Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterMayor And Council Meeting Recap 7-19-10 UPDATED
Jul 20, 2010 14:49 - 9 Comments
Update: Correction concerning Piotr Gajewski’s response to Morty Levine in Citizen’s Forum.
Here is a brief recap of portions of Monday night’s Mayor and Council meeting.
Present: Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, Councilmembers John Britton, Piotr Gajewski, Bridget Newton, Mark Pierzchala.
City Manager’s Report from Scott Ullery
Water transmission repair
A vote was taken to allow the City Manager to appropriate funds in excess of $100,000 for the emergency situation regarding our Rockville’s water supply. The City is currently supplying water through WSSC from various interconnects with their system because the water main, which connects Rockville’s Water Treatment Plant (WTP) to Rockville’s water customers, has been out of service since July 12 due to the water main breaks on July 7th and 12th. While the cause of the breaks is not certain, the City is examining two general areas: 1) the condition of the City’s 24-inch prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP); and 2) hydraulic surges at the water treatment plant and along the distribution lines. The Department of Public Works will not know how much repairs will wind up costing until an inspection of the pipe is completed. Three sources of money will be used. Some spending will be accelerated and other spending will be redirected to pay for the repairs. Craig Simoneau explained that these are older pipes but they are not at end of their life. Councilmember Pierzchala noted we should not have expected this to happen and don’t know the reason for the failure. The pipes breaking was the first indication of the problem.
Mr. Ullery also announced that hard copies of the adopted operating budget will be available at the Rockville and Twinbrook libraries. The FY11 budget will also be available on the City’s website.
Chamber of Commerce Update by Andrea Jolly
The Chamber is not taking summer off. A brand new website was launched with new sponsors. Businesses can learn about deals, participate in forums, and respond to events. A Mix and Mingle with three minority chambers and 270 Inc. was attended by over 200 people. Members volunteered at Stepping Stone Shelter doing yard work and putting cribs together. The Rockville Rewards program will be coordinated by Jane Meyer who was formerly with Whole Foods Rockville. Restaurant Week planning will be start at an August 9th meeting. Next Tuesday the Chamber will meet with the Environmental Commission about building green.
Citizen’s Forum
Anyone can address Citizen’s Forum. The best way is to call the City Clerk at 240-314-8280 by 4pm, but typically anyone who shows up is allowed to speak. Monday night, people spoke. Here are brief recaps:
Ted Reuther spoke about the notice from the Columbia Gas Transmission Company requiring extensive changes to his property. As 42-year residents, he has always honored the requirements of the transmission company but the extensive pruning and removal of trees on his property not in the right of way exceeds historical management practices. Removal of all the branches of large trees makes trees unsafe. Other approaches can take care of monitoring the pipeline rather than flyovers. The City has been involved with State in addressing large trees in parks where the pipeline crosses. A field agent of Columbia Gas spent hour and half in yard and described their intention to install an electronic detection system that would be placed near the surface of the soil over the pipeline. The system will be better than overhead flights to make visual determinations of dead grass possibly created by a leak. The flyovers don’t work in winter. Now they have in their hands a far better system. He hopes the City will also object to the pruning and removal of trees on our park land.
Dylan Prince spoke to advocate for keeping the Redgate Golf Course open. He learned to play two years ago with family and friends. Now golf is a favorite thing to play with their dads. It’s a good game for kids to learn because it teaches patience and focusing. Redgate is challenging and has lots of wildlife. He is looking forward to turning 16 to apply for a job at the course to get work experience and exercise. He asked for the City to keep it open for residents like him who are looking forward to playing for years to come.
David Prince joked he was at risk of being upstaged by son. He spoke about preserving the Redgate Golf Course for future generations. Since his wife and son play the course benefits his whole family. He wants everyone to consider what will happen if we develop the last large green space. Would we give up Monument Park which is by his house because it is not profitable? This would open up the possibility of putting a condo in his backyard. His suggestions were to implement better business practices like the new point of sale system and to look at ways of improving golf sales and making the restaurant real to attract more people. The practice space could also be improved so golfers don’t have to go to Olney. He thinks we should make it the best golf destination in the area.
Andrea Jolly spoke about 20% set aside for public space to be discussed during the worksession with the Planning Commission. The Chamber is interested in businesses and the City working together to come up with a compromise. They are interested in increasing the tax base not the tax rate. She asked for the Mayor and Council to take the work plan by city staff seriously and change the ordinance.
Morty Levine, President and CEO of Chestnut Lodge properties spoke about their recent request to extend the timing to complete the Ice House so the Blackmores can occupy the residence even though it is not completed. City staff said he would have to file a major site plan application. He would like the date to be the same as is specified on the application for other building permits. If all the meetings with the Planning Commission are required, the family will be out on the street. He can’t believe the zoning law is so inflexible that he can’t have extension.
Mayor Marcuccio asked the staff to respond during Citizen’s Forum. Staff talked to Mr. Levine on Monday and explained the provisions in the approval. Staff can’t change an adopted condition of the plan adopted by the Planning Commission. Susan Swift explained the question is whether it is minor or major. Friday was the staff’s first involvement. She already talked to the attorney and the attorney indicated it was major. They do have another application in front of Planning Commission for garages and architecture for this project and this was not included in that application. Her understanding is that unless there is a way the Planning Commission can include the change on the application it would have to be separate. Councilmember Gajewski suggested they schedule this request for the next meeting and ask the City Attorney and Planning Commission directors if there is any mechanism the Mayor and Council could use to help.
Art Stigile continued with questions about Redgate Golf Course which he has posted on Rockville Central. In his analysis he was generous and only included direct costs, not indirect costs. With indirect costs the subsidy by the City is $24 per round with a fee of $25.50. He asked questions #5 #6 and #7 and promised to come back next week and continue.
Mayor and Council Response
Councilmember Pierzchala asked the staff to respond to Mr. Reuther. The City sent a letter to Columbia Gas Company and spoke with them late last week. The City is having a discussion and requested they provide regular notice of their rights and their practices in maintaining the lines. No one on staff can recall any notices they said they sent out in past. The staff is trying to find what the easement is and what is required to maintain the pipes.
Mayor Marcuccio thanked everyone for speaking and added the young man can carry her clubs anytime.
Consent Agenda
The Mayor and Council approved the three items unanimously. Mayor Marcuccio had a question on the award for banking services and wanted to know the new cost. Finance Director Cohen explained the new cost is $60,000 and old one was $90,000 per year.
Sanitary Sewer System Rehabilitation
$754,233.60 was awarded to Construction of Sanitary Sewer System Rehabilitation AM-Liner East, Inc. of Berryville, Virginia to rehabilitate the sanitary sewer mains and manholes within Woodley Gardens Park and the Lower Cabin John Stream Valley which are in disrepair. Internal investigation found “defects such as cracks in the pipe, broken pipe segments, and root intrusion. These defects allow inflow and infiltration (I&I) of water into the sewer system, inhibit sewer flows, and have caused sewage backups. This project includes rehabilitating a total of approximately 6,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer pipes and 30 manholes via a cured-in-place liner. This rehabilitation method creates a “pipe within a pipe” and does not require any excavation.”
Comprehensive Banking Services contract
A five (5) year contract with an option to extend the contract for an additional five (5) years was awarded to Branch Banking and Trust (BB&T) bank out of Winston Salem, NC. The City’s current banking services provider is Suntrust Bank (formerly Crestar) and the contract expires on December 31, 2010. BB&T’s proposal was ranked #1 by an evaluation committee of four staff members.
Revised Letter to Ride On
The Letter was approved and will be sent to Montgomery College for signature then to Metro. The letter requests a small adjustment to Route 45 to add a loop off of Route 355 onto South Campus Drive to give riders from several Rockville neighborhoods, two Metro stations, and the Fallsgrove Transit Center direct access to the Montgomery College campus. It also requests an increase in the hours of service will allow current users and potential future users to travel to campus later into the evening for evening classes.
Other items of interest:
Possible annexation of property 15955 Frederick Road
Silverwood Investments wants to annex the Reed Brothers Used Car lot next to Carmax into the City of Rockville to build 455 multi-family units backing up to the Shady Grove Metro. The County likes the use but the most recent master plan did not include residential for this property. It would take a year to make the change and they can’t finance the change. During the discussion, the Mayor and Council were amenable to the possibility of building these residences for young, single professionals looking for a walkable environment, so the property owner will go forward with the process for annexation.
The Mayor and Council meeting also included a work session with the Planning Commission on a Zoning Text Amendment concerning public use space and open area percentages. The Amendment is scheduled for a vote at the next meeting. The Mayor and Council also discussed their views on changes to our City Charter and the timing on any action to consider changes.
The next Mayor and Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 2, 2010 at 7:00 PM.
Note: Mayor and Council meetings are long and can last into the wee hours of the morning. We can’t cover every decision and discussion but we’d like to provide enough information so readers know what’s happening in our City. After each meeting we will report on appointments and the City Manager’s report. When we can, we describe topics from Citizen’s Forum and report on any votes taken. We invite the community to let us know when we leave something out. We also invite anyone speaking during Citizens Forum to send their remarks to us for consideration as Contributor Opinions. Email to: [email protected]. If we miss a vote or leave out a bit of information you think is important, we’d like to know in comments!
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This comment was sent in by Theresa Defino: I look forward to these recaps, and from my days as a city hall reporter, i know how hard it is to collect all the info. So once again, thank you.About Red Gate: its future must NOT be a personal decision based on whether the mayor and council members are golfers-or which of their friends and campaign staff or supporters golf. It does not matter that citizens say they use it: this is simply a math problem, a BIG math problem. Red Gate is not like other facilities, such as the senior center, swim center and skatepark, which are highly used and by more than a select group of citizens. We simply cannot support the costs or make up the huge deficits that Red Gate will continue to accrue. It must be closed.I give Art all the credit in the world, but he is not an elected official. The mayor and council need to be asking the tough questions and making fiscally responsible decisions.About the annexation: I listened to most of this portion of the meeting. What struck me was that while it had support, the Mayor and Councilmember Newton implored the developer to build 3-bedroom units in the 400+unit building instead of one and twos, for “families.” I was stunned, especially as I live four blocks from Beall’s Grant II, which was forced to scale back its size and number of 3-bedroom units due to a two-year “community” beatdown led by Ms. Newton, allegedly over school over-crowding (the six children BGII would generate). The developers said they would look into the request, but a change seems doubtful. The incredible double standard is breath-taking. Where would these children go to school? And who would want to raise children in a high-rise on Rockville Pike next to a car dealer and right beside the metro? FInally, the situation is all the more tragic because last month, after Beall’s Grant II’s smaller site plan (74 units!) passed the Planning Commission, former Mayor Larry Giammo filed suit against the city-again. His suit against the first, larger plan is still pending. So much for caring about families, mounting city expenses spent defending lawful acts against a former mayor, and professed desire to house families in Rockville.
My response is out of irony. While mayor and council et all talk about bedroom size units as being good for single professionals, or for family, or for any other human condition, if real estate professionals use these same terms they would be subject to the wrath of the federal government for ‘steering.’
Actually, there are families, if the school buses stopping at these complexes is any indication, raising their kids right by the train tracks in the units both next to the Giant on Hungerford and in the apartments in the triangle surrounded by Veirs Mill, First Street, and the tracks themselves, actually overlooking the tracks in some cases. Not sure what the layouts are in those buildings, how many bedrooms they have, but families are already living by the train tracks; why not even closer to a Metro station than the ones we already have?
Good point about the location. Deb. I wonder how full those complexes are. However, both are quite small and not high-rises, compared to the proposed project to be possibly be annexed ( 3 floors vs. 10, 400+ units vs. about 100 or so).
What does annexation mean here?
the property is outside the city limits now and is part of montgomery county.
The Montgomery County School Public School staff and the City of Rockville should have better discussions on how to deal with the school enrollment controversiy. Good communication on this topic would be beneficial.
My comment relates to size of apartment units to build and school capacity issues.
How many people making statements on the unit size of apartments have lived in an apartment with children? My experience in living in an apartment for 6 years gives me a good belief that most families find apartment living with children not very desirable. Their decision is from the affordability factor.
New apartments now might have better acoustics and be built better than earlier years, but I found having a family live above our apartment was very noisy.
In 1969 while my family lived in an apartment on Twinbrook Parkway we experienced the noises from not only neighbors above us but next to our apartment. As soon as our daughter was school age, we moved into a Twinbrook house.
I believe families live in apartments on a temporary basis until they can afford and find a house. When smaller units are available there is less a chance of having children in them. Study the statistics of the surrounding apartments in our area and you get an idea of how many children apartment living generates.
School enrollments are increasing because the neighborhoods are generating more school age children and in some cases two families are in one home because of affordability. The new apartments do generate some children, but the real number of students are from the neighborhoods.
Let’s please look at the real reasons why the schools are getting over capacity. In Twinbrook I see the change and I don’t have children in school any more. I welcome all the school age children and I also know it is the Board of Education to plan for the increase in enrollment. The BOE can close or reopen a school, shift students from one school to another, add or decrease a program. Richard Montgomery High School is a great example. It only increased its enrollment because of the International Baccalaureate was placed in the school.
If all students attended schools in their immediate area, the picture of enrollment would look very different. Most of us know that school programs and boundary issues are very controversial.
It’s very condescending to say that people with children “should” live in a particular type of housing, and that apartment housing is not “appropriate” for families with children. That’s extremely judgmental. I’ve lived in apartment buildings as a child, with my three younger siblings, and it was only when we came to America that we encountered this attitude that the only appropriate type of housing for families is a detached single-family dwelling. We lived in apartments in some of the most sophisticated cities in the world, like Naples and Turin and Beirut, and in places like that there wasn’t a snooty attitude that we were “slumming” by living in apartments. In fact, it was quite the reverse.
In an ideal world, we would all live in McMansions on ten-acre plots. At least, that’s the American ideal.
If Montgomery County had single family homes affordable enough for families to buy, then perhaps some would not have to resort to living in apartments. When the median mortgage payment is more than $2000, then living in a home is out of a lot families reach, especially when you factor in upkeep. So perhaps when Montgomery County cuts a deal to kick people out of their homes In places like Silver Spring so an overpriced retail sector can be built, then if those folks and their kids have to move into apartments, not their fault. Aside from that, I am sick and tired of people without kids being so incredibly judgmental about those who do. Families are a part of American life. Deal with it or find an island to live on.