteer.
Cheverly Planning Board
CM Eldridge WMATA has proposed to install a maintenance rail station at the Landover Station and expand the New Carrollton metro rail yard maintenance area. We met with representatives from WMATA and expressed our concern about the impact on our region and the development around Metro stations. We will let you know when the next meeting will be held. It is not in Cheverly, but will have implications for the Town.
Citizen Input
Mayor and Council Announcements
CM Coolen I wanted to thank all the residents that decorated for the holidays. Anyone who has a high school senior, there is an article in the Gazette about 3 realtor scholarships. You may want to look at that as submissions are due by February 28th.
CM Riazi the American Legion is about to celebrate its 80th anniversary and they are having a Gala on January 24th. There are tickets available, please contact Nancy Clay at 301-395-6129 or clayc01@yahoo.com . The Cheverly Village Planning Group is in need of a couple of volunteers to help with a simple website design and someone who can help with a survey development. If interested, you can call me at 202-258-6167
Vice Mayor Eldridge everyone in Town have received their tax assessment and you may find that it has gone up and if you want to contest your assessment, there is information as to how to appeal in with your assessment and you should do that soon. We are entering our budget season and it will be a topic of discussion from now until passage in June. If you want to be involved with that, contact your Councilmember or attend a Worksession. This is an election year for all the Councilmember seats and you can download the forms from our website. Lastly, we are going to move our Worksession from January 22nd to January 29th due to a number of scheduling conflicts. For the Worksession we currently only have 2 items: Discussion of the Crematorium in Tuxedo and Installation of a
streetlight on the B-W Parkway Access Ramp.
Citizen Input
Mr. Young resident of Ward 2 and I am still experiencing problems with the noise and vibrations of the helicopters that are frequenting the hospital. I was expecting a call back from the Mayor as to the resolution of this problem, but have not heard from him.
CM Coolen the Mayor and I have met with the hospital and we have discussed it with the hospital and they are aware that this is an issue with the town. The hospital does tell all of the various units that come into the hospital that this is the flight route and protocol that they are to follow. The Mayor lives in that area and he is aware of the issue.
CM Eldridge I would encourage people to contact their state elected officials on this as well.
Town of Cheverly
Summary of Action
January 8, 2015
- CM Coolen to excuse Mayor, CM Rodgers and CM Cook. CM Thorpe seconded. Approved 4-0
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