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

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Click here to find the video of the City of College Park Mayor & Council Hybrid Meeting on October 24, 2023. By going to this link, you are able to watch the discussion of specific agenda items you are interested in. If you have questions about Council actions and discussions, please email us at lbesters@collegeparkmd.gov and swhitney@collegeparkmd.gov.

AMENDMENTS TO AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

23-R-14 moved from action to work session discussion with possible action 

23-O-08 moved from Consent to work session.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON CONSENT AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS 

Aubrey Batton, resident, supports increased taxes for blighted and vacant properties, saying it would likely make housing more affordable in the city and would need to be set aggressively high. 

Mr. Biffle, non-resident, said reconsidering Lakeland’s historic designation would burden the community, saying Council should hear from the Lakeland Civic Association (LCA) and that the letter would benefit from the input from the planning department.   

Councilmember Mitchell responded to Mr. Biffle by saying if we can provide historic designation to Old Town, we should be able to reconsider it for Lakeland. Councilmember Whitney informed Mr. Biffle that criteria for historic designation had changed to consider the history of a community and its people and that LCA & Lakeland Community Heritage Project had been involved. Councilmember Esters added that the historic designation would help to preserve the rich history of the Lakeland Community that was a major hub for African Americans in the region.  

Jacob Hernandez, resident, said he thinks it is an overreach to stop residents from fixing their vehicles on their property.  

CONSENT 

23-G-160 Approval of a letter to M-NCPPC requesting they reassess Lakeland for historic designation – Kayla Carter, Racial Equity Officer

23-G-161 Approval of address corrections at and around Holy Redeemer Church – Miriam Bader, Director of Planning and Jacob Vassalotti, GIS Specialist

Motion to adopt the consent agenda by Councilmember Mitchell, seconded by Councilmember Adams 

PUBLIC HEARING AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ORDINANCE 23-O-09:

ACTION ITEMS

23-G-162 Adoption of the recommendation of the Advisory Planning Commission to grant the request for an exemption from the Prohibited Vehicles ordinance for a motorcycle trailer to park on the street at 9727 Wichita Avenue – Jim Miller, Parking Enforcement Manager

Mr. Miller led the discussion and gave an overview of the review process. The City Attorney met with Miller and Bob Ryan to discuss the ordinance regarding large vehicles, which previously passed without including trailers. APC unanimously approved the request. 

Councilmember Hew made a motion, seconded by Council Kennedy. 

Councilmember Adams – abstained saying he felt that an abstain vote best captured his opinion.  23-O-08 Ratification of Amended Ordinance 23-O-08, Amending Chapter 175, Taxation, to authorize the Mayor and Council to approve a tax credit for elderly individuals – Stephanie P. Anderson, City Attorney.

City Attorney Stephanie Anderson said Council adopted amendments at last week’s meeting, and Council needs to vote on adopting the amended ordinance tonight. Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell said the county has processed 40,000 requests and is happy to see us move this ordinance forward. Mitchell made the motion, which was seconded by Adams, then unanimously approved.  

WORKSESSION DISCUSSIONS 

23-R-14 Approval of amendment to the City’s New Neighbors Homeownership Grant program to increase the grant to law enforcement officers- Miriam Bader, Director of Planning. 

Ms. Bader led the discussion about increasing the grant amount for law enforcement to help mitigate the shortage of police officers across local departments.  

Councilmember Whitney said once we have our short-term rental ordinance in place, it would preclude anyone who uses the grant from using their property for a short-term rental. City attorney Anderson, agreed with the assessment but had not had the opportunity to consider alternate language. 

Councilmember Adams – would like to update the website with the updated information for the grant.   

Councilmember Rigg moved to amend the ordinance to include firefighters and EMTs in the increase, seconded by Councilmember Esters.

Rigg specified firefighters should be active and operational members to be eligible. 

One resident asked for teachers to be included in the consideration for the grant Another resident stating his opposition due to a lack of transparency. He said information on the website should be updated and that downpayment assistance would not fix the shortage of local officers, saying the city should consider having its own police department or merging with a nearby force.  

Three UMD students spoke to Council in opposition of the grant increase, saying it would not meet the goal of crime reduction, which would be better addressed through programs such as job retraining and increased mental health services that bolster the community. They said students feel that PGPC and UMPD are useless and ineffective, citing a study that found that increasing officers would not help the issue of crime.

Finally, they argued that increased police presence negatively impacts the mental health of low-income residents and students and that giving more money to police prevents others from benefiting from the program. 

Councilmembers thanked the students for testifying and agreed that community policing and increased mental health resources are important. There was a mention of police presence as a crime deterrent, and the fact that the actual program has been around for a while. Students were encouraged to communicate with the members of the UMD Police and told that their concerns were heard.  

Councilmember Adams moved that the amounts be increased from Whitney made an amendment to move increases from $5000 to $15,000 for the purchase of any home for qualified participants and from $10,000 to $20,000 for the purchase of a previous rental, neighborhoods dominated by rentals, etc., incorporating language from Rigg about defining eligible firefighters and EMTs.

Councilmember Whitney suggested Council consider an increase of $5,000 to $10,000 for home purchased by a qualified buyer and $10,000 to $15,000 for the purchase of a previous rental.

A roll call vote on Adams’ motion was called with Councilmembers Hew, Kennedy, Adams, Rigg and Mackie and MPT Mitchell voting “yes” and Esters and Whitney voting “no”

Councilmember Riggs suggested clarifying the language about volunteer firefighter eligibility to say recipients should be LOSAP eligible

Whitney made an amendment to move increases from $5000 to $10,000 for the purchase of any home for qualified participants and from $10,000 to $15,000 for the purchase of a previous rental and was seconded by Esters. MPT Mitchell suggested the item be tabled.

Another roll call vote was called, with Esters, Whitney and Adams voting “yes”, Hew, Kennedy, Rigg, and Mitchell voting “no”, and Mackie abstaining because she found the amendment acceptable but believed Council had already voted on the amounts. The amendment failed.

A roll call vote on the underlying amendment was called, and it passed with a 7 to 1 vote with Whitney being the “no.”

A. Quarterly Financial Presentation – Gary Fields, Director of Finance

Mr. Field provided an overview of the current status of the City budget.  On both the revenue and expenditure sides, we are on par. Mayor and Council budget is at 30% due to the City’s CPCUP contribution, and Information Tech is at 33% due to advanced payment of contracts.  

B. Discussion of a different tax rate on vacant and blighted property – Gary Fields, Director of Finance

Mr. Field said this is the third time the item has come back to Council for discussion. He added this is not a revenue generating action, it is meant to compel owners to maintain properties. He thought fines were better than taxes, but the fines are relatively small.  There is big money involved in this initiative.  There are places where it works and others where it is not.

Council discussed using the funds collected to support things we want to see happen in the City (e.g., Business Retention), clearly defining blighted and vacant properties, creating an inventory, identifying a taskforce to work on the proposed initiative, and having an economic development consultant provide suggestions on moving forward.  

C. Discussion of regulations prohibiting residents from providing vehicle repair services in residentially zoned neighborhoods – Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services

Mr. Ryan said residents throughout the city are running car repair shops out of their homes and working on residential streets. There are often invalid tags on these cars. Once tags are off the vehicles they can be towed. He sought guidance from the Council.  

The council discussed the need to clearly define car repair to avoid penalizing owners doing small scale repairs on their own vehicles. Staff will work with City attorney and bring a draft ordinance to the council.

D. Quarterly Strategic Plan Presentation – Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager

Mr. Gardiner said the City’s strategic plan is built on 5-year Objectives and Key Results (OKR), annual OKRs, and quarterly OKRs. There are 34 OKRs across departments. Click here to review the quarterly report.

There was a question about how the city will focus on internal issues related to equity and inclusion if the equity officer is primarily focused on the work of the Restorative justice Commission. The City Manager acknowledged the importance of internal work, and indicated the fix may require additional staff.  The focus has been on making sure the Restorative Justice Commission has what it needs.  

REQUESTS FOR / STATUS OF FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

• Economic development – looking at business retention fund and offering small business loans/revolving loan fund. 
• Budget- Senior and social sports grant program 
• A full vetting of the New Neighbors home ownership grant program 
• Emergency Preparedness – creating our own EOC

ADJOURN

Click here to see the full agenda for the City of College Park Mayor & Council Hybrid Meeting on November 7, 2023 when it is available. Tune in, show up or share your thoughts/concerns about the following Consent Agenda and Action Items, and Workshop discussions that may interest District 2 residents. Please contact us as soon as possible if you need accommodations to participate in a meeting, including language translation:

• Presentation on the Economic Development 5-year Strategic Plan – Michael Williams, Director of Economic Development and HR&A, Consultant
• VeoRide discussion – Erik Valentine, Community Development Planner
• Proposed Consent: Approval of a three-year salt utilization agreement between the State Highway Administration of the Maryland Department of Transportation and the City of College Park, Maryland – Robert Marsili, Director of Public Works