>> Thank you. Good evening,
everyone, and welcome
to the first council meeting
of the new council. Ms.
Taylor.
>>[CALLING ROLL]
>> Mayor, you have a quorum.
>> Thank you, Ms. Taylor.
Okay, let's do the Pledge of
Allegiance again today.
>> I pledge allegiance to the
Flag of the United States of
America and to the Republic
for which it stands, one
Nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice
for all.
>> Can I have a motion
to approve the agenda,
please?
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Been moved and seconded.
All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Any opposed? Any Abstentions?
Seeing none,
the ayes have it. Public
comment.
>> We will go to the attendees.
If you'd like
to make a public comment,
please use the raised hand
feature now. You will have two
minutes to speak. Please state
your name and the ward that you
live in. We'll start with
Melissa Schweisgoth. Melissa,
you should be able
to unmute yourself.
>> Good evening,
mayor and council. Can you hear
me?
>> Yes, we can.
>> Great. So welcome
to our new councilors. We're
really excited
for the new energy to come to
the council and you all ran
great campaigns. I appreciate
that. Very positive. My name is
Melissa Schweizekuth. I live
in Ward 5. Wanted
to speak very quickly in the
West Hyattsville Corner
Queens Chapel sector plan and
sma. I understand you're
getting a presentation this
evening. And my understanding
is that the county,
the city will. Then the council
will recommend some comments
that the city will send. I did
want to flag the upzoning that
they're proposing to change
every single RSF65 property
to RSFA,
which means that right now,
properties that have only one
home on them would be able
to put up to three, you know,
a townhouse, a three unit
townhouse, or a triplex, or
possibly two houses. I don't
oppose that for my property,
but it is a really big change.
I think Hyattsville really
needs to think
about the impacts. And
Hyattsville did ask the county
to do a missing middle study
and they did one,
but it didn't look
at the impacts. So you might
want to go back, you know,
if you really do want that
study to look
at how much this will impact
Hyattsville and our
infrastructure,
really push them
to do that study. Before they
do make the final decision
to implement, I would like to
see it be optional. I am a
little concerned that it's
going
to raise my property taxes,
it'll increase the land value
and I am concerned
about that that impact
on others getting priced out.
There are recommendations for
mitigating gentrification and
pricing out of the market,
but really none
of those are realistic. So I
hope that we can really push
on the county to have more
of an implementation plan
around there so we don't see
displacement as a result
of this plan. And
on the street lights,
I certainly support conversion
to LED. I would like to see the
city do this as a competitive
bid, not necessarily go with
the contractor that did the
study and is provides a
service. And please make sure
that these are dark
sky compliant
like the lights that we put
on the trolley trail. Thank
you. Have a great night.
>> Back to the attendees. If
you'd like to make a comment,
please use the raised hand
feature. Mr. Marshall, you
should be able
to unmute yourself.
>> My name is
Marshall. I live in Ward 4. I
wanted to say welcome to the
new council members. I hope
that you have a very productive
four years in your new
positions. I am not going
to talk
about the sector plan because
in my opinion it's useless.
It's the county's going
to go forward
with it and we're going
to be stuck
with is how I see it. And you
know, it is what it is. So I
won't beat that dead horse.
The dead horse I will beat
happens to be the elections.
The city elections.
My family and I,
if you go look
at the records, did not vote
in the last two elections
in this city. One, we were
moved from the ward we were in
to Ward 4. This would be the
second time our ward was
changed which essentially our
previous vote we voted for.
Our votes essentially got
thrown away because we got
thrown out of our ward. Also,
each ward has two council
members. I can seem
to only communicate with one
of my council members. The
other one won't have a
conversation with me. So I
don't feel
like I'm represented. So why
bother casting a vote? Thanks
for your time.
>> Back to the attendees,
if you'd like
to make a comment, please use
the raised hand feature. Kurt
Britzenhoff, you should be able
to unmute yourself.
>> Good afternoon, council
members. This My name is Kurt
Britzenhoff. I live in Ward 5.
I agree with what Melissa
Schweissgouth just said. So
that basically takes care of my
spiel right there. I do want
to state though, I'm not sure
if the prices are going
to go up or if the prices for
the lots or our houses are
going to go down when they
start implementing the sector
plan. That is not clear. I have
not seen it addressed in the
521 pages they provided. If it
does go down, you know,
being old and retired,
I don't care. I'm going
to die here. But for the young
people that this is their main
investment,
that could be a real hit
on their fund. So I hope
somebody's looking
at that and I hope that this,
the county and the city
understand that prices aren't
going to go down.
But I don't know that. So that
is a good question
to ask and also to relay
to some of the younger folks
around here. Thank you.
>> Back to the attendees. If
you'd like to make a comment,
use the raised hand feature.
Pat Padua, you should be able
to unmute yourself.
>> Thank you. Good evening,
councilmembers. My name is
Pat Padua. I'm in Ward 3, which
I an unincorporated part
of the area,
which I believe is not
under the jurisdiction
of the city of Hyattsville.
And my question and comment is
about the rezoning proposal.
It is my understanding that
in the previous draft
of the proposal, Avondale
Grove, which is the
neighborhood where I live
in and of which I'm president
of the citizens Association.
Pardon the dogs. Avondale
Grove was not part
of the original plan. And
in draft three,
it has suddenly become part
of the plan. Now, we don't know
why the city of Hyattsville
has added Avondale Grove
without any
of our residents input
into this rezoning plan. And
I've spoken to my neighbors and
fellow members of the board and
we're all roundly opposed
to it for a variety
of reasons. Safety, historical,
infrastructure,
environmental. I could go on,
but I only have a few minutes.
But I just want
to express our opposition
to being part of this plan.
You can do what you want
in other areas of
Heightsville. Avondale Grove is
a charming,
unique community and we want to
preserve its quality and its
safety for residents who are
aging and the young families
coming into the neighborhood.
Thank you for your time.
>> Back to the attendees. Last
call for anybody that would
like
to make a public comment,
please use the raised hand
feature. Sharon Stokes, you
should be able
to unmute yourself.
>> Hey, my name is Rossell
Durant. I'm under calling
under Sharon Stokes,
but I live in the area of
Avondale Terrace. Mr. Padua
mentioned Avondale Grove,
but there's also Avondale
Terrace and North Woodridge.
That's also included
in the change
to the sector plan. And I ditto
everything that he said
regarding this. We were not
included in the discussion as
far as I know of. I happen
to be president of the Avon
Ridge CDC,
which is a sister organization
to Mr. Padua's organization.
So everything he said, I
ditto but I wanted to make.
He mentioned Avondale Grove. I
wanted to mention Avondale
Terrace in addition to North
Woodridge. Thank you.
>> Back to the attendees. If
you'd like to make a comment,
please use the raised hand
feature. Seeing none. That
concludes public comment.
>> Thank you. Mr. Groenendyk. I
don't think that we added any
additional territory to
Hyattville, did we? Mr.
Solomon, did you have a comment
to me?
>> We did not. But the planning
board.
For council members and staff,
Avondale is the neighborhood
that sits between us and the
District of Columbia and I
thank their members
for attending tonight.
But it's not the city of
Hyattsville who has added
additional portions
of your community because
Avondale was always included
in the sector plan update. The
planning board and the. This
would be the planning board and
the district council who has
expanded what they. What they
need to look at. So the person
that you would need to speak
to is Councilwoman Fisher
in order to resolve the
discrepancies that you have
Hyattsville.
But we're just responding
to what they sent to us. We
don't make the changes
around what areas
are included. We just talk
about the areas that are
specific to Hyattsville
in the map. Thank you.
>> Thank you
for that clarification. Ms.
Douglas, you're up.
>> Okay, thank you. Mayor and
council and residents,
welcome. I'm going
to share my screen.
Are you seeing that?
>> Yes, we got it.
>> Okay, good. All right,
I'm going to move
through this fairly quickly, so
this is the agenda that I will
follow. Just pull this over. I
do want to once again,
and I know you've heard it a
few times, but I want to
welcome our new councilmembers.
They were sworn
in this afternoon. Tracy, can
you fix your screen?
>> Yeah. We're seeing resume
slideshow.
>> You're not seeing the
slideshow?
>> Nope.
>> Now we are.
>> Oh, okay. All right. So am I
on? Let's see. All right, how
about now? You seeing the new
councilmembers?
>> We got it.
>> All right, so these are the
new councilmembers that were
sworn in today. Councilmember
Barnes for Ward 1.
Councilmember Dhokai, Ward 3.
Councilmember Nisbett from
Ward 5. Those are the new
councilmembers. And we want
to welcome back councilmember
Strab and councilmember Haba.
Councilmember Schaible, Ward 2
and Haba, Ward 4. Ladies and
gentlemen, this is your new
city council. I want
to just acknowledge Ms.
Dorothy Mims, who
lives in Independence court.
She is 112 years old this
month,
and she's been a resident of
Hyattsville since 2010, the
oldest living resident
in the state of Maryland.
Her mother, in fact,
lived to be 102. So I just want
to acknowledge her and let her
know that we're happy
to have her here in
Hyattsville. And mayor and
council members, we may go
by and visit Ms. Mims.
But isn't she beautiful? Look
at that. When she was younger.
We're just happy to have her.
She's still beautiful. All
right. Leslie is stepping down.
Leslie's been serving on mml.
She's been the MML league and
most recently president
for the last seven years. She
decided not to run
for re election.
But you'll see here some of the
things that she actually helped
lead as many
of the other cities in
Maryland through COVID,
Snowstorms, political
landscapes, heat waves. She's
done a lot. It is time for her
to step down. So they will be
acknowledging her
at this upcoming MML session.
But she's been an asset
to them. And so we thank
Leslie
for representing the city of
Hyattsville and all of her.
All of our municipal partners
in the state of Maryland. We
also want to acknowledge that
they hosted a DPW open house.
And so we thank them
for doing that. You can see two
of our council members riding
in our trash trucks. I think
that's one
of our newest trash trucks.
And you know,
the guys just had it. Guys and
ladies just had a great time
out there that day.
It was a rainy day. But we do
appreciate council member,
Dr. And Councilor Redmond
participating and coming
out the visit. Long
awaited. We finally got that
sign up. Ward wards 4 and 5.
We now have a sign right
over there by Kaiser
Permanente. The residents
in that area will now be able
to find out what's going on
in the city of Hyattsville. So
stay tuned for any updates.
Our K9 did some great work.
Hugo and Forest, we have two of
them and they won first place
awards. They were the best
of the best. And you know,
we continue
to have our K9s place. So we're
always really excited. It's
Corporal Hodges and Acting
Sergeant Quevedo who are their
partners and trainers. So we're
just really proud
of our two K9s. And we just had
a police unity tour. Scott
Hurley rides
in that every year. He's done
that for the past 13 years
over 250 mile ride with people
from across the region. And so
we just want to thank him
for doing that. He does that
in honor of fallen officers and
specifically rides
for our own fallen officers,
Corporal Robert King, who
passed away in. Who died in
1984 in the line of duty
on a motorcycle. Chief, if you
were on. I'll let you talk
about this. I asked Chief
to talk about this just a
little bit because whenever we
contract with an agency and
they're doing great work
for us, I just want you all to
know how they're representing
our community. JP there.
>> Yes, ma' am. Sorry about
that. I'm having a computer
issue over here. So Kathy is an
organization that council
approved a contract with that
provides victim services to
police departments throughout
the county. They are tied
into our CAD and RMS system.
So they receive automatic
reports from our RMS once
our officers file a report.
And then they contact victims
of crimes to make sure that
they have the resources they
need, ranging from housing,
mental health resources,
assistance
with financial fraud, things
of that nature. So so far,
for the first quarter of
2025, they had 65 referrals.
They break that down. The
average age of a victim was 33
years old. You can see there
was a little bit more. That
number's a little bit higher on
the female versus male victims.
And then the crimes that
they contacted victims were
for assault, financial fraud,
domestic incidents, robbery,
rape and sexual assault and
carjacking, with domestic
incidents and assaults being
the highest and then also
sexual assaults. They provide a
report back to us
for the quarter. This is the
first time we're receiving a
quarterly report that we can
share with with the community
that shows the types
of crimes that the victims are.
The types of crimes that
victims are being receiving
services from Cafey. I believe
that's it.
>> Yeah. Thank you. And I just
thought it was important
for you all
to hear a little bit about that
because we've always been
concerned that if a person is a
victim
of crime that we follow up
with them, make sure they're
getting the resources and the
help that they need. So this is
one of the programs that you
all allowed us to partner
with and contract with
to do that for our community.
So I just wanted you to hear
that they are doing
great work here
in the community. Okay. And
then we had a community
conversation last week,
last Thursday, I believe it
was. The title was Bridging
Faith through Interfaith
Engagement. And we had five,
as you can see there, five
different religious leaders
that came together and spoke
Hindu Buddha, Rabbi, our own
pastor, Penn Islam. It
was a really good conversation.
They really, they focused
on what things we have
in common, regardless
of the faith.
How are we alike
in more ways than not? And so
we appreciate our partners.
It's Kelly Barillo, Julia
Gaspar Bates, and Ann Claire
Stacy who are the ones that
always put that together
for us and host these. And they
come up
with the topics and work
with our own Shakira Louimar
to pull these
off and make these happen.
Okay. And then I want
to thank members
of the community and some
of our council members. You can
see councilmember Waszczak
there who participated
in interviewing some
of our young adults. Young, our
youth 16. Sandra, correct me,
I think it's 15 through 18
members that we would like
to be part of our youth
Advisory Council. They
participated
in our leadership program. And
so then we just kind of sit
down and talk to them and
determine if they are the right
group to actually lead us
for the next year. So I
appreciate everyone that
participated and helped us make
the selections and
help the kids learn how to
interview and answer questions
and take on some leadership
responsibility. Sandra,
am I missing anything there?
>> No, ma' am.
>> Thank you
to your team, for doing that.
And then they also did the
Aging and Wellness Lunch and
Learn Workshop. And that was
the, that was for seniors. So
we call that Aging and
Wellness Programs. But they did
a Dawn Taft, our resident
arborist, spoke to the seniors
about environmental programs
and some of the things that the
city offers. And then tomorrow
we'll have the Art Home is
Art Class, and it'll be the
last class for that. But that
always gets a really great
turnout. And our seniors love
coming out and working
on art projects. So we'll
resume again after the
summer. Back to
School Supply Drive and
Summer Jam. So Summer Jams,
this is the schedule. So we'll
have the Back to School
Supply Drive on August 15th.
So that's just a reminder that
people can begin dropping
off donations now
until the end of, until August
15th. And then our Summer Jam
series. The schedule is the
Pride Month celebration.
That's on June 20th. Then we
have a backyard barbecue.
That's going to be July 28th.
Sorry, July 18th, right here
at the city Building. And then
International Heritage,
Hispanic heritage. That'll be
September 19th. August is
missing there, as you can see.
But that is usually National
Night Out. So we,
we focus there on National
Night Out. And that's also
going
to be the time that we're going
to be doing the back
to school drive. And our teen
center is really coming along.
The interior is looking
absolutely fabulous. They've
done some painting in there.
They put in the new floors and
walls which look really,
looking really good. And then
the equipment's installed
around the outside. They
started working
on the park outside. So it's
looking good. If you have a
chance to drive by, you'll see
some, some really nice things
happening out there. So we're
getting excited. I am not going
to read all of the offerings
this time because as you know,
we have a six week break
after this. And so it is a lot
of reading. So I will read the
weekly offerings. Just remind
everyone we have the seated
exercise class
for older adults. We have the
Zumba class, that both
of those are on Mondays. I'm
sorry, Monday and Wednesday
for the Zumba. And the exercise
classes on Wednesdays only
from 10 to 11. That's seated
for older adults. And then the
digital literacy instruction
classes are on Wednesdays as
well from 12
to 1pm all.
This is what I mean
about reading. It's a lot. So
these are all of the committees
that are coming up
for the residents. These will
all be posted online. And if
you have any questions and you
have a problem finding these or
looking online, feel free to
call our number and we can talk
to you about it then. And we
always put out notices, so if
you're not getting our text
alerts, please sign up
for those. And here's some more
upcoming events. I'm just going
to scan through these and see
if there's any Community
Shred Day. I do want
to acknowledge that that's
Saturday, September 7th. We
have not had that in a while,
Ward 1. I also will acknowledge
that one. That's the
Saturday, June 7th. That's the
check in. We will likely have a
walk and talk. The first one
this month, that will be with
Ward 2. But we'll get back
to everyone with the date
of that. And you'll see that
seniors on the go are also
having a cookout on June 10th.
And so you see some other
things. There's a traffic
calming public hearing and
let's see, that's on June 11th.
Okay. And let me go
to the next one.
But there's a lot going on. So
all of this again is listed on
our website. I just don't want
to go through it all.
I will acknowledge the
Trolley Trail Day that's on
Saturday, June 14th. And then
staycation registration opens
today and it's going to go
through June 17th. So if you're
interested in signing up
for that, there's some early
dismissal camps Juneteenth.
Our offices are closed
on that day. That's June 19th.
>> So, Ms. Douglas.
>> Yes.
>> When is Community Shred?
>> Let me go right back to that
because I'm sorry I moved.
Let's see. Community Shred day
is Saturday, June 7th.
>> Okay.
>> I thought you said
September.
>> I hope I didn't,
but if I did, I do apologize
for that. Saturday, June 7,
from 10 to 1pm that's
Community Shred Day.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay. You're welcome. Let's
see. Business license renewal,
Monday the 30th and parking,
residential parking permits
for Zone 4 is also
on the 30th. Again, these will
all be listed on the website so
you can find them. And then my
last slide. I do want
to wish several members of the
staff and council a very happy
birthday. They will celebrate
their birthdays while we're
going. Director Riddle just had
her birthday this past
Saturday. Council member
Redmond, June 18. Council
member Barnes, June 26. Chief
of police is on July 1. Our own
deputy city clerk is July 7.
And our deputy chief
of police is July 16. All these
before we meet again. So I do
want
to just acknowledge that. And
mayor and council, that is it
for me. I'm going
to stop share in case you have
any questions.
>> Thank you. Colleagues, any
questions? Mr. Schaible?
>> Yeah, there was one event on
the calendar that I wasn't
familiar with. I think it said
43rd street meeting on 43rd
in Jefferson. It was tomorrow.
Do you have more details
on what that event is?
>> Leslie, do you have that
one?
>> It's a traffic calming
meeting with the residents.
There was a petition there,
as far as I know.
>> We've had a couple meetings
with residents.
>> We've had lots of meetings
over the last three weeks,
I would say.
But this one is tomorrow from
at 6pm and it's the
intersection Jefferson and
43rd.
>> Thank you. Mr. Redmond?
>> Thank you. Happy belated
birthday to our DPW director.
And I will give you the gift
of a question
for all these traffic meetings.
What is the plan? I know there
is one. I just don't know it.
As far as there's a bunch
of intake right now. When will
we start to see kind
of whatever that next step is
coming back around?
>> Thank you, councilmember.
And unfortunately, Taylor's
been working hard at getting
these separate petitions and
requests together as
collaboratively
as possible. It's a good thing,
but it's also a bad thing
because it takes us away
from a lot of the larger
projects that were recommended
in the traffic study. And so it
compartmentalizes our capacity
to really get things done,
like we're trying to do in
West Hyattsville. In the
West Hyattsville project,
which is now along Jamestown
Road. A lot of different things
we're working on
with several different of our
firms that we've contracted
with. So, I mean, ultimately,
it's to come to a decision.
It's to start
with a temporary mitigation,
which is often more permanent.
Like on Jefferson, we did
temporary, but that will
eventually become permanent,
if indeed it is effective. So
that's typically how we go
about this, but she has seven
or eight petitions already,
and so it really drags us
around to different.
Like I said,
it's good and yet it's
difficult because it takes away
a lot of our energy
from larger projects. If that
makes sense to you.
>> That does. I guess my second
question is, I just saw,
or just saw
through this presentation, the
January or June 10th
Belchrest Road meeting. Do you
know if anyone from the city
will be there?
>> Yes, I know for sure.
Taylor will be there, and I
will probably be there as well.
>> And if I cannot make it
because there's another meeting
happening,
then will we elevate the
concern
of just the current state of
Belchrest Road, specifically.
>> Okay.
>> I mean, I know the part
with the 711 being built.
I get that.
But the intersection of
East West, where it looks
like craters,
and then the fire station. So
I'm just putting this
out here. If I'm not there,
someone's going to need
to hear
about it. I'm just asking.
>> They've heard
about it repeatedly from us.
Yeah, but it's good. They'll
hear it again.
>> Okay, thank you.
>> I think we invite all
of the councilmembers
to these meetings, but what
we'll do is just send an email
out with a list of the upcoming
meetings so that the council
members can put them
on their calendars. Yeah.
Because it sounded
like you and you and
Councilman Shively weren't
aware of meetings
in your area, so. Yeah, so
we'll make sure we get that
out. Nate, would you just make
a note on that, please? Good.
Yeah. Taylor's been working
hard, just trying to get
out and about and meet with
residents who have written us
just to understand their
concerns and walk the area
with them. Some of these will
also lend themselves to the
walk and talks that we're
scheduling where the DPW
director, the Chief of Police
and any other leadership will
come out and walk
with the councilmembers
in the communities through
their neighborhoods.
>> Okay, thank you. Anyone else
have any questions? Seeing
none. Thank you, Ms. Douglas.
>> You're welcome. Thank you.
>> Okay, we are going to move
on now. We have a presentation,
the West Hyattsville-Queens
Chapel Sector Plan. So who's
going to take that
from staff?
>> Jeff will lead that.
>> Okay, Jeff.
>> Good evening and welcome to
all the new councilmembers and
the existing ones as well.
This afternoon we have this
presentation as mentioned,
est Hyattsville-Queens Chapel
Sector Plan update. This has
been for been
before the council a number
of times. July 22, 2022. It was
before you the first iteration
of this plan. The second
iteration was released May
of last year. However, there's
been some. Essentially there
was a request
by the planning department
to remand the staff draft two
for essentially
to reconsider the Queen's
Chapel Manor and other
neighborhoods
for the missing middle housing,
as well as
to analyze the impacts of the
Housing Expansion
Affordability act that was
signed to law this past year.
2024, April of 2024, as well as
I believe, a number
of other concerns. So we have
Parker planning staff that
that's essentially here as well
as. Looks like we have
Director hall that will be
on the call with us as well
that will provide us
with a briefing
on their findings
in this new iteration, which
you, which you can find
on the website,
the city's website. There's a
link for that if you'd like
to review that. Feel free
to do so. Last summer we did
have a number of questions,
concerns that were submitted
to parking planning staff. Did
it provide a response?
But I think this, this period
of research and additional
analysis has offered some
additional information that I
think council and the community
at large could benefit from.
So tonight I'd like
to introduce Tony Felt, Thomas
Lester, Justin Thornton and
of course Director Hall
to provide the presentation
for tonight.
>> Okay, who's going
to present?
>> I can kick off the
presentation. Looks
like we're all set. Can
everyone see the PowerPoint?
>> Yes, we see it.
>> Great. Thank you, Mayor,
members of the council
for the City of Hyattsville.
I'm Thomas Lester, the
Project Manager. Tonight,
along with the Deputy Project
Manager, Justin Thornton, we'll
discuss the major changes
to the third draft of the
West Hyattsville-Queens
Chapel Sector Plan and
sectional map amendment. I'm
also joined this evening by
Tony Felt, Deputy Planning
Director of Administration and
I believe Lakeisha Hall, the
Planning Directors.
Also listening
in the purpose
of today's presentation is
to introduce the third draft of
the sector plan and the
sectional map amendment and
highlight the major changes
between the second and the
third drafts,
specifically those that affect
Hyattsville
within the city limits. Next
slide please. So tonight I'll
first provide a quick
background
of the project and then Justin
will dive into the major
changes that have been applied
since the second draft and then
I'll conclude by going over the
current schedule and what the
next steps
in the process are. Next slide
please. In terms
of the background,
here's the timeline
of key events
for the plan and the SMA,
highlighting the important
milestones
in the process leading up
to today. On January 18,
2022, the County Council
officiated officially initiate
the sector plan in SMA. By
July 28, 2022, the initial
draft was released
to the public
for reviewing feedback and then
Shortly after on October 11,
2022 we held the first joint
public hearing. However, on
December 15th of that year,
the Planning Board remanded the
draft and the proposals made
back to staff
for further revision. And then
from January 2023 to May 2024
the team worked on revising the
second draft based on the
feedback received and then
October 1, 2024 we have an
additional joint public hearing
together input
on the new draft and then
finally on July, January 9,
2025 the Planning Board removed
the draft once again for
further revisions and then
staff more recently requested
and got approved the permission
to release the third draft
which was on April 24, 2025.
Next slide please. So this
slide just shows the sector
plan and the SMA boundary which
is primarily located within
Planning Area 68. The area is
entirely within Council manic
District 2 and includes a
portion of the City of
Hyattsville, the Town of
Brentwood and the City of
Mount Rainier. The northern
boundary
of the area is defined by the
Prince George's Plaza
Regional Transit District and
the southern boundary of but
Washington. Additionally, the
area surrounds the boundary
of the 2006 West High School
Transit District Development
Plan. Next slide please. Based
on community input from the
last joint public hearing,
staff were prompted
to re review certain aspects
of the plan. This included
conducting a comprehensive
review of the plan
to ensure alignment with the
recent legislative changes and
evolving community needs.
In response to HB 538 which
took effect on January 1,
2025, the plan was reviewed and
revised to support efforts in
addressing affordable housing
shortages. Similarly, updates
were made
to reflect the changes made
to the zoning ordinance by
Council Bill 1524, which
revised sensitive standards
across multiple zones.
In addition
to legislative review, staff
assessed the potential loss of
existing naturally occurring
affordable units and develop
strategies aimed at mitigating
resident displacement. And then
lastly, staff reviewed and
revised the zoning for the
single family detached
residential neighborhoods
throughout the entire sector
plan area. I'm now going
to turn it over to Justin
to review the major changes.
So next slide and Justin will
take it away.
>> All right, thank you,
Thomas. So sorry. I just got to
fix this sharing option really
quickly. So I believe. Are you
guys seeing my whole screen?
>> No, there's nothing. There
it is.
>> It's nothing because I can't
see it.
>> We see it.
>> I can't see on my end,
so I just wanted
to be sure.
>> We can also see the,
like the table of contents
on the side.
>> Oh, okay. All right. I see
what's happening. Okay, how
about now? Can you guys see?
>> Yes.
>> Let me try to. Okay. Is that
better?
>> Yep.
>> Okay. Sorry about that,
Thomas. Okay, so this slide
outlines the major changes
to the West Hyattsville-Queens
Chapel Sector Plan.
Generally, there were only
major changes
to the land use and zoning,
transportation, housing and
neighborhoods, community
heritage corporation culture
and design and public
facilities plan elements.
There were no major changes
to the plan's vision or
to the plan elements
for economic prosperity,
natural environment and healthy
communities. Okay, now we'll
take a look at the local
transit center boundary. This
slide highlights a major change
to the language chapter and
specifically a change in the
West Hyattsville local transit
center boundary
from the previous draft. The
boundary has been updated to
reflect the addition and
removal of certain right
of ways. Additionally, several
properties along Chillum Road
have been returned
to the center boundary,
helping
to ensure properties closest
to the Metro station remain
within the center. These
changes aim
to encourage growth near Metro
while mitigating potential
environmental impacts. Two new
strategies have been added
to the land use chapter
under LU3 to address
environmental risk and fair
development. One strategy
proposes a comprehensive
floodplain study that explores
creating a floodplain overlay
zone in the zoning ordinance.
The second strategy recommends
exploring a transfer of right
development program as a tool
to redirect growth
from sensitive areas
to more appropriate areas.
Okay, so another major change
is the future land use map.
Notably, all single family
neighborhoods have been
redesignated
from residential medium
to medium high,
reflecting the push for more
missing middle housing
throughout the entire sector
plan area and leveraging higher
densities
in an area that lies completely
within the 10 minute bike shed
to the Metro station.
Additionally, the Washington
Gas Light company property has
been reclassified
from institutional land use
to mixed use,
encouraging a diverse range
of uses on the site. These
updates are part of the Plan's
broader vision to promote
higher density development
near the station. This slide is
just for a reference
but shows the existing zoning
before we discuss the proposed
zoning and to implement the
Sector Plan's policies and land
use recommendations. As we kind
of just went over, the Sector
Plan area proposes to
reclassify properties
throughout the plan boundary
to bring zoning
into conformance
with the sector plan
in the plan area. There are 38
total proposed zoning changes
on this slide we will be
focusing
on the three major changes
for the City of Hyattsville.
The zoning for all residential
single family 65 or RSF 65
areas have been replaced with
residential single family
attached or RSFA zone and is
supported
by the future land use map.
This rezoning will allow
for a more diverse range
of housing types and allow
for the construction
of a house on a single 5,000
square foot lot which is the
predominant size
in the community.
Additionally, the Washington
Gas Light Company property will
be rezoned to Local Transit
Oriented EDGE or LTOE
to support Transit Oriented
Development and transition away
from industrial uses. As you
will see late
in the presentation,
the change in Washington Gas
Light property prompts a change
regarding upgrades
to bike pedestrian facilities,
recommendations for Chillum
Road and some intermediate
design guidelines
for the industrial uses. These
zoning changes are reflected in
the sectional map amendment as
zoning changes 36, 37 and 38
which we have in the table
on the slide here. Okay, this
slide highlights a major change
in the transportation aspect
of the West
Hyattsville-Queens Chapel
Sector Plan. The transportation
plan has reconciled
with the ongoing GO Prince
George's Functional plan which
involves updating street
classification notations and
making minor adjustments
to the right of way whips. A
key change resulting from the
update is is the rezoning
of the Washington Gaslight
Company property which has led
to the upgrade of Chillum Road
from a neighborhood connector
to a mixed use boulevard. This
slide outlines a major change
in the bicycle and pedestrian
plan. The proposed T208 trail
through WMATA's property has
been deleted following a
request from the Parks
Department due to the extreme
slopes and other fiscal
challenges associated
with that route.
Additionally, the plan the
planned bike lanes BL200 on
Jamestown Road has been changed
to a shared use path res 233.
This adjustment was made to
preserve the large mature trees
along the road,
ensuring they are not affected
by any potential right of way
widenings that would be needed
to install bike lanes. The
Housing and Neighborhood
section of the Sector plan has
been updated
to place a stronger emphasis on
anti displacement and
affordable housing. It has been
reorganized and expanded
with new strategies, including
recommending ongoing
collaboration to continue
developing anti displacement
strategies
beyond the plan's adoption,
connecting residents at risk
of displacement
with free legal assistance,
supporting local advocacy
groups that help renters
address rent increases,
and encouraging the adoption
of right to return policies
for residents affected
by redevelopment.
Additionally, it calls
for partnering
with a nonprofit organization
to establish a community land
trust to create and maintain
permanent affordable housing
through collective ownership.
In response to the Maryland
Housing Expansion
Affordability act, or HB538,
the plan includes a new policy,
HN4, to support increased
housing density
around the metro station
for qualifying projects.
Specifically, it allows a 30%
density bonus for developments
with at least 15% affordable
housing units
within three quarters
of a mile of the West
Highsville Metro station
in certain zones. It also
supports the development
of missing middle housing in
single family zones that meet
location and affordability
criteria. And with that,
I will hand it back to Thomas
to go over the remaining
schedule.
>> Thank you, Justin. Now,
let's take a look
at the schedule. We recently
were given permission
to print the third draft
of the plan on April 24th
of this year. Next up will be
the joint public hearing,
which is scheduled for July 1st
of this year. We hope that the
planning board work session
with adoption and endorsement
occurs in September and then
followed by the District
Council's work session in
October
with the final approval date
in November, just before the
December recess. Next slide.
And that concludes staff's
presentation. Thank you.
>> Okay, can you stop sharing
your screen, please? Thank you.
Colleagues, questions. Mr.
Solomon?
>> Thank you. The last time
that we had a presentation,
one of the first. Thank you
for the work that you've done
on this. I think that you guys
have been extremely transparent
and forthcoming with us and
about the things that you
wanted
to change and collaborative.
Working in a collaborative way
with the city of Hyattsville,
at least. Although I'm sure you
guys heard
from the beginning, it sounds
like there's some outreach that
needs to happen in Avondale.
My question is
around our conversation
around ADUs. Is the word ADU or
is the acronym ADU used
in this third version?
>> Yes, the term ADU is
referred to in this version. I
believe those were added
in the second draft. So the
plan does encourage the use
of ADUs. However,
in the county right now,
ADUs are not permitted. So the
plan just says if they are
permitted in the future,
they would be encouraged
in this area.
>> We were fine with that
language when they weren't
approved,
because they weren't approved.
They weren't
on the schedule for the county
to approve them. But are you
guys aware that the state did
require all jurisdictions to
adopt a policy allowing ADUs
this year?
>> Yes, Tony felt with Prince
George's planning. Yes, we have
been monitoring that
legislation. And, you know,
we do have a schedule
to comply with ADUs. The
legislature did mandate ADUs
to be allowed
in all jurisdictions in
Maryland. So that is
legislation that we're still
reviewing,
and we'll be working
on that sooner or later.
But as of right now, Thomas is
correct that currently the code
in Prince George's county has
not been changed
to allow allow ADUs,
but we have been mandated
by the state to allow ADUs
within the county based
on that legislation. So that's
something that we'll be
reviewing with the county
Council
in the coming months.
>> Yes, I think that in terms
of this sector plan. I'm sorry,
was that you, Mayor Croslin?
>> Yes, it is. Just one second.
I think maybe we need
to explain what ADUs are
for the community at large and
for our new councilmembers.
>> Sure.
>> Professionals.
>> Sure, I can explain that.
ADU is an acronym that means
accessory dwelling unit. So
essentially it is a dwelling
unit with a kitchen, bathroom,
and a bedroom meets the
definition
of a dwelling according
to the building code. And they
are usually smaller,
much smaller than the main
house, but it is additional
separate dwelling unit. They
can either be attached or
detached, you know, depending
on the size of the lot or what
the homeowner wants to do. As
Thomas mentioned,
currently they're not allowed
by code in Prince George's
county,
but they have been mandated
by the state to be allowed. So
essentially, if you think
about. I'll give you an
example, kind
of a classic example
of an adu. If you think
about somebody that may have a
detached garage outside, you
know, a separate building
from their house that's
detached from their house,
that may have a second story
with an apartment
above the garage,
that would be what we're
talking about with an ADU or
maybe someone has a basement
that's fully separated
from the rest of their house
that they have a living unit
in, or, you know, something
like a mother in law suite,
something like that would be
considered an ADU.
>> Okay, thank you. I'm sorry,
I cut you off, Ms. Sultan. Go
ahead.
>> No problem. The state law
mandates that we have
to adopt something by. Or you
guys have to adopt something
by October of 2026. So you have
a little over a year
to do so, which would give
people, based upon your
timeline, roughly a year
to start converting things
into ADUs
without any regulation. So it
would be my and given that our
residents. I think we made it
abundantly clear that the
majority of our residents do
not want or support ADUs.
There are some that do,
but given that they. The sum
that do will get,
that will get them eventually,
because the state is requiring
getting, you guys will come up
with rules and regulations. I
think that in this version, we
should not be encouraging them.
We should just wait until you
guys provide additional
guidance
on what the rules are going
to be around ADUs, and then,
I don't know,
maybe the city will have
to come up
with its version as well. And
then we can talk about. Have a
conversation around,
a more robust conversation
around ADUs, rather than just
recommending that they be
allowed. Because the heart of
the area that will be impacted
by this already struggles
with parking, with Airbnbs,
with, I don't know, a ton
of things, a ton of issues that
I think allowing ADUs at this
point would just not support.
So thank you.
>> If I could just respond. I
just want to say what's in the
plan is language that would
support ADUs or encourage ADUs
once they become allowed. The
plan would not allow ADUs,
as the does. The current county
code does not allow ADUs. They
would only be allowed once the
county council makes the change
to the zoning code. So I just
want to make sure that that's
clarified.
>> Yeah, I guess what I'm
trying to say, and I want to
make sure I get that what I'm
saying is there will be a year
between when this. This passes
and when the county council has
to come up with their update
their zoning costs. And I
suppose that you guys are
gonna. Because there's some
technical pieces in there that
I think would be outside
of zoning that, that the law
requires that you guys come up
with also,
like where they can be, how
to count them toward density, a
couple other things that are
planning specific. And I think
that because there are those
additional questions that need
to be answered,
it's not just a recommend that,
oh, I think you guys should do,
or I think that they should be
allowed. There's a lot
of heavy lifting
around actually allowing them.
So I don't understand why we're
saying that we recommend that
they're going
to be allowed when A,
they will be allowed and B, we
haven't done the heavy lifting
which is coming on,
on setting them up
to be allowed.
>> Okay. Mr. Haba? We can't
hear you.
>> There we go. I thought I had
unmuted. Thank you for the
presentation. I will start
by saying that I do seek
in what Council President
Solomon was just going
over removing that language
around ADUs from the SMA as it
stand because it's going to be
a countywide policy that needs
to be implemented. So why put
it in this one when we know
that there's something coming
down the line? So let's just
remove it from this. When and
if you do come up
with that policy,
we know that it's going
to apply to the county
at large. So I wanted
to second that suggestion.
Also I know I saw on the map
that there is no longer going
to be dedicated,
I think bike lane on
Jamestown. We had some concern
about that Jamestown and
Nicholson, but I didn't see
for the Nicholson part. Is that
also the same. The same changes
applying to Nicholson or
Nicholson is saying the same as
previously. So Jamestown was a
shared.
>> Yeah. Let me just check the
map real quick.
>> I'm sorry Councilmember,
your question was about
Jamestown?
>> Specifically Jamestown,
Nicholson. Previously it was a
dedicated bike lanes that which
was taking kind of like away
from parking. But on the new
presentation I saw that
Jamestown is not shared
for bike lanes.
>> Yeah. It looks like
Nicholson is designated as a
shared lane. Is that right?
Thomas Nicholson, you are 243
on it.
>> Depends on what portion of
Nicholson you're referring to.
There's I guess east of Ager
Road it's bike lane. West of
Edgar Road it's shared lane.
>> Can you show the map?
>> We're talking East. So the
entire length of Nicholson if
it can be shared because there
was a fear for 3 canopy. The
loss of 3 canopy on Nicholson
as well Nicholson and
Jamestown on both streets.
Previously the plan that was
presented would have meant that
we'll lose some three canopy.
>> So just so we're clear,
councilmember,
you were suggesting on
Nicholson east of Agar Road
instead of a bicycle lane,
you would prefer
to see a shared lane there,
dealership lane, because there
is a parking constraint
in the area. And then we have
the three canopy
to preserve.
>> Okay.
>> If we have dedicated lane on
those two street which it will
mean that we're going
to lose parking space. Unless
you are able to do it
without losing parking space,
then we good. We shout out.
>> Yeah. So I was just going
to confirm that James Conrad
was also bicycle.
>> I apologize for all the
clarifying questions. I'm
taking notes. I just want to
make sure that I get your
comments exactly right,
councilmember.
>> The other thing I was
interested in is the
Washington Gas facility. Can
you elaborate a little bit more
on that? Because that has been.
I think our friends from
Avondale and Avonreach will be
happy to also learn more
on that one. What exactly the
vision are we foreseeing
Washington Gas eventually
converting?
>> So, Councilmember, we had a
request from Washington.
Well, first let me start off.
Currently the property, the
Washington Gas property is
zoned agricultural. It is a
privately owned public utility.
Therefore it's subject to
what's called the mandatory
referral process,
meaning that regardless
of the zoning, the Wash Gas
facility as a privately owned
public utility can continue its
operations and they only go
through a separate process kind
of outside of zoning. We had a
request from Washington Gas
to rezone the property from ag
to an industrial zone. We felt
like that was not appropriate
one, because if Washington Gas
were to divest the property,
any type of industrial
industrial use could be placed
on that property. We know from
our outreach that we had heard
from residents in Avondale and
there in Hyattsville as well
that they did not want to see
further industrial development
of that property. So again,
we did not feel
like that was appropriate.
However, in kind of looking
at the future, you know, we
recommend, because
of its proximity to the West
Hyattsville Metro station,
we recommended kind
of rezoning it to allow transit
oriented development similar
to what you see
on the other side
of the river. Now I'll go ahead
and tell you that's kind
of a visionary type thing that
may not happen for a very,
very long time. And part
of the problem is, you know, we
understand there's some
environmental concerns and
some, you know, a lot of soil
remediation and environmental
remediation that would have
to happen on that property due
to its industrial use. So you
know, but maybe sometime
in the future, you know,
these are 5, 10 and 25 year
horizon plans. So maybe
sometime
in the future someone will want
to come in and if Washington
Gas divests of that property
and put some money into it and
do the remediation and put a
nice development there. And so
that's what we're looking for
with this plan. But again,
the request that we had from
the property owners was an
industrial zoning district and
we just didn't feel like that
was appropriate given it its
proximity to single family
residential.
>> Thank you for that
clarification. So basically we
classifying it as mixed use,
but the current use would be
grandfather as long as they're
there.
>> That's correct. As long as
Washington Gas is there and
they're privately owned public
utility, they can continue
to operate under the mandatory
referral process.
>> Thank you. Those are my
questions.
>> Thank you. Mr. Schaible?
>> Thank you. This question
came to me
from a constituent,
but I also am curious to learn
the answer. I know there's
county legislation that passed
within the last one
to two years that talked
about hurrying up the timeline
to convert arterial roads that
are adjacent to transit hubs to
the new urban street design
standard, which is more
multimodal and pedestrian
friendly. We know that Ager had
kind of a complete street
revision maybe five years ago.
However, we've done a fair
amount of analysis on that road
that shows that it's still got
pretty high speeds
of traffic. And just wanted
to ask,
are there any provisions
in this, looking
at this anchor, which is
Ager, which is the hub that the
Metro station is right
off of. Any thoughts to further
expand walkability and
multimodal transit options
adjacent to the Metro station?
>> Yes, thank you
for that question.
Absolutely. Justin, if you
could go to slide 12, please.
Ager Road and as well as
Queens Chapel Road
in that area are proposed
to be mixed use boulevards,
which are part of those new
street detail standards that we
have in combination
with DPW and T. A mixed use
boulevard incorporates things
like parking next to it,
medians, bike lanes,
integrated bike lanes. So those
tend to reduce the amount of
traffic lanes while also
allowing multimodal and slowing
down traffic. So that's
proposed both for Acre Road as
well as Queens Chapel Road.
And particularly your question,
Agar Road there at West
Hyattsville. And so you'll see
that right there. Where you see
that 217 on the map,
that's Edgar Road right there.
>> Okay, that sounds good. I
don't have them handy,
but I would like
to forward someone
from your team. We did a
traffic audit of. There was an
intersection along Ager where a
pedestrian was fatally struck
by a vehicle about three,
three years ago. And we did a
bunch of research there. We had
some leading people
in the space of, you know, road
safety come and provide
comment. Actually, Juanika
Fisher was a panelist
on this,
on this presentation. It was
led by an organization called
Strong Towns. They gave a
series
of recommendations. I want to
make sure you have those and
can consider those
in your revisions to the road.
>> Councilmember,
I'm fairly certain we have a
copy of that study. Thomas, do
we have that and have
incorporated that
into the plan, right?
>> Yeah, I believe so.
>> Yes.
But Councilmember, just to
make sure I believe we have it
and we've incorporated it
in the plan. But just
in case, if you want
to send it to us. I don't know
if you have our presentation
in your packet, but all the
team members contact
information with their emails
are there and so just shoot it
over to us and we'll
verify that we have it
but I'm 99.9% certain that
we've got it.
>> Okay, we'll do. Thank you.
>> Ms. Lee.
>> Well, hello. Good evening.
Thank you. Can you guys hear
me?
Thank you for your
presentation. I do have a
question. Slide 14, where major
changes housing and
neighborhoods, where it said
that new strategies were added
to the policy HN2 to develop
long term anti deplacement
measures. Can you speak on any
initiatives or what initiatives
does the planning board have
in mind for this?
>> The purpose
of that strategy is just to
emphasize that displacement
doesn't end with displacement
plan or displacement strategy
shouldn't end with this plan.
This plan is just the starting
point for anti displacement and
that work on that kind
of effort should continue
into the future. So there's
nothing specific right now.
It's just emphasizing that
things should happen,
should continue to develop as
the area changes.
>> Okay. And any other,
do you have any other
sector plans that have gone
through that with any anti
deplacement programs that you
could speak on just to kind of
get a better understanding.
>> The anti displacement
policy, it's one of those that
we think should happen. We
would have to work of course
with the county council and
county executive departments
in Prince George's county
for that to be put in place.
What we're saying here is that
we want to make sure that as
new development comes in that
we don't see existing
communities displaced or
existing communities disbanded
because of new development.
And so the goal is
in putting this policy
into the plan is
to draw attention
to the matter and kind
of bring it up to a level
for the county council
to consider. And you know,
if the county council is
willing to look at that the
planning department would stand
ready to work for, to develop
any anti displacement measures
that they see fit. But right
now there's no requirements
in the county code. But that's
something that we think should
happen.
>> So this is something that we
need as a city have to take up
with our county council members
to make sure that it is enacted
into the right.
>> That's what we would like
to see. This is one
of those aspirational policies.
But, you know,
and we would love to work
with the city of Hyattsville
to bring that
to the forefront.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay, Ms. Waszczak.
>> Sorry, the mute button did
not want to unmute itself.
Okay, so I have three
questions. First, I wondered
how this plan has been updated,
if at all,
with the advent of. And really
the explosion
of motorized scooters,
especially for food delivery.
Because I know that there's a
lot of attention to transit
oriented development and
bicycle and pedestrian. So just
trying to figure out if there
have been any changes
to what you're planning based
on the fact that there are
scooters zipping everywhere and
not paying attention
to traffic laws. Is there any
way to kind
of use this planning document
to help control that?
>> I would say. Sorry, Tony,
did you want to go?
>> So go ahead, Thomas.
>> Yeah, I was going to say,
generally the plan does account
for motorized vehicles
with bicycle lanes. So if you
look at the map,
the transportation map, most
of the new streets are, you
know, the urban design streets
that include some sort of
shared use path or other path
that would accommodate scooters
as well, or bike lanes.
>> I guess I'm concerned about
that because these motorized
scooters, or I don't know what
you guys call them, like the.
Going
to show my age right now,
like the Vespa type of scooter
is what I'm talking about. I'm
talking
about the ones that are
like basically a vehicle. They
are riding in bike lanes,
they are riding on sidewalks,
they are riding
in bike paths. And I think I'm
just wondering if there is any
way for us
to use this sector plan
to kind of create a vision
for a safer way
for these motorized vehicles
to operate. Because it's
like the wild west
out there right now.
>> Yeah. So usually I think
what you're kind of talking
about is something not quite a
motorcycle, but not quite a
scooter. I know exactly what
you're talking about. Usually
those are considered a motor
vehicle in the same vein as a
motorcycle. And the plans
really typically focus on
street design and land use. I
think what you're. It sounds
like, not the put words
in your mouth, Councilmember,
but it sounds
like you're concerned
about traffic laws and the
fact that they're not following
traffic laws. That's not
something that we generally get
into in a sector plan.
However, you know,
if your comments back to
us was that that was something
that you would like
to see perhaps as a strategy,
you know, we could look
at incorporating some
of that language.
But usually that's, you know,
rest
with the police department
to enforce those types
of traffic laws. But I
definitely understand where
you're coming from because I'm
just gonna. I feel your pain
on that.
>> If I can chime
in here for a moment. Good
evening, everyone. So I can
just provide a little bit more
clarification. We do have a
comparable document that we are
doing, Master Plan of
Transportation update. And so
to your point, Councilwoman, if
we're not able
to capture it as part
of this master plan, we do have
a separate document where we're
updating with multiple
transportation agencies. So
Deputy Director felt we could
probably line this up
with the GOPrince George's
process as needed. So that's
going to come before the
council next year.
>> Okay, great, thanks. These
other two might also be related
to the PG process. So just
bear with me. So I wondered if
you could talk about how the
transportation map that we saw,
the one with all the, like,
dotted lines
on it that were colored,
how has that been aligned
with Metro's new Better Bus
network map? And are we making
sure that we kind
of have aligned those two? As
you update the sector plan,
are you also working
with WMATA on trying to figure
out how their new bus routes
are going
to impact your plan?
>> Yes. The short answer to
your question is we have worked
with WMATA very closely
to put this plan together.
Also have worked
with WMATA as an agency
with GOPrince George's. So we
have taken that
into account as we've looked
at some of these street
classification changes.
>> Okay, great. And then my
last question was,
does the plan provide for
bicycle oriented development
and not just transit oriented
development? And the reason I
ask that is because we're
obviously on one of the premier
bike trail systems
in the country. I mean, I feel
like we are. And so I want to
make sure that we are thinking
not just about cars and about
transit oriented development,
but also about bike oriented
development. As I understand
there was a development
possibly coming in right next
to West Hyattville Station that
envisioned itself
to be bike oriented and not to
really have parking spaces. I
think that's kind
of the future. And if we're
looking
at a visionary plan here,
I just want to make sure that
we have that vision
in mind as well.
>> Yes, absolutely. And you
know, the nice thing about
transit oriented development,
it is also bike oriented
development because we're
looking
at those multimodal forms
of transportation not just
in this plan, but also in
GoPrince Georgia's,
but if you take a look
at slide 13, we've envisioned a
wide array of bicycle lanes,
both shared and dedicated
throughout the plan. Not only
that,
in our trail networks
associated with the plan, we've
envisioned multi use paths that
incorporate bikes. So we're
definitely taking a vision of
much more multimodal transit,
including bicycles
in the plan area.
>> Great. Thank you very much.
>> Okay. Mr. Solomon, did you
have another question you want
to ask?
>> Yes, just two more things
that I want to raise. The first
was just revisiting the
conversation around ADUs,
but I wanted to mix it with the
density changes that were the
zoning change that's also
included here.
The zoning change came
about because when we,
when we came up
with draft one, there was no
zoning change initially
indicated,
but there was a conversation
around ADUs. I think that
in general,
planning board plus the
majority of residents agrees
that ADUs were not the way
to go. So we came up with the
zoning change that would
achieve the same objectives
around allowing additional
housing should people choose to
convert their homes or lots or
you know,
build additional units.
But it wouldn't come with
some of the negatives
that we associated with ADUs.
But now, since we're going
to get ADUs anyway, I'm
wondering, have we seen a place
where you do the zoning change
and you allow ADUs
at the same time? Are
there examples that you guys
can pull from around what that
looks like?
>> Sure. So ADUs are allowed
in multiple jurisdictions
across the country. And I can
kind of pull on my experience
at my previous life in San
Antonio, Texas, where,
and I'm sure Director Hall can
pull
from her previous experiences
in Miami and Charlotte and
Los Angeles. But you know,
what we've been able to see is
that ADUs can provide
additional housing options and
allow people both to age
in place,
can allow some independence
for students that may be aging
out of their parents home
but still want to stay close
to the nest, or may allow
homeowners
to supplement their income
by renting out a unit.
And that unit can provide some
affordable housing
for someone who is trying
to get on their feet. You know,
around the country,
ADUs have been really
successful in allowing these
additional housing options
to occur. And you don't really
see those types
of negative effects. Usually
ADUs work best where you have a
really robust infrastructure,
multimodal and transit
oriented, and you have good
transit,
which is what you're seeing
in these neighborhoods. So, you
know,
it's been our experience that
around the country that these,
the ADUs have worked along
with additional densities.
Director Hall, I didn't know if
you had anything that you
wanted to add.
>> Yes, just really quickly.
So in addition to go Prince
George's, we're going to start
a missing middle housing study.
And so as part
of that effort, we're going
to include the City of
Hyattsville. And we're hoping
that
before that effective date
of the state requirements
on ADUs,
we can have some engagement
of what that looks like. So
keep in mind the master and
sector plan will be adopted
for the city. However, there
are still code regulations that
can be adopted that may also
overlap the master and sector
plan process. So we want to
make sure that the council is
aware that with this master and
sector plan, there might be
additional amendments made
through the regulation process.
But we are definitely going to
be transparent and come back as
part of the missing middle
housing study to talk
about this further.
>> Okay. For me, I think that I
appreciate hearing that. I
don't know if you were
on earlier to hear my comment
that I don't think that we
should include ADUs, but this
reinforces my comment that I
think we should keep ADUs out
of this and just leave it
in that additional piece
that you're talking
about when we get
to that point, because, you
know, ADUs aren't going
to account toward density,
but we're going
to grow density, but
with the zoning change. And I'm
wondering in our
goodwill to try and
create additional affordable
options if we're also going
to create a greater burden
on the resources of the city
by rushing toward that goal
rather than slowly getting
there
through a planned process,
which you guys are,
which is the whole focus
of this exercise,
by doing both
at the same time quickly. So
that's my thoughts there. The
only other thing I was going
to say about transportation,
I don't know if we included it,
but I know one
of my concerns, I live
near the Metro station where we
do have the,
the scooters and the E-bikes
and every other
thing that you can think
of that you will want people
to just get on when they get
off a Metro and not get
in the car. But in every other
place that I've visited, there
are speed regulations that
those things have to follow and
also locations where they can
and can't be used. But it, I
don't, it doesn't seem
like those exist in Prince
George's County. And I think
one of the recommendations that
we should make to the
District Council is that they
should put those things in
place because otherwise they're
ending up in
neighborhoods. They're
ending up
in this pond that we've created
over here. They're ending up
in all types of places that
they shouldn't be because we
allow people to bring them
there and just throw them
anywhere. So I think if we
could make one
of the recommendations back to
the district council could be
working
with whoever their partners are
in establishing these
multimodal transportation
system
around both metro stations,
both West High School,
but also there needs to be. I
would assume that they're
having the same problem
around French George's Plaza
Metro station, is that some
of them aren't making it back
to where they came from. Thank
you.
>> Okay, thank you. We have
another presentation coming up.
So, colleagues, is that all the
comments or questions that we
have? Okay, thank you. Thank
you, folks for coming and
making this presentation
to us.
>> Thank you for having us.
>> Okay, so we're going to go
on to the next presentation,
Ms. Riddle.
>> Thank you, Mayor Croslin.
>> Hal Metzler is also
with me this evening.
Deputy Director Metzler. We
are here with representatives
from Tanko. Council approved us
moving forward with a contract
with Tanko to maneuver us
through the changes with PEPCO
and our lighting system. I'm
going to turn it over to Tanko
and to Hal. And we are
after the presentation here
to answer your questions.
>> Good evening, Mayor,
Council. Just to add on
to what Leslie said,
the city is responding to the
Maryland General assembly
passing a. Excuse me. The
Municipal Streetlight
Investment act in fiscal year
23 that allows local
governments
to acquire streetlights from
their local utility. PEPCO had
a number of meetings
with all the municipalities
in Prince George's County. The
city, after attending a few
of those, brought Tanko
on board to kind
of review this and advise us.
They gave a presentation to
council last year where they
had one recommendation.
Since then, PEPCO has changed
their proposed rates and that
has caused us to have Tanko
kind of re. Evaluate the
options for the city. Jason
Tanko is here
to present those options
to you all. Thank you, Jason.
>> I'm
loading up the presentation. I
just want to confirm. Can
everyone see this?
>> Yes.
>> We're here to talk
about streetlights. My name is
Jason Tanko. I'm an absolute
advocate and lover
of streetlights. Definitely a
unique person
from this standpoint. I get
to work and play
with something I care
about very deeply. So we're
talking
about the lights right here.
This is actually a shot of
Hyattsville. I think you can
all see my cursor. Is that
right?
>> Yes.
>> Okay, so just a little bit
about us because the remaining
slides really focus
on the city. So our company,
we've helped 130 cities and
towns around the country
acquire their street Lights.
In some cases, we've
recommended that they not
acquire the lights. So we're
not coming in,
just beating a single drum.
Some points
around why you would want
to own number one. Street
lights are here
for public safety. They prevent
accidents. They allow slip and
fall hazards to be mitigated.
They really reduce crime.
There's a lot of social
benefits that streetlights
have, so owning the street
lights, there's a lot
of benefits to that in terms of
the city's public safety goals.
Another benefit that we'll get
into here is cost savings.
There is going to be faster
response times because the city
will now be more directly
responsible
for the maintenance, better
maintenance,
control and design
of the lighting. And in this,
right away, here, this picture,
the city already takes care
of everything else. The street,
the stormwater. You clean it,
you plow it. Everything else in
this street is already
currently done by the city,
just lighting it. Currently
still covered under PEPCO.
But again, we're recommending
that be potentially changed.
The last point I'll leave you
with is people already think
you own the street lights.
People are calling the city
today with lights that are
out issues. And the problem is
you have to go to PEPCO, where
there's just no accountability
to make sure that they get
repaired on time. All right,
can everyone see the next
slide?
>> Yes, we can.
>> Okay, great. So this kind
of catches us up. We did a
streetlight feasibility study
that was completed on October
2023. We reported
to council and to staff on
February 2024. The results
of those. We essentially looked
at four options,
and basically it was either
stay with PEPCO or go out
on your own. And those were put
against basically just status
quo. We had to have some sort
of baseline. So since then,
we've also now completed the
lighting audit and the GIS
overlay. So we had staff from
Tanko going pole
by pole throughout the city,
counting all
of the street lights,
getting critical data about,
you know, what the street
light, where it was located,
any, any information
off the pole, things
like that. We reconcile that
against the bills that
currently came in from PEPCO.
We believe that there's a
potential credit in
overbuilding because basically
the records were just not
matching what we found
in the field. Another note is
that since April 1st
of this year,
the bill has actually increased
by another 10%. And it's our
position
with the city staff as well,
that pepco's rates are really
reflective of a policy that
they just don't want to be
in street lighting anymore.
Their rates are quite
ridiculous. Even
to convert the Lights, their
maintenance is very poor.
You're really in the worst case
scenario right now with
PEPCO. You're paying the
highest cost and getting the
least level of service. We
actually want
to reverse that completely.
Pay less and get a lot more.
That's essentially what we're
proposing. So we reduced it
down to three options. Option
three is really again,
just do nothing. So this is
your baseline. You're currently
spending $268,000 a year
in street lights. Over 20 years
that will be just under $6
million at 5.904. What we
looked at is if you stayed
with PEPCO and converted to LED
or if you bought the lights
from PEPCO and you converted
to led. So you can see the,
the costs are slightly better.
By buying out from PEPCO and
having us oversee an LED
conversion, your operating
costs are actually quite
similar over the 20 year
period. But it's the project
cost where things really get
separated. It is more than
double to convert to LED
with PEPCO. And there is no
timeline upon which they will
be able
to do this conversion. As Hal
can attest to,
it has taken them years to even
do the few hundred lights that
have been done. So
by spending just
under this million dollars,
you get a great return
on investment. This is one of
the best we see and this entire
project would be done in
about a year. So our
recommendation currently this
is the way staff feels as well
as we believe it's
in your best interest
to purchase the lights
from pepco. This would put you
in alignment
with multiple agencies around
the country and just know D.C.
baltimore, they own and
maintain all their street
lights as well. You have much
lower costs. A great return
on investment. The LED
conversion is really paramount
because it does play public
safety. Everyone knows LED
lighting at night is easier
to see. You have better depth
vision. It's going
to be easier
to avoid pedestrians, icicles
and other collisions just
because the lighting is much
easier to use at nighttime. By
owning and maintaining lights,
you have better control of the
lighting design and maintenance
response times. I see outages
repaired within five days,
typically dark sky compliant
fixtures. We're not going
to throw a bunch of light up
into the skies. We're going
to put the right amount
of light and have it focused
at the ground. And of course
this will reduce or increase
and improve the nighttime
public safety because of cars
and pedestrians and people
interacting at night. So this
is just like a snapshot here,
just an example
of how this is happening
within the rates. These rates
are published, you could look
them up yourself. These are
both public Rates from PEPCO.
So currently you are spending
$9.31 for a 70 watt high
pressure sodium fixture. This
would be maybe
in a residential neighborhood.
Typically, this is about 43%
of your system. What we're
recommending is you buy
out the lights. The new monthly
cost, and this is everything
all cost in. This includes the
energy bill from PEPCO and the
maintenance. So energy and
maintenance, it would only be
$2.82. Essentially wrapping
this up into the 1200 lights,
roughly that the city will be
buying. That's how this
translates into what will be a
couple hundred thousand dollars
savings. Which kind
of leads me to my next slide.
So excuse me. So you can see
right here the $268,000. This
is your current bill. This is
your existing cost. What we're
recommending is by buying
out the lights,
your bill will now drop down
to 41,000. And then even when
we added maintenance,
which we estimate at $27,000,
you're going
to only be spending roughly
68,000. So that yields about
$200,000 savings. And then you
can see up here,
under a million dollars
of investment gives you a
return of $4 million back.
That is incredible. That is
just really good return
on your investment. And you get
higher quality lighting and
service of the system. Excuse
me, Sorry, I think I jumped
one. Okay, so the current
timeline and I'll get
into a couple details here. So
again,
the audit's been completed.
We're recommending that buying
out of the system take place as
the next step. There's roughly
1203 fixtures. Once the city,
the city of Hyattsville will
own the lights, will then plan
to do an upgrade to led. That
upgrade, the installation and
the lighting itself, the
fixtures will all be bid out.
We're just going
to project management. So those
are rather large expenses that
will be publicly bid. And then
the city maintenance. The
current plan is that Tanko
might do the administrative
side of the maintenance. And we
will also bid out for a
contractor who will be
responsible
for doing the infield work.
That's currently just the plan.
Again, this whole estimated
timeline is about a year. So
breakdown of the project costs.
A good chunk
of it is just buying
out the lights. Let's just get
rid of pepco. We estimate
currently,
based upon the numbers they
publish, roughly a $200,000
investment. Some
of these fees, this is
currently what our contract is.
This 182,000. That's already
what we're currently operating
under. And then you can see the
conversion will be under
$600,000 again. Most of this
would represent just material
and the installation
from a contractor. So that is
it. I can bounce back
to slides. I'll let you
guys kind of fire away
with questions
from there.
>> Okay. Can you stop sharing
screen for a while?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Thank you. Colleagues,
questions? Mr. Haba?
>> Yes, thank you. Operating
costs. I think that's where I
have my question. We saw that
operating cost between PEPCO
and the city will comes out
to be roughly the same.
But what is included
in that operating cost
at the city level? What's the
breakdown
for that operating cost?
>> So the current operating
cost would be $68,000 compared
to the. I think it was 82,000.
That would cover the bill
of just electricity only to
Petco and then the maintenance
costs for any given year.
>> Okay, but we don't have any
estimate or any idea of what
that maintenance cost will be.
>> The maintenance cost was
in slide 7. It was
$26,938. I believe it comes
out to $2 per pole per month.
>> That's your estimate?
Because I heard you saying he's
gonna have
to be bidded out.
>> Yeah. We will be bidding
out the field work for the
contractor and then we would be
the one
to deploy that contractor.
Make sure that, you know,
they're not just fixing one
life,
they can fix several things.
So we get more bang
for the buck. That is an
estimate. I currently maintain
about 20 street light systems
around the country. So
fortunate for you,
I'm not making that number up.
That's actually high. Most
of my clients experience costs
like around $1.60
to A$70 per pole per month
for the year. So I'm estimating
under $27,000. I believe that
will be high.
>> You good, Mr. Haba?
>> Yes, I'm good for now.
>> Okay, thank you. Mr.
Schaible?
>> Thank you, Mayor. I think
to me, I love these. I like
statistics and math and
environmentally friendly
interventions and all that. So
this kind of hits a sweet spot
for me. A few questions
about it. You said 1200 lights
and did those include. Let's
say, you know, there's a lot of
state or county owned roads
that bisect our community. Are
we including purchase of light
off of roads that we don't own
or would those be exempted
for some reason?
>> I'm going to let Hal speak
to the state highway.
Currently, what's not included
in this analysis was 121 lights
already owned and maintenance
maintained by the city. So they
weren't considered because it
was already
in your possession. So how can
give some more direction
around lights that the state is
putting in and turning over
to the city. And again,
I think there's. There's just
more details how it's got. So
go ahead.
>> Yes. So to help answer that,
the city does have several MOUs
with the state Highway
Administration, and that
primarily covers the pedestrian
lights on Queen's Chapel
Road, a few on East west
highway, and the Trolley Trail
extension that was just
completed. So those are lights
that the city will maintain
once State highway finishes
their project, closes
out their project and turns
them over to the city. But
they're not lights that we
would be purchasing from PEPCO
because they're already owned
by State highway and the
city. So the city helped
to fund those. That
construction. It was kind
of a joint agreement with
State Highway. So we already
own those lights. We will take
over maintenance once the,
Once those projects are
completed. Now, as far as the
overhead lights on the state
roads and the county roads, the
city would not be taking those
over. The county and the
state are responsible
for those, though I believe the
state highway might be trying
to get some
of the municipalities to take
on some of those, but we don't
currently have any agreement
to do so, and.
>> We don't pay for that
electricity right now either.
>> We should not be.
>> No.
>> Though the audit is still.
We're still trying to hammer
out the audit that
Tanko completed with
PEPCO to make sure we were
being charged for all the
correct lights and charged the
correct dollar amount. So
we should not be paying
for them. If we have been
paying for them, we will be
requesting a credit back
from pepco,
but that's still kind
of being worked out.
>> Okay. And it sounds
like our concept, and I think
this is probably the way
to go. Although I wonder,
you probably have experience
with this, Mr. Tanko, have you
worked with jurisdictions that
have decided to assume this
responsibility themselves for
maintenance? I'm not
necessarily saying I prefer it,
but I do hear about the issue
from time to time, and I just
wonder, is there any
maintenance that city staff
does,
like replace bulbs or anything
like that? Or would this be a
system that would be entirely
dependent on a contractor
to do maintenance?
>> Oh, sorry.
>> No, please go ahead.
>> I would say that when you
convert the lights to LED,
it is a rather robust system.
We expect that the outage rate
will be less than 1% related to
the fixture themselves. I think
the majority of the outages
will probably be lined up
with PEPCO because
of the amount of lights that
you're buying and how little
maintenance will be done going
forward. It doesn't make sense
for the city to, let's say,
buy trucks, hire a crew. It
could be potentially assumed
under something else.
But the other problem with that
is there's so much change just
bringing the street light
under the purview
of public works. It could be
good, even if it's just
temporary, that we're
at least there to walk you
through the maintenance
process. And then maybe
at some point in the future,
the city could take it over.
It could just be a lot to do,
but it has been done. We could
consult with you guys
to set you up
to make sure that that's ready,
but it just could be a lot
to take on. Some
of our clients,
the reason why we actually got
into maintenance is they really
wanted to hold our feet
to the fire,
to all the promises in terms
of the energy conservation,
the cost savings,
as well as they wanted
to see us at least carry them
through maintenance
until they felt like, you know
what, I'm ready
to pick this up,
or what options do I have? So
we're not a required aspect.
You don't have to sign up
with us.
But it could be good just to at
least transition because the
public perception is really the
priority here. People already
think you own the lights or
already seeing the poor
maintenance. By having at least
somebody who's adept and ready
to take over the system
with a lot of experience,
they're going
to see quicker results. Light
was reported on a Monday, it's
fixed by Friday. Those are good
things that we want to see
in terms
of public perception, that
City hall did something right.
So by all means,
you could certainly do that
on your own. But we're trying
to at least help push that
through. And it's definitely a
minimal cost because you just
don't have that many lights.
>> So I'll say, I mean,
generically, we're not the
subject matter experts
at this juncture. And that
cost, you know, as Jason said,
maybe down the line, but
at this point we're relying
on Tanko's expertise and
appreciate their assistance
till now and will continue to
if council sees that fit.
>> And I would like
to add one other option to,
or one other fact to this,
is that the majority of the
overhead streetlights are
directly tied
into the power grid. There's no
meter, there's no disconnect
between them. Therefore, you
know, the people that work
on it have to be trained and
licensed linesmen and those
folks get paid a lot of money
that we wouldn't have a enough
work for somebody that was
getting paid that much to do
in the city alone. So it's most
likely that the city would.
Would have a contractor do that
because of those high labor and
insurance costs.
>> That's good. I did have
one. I think
that's probably does make
sense that would be the
way we want to go. Just wanted
to interrogate it a little bit.
There's one portion
that I don't think I heard. It
kind of, you know, jumped out
at me when I read it and that's
that this. As I understand it,
PEPCO is trying
to charge a higher rate for
their streetlights than they
charge for other electricity
use. I guess that's what you're
assuming is their intention.
They want to get out
of the streetlight business.
But that hasn't been approved
by the Maryland Public
Service Commission yet.
Right. So if that does not get
approved, when will we have a
decision there? And if it does
not get approved, would you
recommend we change course
again?
>> I would definitely say once
it gets approved, we should
review it and make sure were
there any additional changes,
Danny, if you could predict
when that's going
to get through. You got my
money? So we have been waiting
for this thing. We've been told
dates. None
of them have come true. This is
just the difficulty of dealing
with PEPCO. I feel it's another
reason to get as far away
from him as you can.
But I am concerned,
like how much will it change?
But our communication
from them is they do seem
to be establishing that this is
like what's going to stick.
It's kind of just getting it
through the timelines right
now.
But it does appear that
this is what it will be.
>> Thank you. Mr. Redmond?
>> Just if you covered it,
please remind me. But the two
hundred and plus thousand
dollars of purchase, is that in
the DPW budget or is it
somewhere accounted for
already?
>> I can answer that there.
The city has had money for
streetlight replacement and LED
upgrades
in our capital budget every
year
for the past several years. So
we have included money based
on this current recommendation
in our fiscal 26 CIP budget.
>> Okay.Well, it'll have
to come back, but...
>> Always has
to come back to you.
>> Lucky you. All right.
>> Sorry, I couldn't unmute
there. So as far as the
estimate to do the actual
fixture replacement. So that's
all done in house by Tanko.
Are you the contractor or is
that something that you have
subcontractors for?
>> Great question. So there'll
be three pieces to the pie
for the actual LED conversion.
We're already one
of your established ones.
We're going
to be the project manager.
We're going to just make sure
that the data is coming back
from the field,
lights are being converted,
the right counts are ordered.
Actually going
to help you procure
for the material and
for the install separately. So
we're already under contract
for that, and we're going
to be bidding out those items
to make sure we get the best
bang for the buck. Okay, so
material and install,
and it's actually the bulk
of the cost, I want to say. It
was. It was 577,000 of the
969. So that's.
>> So that's an estimate,
then?
>> Yes, that's correct. We've
done this enough. We've got
what we think will be
reasonable numbers,
probably a little high
to what we would expect
to see back
from the bid results.
>> Okay, got it. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you for the
presentation and colleagues,
if there are no other
questions, we are going
to move on in our agenda.
Thank you, folks.
Proclamations. Vice President
Waszczak?
>> 7.a. HCC-361-FY25
Proclamation in Celebration
of June 2025 as LGBTQIA+
Pride Month. I move that the
Mayor and Council adopt a
proclamation recognizing and
honoring June, 2025 as LGBTQIA+
Pride Month.
7.b. HCC-363-FY25 Proclamation
in Celebration of June 2025 as
Caribbean-American Heritage
Month. I move the Mayor and
Council adopt a proclamation
recognizing and honoring June
as Caribbean-American
Heritage Month.
7.c. HCC-364-FY25 Proclamation
in Celebration of June 2025 as
Immigrant Heritage Month. I
move the Mayor and Council
adopt a proclamation
recognizing and celebrating
June as Immigrant Heritage
Month in the City of
Hyattsville.
7.d. HCC-365-FY25
Proclamation Declaring June
6, 2025, as National Gun
Violence Awareness Day. I move
that the Mayor and Council
declare June 6, 2025, as
National Gun Violence
Awareness Day in the City of
Hyattsville.
7.e. HCC-366-FY25 Proclamation
in Celebration of Juneteenth. I
move the Mayor and Council
adopt a Proclamation Observing
and Celebrating June 19,
2025, as Juneteenth in the
City of Hyattsville.
7.f. HCC-369-FY25
Proclamation Honoring
Riverdale Park Mayor Alan K.
Thompson. I move that the
Mayor and Council adopt a
proclamation honoring Mayor
Alan K. Thompson for his 16
years of service and dedication
as an elected official to the
Town of Riverdale Park.
>> Is there a second?
>> Second.
>> Moved and second. All
in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Any opposed? Any abstensions?
Okay, the ayes have it. Mr.
Solomon, action items.
>> Action agenda. 8.a.
HCC-359-FY25 Streetlight
Purchase Authorization. I move
that the Mayor and Council
authorize the City
Administrator
to negotiate and enter
into an agreement with PEPCO
for the purchase
of streetlights
within the incorporated City
boundary,
pending legal review.
>> Okay, so we've already
pretty much had a discussion
about this, but Ms. Riddle,
would you like to. Well, first
of all,
is there a second?
>> Second.
>> Would you like to add more
to this, Ms. Riddle?
>> Mr. Metzl.
>> Thank you, Mayor Croslin. I
think we have fully discussed
this certainly. If the council
have any additional questions,
we'd be happy
to answer them.
>> Colleagues, any other
questions? Seeing none. It's
been moved. Well, there is one.
Mr. Nisbett?
>> Sorry if I missed this
during the presentation,
but just one question. For the
street light conversion, how
many companies were considered
and taking on that portion or
were there any companies that
were considered?
>> So we did attempt an RFP
process. We received one
solicitation from Tanko.
Apparently there's very few
companies that actually do the
kind of work that Jason and his
associates are doing
at this juncture.
>> Okay, thank you so much.
>> You got it.
>> Okay. As I was about
to say,
it's been moved and second.
All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Anybody opposed? Any
abstensions? The ayes have it.
So thank you very much,
folks. We are down
to council dialogue. So this is
an opportunity
for anyone who would like
to say anything that they would
like to say to the community or
anyone else,
you can raise your hand. Mr.
Redmond, we'll start
with you very quickly.
>> Welcome to our newest
colleagues. I've said it
about 18 times, this will be
the last time I congratulate
any of the new folks. So just
soak it in for today. I do
truly look forward to working
with the new folks and of
course my returning and
existing colleagues.
>> Thank you. Mr. Solomon?
>> I can continue
to congratulate all of you.
You're doing a great, great job
and welcome. I also wanted
to say we have Ward 5 community
meeting scheduled for. Nate,
when do we skip?
>> We have it scheduled for.
Oh, I just sent an email
about it. Tuesday, June 17th
at 6:30 at the Sovereign.
>> As you noticed
from last meeting, we approved
$250 for food and drinks. So
we'll have a great time and be
well informed. And I look
forward to sharing the stage
with our new council colleague.
Thank you.
>> I'm glad you've learned that
what date it was going
to be on. Mr. Schaible?
>> Yeah, I wanted to kind
of stay on this theme of
welcoming our new council
members. Great
to see you up here
on the virtual dais with us.
Look forward to working
with you more and hearing about
your initiatives as council
members. I did
without being too much of an
old crank. I did want
to just put this out there
for some general thought. You
know, we had three meetings
today as council members,
and one of them is
during when most
of us work at, you know,
noon. I can't speak
for everyone, but I think most
of us have Monday through
Friday day jobs. And I just
wonder if we would want to
reconsider how we structure
these on this transition when
we are bringing the new council
on. I found today to be pretty
harried and distracted from
work and other familial
responsibilities. So I wonder
if we just had consecutive
night meetings and kind
of tried to stay out
of daytime stuff for council.
That would be a preference
of mine. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Mr. Haba.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Same note
here. I didn't get a chance
to say this earlier,
but I wanted to thank Council
member Dennis and
Councilmember Sandino
for their years of service. It
was always nice to kind
of like, do the number games
with Sam, so I really. It's
that part and welcome
to our new Councilmember. I
look forward to working
with you. Thank you.
>> Ms. Lee?
>> Good evening. I wanted
to say welcome to all our new
councilmembers. I look forward
to working with all of you
during your term. Also, I
wanted to remind the residents
in 9 zone 9B that parking
permit renewal is taking place
now, January 1st, June 1st
through June 30th. So just be
mindful of that if you need
to renew your parking pass. If
you have any questions,
please feel free to reach out
to me and Councilman Haba.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any other
comments? Okay. Seeing none.
Can I get a motion
to adjourn, please?
>> Move.
>> Okay. Can we get a second?
>> Second.
>> Well,
at least we got a second.
Okay, so it's
been moved. It's been second,
third, and everything else.
All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Any opposed? Abstentions?
No?
>> Mr. Groenendyk, you're going
to stay here with Mr. Redmond
and continue the meeting while
we leave. That's what council
desires. You stay with Mr.
Redmond. Everybody else is
leaving. Good night, everybody.