Comments are by Councilmembers Llatetra Brown Esters and Susan Whitney and are not approved or sanctioned by the City of College Park.

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CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF SPECIAL ELECTION – BOES Chief John Payne 

• 14,263 registered voters
• 1,850 votes cast
• Final vote count
  • Brian Haddad – 19
  • Denise Mitchell – 354
  • Catherine “Kate” Kennedy – 469
  • Fazlul Kabir – 1,008

CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT – Swearing-in of Mayor Fazlul Kabir

• Ethan Sweep from Congressman Glenn Ivey’s office presented Mayor Fazlul with a certificate of congratulations and Recognition of his contributions to the community. He said to reach out to his Congressman Ivey’s office for help with anything. 

COMMENTS FROM MAYOR KABIR

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS – MAYOR, COUNCIL, STUDENT LIAISON

• Councilmember Kabir – Looking for Celebrating College Park Parade participants & volunteers
• Councilmember Esters – BDCA meeting this Thursday, May 18^th at Tacos a la Madre.
• Councilmember Whitney – PGPD District I Steering Wheel Lock Giveaway at The Mall at Prince George’s Thursday, May 18^th at 11 am. Must prove county residency & that you own a Hyundai or a Kia. 
• Councilmember Adams
  • Bike to Work Day with City Hall Pit Stop on May 19^th
  • Calvert Hills Civic Association Meeting on May 17^th
  • UMD student Samuel Isaac Castañeda passed away late Monday last week. Adams said Castañeda had been working on a project late and had an accident while driving home. 
• Councilmember Rigg congratulated Mayor Kabir.
• Councilmember Mackie
  • Porch concert on Gettysburg Lane in College Park Woods on Sunday, May 21 at 4 pm.
  • Recognized College Park students who won STEM awards in state educational competitions.
• Mayor Kabir
  • Thanked staff and everyone who came out for the first Friday Night Live (FNL) concert of the season. 
  • He said he would be at City Hall Plaza for Bike to Work Day and provided details for the event.
  • Arbor day event rescheduled for Thursday May 18th at 6 pm at the corner of 52nd and Narragansett Parkway
• Student Liaison Valerie Graham
  • She introduced the next Student Liaison, Dhruvak Mironi, and Deputy Student Liaison, Gannon Sprinkle, who will start in June. 
  • She announced the SGA election results. 
• Deput Student Liaison Adrian Andriessens congratulated Mayor Kabir. 

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT 

No announcements. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

• Former County Councilmember Dannielle Glaros
• Former City Councilmember Maxine Gross

PROCLAMATIONS AND AWARDS: 

• Volunteer Appreciation Month 

• Kids To Parks Day – May 20, 2023

AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 

Councilmember Adams moved to move 23-G-74, Approval of staff’s recommendation of updated Guidelines and Allocations for Program Open Space – Erik Valentine, Community Development Planner from the Consent Agenda to the Action Agenda.

The Agenda was approved as amended. 

CONSENT AGENDA. 

23-G-75 Approval of an Aging in Place Home Repair Program Guidelines Abstain: and Operating Agreement with Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland, in substantially the form attached, subject to City Attorney review – Erik Valentine, Community Development Planner and Kiaisha Barber, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services 

Suellen – would like to add subrecipient agreement into this item.  

23-R-07 Approval of a Resolution Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Adopting The Recommendation Of The Advisory Planning Commission For Application Number CEO-2023-02, 4910 Hollywood Road, College Park, Maryland, Recommending Approval Of Variances From City Code §87-23.C, To Permit The Installation Of A 4.5-5 Foot-High Slatted Wooden Fence Along The Side Yard Of A Street

23-R-08 Approval of a Resolution Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Adopting The Recommendation Of The Advisory Planning Commission Regarding Variance Application CPV-2023- 01, 7501 Wellesley Drive, College Park, Maryland Recommending Approval Of Two Variances: 13-Foot Street Side Yard Setback , And a 2-Foot Rear Yard Setback Variance From Section 27-4202(E) (2) Of The Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance, To Convert and Widen a One-Car Carport into a Two-Car Garage (appeal period ends May 

 23-G-76 Authorization to allow free parking on summer weeknights after 5:00 p.m. and free all-day Saturday parking in the City’s downtown parking garage from May 27 to August 12, 2023 – Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services 002 

23-G-78 Approval of PTO/PTA membership incentive stipends to Tier One Schools (Hollywood Elementary, Paint Branch Elementary School, Greenbelt Middle School and Parkdale High School) and Tier Two Schools (Berwyn Heights Elementary, University Park Elementary, Cherokee Lane Elementary, Buck Lodge Middle, High Point High School, College Park Academy) – Kiaisha Barber, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services 

23-G-79 Approval of Memorandum of Agreement between The Family Therapy Training Institute of Miami and College Park Youth and Family Services for training and implementation of Brief Strategic Family Therapy, in substantially the form attached subject to City Attorney reveiw – Kiaisha Barber, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services 

23-G-80 Approve minutes from the April 18, 2023 meeting. 

Consent agenda passes unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARINGS 

• 23-O-05 An Ordinance Of The Mayor And Council Of The City Of College Park Amending City Code Chapter 15 “Boards, Commissions And Committees”, By Deleting Article II, “College Park Recreation Board”, §§ 15-3 Through 15-18, In Its Entirety To Remove The College Park Recreation Board From The City Code And Re-establish By Resolution A City Events Advisory Board For The Purpose As Set Forth In Resolution 23-R-06.
  • City Clerk Janeen S. Miller said the item was introduced two weeks ago. The first step in making renaming the Recreation Board as the City Events Advisory Board was adopting 23-R-06. The second step is adopting this ordinance, 23-O-05, to remove the Recreation Board from City Code. 
  • Council had no questions. 
  • The public had no questions or comments.
  • Councilmember Adams moved to adopt 23-O-05. Councilmember Whitney seconded. It passed unanimously.

ACTION ITEMS 

23-G-82 Consideration of Detailed Site Plan DPS-22024 and Related Departure, Discovery Point, located at the southeast quadrant of Baltimore Avenue and Campus Drive – Miriam Bader, Director of Planning 

• College Park Director of Planning Miriam Bader introduced the item.
  • The Applicants, Terrapin Development Company (TDC) and Brandywine Realty Trust, have submitted Detailed Site Plan DSP-22024 to redevelop an existing University of Maryland parking lot located at the southeast corner of Baltimore Avenue and Campus Drive, just north of The Hotel at UMD. 
  • This Phase 1 of a multi-phased development will construct two mixed-use buildings:
    
    • Building 1 is an 8-story office with ground floor retail
    • Building 2 is a 4-story office building with ground floor retail. 
  • The Planning Board hearing is scheduled for June 8, 2023
  • The Applicant is required to provide a total cost cap of $501,954.40 in BPIS (Bicycle and Pedestrian Impact Statement) improvements to off-site pedestrian and bike facilities for of for the entire project (790 apartments and 524,000 square feet of office)
  • Since the development in being completed in phases, with separate DSPs for each phase, the Applicant is asking M-NCPPC if it may phase in the BPIS improvements, rather than providing all of them in Phase 1 of the development.
  • If M-NCPPC allows them to break the improvements into phases, Council must decide whether it agrees with that. 
  • 483 parking spaces are required by sector plan, but the Applicants want to reduce it to 333. Staff approved based on Applicant’s rationale and plans for parking garage in later phase.
  • City has seven requirements to support DSP. Please see Detailed Site Plan Recommendation at the bottom of page 121 of the meeting Agenda.
• City Attorney Suellen Ferguson
  • City has not reached an agreement on the Declaration of Covenants but hopes to be ready to bring it to Council next week.
  • City is waiting to see what M-NCPPS says about staging spending on BPIS improvements, but even if they approve it, City can request a lump sum.
• Project Attorney Larry Taub explained the ownership structure to Council
  • The property is owned by UMD. 
  • UMD intends to convey the property to TDC. 
  • TDC will continue to own the property but will ground lease it to Brandywine Realty Trust for long time
  • They have reviewed the City’s report and are in agreement with their conditions as shown.
  • Still need to negotiate the details in the Declaration of Covenants.
  • They agree with the City on its BPIS requests and will put them forward. They are seeking an amendment to the Certificate of Adequacy to do so. While that may not be  approved before certification, they will submit it before approval.
  • The developer’s position is that BPIS money should be spent based on 35 cents times the square footage being submitted for development in the DPS for each stage of the development.  
  • That said, the Developer will not leave an improvement incomplete because the prorated BPIS funds for that stage had been spent.
• Michael Vergason of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects talked about the conceptual design of the outdoor space and how it was supposed to bring the community together for community events and outdoor dining.
• UMD alumnus Michael Talbott of architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross spoke about the buildings’ architecture and how it relates to the current streetscape.
• UMD’s Ed McGinnis said this development is a big win and very exciting. He said the choice to put the project on the City’s tax rolls was made to lift the community and university together. 
• TDC President Ken Ulman said they made a conscious decision to put the development on City tax rolls. He said developing office space this large is not common nowadays, but TDC is bullish on the ability to fill the spaces, and UMD will master lease a significant amount of space. The current vision for tenants includes:
  • Recruiting private sector businesses that want to be here. 
  • Office space for UMD entrepreneurs who want to be close to their labs.
  • Capitalizing on the connectivity to the Purple Line
  • UMD’s intention is to
    • locate their visitor center on the second floor
    • locate their bookstore on the first floor 
    • locate the Office of Community Engagement in the building, as well.
• Council Questions and comments:
  • Councilmember Esters asked how they intend to connect with the community?
    • Mr. Taub: The project will have space for community meetings and non-profits, but central to all of this is the university. It will elevate the university and help bring UMD students into the private sector. He said they are not ignoring the community.
    • Mr. Ulman said they have focused on pedestrian and bike connectivity and how to connect to the Trolley Trail and Northwest Branch Trail. Currently, it’s an uninviting parking lot. They want it to be a welcoming place.
  • Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell expressed concerned that this will negatively impact the Lakeland and asked how it would be protected.
    • Mr. Ulman said the project would provide job opportunities for both residents and students and mentioned opportunity for curation of retail. He also mentioned the BPIS investments, Riverwalk and the bike path on the north side of Campus Drive.
  • Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell said the City has been promised LEED gold buildings for years and never gets them.
    • The team said they think they are very close and are looking at the scoring all the time.
    • Mr. Ulman said they’re focused on being net-zero ready and that the site currently has no stormwater management. 
  • Councilmember Adams
    • said getting people to walk and bike to this development is very sustainable and said the City is trying to get people to live and work here. He suggested UMD might match the City’s New Neighbor Homeownership Grant to encourage that.
    • Confirmed that it met FAA height requirements 
    • Asked that BPIS improvements at Trolley Trail and Campus Drive be prioritized and that budget would cover them if phased in.
      • Mr. Taub said their priorities would be Campus Drive hub #1, followed by Campus Drive hub #2 and that they would complete any project they started.
      • City Attorney Ferguson said those improvements won’t necessarily be in phase one. They are still looking for clarification from parks and planning about when improvements must be made.
    • Councilmember Rigg:
      • Developers should include elements that tell the story of the mutually beneficial relationship between College Park and UMD. He wants long-term residents on campus interacting with students and vice versa.
      • He asked again about mitigation measures for underground trash debris in landfill.
        • Mr. McGinnis said they have negotiated an environmental management plan and will have environmental consultants on site.
    • Councilmember Whitney confirmed there would be an environmental consultant on-site every day during construction (Mr. McGinnis – yes) and asked if there was any precedent for splitting BPIS funding across stages.
      • Mr. Taub said they’re just starting to get information on that.
      • Ms. Ferguson said answering that question has been more complicated than they expected.
    • Councilmember Mackie asked where current parkers would go during construction
      • Mr. Taub said current parking in underutilized, and The Hotel’s garage could accommodate overflow.
    • Councilmember Mackie asked about increased traffic on Route One as a result of the development, and Mr. Taub said the traffic study found no negative impact.
    • Councilmember Rigg asked about illegal lefts from westbound Campus Drive onto Diamondback Drive, and Mr. Taub said they’d look into that.

PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSESSION DISCUSSIONS

(Note: this item moved forward in the agenda as many Senior Advisory Committee members were present to discuss it.) Discussion of AARP Livable Community Action Plan – Senior Advisory Committee and Kiaisha Barber, Director of Youth, Family and Senior Services

• Robert Thurston of the Senior Advisory Committee presented the College Park Age Friendly Action Plan to Council.
  • Started in September 2020. 
  • Timeline – 5-year cycle: They spent 2 years developing the action plan, and 3 years implementing it. They envision a continual improvement process. At end of 5 years, they will rinse and repeat. June 2026 is the date to complete this cycle and celebrate successes.
  • AARP livability has 8 domains, and College Park has chosen five:  Housing; Transportation; Communication and Information; Social Participation, and Health services & Community Support.
  • The Senior Advisory Committee looked at what was achievable in this cycle and what would be the greatest benefit to the city to select its priority actions. In addition to reviewing the priority actions, Mr. Thurston highlighted the following:
    • Encouraging more missing middle housing, not just middle/lower income, is key. He knew of at least 3 residents who were active in community but moved because they didn’t have a good choice for downsizing.
    • They recommend advocating aggressively for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and see them as alternate housing and a source of possible rental income. 
    • On the surface, College Park looks like a transportation hub, but it can be a challenge to travel within the city. Last-mile transportation needs improvement.
    • The City offers many resources, but the information is not reaching a lot of the population. Resources should be aggressively promoted through a variety of channels.
    • Council should move to change the City policy on promoting only City-sponsored events.
    • Civic associations should be encouraged to be more proactive in creating community events and promoting them across neighborhoods
    • City should highlight emergency preparedness and help train community on how best to support themselves and their neighbors if disaster strikes.
    • Community gardens would enhance nutritional status of residents and provide opportunities for socializing. 
    • The SAC believes it is critical that a staff position, either temporary or permanent, be created for a coordinator to track progress.
    • The City’s livability index has increased from 50 to 55 since the initiative began.
  • Council comments and questions:
    • Mayor Kabir – How does the rating of 55 compare with neighboring towns? (Mr. Thurston – SAC didn’t study that.) 
    • Councilmember Kennedy Kate
      • Community Preservation Trust (CPT) plans to eventually expand into allowing people living in their homes to get funding for aging-in-place improvements in exchange for entering into CPT.
      • Interested in missing middle housing and what we could do policy-wise to incentivize senior living.
      • What would Council role be in improving communication? Supporting staff position?
      • Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell
        • Proposed ADU legislation is coming up in County Council. Would like council to hear presentation on that. 
        • Part of Emergency Management Plan should be an MOU with hotels and churches and figuring out how to get seniors out first. 
        • Would like to talk about partnering with Uber to help with transportation needs
      • Councilmember Whitney
        • Having a UMD Shuttle sign-up table at future community events would be an easy way to promote it. 
        • Love the community garden idea. It would benefit both children and seniors. 
        • The public fitness space should not be considered only on City property but also on M-NCPPC property.
        • Sidewalks have also been requested by families with young children or who are expecting. 
        • Enthusiastic about promoting civic association events across neighborhood. When neighbors know each other, they care more about each other and will make the city better for all.
      • Councilmember Rigg
        • Be cautious about ADUs because they could lead to additional quality of life issues. 
        • Love missing middle idea. 
        • Interested in multigenerational housing that would be culturally appropriate for all generations. 
        • A lot of communities in the city lack sidewalks. Does SAC want us to lean in on that? University Park had major push for sidewalks even if not every house on a street wanted it (Mr. Thurston – Overall goal is to improve transportation, and walkability is a big part of that.) 
      • Councilmember Adams
        • Not worried about ADUs affecting quality of life. We just need to make sure the limitation of no more than 5 unrelated residents for the property includes the ADU.
        • Enthusiastic about matching program. We could connect with the UMD off-campus housing site.
      • Councilmember Mackie asked if SAC has considered providing contractor recommendations for seniors. Trusted individuals. (Mr. Thurston – Neighbors Helping Neighbors has considered that but would like guidance from the City Attorney.)
      • Councilmember Esters – What is the goal rating to get to in order to feel like work that you’ve done has been achieved? (Mr. Thurston – They haven’t talked as a group, but he’d aim for 65.)
  • Next steps, Ms. Barber:
    • Council needs to vote on whether or not to approve to action plan for submission to AARP. It may appear on a Consent Agenda.
    • After that, it would be up to Ms. Barber and staff to bring various initiatives back to council as appropriate. 
    • Anticipate these goals to be integrated into strategic plan OKRs and the related reports. 

ACTION ITEMS

23-G-74 Approval of staff’s recommendation of updated Guidelines and Allocations for Program Open Space – Erik Valentine, Community Development Planner

• Mr. Valentine provided an overview of Program Open Space and the changes proposed by the county.  The program is to shift from a focus on acquisition to development. The proposed changes would move from municipalities receiving an annual allotment for Program Open Space to municipalities requesting the use of funds for acquisition from the pool of funds when they are ready to utilize funds.  
• Questions & Comments from Council:
• Councilmember Adams: Is the new grouping of funding for both acquisition and development? (Mr. Valentine said the City would still have allocated funds for development. The pooled resources would only be for acquisition. City currently has just over $1 million for acquisition.)
• Councilmembers Adams – How much development funds do we have? (Mr. Valentine said the City has about $346k for development for FY24. 
• Councilmember Mitchell
  • said it sounds like we’ll be competing with other municipalities for this money, which could easily go to south county.

Councilmember Esters asked if municipalities were asked for their input before the proposed        changes were made. Mr. Young said municipalities were not asked for input.  

Councilmember Mitchell:

• Suggested all 27 municipalities should send a letter in opposition to making this change without consulting with them, saying the county will continue to take such actions if there’s no pushback. She suggested working through PGCMA and Four Cities.

• Councilmember Adams believes the fact that M-NCPPC funds are being used to buy a site for the North College Park Community Center could put us at the back of the line for a while. 
• Councilmember Adams moved only to approve the allocation of Program Open Space funds proposed by staff.

23-G-72 Approval of the Mayor Pro Tem Motion By: To: 2 nd: Yes: No: Abstain: 003 

• Mayor Kabir nominated Councilmember Mitchell to be Mayor Pro Tem. 
• Councilmember Whitney moved to approve the nomination, which was seconded by Councilmember Esters. 
• The nomination was unanimously approved.

PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSESSION DISCUSSIONS (Continued)

Discussion of Mayor and Council compensation – Teresa Way-Pezzuti, Director of Human Resources 

• Ms. Way-Pezzuti – City is recommending that changes be made to Mayor and Council compensation. Many municipalities have resident committees that review compensation and make recommendations. Staff recommends having the city attorney draft a resolution for an increase of at least $3,000 for both Mayor and Council and to create a review committee every two years to review compensation. 
• Councilmember Kennedy said we should consider budgeting for executive coaching for councilmembers and mayors if they want it, saying many take the role to improve professionally. 
• Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell asked if there was time to create a compensation committee now that could implement changes prior to the next Council being seated in December, then again in two years.
• Ms. Miller said the timeline would be very tight.
• Councilmember Adams said just because we’re sitting here today doesn’t mean we’ll be here in December. He suggested an additional tier of compensation for Mayor Pro Tem and elevating the position of Mayor Pro Tem to step into role. He also suggesting a comparable 40% increase for Mayor and an amount in the middle (about $12,000) for Mayor Pro Tem.
• Councilmember Rigg expressed reluctance to take it to committee, saying it’s hard to get committee volunteers and we already have decent data. He said some will comment when we give ourselves a raise no matter what we do. 
• Councilmember Esters said we should give community members a voice in the process. 
• Councilmember Whitney suggested no committee for the increase going into effect in December 2023 but appointing a committee going forward. 
• Councilmember Mackie thinks residents will want input. 
• Ms. Miller pointed out this would be an ordinance, and Ms. Ferguson said we would need to adopt it and make it official.
• Councilmember Adams recommended $10,000 for Council. $12,500 for Mayor Pro Tem (MPT), and $15,000 for Mayor. He suggested increasing the Mayor Pro Tem’s commitments to be at events, civic association meetings, etc., to take pressure off of the Mayor. 
• Councilmember Whitney asked for confirmation that this had no budget implications, and Mr. Young confirmed it did not.
• Councilmember Rigg suggested we clarify the role of MPT going forward, saying the City seemed to ask for, and the former Mayor willingly gave, more than should be expected. He’d like MPT and Councilmembers to provide more support to the Mayor. 

Discussion of a request for commemorative bench installations in honor of Mayor Kushner and Mayor Owens – Janeen S Miller, City Clerk, and Robert Marsili, Director of Public Works 

• Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell said she and Councilmember Mackie would like to get approval from colleagues to install the bench at the College Park Woods Clubhouse once development is done.
• Councilmembers agreed to put it on a future Consent Agenda.

REQUESTS FOR / STATUS OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 

• Councilmember Mitchell will bring forth future agenda request for a charter task force.
• Councilmember Rigg will put forward an agenda request to redefine the Mayor Pro Tem role.

COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE 

• Resident Carol Macknis wants Council to return the Public Safety Meetings to a monthly schedule and actively promote them in all Districts. She said we’re told police need community support. She said having the meetings allow police to respond to resident concerns and explain incidents before innuendos on nextdoor get out of control.

COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR, COUNCIL, STUDENT LIAISON OR CITY MANAGER 

• Councilmember Kennedy – She, Councilmember Mackie, and Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell took a field trip to the COG Farm tour on Friday and are happy to talk later about what they learned
• Councilmember Adams congratulated Mayor Kabir on getting through his first (very long) meeting.
• Councilmember Mackie- The EAC had a great presentation for staff that may come to Council soon. She noted that she has a passion for the farm committee because without farms, we won’t have food.
• Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell said the farm tour showed some innovative ways to address food insecurity.
• Councilmember Whitney congratulated UMD students graduating from Monday through Wednesday next week and said to expect lots of traffic and happy people.

Click here for the May 16th meeting agenda. Click here to watch the video of the May 16, 2023, meeting. 

Click here to see the agenda for the City of College Park Mayor & Council Hybrid Meeting on May 23, 2023. Tune in, show up or share your thoughts/concerns about the following anticipated Presentations and Workshop discussions:

• 23-O-03 Adoption of Ordinance 23-O-03, FY ’24 Budget Ordinance 
• 23-O-06 Introduction of an Ordinance to increase the salary for the Mayor to $15,000 per year, to increase the salary for a Councilmember to $10,000 per year, and to establish a separate level of pay for the Mayor Pro Tem at $12,500 per year. Salary increases will be effective after the next General Election. The Public Hearing will be June 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 
• Presentation from Len Lucchi and Stephanie Anderson on the 2023 legislative session.