[0:06] I guess we're, I'm assuming we're live at this point. So let's just pretend I bang the gavel and I am welcoming everybody to the April 2020 regular meeting of the mayor and city council.

[0:23] This is the first time we've ever had to or tried to do a virtual meeting so we're going to see how this goes, but we're going to start off tonight with a roll call.

[0:32] Um, and I'll call out Council, I'll count call out our participants names.

[0:38] You guys say here, we'll just make sure everybody's audio is working.

[0:41] Start off with Council member Sessma.

[0:44] I'm here.

[0:45] Council member Spiegel.

[0:46] Here.

[0:48] Council member sales.

[0:50] Here.

[0:51] Council member Harris.

[0:52] I'm here too.

[0:53] Thank you.

[0:54] Council member Wu.

[0:56] Here Mr. Mayor.

[0:57] City attorney board.

[0:59] I'm here.

[1:00] City manager Thomas Lowe here.

[1:02] City Cork Stokes.

[1:05] Here.

[1:06] And silently around us, we have our our tech team,

[1:10] we're here to help us with any issues and help facilitate this meeting.

[1:15] We're going to start off now with a pledge of allegiance,

[1:18] and Steve, we can sync this as well as we can.

[1:23] I guess I'll do it like a 3, 2, 1 and we'll say it.

[1:26] Okay, 3, 2, 1.

[1:29] I pledge allegiance to the flag.

[1:32] of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation

[1:40] nation, individual with liberty and justice for all. Okay, it was a mess but we did

[1:50] our best. So next on our agenda is reflection and I want to just make a quick statement

[1:57] that I hope this meeting, this virtual meeting finds everyone well, safe, hang in in there.

[2:05] We have missed everybody.

[2:06] We have missed being in the community.

[2:08] I want to take a quick opportunity to express our gratitude to our staff, particularly our

[2:15] essential staff, including our police and public works.

[2:20] In the broader community, the doctors, the nurses, the lab tech, the food service folks,

[2:26] delivery folks, waste management personnel, gas station attendants, the folks at the food banks,

[2:33] homeless shelters, pharmacists, and all the essential services and volunteers not to mention

[2:38] everybody at Netflix because where would we be? And I want to thank, I want to send a thanks

[2:46] to our community on behalf of the Council for doing such a good job with social distancing. It

[2:54] really seems to be making a difference, and we need to keep doing it, but we're making

[3:00] it a big difference for saving lives, so thank you for that.

[3:04] On a, even more somber note, I want to acknowledge the passing of Tim Clark, a former member

[3:13] of our Board of Supervisors of Elections and a person who was active for a lot of years

[3:19] in the Kentlands community as well, and I understand Councilmember Spiegel lost his stepfather yesterday, Rudy Fleischman.

[3:28] And so as we go into a moment of silence, I'd ask that we think of Tim Clark, Rudy Fleischman,

[3:34] and everyone who's been impacted by this COVID-19 crisis.

[3:39] I want to silence, please.

[3:46] Thank you.

[3:48] Again, this first time we're trying this virtually,

[3:52] there are bound to be some technical issues we're doing our best so we appreciate you

[3:58] bringing with us. The next item on our agenda is appointments and we have two sets of appointments

[4:04] tonight and I will say for the first one what is the pleasure of the council and I see Neil

[4:12] is raising his hand. Neil you're on mute take yourself off mute and go ahead and do you say thank

[4:17] you I wanted to take this one because I'm very familiar with the people that we're going to

[4:22] point today because when I had a pet, this was our veterinary office. So I'd like to move

[4:30] the resolution to confirm your appointments to the animal control board for three-year term

[4:36] for David Handell and for Natasha Chapman as the alternate term to expire April of 2023.

[4:47] Okay. Now for our votes, we're going to do a roll call just so we can be clearly get everyone.

[4:54] And so I'm just going to do it in the order I see the boxes on my screen, Council Member

[4:57] Sessma.

[5:00] Council Member Harris.

[5:02] Council Member Spiegel.

[5:04] Aye.

[5:05] Council Member Sails.

[5:07] Aye.

[5:08] Council Member Wu.

[5:12] All right, carries unanimously.

[5:15] Next we have appointments to the police advisory committee, economic and business development,

[5:22] multi-cultural affairs and transportation. What is the pleasure of the council?

[5:28] Councillor Mayer, I'd like to move the approval. Mayer, I'd like to move the approval

[5:33] for the resolution for the appointments and re-appointments to the multi-cultural affairs committee.

[5:41] Police advisory committee and transportation committee. The police advisory committee

[5:46] for a two-year term, the re-appointment for a three-year term for a delete step for the economic and business development committee, and a two-year term for the mayor and the same for the multicultural affairs committees, as well as Washington and Sago, a two-year term for the police advisory committee for Diane Cabinets and a two-year term for Carol

[6:16] Robert.

[6:19] Rob Wu. Okay. All those in favor. Now, do the roll call. Council member Sessma.

[6:29] Hi. Council member Eris. Hi. Council member Spiegel. Hi. Council member Sails.

[6:35] Hi. And Council member Wu. Hi. Thank you all very much, carries unanimously.

[6:43] Next, we have, we're going to go into

[6:45] public comments.

[6:49] And the way our web form worked is people were able to

[6:53] delay need if because we know we're going to have a number of comments about the

[6:58] Kelly Park MCPS issue. But we also had some that side up for general public

[7:03] comments. We have four who've signed up for that and I'm going to call on them

[7:07] first and then we'll get into the Kelly Park comments. So first one

[7:11] if you could bring up Nancy and then Nancy,

[7:18] if you want to unmute yourself,

[7:19] if you can stage your name after you stage your name,

[7:23] we'll start the timer and you can just start your test of money.

[7:26] Nancy, answer side.

[7:27] I live at 423 Sanders Lane and I'd like to make comments

[7:31] that have to do with both Kelly Park and the election plans.

[7:36] First, a park with a school would not be safe as a current park

[7:39] because of the majority of what remains for park

[7:41] is in the back of the acreage.

[7:44] And we're not be visible to passing motorists.

[7:46] Most of the children who use the park live

[7:48] in small condos are apartments or townhouses,

[7:51] which provide affordable housing.

[7:53] Kelly Park is their current equivalent of a backyard,

[7:56] and they need to be safe there.

[7:58] Additionally, losing the tennis courts

[7:59] would make the park less safe.

[8:01] It is a great place for adults to sit and talk

[8:03] while small children safely play and ride their tentacles

[8:06] and their two wheelers with training wheels in enclosed area.

[8:10] It also increases the responsible adult presence in the park.

[8:14] Second, I would like to address what appears to be a plan to stop allowing writing candidates.

[8:19] This massive attempt to protect incumbents probably in response to the anti-kelly park school vote.

[8:27] Almost 20% of the votes were two of the writing candidates and Robert will receive 15% more of the votes than the other two incumbents.

[8:35] This was almost certainly because of activists believed that the writing candidates in Robert

[8:40] Wu would oppose putting in school with Kelli Park.

[8:43] The activists talked to voters at three sites, Bill of Ridge, City Hall, and as very

[8:48] Methodist Village.

[8:49] The vote differences at these three sites are obvious.

[8:52] It suggests that Kelli Park activists were more organized, writing candidates would have had

[8:57] a real shot at winning the election largely because of its opposition to having a school

[9:01] in Kelli Park.

[9:02] Third, closing village as a voting site would, and moving the voters to City Hall would make the City Hall area voting location likely to have the most voters.

[9:12] This is a bad idea because community trains and traffic flow made by the City Hall make the area too difficult because of the commuter hours during commuter hours when many people are rushing to vote.

[9:25] Fourth, moving the village precinct to City Hall might serve to disenfranchise the voters in the affordable apartments and condos in the village area.

[9:34] Many of those village occupants have limited transportation occupants and use Route 61 bus to get out of the area.

[9:43] The Route 61 bus does not go near City Hall.

[9:46] Is this something that is planned is a retaliation for the large right in the road for village.

[9:51] Thank you for your consideration, I'm finished.

[9:54] Thank you very much.

[9:57] Next, we have Jackie Decarlo,

[10:01] Tech Team, if you could bring up Jackie,

[10:07] and Jackie, if you could just stage your name,

[10:10] and then we'll begin the timer in your testimony.

[10:14] My name is Jackie Decarlo,

[10:16] I'm the CEO of Manifood Center,

[10:18] and I appreciate the opportunity to greet you

[10:22] all the last time I saw you in person,

[10:25] most of you was Dr. King's birthday food drive and the world has changed a lot. I appreciate

[10:32] the ingenuity of the webinar so that Manic can present on behalf of the food and nutrition

[10:39] coalition in the city of Gatorsburg, our partners in that are nourished now and Gatorsburg

[10:45] help. I'll do my best to represent them all. We as a coalition want to thank you all for your

[10:51] steady, compassionate, and forward-looking leadership

[10:54] during these difficult times.

[10:56] We're all being tested as community leaders,

[10:59] and we appreciate your dedication to service.

[11:02] Before the public health emergency

[11:04] and the economic crisis that is in the making.

[11:07] Jackie, Jackie, can you pause the timer for a second?

[11:11] Jackie, is this testimony related to our budget?

[11:16] Yes, it is.

[11:18] Okay, I hate to do this to you

[11:20] because about our budget public hearing is coming up later in the meeting and I want to

[11:25] get you on the record in the right spot.

[11:28] Okay, sure.

[11:30] But, you know, it could be a little time before we get back to you because we're expecting

[11:34] a lot of testimony on Kelly Park.

[11:37] So, so bear with us.

[11:38] But I want to make sure you guys get in the record in the right place.

[11:42] So, just hold off for now.

[11:44] Understood.

[11:45] Okay.

[11:45] Thank you.

[11:46] I have a, I have a feeling, uh,

[11:48] tech team, the next speaker I have is Bob Honage, Tara,

[11:52] and I have a feeling he's also here to talk about the budget, too.

[11:55] Bob, are you there?

[12:02] Yes, I am, Air Ashman. Thank you very much.

[12:05] And Bob, were you, did you intend to sign up to speak about, about the city budget

[12:11] or was it about other general issues? No, it is indeed about the city budget.

[12:15] Okay, then, and how about, is, is it the same for Julian,

[12:19] because I haven't down as well? Yes, it is.

[12:21] Okay, we're going to have you guys sit tight, I apologize, you know, have a snack, it's going to be a little while before we get back to you.

[12:30] No worries.

[12:31] Okay.

[12:34] That concludes the general public comments that we had down signed up for thus far.

[12:42] So we're going to go to our Kelly Park MCPS testimonies, and we're going to start with Jim McNulty.

[12:49] tag team if you could bring up Jim and then Jim once you're on muted just state your name and we'll start the timer and we you can go ahead and give your test of money

[12:59] Jim is unfortunately on an older version of zoom and it is now allowing him to speak.

[13:04] It's possible that if he upgrades his version of zoom that you may be able to circle back around to a mayor.

[13:09] Okay, let's circle back. Okay, then we will go to Melissa McKenna.

[13:13] We have Melissa here.

[13:18] Yes, I'm here.

[13:20] Okay, stage your name, Melissa, and then go right ahead.

[13:23] Good evening, Mayor and Council.

[13:25] This is Melissa McKenna, a proud city resident for more than 16 years.

[13:28] Thank you for this opportunity for virtual testimony.

[13:31] After many years before you, on the topic of Gaythersburg Elementary Number 8,

[13:35] we need you to vote yesterday.

[13:37] So MCPK asks, can get on with building this desperately needed school.

[13:41] Having been the MCCPTA, capital improvements program committee chair for three years,

[13:46] And having served on the site selection advisory committee for this project, I'd like to provide some context, history and facts.

[13:53] While it seems that this story began in 2014, we really have to go back to 2012 and a feasibility study for an addition to strawberry nozzlementary.

[14:02] The addition would have added capacity of 150 to 640 students relocated the main office and created a security vestibule.

[14:10] Not unusually for MCPS, the feasibility study was the end of the road.

[14:14] Then came McGaithersburg cluster capacity study in 2014-15.

[14:19] With your help, thank you, parents succeeded in overruling the proposed remedy of

[14:23] buzzing Gathersburg Elementary students and others out to Latinsville.

[14:27] We've referred the consideration of a new elementary school.

[14:30] Next up, the Tri-Cluster Roundtable Considering Magruder and Wooten Clusters for Relief.

[14:35] Finding that on workable, in April 2016, the Board of Ad approved an addition to Gathersburg

[14:40] Elementary.

[14:41] On a feasibility study began that July for completion August 2020, but now a 1,000 student school, no matter how they did it, was not viable.

[14:51] Bringing us to the 2017 site selection, MCPS brought 14 possible sites to us. The good.

[15:00] The bad, the ugly, and the really bad. That victory farm park was not included on that list, means it didn't

[15:07] even pass preliminary possibility. Using part of Kelly Park is the best option. Proximity to the high

[15:14] density of children attending Gapersburg was a significant factor, as was the availability of the site,

[15:21] versus timing and cost of acquiring a private site. I'm disappointed that valuable time has been wasted

[15:26] on pursuing Victory Farm Park, whose environmental study confirmed its use is only justifiable

[15:32] if no other viable development options on or off-site exist.

[15:38] I've read the agreement. This is a great deal for the city.

[15:41] MPS is offering and the county is ready to fund a minimum $26 million investment in our city.

[15:49] Keep in mind, this is not the only school we will need.

[15:51] Summit Hall and Rosemont are far from this site and may need additions or preferably a new Summit Hall.

[15:58] We have already lost valuable time and MCPS wasted hundreds of not thousands of dollars.

[16:05] Schools in this past month have been crucial in responding to emergencies.

[16:09] Now is the time to show your support of our community and our children.

[16:13] Send the strong message that you hear them and they matter.

[16:16] Please vote yes to authorize GES number eight at Kelly Park.

[16:20] Thank you.

[16:22] Thank you, Melissa.

[16:24] Next speaker we have is Seth.

[16:26] Tech team can you bring Seth up.

[16:29] And then Seth wants you on mute.

[16:31] Just state your name and go ahead and start your testimony.

[16:40] Members are the board.

[16:41] My name is Seth came in and I live at 205.

[16:44] Fair Grove Circle in Sabre.

[16:46] My husband and I have a two and a half year old daughter.

[16:49] Who hopefully will be attending this new school.

[16:52] And we are encouraging you to vote for the new school this evening.

[16:55] My testimony today isn't about us alone, though, and I'd like to share some thoughts about who we, your silent supporters, are.

[17:03] Many of us are at home feeding our kids, giving them a bath, or putting them to sleep right now.

[17:09] We're working full time while taking care of our children, and we haven't had a second to think about this.

[17:15] And maybe some of us are even still working in the ER this evening, or delivering dinners, or doing some other idea that has taken us away from being able to be at this meeting.

[17:24] We are people who want a new school to alleviate overcrowding in five other elementary schools.

[17:31] Who are hoping to have a new facility that provides a local summer camp, art and cultural programming,

[17:37] and fields, reports and community gatherings.

[17:41] We are people who understand what a gift this is, a fully funded school commitment in the time of economic distress,

[17:49] in a time when there is such competition for new educational space.

[17:53] We are parents who want to know their kids can walk to a school via a safe, direct pathway from their homes.

[18:01] Who are willing to take 15 minutes of delayed exit from their neighborhoods to ensure our kids get to school safely.

[18:08] And we are the parents who will volunteer at this new school, enabling our students to make the Gathesburg cluster a more engaged supportive community.

[18:17] They, like me, don't understand why there is still a debate about opening a new school.

[18:24] We are willing to sacrifice 18 months of construction or the lack of overnight parking or a lost tennis court to gain so much more.

[18:34] We don't understand why we aren't working together to ensure that we have a community that will attract future home buyers, more businesses and lots of investment.

[18:46] We know we want this school.

[18:49] We want the opportunity to have our kids at a school that has built for them.

[18:56] And so on behalf of all of these, all of my community,

[19:00] all of my neighbors and all the parents just like me,

[19:03] please help us move forward with this school.

[19:06] Thank you.

[19:08] Thank you, Seth.

[19:10] The next speaker I have on my list is Carolyn.

[19:15] Tech team, can you bring up Carolyn?

[19:18] Carolyn, once you unmute yourself,

[19:21] just state your name and we'll start the timer.

[19:25] Hi, this is Carolyn Garvey.

[19:27] I live at 412 Sabreq View Drive and Gathersburg for 10 years.

[19:32] I appreciate this opportunity to speak to the council tonight.

[19:35] Although I am one of the Gathersburg cluster coordinators for MCCPTA,

[19:38] I'm speaking on behalf of myself today. I have spoken to the City Council numerous times regarding Kelly Park as a proposed site for the new elementary school, and I've gone back and forth on how I felt on this decision that you're going to make today.

[19:53] On one hand, you have multiple schools that have been overcrowded for years, and on the other hand, you have a neighborhood who feels scorned by MCPS's boundary decision, boundary decision for a middle school built in 1999.

[20:06] I can understand how my neighbors distressed this school system decision from 20 years ago,

[20:12] and I also understand that children need a green space to run around.

[20:16] But children also need a school school that are not stressed with having too many students.

[20:22] I have two children who attend Gatesburg Elementary School.

[20:26] My son, who is a fifth grader, has 149 fifth grade classmates who all eat lunch at the same time.

[20:34] He told me that the lunch line can be so long at times that when he gets his lunch when he

[20:41] finally gets his lunch, the lunch period is over and he does not sometimes is not having

[20:45] enough time to eat it. There are also currently 11 portables at the Gathersburg Elementary

[20:50] School which have taken up most of the black-top area that was formally a play area. The teachers

[20:56] and staff do a phenomenal job at managing the crowds, dismissals, lunch rams and playgrounds,

[21:02] but I prefer that they put that energy and focus on other things

[21:05] that are in which students engagement education.

[21:08] Back in 2015, I was on the Gaydenburg Capacity Committee,

[21:13] also known as the Tri-Closter Committee,

[21:15] that included representatives from Gaythageburg,

[21:17] Wu and Immigriger Clusters,

[21:18] and we were presented with options such as

[21:21] Boston Gaythageburg Kids to Other Clusters.

[21:23] I also represented the MCPTA

[21:25] MCCPTA during the site selection committee

[21:28] for the new school, and as much as I offer

[21:30] further to be another option, location for the school, it is more economical location for

[21:35] our county versus clear cutting the land, tearing down another building or building new roads,

[21:40] as a taxpayer for the city and the county and the preferred of this location for the

[21:44] up, over other options that prefer. Yes, the students need green space, but students are also

[21:51] at the school for six hours a day, five days a week out of nine months of the year. They spend

[21:57] majority of their day out of school. So if the concerns about what the children need, then shouldn't

[22:02] that choice support where they spend the majority of their time. I trust that the City Council

[22:08] will do the right thing by moving forward by allowing MCPS to have the land that is in the agreement.

[22:13] Thank you. Thank you, Carolyn. Texting the next person I have on our list is Dave Anderson. If you

[22:20] bring Dave up and then and Dave want to unmute yourself just state your name and go ahead and start.

[22:32] I'm Dave Anderson and I live at Wexton Run. I'm Dave Anderson, I live at Wexton Run.

[22:40] I just see the clock start. Yeah, go right ahead. Reading the conveyance document,

[22:44] I was just utterly amazed. If I read this conveyance correctly, the city of Gator's words

[22:51] going to pay for part of the construction caused by the school, and then the maintenance of

[22:56] those parts afterward. Then we're all going to then we're going to turn around and hand over

[23:01] to public schools authority to approve or just approve all city programs that want to use the

[23:07] park. They can say no to our city programs. That's not a great deal. I can only imagine what distance

[23:15] citizens of Gatorsburg will think when they learn that you are giving up control of what

[23:21] park is left and using the tax dollars for county responsibility all for school they cannot use.

[23:29] I was led to believe by members of the city council, some members of the city council that

[23:34] local student walking access was a key issue. Here we're having a vote before the boundary study

[23:43] is complete or included in the conveyance. Public schools will never allow walking students

[23:50] to this school. They have proved it time and again. None of your constituents concerns have been

[23:57] addressed in this conference. It's basically a giveaway to the public schools and a giveaway

[24:03] in which the local community was not included in the decision. Now I have observed city council

[24:10] administrative staff and the meetings in the past. You're all competent and knowledgeable

[24:15] and really smart. I have to hand it to you. Mr. Thomas Lowe, I think you got the best of you

[24:22] you could. I believe the public schools was in transcendent and refused to negotiate that being

[24:31] that case to me there's only one thing to do and that's the vote no in the school.

[24:37] We should have been included in the original decision and what we want is the park and the school

[24:43] and that is possible. You don't have to give up the park to have a school.

[24:51] City of Gatorsburg is not an extension of the Montgomery County Public School

[24:57] system. We are incorporated in our own right and the mayor, the city council, staff, and citizens

[25:04] of Gatorsburg deserve the respect of an independent governing body and should have the option

[25:12] of being included in the decision making and not having it shoved down our throat.

[25:21] And I respect Mr. Thomas

[25:23] Lowe for the effort he put into it. He obviously had it, but it wasn't going to work with the public

[25:29] school system the way it is. Thank you. Thank you Dave. Tech team next speaker I have his

[25:37] Oscar if you can bring Oscar up and Oscar once you're unmuted just stage your name and go ahead and

[25:43] Good evening. My name is Oscar Alvaranga. Thank you Mayor and city council members for this opportunity to speak.

[25:55] on gave us regulatory number eight and I will start with say in as a past PTA cluster coordinator

[26:05] serving a Gatorsburg schools, a past PTA president of Summit Hall of Mentory and be an involved

[26:12] for over nine years and be heavily involved in our public education, be in surrounded by many

[26:20] different types of people that have come together for common good.

[26:26] Those of us that have been studying and advocating for our community and our children for many years now,

[26:36] all have come to an agreement that saying yes to building this school is what makes sense.

[26:42] We don't have this opportunity often, and most of the time, given MCPS and history throughout the county,

[26:52] is that it takes forever to move along and to get anything done of this magnitude of building a new school.

[27:00] And while there is some kinks to be worked out and it's not everything is not perfect.

[27:05] I do agree that some things need to be ironed out.

[27:09] The fact is that the time is now to vote yes to build this school.

[27:14] We have been meeting and studying locations for this for years now.

[27:21] Many people that might not agree on a lot of things have all agreed on the fact that the time is now to build this school.

[27:31] Of course, as a past PT president of Summit Hall, I would advocate to the world that Summit Hall needs to be rebuilt.

[27:38] be in over capacity for over 10 years. School that was built for 471 students have over 700 currently.

[27:49] But in that advocacy, we came back to understanding that a new school in our cluster makes sense.

[27:57] It would not only take care of students at one school, it would take care of students throughout the county.

[28:03] and having an ability to have students like at Gatorsburg Elementary not have to wait forever to be fed makes sense.

[28:13] And most of us that are advocating will not take, will not be able to participate in having our kids in a new school,

[28:21] but we understand what our kids have gone through and feel that is important to fight for the future and our kids' kids.

[28:29] So, a new school in Gatorsburg is needed and has been needed and I'm asking for you to

[28:36] vote yes on building the new school for the city of Gatorsburg.

[28:41] Thank you.

[28:42] Thank you, Oscar.

[28:44] Next speaker, Tech Team, is Lynn.

[28:46] If you can bring Lynn up and Lynn, once you unmute yourself, just state your name and

[28:51] go right ahead.

[29:02] Thank you.

[29:03] My name is Lynn Nash and I live in St. Brooke.

[29:05] I represent over 3,000 people who have signed paper or electronic petitions to save Kelly Park.

[29:11] Our numbers are significant, more than the number of people who voted in last city election.

[29:17] Before I start though, I want to publicly thank Tony for all of his hard work as a

[29:22] city manager and specifically for his site selection vote against using Kelly Park for a new school.

[29:29] He knew we weren't represented. We are here to voice our opinions on the

[29:34] a conveyance document and whether the city council should accept it or not.

[29:39] While I sent each of you my review, I also posted it to next door for everyone to see.

[29:44] The conveyance document is poorly done. It's a bad deal for Gathersburg. The city gives up

[29:50] too much and gets too little in return. The biggest issue is that no decision has been made

[29:56] about the Montgomery County Public School Bound.

[30:00] And on until it's complete, and we know for sure what will happen to the kids who live in the five adjacent neighborhoods, 1454 homes, people who got no choice in this deal, we want to know will they be boundaryed in so they can attend both the new school and forest oak.

[30:18] So I'm asking you to vote no on the conveyance.

[30:22] The city is already 3.5 million short.

[30:27] You don't have the money to pay for the utility upgrades in the field building costs required by the county,

[30:34] as well as field maintenance repair and upkeep and replacement of the security cameras.

[30:40] MCPS should pay for these.

[30:43] This document violates city autonomy.

[30:45] It only gives a city a one-time courtesy review of the plan.

[30:50] It makes MCPS the final authority on permit applications and review as well as inspections

[30:57] including construction and the city has its own inspectors.

[31:01] It violates the county standard on wetland buffers, which if use could mean that the city

[31:06] could keep the current top-blood and it gives only five dedicated public parking spaces during

[31:13] school hours for a postage-sized hot lot that may or may not be accessible. The agreement

[31:20] missed several things. There's no compensation to taxpayers for the dollars that they

[31:25] expanded on improvements. There's no landswap and MCPS doesn't fund the city or the county for

[31:31] streambake and wetland repairs. Councilman Roo is right. This MCPS made an extraordinary ask.

[31:38] Make a good choice and vote no on the conveyance documents. It's a bad deal until the boundary study is done and our kids are guaranteed don't sign it and until city finances improve don't sign it tell mcps to collate collocate the new school behind forest oak or to build on their own land or go through site selection again. Let's save Kelly Park. Thank you.

[32:03] Thank you, Lynn. Next, I have Stephen on my list, Tech team. You could bring him up and then I'll just say Steve, just state your name and go right ahead.

[32:23] Okay, there we go.

[32:26] Good evening Mr. Mayor, city council members, Ryan, my condolences.

[32:30] Steve, Steve, just state your name.

[32:32] Steve Kaufman, Autobahn Square H.

[32:36] your way secretary, good evening everybody, again, my condolences, evening

[32:43] everyone at the council, welcome Billy, very important for school children and just

[32:49] is important for all people of all ages and these days of uncertainty.

[32:54] When you're driving to the park on the current state regulations and guidelines can get

[32:57] a thousand dollar fine or jail time. I find it absolutely unconscionable that during this

[33:04] pandemic crisis when we are mandated to stay at home when people are only allowed to

[33:08] die for essential reasons that MCPS would put forth a conveyance for the proposal for the city

[33:13] to vote on at a virtual meeting. We already know green spaces out of premium for a usage is

[33:20] known to be up 35 to 45 to 40% across the country and a people can't drive to a park

[33:26] than having a park that is walkable would be just as important as the school being walkable.

[33:33] It's absolutely essential to the health and well-being of our residents.

[33:37] We know as much as E-side of Gates's Burme needs a new elementary school, MCPS is not made to

[33:42] any of the concessions to the residents regard to the park other than as mentioned before a

[33:47] mid-treat hot lot and five park in spaces. While at the same time we'll be losing a dozen or

[33:53] spaces on Victory Park, basketball courts, tennis courts, and other amenities.

[33:59] There are no other concessions that have been made as suggested by the citizens previously

[34:03] and if for school were to be constructed to kill a park, one of the most important things

[34:08] is that the neighborhood children may guarantee to attend that school.

[34:12] That was not in the convenience document.

[34:14] This mistake was made 20 years ago when I'd hoped by now the City Council will not make

[34:19] the same mistake twice.

[34:20] the City Council should be no one to convey and send the process back to the

[34:24] site selection to include the pipes surrounding neighbourhoods and any future

[34:30] prepares will be inclusive of specific guarantees as those discussed the previous

[34:34] City Council meetings. Thank you all for the opportunity to speak this evening. Please

[34:38] stay safe. Thank you Steve. You say stay safe as well. The next speaker we have on

[34:45] list is Genie, if the team could bring up Genie and then Genie once you're unmuted, just

[34:51] state your name and go right ahead. Mr. Mayor Genie hasn't joined us this evening. Okay,

[34:55] well then we will move on to Doris. We have Doris

[35:04] and Doris once you're unmuted, just state

[35:07] your name and go right ahead.

[35:11] Give the event in my name is Doris Vanegas. I live in 24 Brian

[35:17] port. My window is facing Kelly Park. I have been here, I live in at the new port states for the

[35:30] last 12 years. I have a 12-year-old son. He has been on the park very much growing up on the

[35:40] work between the playground and now which is playing soccer on the fields with the

[35:45] Gales work group and I'm a runner and Walker and it is hard for me to even think we

[35:55] don't have a school there. When I see the community from Newport States that is the only

[36:01] part they go here and we go there. We see wildlife in the stream, we can enjoy walking through

[36:09] there. And even this evening, I went for my run in my walk. And I see a few people, you know,

[36:17] walking with the thank you right now keeping the distance, but I still saw people walking with

[36:24] the kids. And looking at trees too, we have a huge number of trees. I was saying, I can't close

[36:33] 50 or more trees around there, and I know they're going to cut down the streets just in order to be.

[36:43] Uh, my question is this, well be the best way to have a school and to say teleport.

[36:52] My son got to force us old school, and when I walk through there, I see a last space.

[36:58] I don't know how a way they can have, maybe, for a so-called middle school, and then maybe right

[37:07] beside or a few blocks from there have a elementary school because I see a line behind there

[37:16] and that can be possible. What I'm concerned is I have three cars. In my two cars,

[37:24] only has space for two and for all my house.

[37:28] In my extra core, it's part of a long-carely part.

[37:32] My question is for my neighbors,

[37:34] what are we going to do if all that space is moving?

[37:38] Where are we going to park?

[37:40] We just have to move from the area.

[37:43] And we just said, I know the kids need education

[37:48] and it's important for us too.

[37:50] But we had to find a ways how we can save both.

[37:55] We can build schools on where and save Kelly Carter.

[37:59] Thank you very much for the concern for the mayor and for the support that you've given us

[38:05] always as a community.

[38:07] I'm a bilingual Spanish and I speak with a last Spanish in the neighborhood and they're concerned about it.

[38:14] Thank you.

[38:15] Thank you very much for your testimony.

[38:16] We will move on to next speaker who is Ian.

[38:22] Tech team if you can bring Ian up and Ian once, you're unmuted, just state your name and go right ahead.

[38:29] Yes, hi. My name is Ian Griffith and I live at 435 Stern Mueller Court in Gatorsburg.

[38:35] Good evening Mayor, council, and all in virtual attendance.

[38:39] I'm a member of the Old Town Advisory Committee, a realtor, and a former local E2A board member.

[38:44] Thank you for holding this virtual meeting and allowing for public comments.

[38:48] From reading the agenda packet, it seems that comments are futile at this juncture.

[38:54] I understand the council is voting on whether to approve negotiation, but it seems most

[38:58] of the negotiations are even done behind closed doors.

[39:01] The detailed agreement is proposed that even include the survey.

[39:05] I wonder who paid for the survey and whether assurance is forgiven that allowed them

[39:08] to feel pretty certain that the expenditures would not be wasted.

[39:11] We are giving away a town asset from the residents of this town that most need assets such as these.

[39:18] There is no payment by MCPS to the town for this property.

[39:22] The field that MCPS will pay up to $800,000 to help build will be scheduled for use by the town and video camera monitor.

[39:31] The people I see that use the park are not likely to be signing up to use the field,

[39:36] especially if there will be an accompanying fee to reserve the field.

[39:40] Just come to the time where the city has also been planning to fill the multi-million-dollar

[39:45] park that includes a bike park, work out stations, fancy playground, and community garden.

[39:50] All park improvements at this part of town desperately needs.

[39:53] Our community is mostly made up of high and medium-density residential.

[39:57] This community is the one without yards to grow gardens, get exercise and work out.

[40:03] Not only that, the incomes in this community lower than other local communities, making it less

[40:07] likely that local residents can afford memberships of pools, country clubs, and gyms.

[40:12] Recently, the countless community protested a cell tower breaking up their continuous

[40:16] untouched forest.

[40:18] That is great that they have that, and it is wonderful that the council listened and asked

[40:21] for other sites to possibly be found.

[40:24] We have a cell tower with the back of generators and Kelly Park.

[40:27] We don't have forests in parks near here that are part of Gaysburg.

[40:30] With our dense population, we need the parking on Victory Farm Drive, and it will be taken

[40:34] often by people visiting the school. We can accommodate the extra traffic of students, parents,

[40:40] deliveries, and staff for the school in the neighborhood. We need the green space to process and

[40:44] dilute the higher concentration carbon emissions from the people in close housing,

[40:48] higher number of cards and businesses close by. With driving sea levels, we also need the land area

[40:53] to help us form our population. We all know we need a school and we will get one,

[40:57] even if it's not a Kelly Park. If it has to be a Kelly Park, it should be at the back

[41:01] part so that the public has reasonable access to the part to make the part safe and will help

[41:06] with trafficking, queuing into the school for drop-up. Most of all, it is pretty rare these days

[41:11] for assistance to be organized, energized, passionate and have taken time in order to make the

[41:15] voice assert to those that govern our communities. Your constituents have stepped up repeatedly

[41:19] expressing their feelings about this decision. I have multiple ideas for other potential locations

[41:24] for new school. Please don't take away the little amount of outdoor recreation space that my neighbors

[41:28] and I need. Thank you for your time. It's a great. Thank you very much, Ian. Next speaker,

[41:35] tech team is Christine. If you can bring her up and Christine, once you unmute yourself,

[41:40] just state your name and go right ahead.

[41:44] Hello. Can you hear you? Okay, great. My name is Christine

[41:48] chairs and I live at 404 Bell Grove Road and in what's done run, which is directly across from

[41:56] future proposed site for the elementary school and Kelly Park. And I'm here tonight to ask you to

[42:03] vote now for the building of the school. I've heard several people tonight say that this school has

[42:13] been in planning and the process of site selection has been looked at for years. And I don't understand

[42:22] that because I sat on the my grader cluster, my grader high school PTA board for as Treasurer

[42:30] for several years and 14 and 15 and then also as Vice President in 16 and 17. So I've never

[42:37] heard of any site selection process taking place for a new school in the Gatoriceburg cluster.

[42:44] So it did come as quite a surprise when we found out through, you know, back doors that there's this whole fake selection thing going on.

[42:55] Also, Montgomery County schools publicly came out and announced on the media that they would not take away Beth says does parks to build schools and they totally agree with the media and that that was not an appropriate thing to do.

[43:08] but yet us and Gatorsburg are now subject to having our only part being taken away for a public school,

[43:18] which Montgomery County acknowledged the fact that they will not build schools on public parks

[43:24] in the thaza. So I guess because we're Gatorsburg, we don't get that special privilege.

[43:29] So I'm asking you guys to vote no on the school, especially because it is also

[43:36] There has been no boundary study completed, so we don't even know if our kids can go there.

[43:43] There's nothing that shows me anything about whether or not there's going to be a traffic

[43:48] late or how I'm even going to be able to derive out of my community while the school buses

[43:53] are unloading the kids, because it doesn't even seem like there's ample enough room

[43:56] in the parking lots for a lot of the kids to get off the school buses.

[44:00] And also, I would like to say that Kelly Park benefits all people of the community, adults

[44:06] children, teenagers, everybody. The new school only benefits elementary children. So I feel like

[44:17] Gethersburg money could be spent better on finding a more reasonable location to put the school in Gethersburg.

[44:25] Like for instance, like for a small property that we all know is going to be up for grabs and builder developed and put a school in there.

[44:34] don't see why that hasn't been explored. So there are other options and I think we need to do more

[44:39] looking at other options as to where the school should go. So thank you for listening.

[44:45] Thank you very much for the testimony. Next we have Deborah,

[44:54] if the

[44:55] Stay your name and go right ahead.

[45:00] Hi, my name is Deborah Sarabia. Can you hear me? Yes, yes, go right ahead. My name is Deborah Sarabia. I live in Zeevook. I'm the President of

[45:10] Seneca Creek Watershed Partners. We're a volunteer non-profit and we work to protect and improve the health of the

[45:16] Seneca Creek Watershed. This includes the webstone run greenway tributaries that flow through Kelly Park and Victory Farm Park.

[45:24] Our group partners with the Muddy Branch Alliance, Senate Creek State Park, Isaac Walton League, Montgomery Village, Stormwater Partners, and others.

[45:34] Recently, we supported Gatorsburg in its ten-minute walk to a park grant application.

[45:41] And currently, we're working with city staff on park projects, such as a stream buffer habitat, stream crossing improvements, and a stormwater rectifier.

[45:51] So to protect stream health, especially in urban areas, streams should have a vegetative green

[45:57] way.

[45:58] These link natural environments for humans and wildlife alike and are often set aside as parks,

[46:04] such as Kelly Park and Pick Creek Farm.

[46:07] What it should help, as you may know, is greatly affected by land development.

[46:13] We have serious concerns about the impacts of the proposed school project.

[46:18] Gafersberg's streams are severely degraded due to impervious surfaces stormwater runoff and inadequate stream buffers.

[46:27] Urban water sheds with more than 25% impervious surface have fair to poor water quality.

[46:34] The middle-grade Seneca Creek water shed which contains Gafersberg is nearly 40% impervious.

[46:40] A quite a glyph in these streams is impaired by sediment, red salts,

[46:45] washing to the stream from parking lots, construction sites, roads,

[46:48] riffs, tops, et cetera.

[46:51] This proposed project is simply too large for the Kelly Park location.

[46:57] It will further damage water quality in the streams in wetlands,

[47:02] will increase erosion, will constrict the floodplain capacity

[47:05] and could cause more serious flooding and damage to infrastructure.

[47:09] As it is, during heavy rain, the floodplain and wetlands are saturated and the area behind the dam is flooded to capacity.

[47:20] In fact, the site selection committee ranked topography and environmental criteria the second lowest of all six sites considered in the report reflecting the poor suitability of the site.

[47:31] The Board of Education actually owns a suitable upland site, less than one mile away on Woodward's

[47:39] Road.

[47:40] There is no stream, no wetlands, no floodplain, no riparian forest.

[47:46] We request the Board of Education reconsider that site.

[47:50] I've showed the project go forward, of course, we will continue to collaborate with the city.

[47:55] However, it will become more difficult due to the multiple jurisdictions involved and more expensive

[48:00] because the development will have a greater impact than the current Parkland use. Therefore, we ask you to vote no.

[48:08] Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

[48:10] Thank you, Deborah.

[48:12] Tech team. Next speaker I have is Beth, if you could bring Beth up.

[48:16] And Beth once you're unmuted, just state your name and go right ahead.

[48:20] Good evening.

[48:22] My name is Beth Junium. I live in the community of Saebrook.

[48:29] This park has been my backyard for 25 years and has fulfilled my love of nature and on each

[48:37] and every day, and I don't want to destroy it.

[48:40] However, what about your constituents that also found this open space park cathartic?

[48:47] They come from many reasons, their health, the play, exercise, or just walked along

[48:52] what's so run.

[48:54] The site selection. The process was convening with very few community representatives.

[49:02] Why would no representatives living in close proximity to Kelley Park included in the site selection?

[49:08] Three of the communities excluded either border or front Kelley communities, the border or front Kelley Park,

[49:17] and two are located across your yard, having walkability.

[49:21] All five says, would have voted no to Kelly Park.

[49:25] You should all ask what's the selection,

[49:28] predetermined, ricked, or just faulty.

[49:31] I believe this park was targeted long ago,

[49:36] as long as 2013, in all fairness, new site selection.

[49:41] G'd be conducted with a non-political boundary study

[49:45] that shows fairness to our youngsters, walkability.

[49:50] This was an enticement presented by MCPS, but it's not discussed anymore.

[49:57] Foundry study.

[49:59] Mayor and Council, we all know the history of poor silk, a sad chapter, and say broke

[50:04] history, and this area engaged their spur.

[50:07] And if they are greater failure on the part of the seat at Council at that time, you can't

[50:12] let history repeat itself.

[50:14] And if you do, it indeed will be your legacy for a very long time.

[50:20] This is not a threat just as a truth.

[50:23] I do find it rather curious you have decided to ignore or just don't care that many throughout

[50:29] the East Side have gave their spirit of well beyond a really mad that you would even consider

[50:35] giving this park in CPS.

[50:37] They total well over 3,000 petitions signature online and on paper.

[50:42] I'm puzzled why now, with the county frozen place due to COVID-19, you would hold this

[50:50] meeting today with such little notice.

[50:52] We all deserve better, and why the push, I can only imagine it's due to the city managers

[50:59] for retirement.

[51:00] And by the way, Tony, thank you for your service to the city, and voting against NCPF's building

[51:07] on Kelly Park.

[51:08] We needed that support.

[51:10] We were not represented.

[51:11] This park has been a saving grace for many in the surrounding community during the COVID-19 home

[51:19] confinement from early in the AM hours and throughout the day weather permitting this park is act.

[51:26] We're out of time. Thank you for your testimony. We have received that you're written testimony as well.

[51:35] We're going to move on to Dina and Dina once you're unmuted just state your name and go right ahead.

[51:43] Good evening, Council members.

[51:45] I'm Dina Saunders, President of Ottawa, natureway.

[51:50] Children of all types plus part equals children having fun.

[51:55] Now add the children with their dogs and the part equally good.

[51:59] If you add the parents, children, and a dog, that's having a really good time in the park.

[52:07] Kind of way, taking your way, these are the part, not a great idea.

[52:13] So you can pause the time.

[52:18] We're getting a little bit of feedback.

[52:22] You may have your volume on on your computer or your television,

[52:25] And it's causing some feedback and maybe making it a little bit weird to testify. If you want to turn down your TV or your computer and then start again, go right ahead.

[52:36] I should...

[52:38] Okay, I turn right.

[52:41] What was that?

[52:43] Oh, I think I turned around to low.

[52:48] We hear you.

[52:49] Okay.

[52:50] Go right ahead.

[52:54] So taking away these are the parts. It's not a great idea.

[52:58] So during the time, I mean, I could totally...

[53:01] I could totally...

[53:02] ...pants and lower dancers to the wedding.

[53:05] So during that,

[53:07] There is a school there. Can I do the part?

[53:12] I don't need to do that.

[53:14] Tina, Tina, the texting police pause again.

[53:18] I don't know if you're, are you calling us, are you talking to us through a cell phone?

[53:23] No, I'm talking to the computer.

[53:24] Okay. It sounds good now. We were getting some sort of static over the last few seconds.

[53:32] Try it again. Go right ahead.

[53:34] Okay.

[53:34] So, is it better?

[53:38] So far, yes.

[53:39] We need Kelly Park.

[53:43] We know that we need a school, but not a Kelly Park.

[53:48] MCP has a plenty of property that they could choose a school on.

[53:53] So why don't they do that?

[53:55] Homeowners did not pay for their home to have the school in their backyard.

[54:00] I have family that come in from that town, they develop the park, my grandchildren are coming

[54:05] to the park, and there's a school there, they can't use the park.

[54:09] When a children come to play and watch the ball games and concerts, if the park is taken

[54:15] away, all they have, all they have there's a school, a school is nice, but having the

[54:23] outdoors is even better. And I was also reviewing the draft document and it

[54:31] mentions that there is a school at the school, it's don't fair. The city is

[54:35] to pay for the water and electric. Sorry, but if MCP wants it, they have to pay

[54:41] for it. Why should the city put the funds out? This is so typical of MCPS

[54:47] And then during this pandemic time, that was a horrible time for them to bring this up.

[54:53] If battery study doesn't really exist because you're taking away and they just stopped the family and they're daily lives.

[55:04] Basically what I'm trying to say is let's keep Kelly Park.

[55:09] And can't remember if this was your children having to decide if I went to the school

[55:16] or a park, please make sure they have a park.

[55:19] Schools we can come by, parks like this we can't come by very often.

[55:24] If you take away our park, you take the heart and the soul out of the park in this community.

[55:32] The police keep the heart in the park and the soul in the park, and they'll know to

[55:38] the school.

[55:38] Thank you so much for your time.

[55:42] Thank you, Dina.

[55:42] It's all right for the technical issues.

[55:44] Dr. Kaye.

[55:46] We're going to move on to a Bruce technique.

[55:49] If you can bring Bruce up and Bruce once you're unmuted.

[55:51] Just state your name and go right ahead.

[55:54] Hi. Good evening.

[55:55] This is Bruce Cohen.

[55:57] I've been quite stone run.

[55:58] I'm a 41 year resident of the city of Gatesburg.

[56:02] Please do not destroy what little green space we have left in Gatesburg.

[56:06] Too many animals will lose their home.

[56:08] Street parking and traffic will get worse is a huge safety issue and even if the school is built

[56:15] There's no guarantee that our neighborhood kids will be permitted to go there

[56:21] Please vote no and save Kelly Park. Thank you for your time

[56:25] Thank you Bruce

[56:27] Next speaker. I have on my list is Dorane

[56:30] Tech team if you can bring Dorane up and Dorane once you are unmuted just state your name and go right ahead

[56:40] I don't think we have during joining us tonight.

[56:43] Okay.

[56:44] Okay.

[56:44] Then we will move on to Kishore.

[56:47] If you can bring up Kishore and once Kishore is unmuted please just

[56:52] state your name and go ahead ahead.

[56:58] It also looks like Kishore is not joining us as well sir.

[57:01] Okay.

[57:01] Do we have Carolyn Donovan?

[57:06] All right.

[57:06] Carolyn.

[57:07] Once you're unmuted just state your name and go ahead ahead.

[57:10] Hi.

[57:10] My name is Carolyn Donovan and I'm a resident of the

[57:13] book neighborhood. I thought that I knew what I was going to say this evening. I was all prepared for it

[57:20] and I really, I think Ms. McKenna said it best when the site selection committee met. They

[57:27] explored the good, the bad, the very bad, the very ugly, the even uglier. As I've said throughout this

[57:32] process, I think that Kelly Park represents the best of all the bad options that are available. No one

[57:38] to see a portion of Parks-based taken, but to be used for a school, one of the things that I have

[57:45] noticed over the past few weeks during this incredibly difficult time for my children in particular

[57:50] is that while they have a deep tide to Kelly Park, they haven't even deeper tied to their school

[57:57] community. So yes, if given the choice between a park and a school, I will absolutely choose a

[58:03] school with all the flaws that this site represents any day of the week, particularly this

[58:10] week, because what children need is a sense of community that schools represent for them.

[58:15] In addition, I was very pleased to see in the draft land conveyance the specific hours

[58:21] of use that the space will be available to the community on the weekends on the week days

[58:27] outside of school hours.

[58:28] In addition, the field usage that's going to be available to the community.

[58:33] I am excited to see that the space will be enhanced with additional trails that are incorporated into what's already there for the community.

[58:41] And again, I think that there are absolutely trade-offs.

[58:45] No decision is ever perfect.

[58:48] I think that that's something all of us have seen over these recent weeks.

[58:52] This is not a perfect solution, but it is absolutely a solution that we owe to the children on the residents of the city of

[58:58] I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and I thank everyone for all of their work during this very difficult time.

[59:08] Thank you, Carolyn. Hope you're staying safe as well.

[59:11] We are going to circle back now to Jim McNulty if we have Jim then let's bring him up and Jim just state your name and go right ahead.

[59:23] Thank you Mr. Mayor, Jimick Nonti. I am the chair of the Old Town Advisory Committee

[59:28] on the former President of the Sailor of Canterway, and for the candidate for the

[59:32] candidate for the Council. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Council, thank you for the time receiving.

[59:36] I'm here tonight as a reminder that the loudest voices don't always speak for everyone.

[59:41] I'm asking you to vote in favor of the agreement, conveying 5.7 acres of Kelly Clark to build

[59:47] a new elementary school. I think it's important to step in the process to remember why we're

[59:51] in the first place. A new elementary school telepark will help ease significant overcrowding

[59:57] at 5 elementary schools in Gathesburg.

[1:00:00] And bringing a state-of-the-art multi-million dollar facility to the east side of our city.

[1:00:05] Of a facility that has been needed for over a decade.

[1:00:07] My daughter attend a Gave his Berg Elementary. She had some great teachers at Gave his Berg Elementary.

[1:00:12] And the overcrowding in GES was a big factor in why we chose to send my son to and incur the cost of two tuition that, say, a modern Catholic school.

[1:00:21] It was also a major factor that among the five families in our social circle, they all sent their kids to different schools.

[1:00:27] Some got boundary exceptions, other public schools, some chose private.

[1:00:31] But that's the private our kids, the chance to go to school together and play with their neighborhood school friends after school.

[1:00:38] My children have aged out of directly benefiting from this new school,

[1:00:42] but when asked to choose between giving up a portion of a valued recreational space and the education of our city's children,

[1:00:49] I will choose the education of our children every time.

[1:00:51] Of course, we aren't losing a recreational space.

[1:00:55] We are transforming one into a multi-purpose multi-use space.

[1:00:58] The plans even include adding more basketball hoops

[1:01:01] than are currently available at Kelley Park.

[1:01:04] Are there concerns?

[1:01:06] I've testified here and to the Board of Education

[1:01:08] that the track record of trust of the past few decades

[1:01:11] is in great.

[1:01:13] There continues to be mistrust of the Board of Ed.

[1:01:16] When I testified, I asked for and got a gesture of good faith

[1:01:20] with the acceleration of the boundary study and inclusion of the middle schools and that process.

[1:01:25] This vote would be another gesture of good faith, this time from the city.

[1:01:30] Faith that the Board of Education will recognize to sacrifice being made by the neighbors and the adjoining communities

[1:01:37] and reward them by including those neighborhoods in the boundaries of the new school.

[1:01:43] And by allowing them to keep a seat of the table as these plans on furl.

[1:01:47] to address in the very family concerns raised about traffic and other issues.

[1:01:53] But at the end of the day, this comes down to what's best for the children of the city of Gatorsburg.

[1:01:59] And to that question, there can be no debate.

[1:02:02] Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the very good.

[1:02:06] I urge you to vote to approve the contract with the Board of Education.

[1:02:10] Thank you for your time.

[1:02:12] Jim, thanks for your testimony.

[1:02:13] and again thanks for bearing with us on the technical challenge. That concludes the list of people who

[1:02:22] signed up for public comments for this issues. So we will move on to the actual issue to

[1:02:29] ordinances resolutions and regulations.

[1:02:34] And this will be the discussion of an agreement with

[1:02:40] Montgomery County Public Schools to allow them to use part or to give them part of Kelley Park in

[1:02:47] order to build Gathesbury Elementary School number eight. And we are very pleased to be joined by

[1:02:53] MCPS representatives, Seth Adams, and Seth Ferriano for this discussion, and Tony is going to lead us.

[1:03:00] So Tony, go right ahead. Thank you, Mayor. Right. If I could get the power point,

[1:03:05] road up. It's packet page 19. We'll be going through the PowerPoint using the packet pages. It's just the title slides. So right Brian if we could go to slide 20.

[1:03:20] Just to just think so that everyone can get a sense of the scale. So when I read circle back to the actual site, which is a 28 year 28 acre site on by the city. The agreement proposed is to convey 5.7 acres for the new school. So just about exactly one fifth.

[1:03:38] of the site will be used.

[1:03:41] Next slide.

[1:03:47] Actually, I believe you've seen this overhead before.

[1:03:50] This is an overhead.

[1:03:51] This does not encompass the entire site from overhead.

[1:03:53] But this shows you the school building about 100,000 square feet,

[1:03:57] with the 740 capacity.

[1:04:00] It does have a pre-K and Head Start aspect to it.

[1:04:04] And us dedicated area for linkages to learning.

[1:04:08] Next slide, please.

[1:04:13] There's been a lot of discussion about the shared athletic field.

[1:04:18] This, again, is the concept plan.

[1:04:20] It would be a shared project between the two parties, the MCPS, which would be doing

[1:04:26] grading any way next door, would agree to do the stormwater work in the base under the field,

[1:04:34] which are quite expensive, and then we would be constructing the final surface above the

[1:04:40] and that would be maintained and operated by the city.

[1:04:43] We did not feel like we needed closure on whether it should be artificial turf or natural

[1:04:47] grass.

[1:04:47] We will need to get to that fairly quickly if you have the agreement.

[1:04:52] MCPS is providing the $800,000 cost if it comes in less that's fine.

[1:05:00] MCPS in the city would share use.

[1:05:03] We've learned a lot about shared use between the similar situation that we have at Lake

[1:05:07] of Spark, the field will not be on MCPS's field inventory list, which would just take some

[1:05:15] of the pressure off. Since it's our field, I mean we were able to exclude it. They could

[1:05:21] have programmed it, but we decided to get going in that direction. And then MCPS will

[1:05:27] contribute towards future replacement of the field, as you know, these fields last anywhere

[1:05:31] between 15 and 20 years.

[1:05:34] Next slide, please.

[1:05:37] There will be walking path connections that

[1:05:40] will be made so that the existing part

[1:05:41] of pathways remain continuous and that,

[1:05:44] importantly, the pathways remain accessible at all times.

[1:05:49] As we've explained in previous presentations,

[1:05:54] the actual perimeter of the school is off limits

[1:05:58] during the school day.

[1:06:00] So we thought it was important to have a kind of activity of the pathways available all the time

[1:06:07] Next slide please

[1:06:09] This is a top lot is the shown in the corner below the the artificial turf or grass turf field that gets constructed

[1:06:17] That is a day use top lot that will not it will be accessible and it will have its own dedicated

[1:06:22] parking spaces

[1:06:25] Next slide please

[1:06:28] There are some other additional agreement points that we were very happy to come to you.

[1:06:33] A agreement on the city is provided a preferential consideration for use of the school building.

[1:06:38] As a city summer camp location, we had some discussions with our own parts of the park, they are very excited about the prospect.

[1:06:46] A new summer camp on the east side, especially one with a brand new turf or grass field.

[1:06:54] In a little bit of a surprise move, there were no charges.

[1:06:58] We'll be assessed, except for staff salaries that are there, which are fairly minimal, that

[1:07:03] is much less expensive than other park campsites that we rent from MCPS, so we're very

[1:07:09] happy to get that.

[1:07:10] And long-term, it's quite a valuable proper.

[1:07:13] The exterior security cameras are intended to be able to monitor the grounds of Kelly Park

[1:07:19] And the Victory Farm Drive Street FunHDs would be our cameras that they would be providing the infrastructure to run.

[1:07:29] They only cannot conflict with MCPS student privacy policies, which are reasonable.

[1:07:36] But again, the cameras themselves are not our cameras are not aimed at the school grounds.

[1:07:41] They're aimed at a park.

[1:07:45] MCPS presumably has their own cameras, and if footage was ever needed, we would go through the normal channels to obtain of that footage.

[1:07:55] Also, new additional bleachers at Kelly Park Field number one, I believe, was mentioned a couple of years ago by the director of the Gibbs Regions, and MCPS will be providing those as well.

[1:08:11] Next slide please.

[1:08:16] So this is a very fast track project for a school and we've been working on it for a couple of years, but

[1:08:22] subject to your vote tonight. The Board of Education actually sees a presentation from staff tomorrow, at least that was the original schedule.

[1:08:30] I did not look at their agenda this week, but there has been interim staff work on the site plan and development. Nothing formal yet.

[1:08:40] But our planning staff and MCPS's planning staff will be getting together very quickly and they would be beginning construction in seven months and

[1:08:51] Opening the school in August of 2022. This is a remarkably fast track for a school.

[1:08:58] Next slide, please.

[1:09:01] So we go back and forth and we heard a lot of public testimony on both sides.

[1:09:07] We wanted to revisit the justification

[1:09:12] for justifications, plural. As has been set a couple of times, we feel that the benefits of

[1:09:18] school overcrowding relief simply outweigh the potential of drawbacks. And frankly, that the

[1:09:23] potential of drawbacks are fairly manageable. School funding and construction is a top priority

[1:09:29] of our own and has been for decades. It builds on our role as an active partner once again, just like

[1:09:42] have some, we have continued needs for school construction, renovation, and modernization, and

[1:09:49] overcrowding is an issue in all city areas. So we'd like to establish, you know, even better

[1:09:54] relationship than we already have with MCPS and keep that going. Next slide, please.

[1:10:01] The potential part disruption is to a limited area. There's three fields there now and there's

[1:10:11] going to be a much nicer feel. It's going to be improved from its current condition and it will be

[1:10:16] more useful to us as a rectangular feel. Shared use is an environmentally friendly method and it

[1:10:26] maximizes the utility of scare sites. It's a very difficult to find school sites in the county as you know

[1:10:33] and you know whoever ends up going to the school and you know we feel like the surrounding communities

[1:10:38] have an excellent chance of being in the attendants boundary. Either way, if your child goes to this

[1:10:44] school, or goes to one of the schools who's overcrowding is relieved by it. They all benefit

[1:10:50] from the new school or a less crowded school. Next slide, please.

[1:10:59] Or is that the last slide? That might be

[1:11:00] the last slide. So at that point, I'm opening up to comments, questions, and we also have Seth

[1:11:11] address your concern. Thank you, Tony. All right. So here's how this is, here's

[1:11:16] I'd like to see this work. I'm going to make a statement. I guess we're all going to

[1:11:21] take turns and we'll ask our questions and make whatever statements we're going to

[1:11:24] want to make and then we'll we'll take a vote. Again, thanks to both SES for being

[1:11:29] here. I'm, I just, I'm going to start with a statement, but then in terms of order, I'll

[1:11:36] to Neil, I'll go to Rob, I'll go to Ryan, I'll go to Florian, and then Mike. So you guys know when

[1:11:43] you're coming up and you can be ready.

[1:11:48] So look, I'm going to start off here and tell you about my

[1:11:52] thought process on this issue, and it's not going to be a surprise. I've made similar statements all

[1:11:58] along. I speak to students at our schools quite a bit, and during Q&A someone will often ask,

[1:12:06] What's the hardest part of being a mayor or a council member?

[1:12:09] And my answer is the hardest part is when we have to choose

[1:12:12] between competing priorities.

[1:12:15] Both choices have an upside and an downside

[1:12:17] and no matter which direction you take.

[1:12:20] You're gonna make some people happy and some people unhappy.

[1:12:23] And obviously this is one of those moments.

[1:12:26] The two competing priorities before us

[1:12:28] are our commitment to fostering education

[1:12:31] for our children and our commitment

[1:12:32] to providing outstanding parks

[1:12:34] and recreational opportunities for our residents, and there's not one of us here at City Leadership

[1:12:39] or on our city staff who isn't dedicated to both of these endeavors among many others.

[1:12:46] When MCPS came to us asking for a piece of Kelly Park in order to build an elementary school

[1:12:51] to relieve public routing in the Gatorsburg cluster, the stakes became immediately clear.

[1:12:56] We all love Kelly Park. It is a gem. None of us wants to give up any part of it, and none of us

[1:13:03] refers the precedent of seeding pieces of parks to build schools.

[1:13:08] On the other side of the ledger, we've been plagued by overcrowded elementary schools

[1:13:13] and the Gathersburg cluster for the better part of two decades, particularly at Summit

[1:13:18] Hall and Strawberry No, and the problem isn't getting better, it's getting worse.

[1:13:22] The numbers show that we're looking at four overcrowded schools currently, Rosemot, Gathersburg,

[1:13:30] Strawberry No and Summit Hall.

[1:13:31] And it's important to note that while Kelly Park is central to the neighborhoods of

[1:13:38] Sabreux-Watts don't run out of on square of village and new port of states, we have to look at this more broadly.

[1:13:45] The aforementioned overcrowded schools serve neighborhoods that cover nearly the entire east side of our city.

[1:13:51] From Shady Grove Road at the South End to Odinhal Road at the North.

[1:13:55] And for those of us who are viewing and don't know the terminology, when we refer to the Gafersburg

[1:14:02] cluster, that means all of the schools that feed into Gafersburg high school.

[1:14:07] The last time the Gafersburg cluster has gotten a new elementary school was 1988, 32 years ago.

[1:14:15] The last time in elementary school in this cluster was revitalized, meaning rebuilt for the modern era,

[1:14:22] was 1995 25 years ago. I bring up these dates to illustrate just how rare an opportunity

[1:14:31] like this is from MCPS. It did be fair to MCPS if there was more school construction funding

[1:14:37] available. They would surely be addressing needs here and all over the county more frequently.

[1:14:43] But anyway, it's been 25 years since we've even had one of these significant investments

[1:14:48] at the elementary level in the Gathersburg cluster and yet enrollment is on a continuous climb.

[1:14:54] Since 2007, total elementary school enrollment in the cluster is grown 21.

[1:15:00] 1% enough to more than fill a large elementary school. Which are the communities more or most in need here? The schools

[1:15:09] that have been most consistently overcrowded since 2007 are summit hall and strawberry null. They remain

[1:15:16] the most overcrowded elementary in this cluster. Next is Gathersburg Elementary. It's important

[1:15:22] to note Gathersburg and summit hall serve overwhelmingly minority populations. They have the highest

[1:15:27] farms right in the cluster, they have the highest e-sol rates in the cluster, they have

[1:15:31] two of the three highest mobility rates in the cluster, the meeting families who move in

[1:15:36] or out of the school during the year. The families being served at these overcrowded schools,

[1:15:43] IE, the families in need of relief, are overwhelmingly minority, and less affluent than many other

[1:15:49] residents of our city. They don't tend to be the ones we see at our American council meetings.

[1:15:54] they're not in regular contact with us.

[1:15:58] But the fact is we have a responsibility to serve them.

[1:16:02] So from the beginning, as everyone knows, I've said publicly and privately,

[1:16:06] then I'd like to find a way to get to, yes, on this question.

[1:16:10] And how do we do that?

[1:16:11] The way I see it is we minimize the school building footprint.

[1:16:15] We preserve and perhaps enhance recreational use of the park.

[1:16:20] And we identify opportunities for additional amenities that will work to the community's benefit.

[1:16:27] Looking at this deal, I feel confident that we have gotten there.

[1:16:30] What is the community get out of this?

[1:16:32] We get improved school capacity for communities in need all over the east side of our city.

[1:16:38] We get reconsideration of the middle school boundary that some of our residents have been upset about for the last 20 years and rightfully so.

[1:16:47] We get preservation of most uses of the park,

[1:16:51] and while adding a new use that will make the park enjoyable in a way that hasn't been before.

[1:16:56] I mean, baseball and softball are great, but our residents, I'm sure,

[1:16:59] will also enjoy playing soccer and other field sports.

[1:17:03] We get enhanced security opportunities with the cameras.

[1:17:06] We get opportunities to expand city programs using the field, the gym,

[1:17:10] and with our summer camps.

[1:17:12] We get additional parking during non-school hours.

[1:17:15] And yes, as I've said before, I think there's a good potential for increased property values.

[1:17:21] And I know there's been a lot of alternate speculation on this point.

[1:17:26] I have had conversations with real estate professionals,

[1:17:30] and the consensus is that a new elementary school in Montgomery County has a positive impact on home values.

[1:17:36] Of course, there are trade offs.

[1:17:38] We lose a portion of the front of the park.

[1:17:41] We lose the tennis court, although it's notable that there is a tennis court available

[1:17:44] at Griffith Park at City Hall that's not used a great deal so there's some opportunity there and we get some

[1:17:53] and yes we'll get some increased traffic congestion in mid-morning and mid-afternoon on school days.

[1:17:59] In terms of traffic and back I personally live less than half a mile away from a newly rebuilt large

[1:18:05] elementary school brown station. It's 0.4 miles away from my house which makes my house closer to that

[1:18:13] school, then the majority of the Sabro community would be to a school Kelly Park.

[1:18:18] Round station is the same size or larger than what's on the table here at Kelly Park.

[1:18:22] And it's situated on the collector street, Quinn's Orchard Boulevard, which is similar in classification and usage to victory farm.

[1:18:31] I'd expect traffic around Kelly Park, the Kelly Park School would have some impact on the neighborhood,

[1:18:37] but my experience is that minor adjustments can mitigate it.

[1:18:41] The big uncertainty here is how the boundaries will be drawn, while MCPS has made informal statements,

[1:18:48] Seth and Seth, I hope you're listening to this part. They've made informal statements

[1:18:54] to the community and to the city that their intent would be to maximize walkers. We all know

[1:18:59] it's not over until it's over. And at the very start of this process, I said publicly that if we

[1:19:05] should approve this deal, I would be at the forefront and lead the charge with the Board of Education

[1:19:09] and to get a boundary drawn that would maximize walkers,

[1:19:13] I remained committed to that end.

[1:19:15] Furthermore, as MCPS is reconsidering middle school boundaries,

[1:19:20] as well, I will advocate the same for those boundaries.

[1:19:23] Look, we represent one of the most

[1:19:25] diversities in this country.

[1:19:27] Everyone up here, well, I wouldn't stay up here.

[1:19:30] Everyone on this screen, virtually in front of you,

[1:19:33] regards that fact as an honor, but it's also a responsibility.

[1:19:37] It is our responsibility to represent those who come before us as well as those who don't.

[1:19:44] I believe that this is one of those times where we have to ask ourselves, as tough as this decision is,

[1:19:49] which of the two choices will better serve the needs of everyone in our community.

[1:19:54] On the one hand, we can say no, and we can keep the status quo.

[1:19:58] Our beautiful Kelly Park will stay as is, and our students and families on the east side will continue to be plagued by overcrowded schools.

[1:20:05] At some point, MCPS will start the process over and begin another site selection.

[1:20:10] But the question is when, the county is overflowing with neighborhoods that need more

[1:20:15] school capacity.

[1:20:16] There's a ton of need, but not a lot of resources.

[1:20:19] And we can expect reasonably that MCPS budgets are going to be seriously constrained for

[1:20:24] years as a result of our COVID plague economy, who knows when they'll come back.

[1:20:29] Even before COVID, it had been 32 years since the last time.

[1:20:33] On the other hand, we could say yes, and both preserve and enhance Kelly Park, we get a new elementary school, which families on the east side of our city desperately need.

[1:20:42] It doesn't alleviate all the overcrowding in the gates as per cluster, but it makes a big debt.

[1:20:47] I think our choice is clear, and I hope I see the best option for our council to approve this resolution.

[1:20:54] Now I'm going to turn it over to the council member Harris.

[1:20:57] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:20:59] I appreciate it.

[1:21:00] This is a tough one as everybody knows.

[1:21:03] So, first of all, I want to apologize.

[1:21:04] My makeup person can't come over because of COVID and my head is a little shiny.

[1:21:09] Thanks to that.

[1:21:11] Anyway, so what I first joined the council, one of the first commitments that I made,

[1:21:16] probably my very first council meeting, was to work on dealing with our overcrowded schools.

[1:21:21] There were several presentations of that meeting, including Oscar Alvaraga

[1:21:25] who's here, talking about the situation at Summit Hall,

[1:21:29] people talking about racial cars.

[1:21:31] And then as I looked into the issue,

[1:21:33] I saw that we had a really difficult situation here

[1:21:37] in Gathesburg, Oscar took me on a tour of Summit Hall

[1:21:41] and he introduced me to a portable that his son had classes in

[1:21:45] and that Oscar himself had classes in years earlier.

[1:21:48] So that was the condition of that school.

[1:21:51] Since that time, I've attended a number of meetings at MCPS along with our mayor, along with our city manager and other senior city staff and the results of many discussions of ways to alleviate the overcrowding situation in our schools was that we've had a number of breakthroughs.

[1:22:14] MCPS has put the high school that we've reserved ground for at Crown Farm on the budget,

[1:22:22] and it'll be coming six or seven years from now. Major new high school to alleviate

[1:22:25] that problem in the city. They've expanded. They're working on expanding Dufief Mill and

[1:22:32] going to take some of the overcrowding out of Rachel Carson. And this one coming to us with the idea of

[1:22:41] putting in a new elementary school on a fast track was

[1:22:43] seemed like a gift from the heavens.

[1:22:46] And of course, I wasn't aware of the history

[1:22:49] of the situation that led to a lot of these discussions

[1:22:52] from the last 20 years.

[1:22:56] So let's talk about fairness.

[1:22:59] First of all, I know that there are people that

[1:23:02] think it's unfair that your community was not well-represented

[1:23:07] in the discussions of where a new elementary school would go. Of course, we heard from Carolyn Garvey,

[1:23:15] who was a representative of your community, a PTA person, not an HOA person, who was actually

[1:23:22] part of that committee. The challenge is that when MCPS puts these projects together, they gather

[1:23:29] people from the PTAs and other school oriented groups, and not necessarily the HOA groups,

[1:23:36] and they had a large territory to recommend to work from.

[1:23:40] So I think at the end of the day,

[1:23:42] that's not the most fair criticism of this process.

[1:23:45] I think the process did what it always does throughout the county.

[1:23:50] And as was said earlier, there were a lot of choices.

[1:23:54] None of them were perfect.

[1:23:55] This was the best one that they came back with to us with.

[1:23:58] It wouldn't have been our first choice,

[1:24:00] but looking at the process and looking at the ways

[1:24:03] that they evaluated, the choices that they made,

[1:24:07] it seemed like a reasonable choice to make.

[1:24:10] Also, and what we've heard many times today,

[1:24:13] and at previous meetings is that if the school

[1:24:17] has built the park is lost, and as we've heard number wise,

[1:24:21] we're losing, we would be losing 20% of the park

[1:24:24] and giving that to a school building,

[1:24:26] and the rest of the park would be greatly improved.

[1:24:29] Now, there have been a number of people who have suggested using Victory Farm Park instead.

[1:24:36] And, honestly, as a numbers person, I've looked at the proposal for that, and it's probably

[1:24:40] an extra $10 million on top of the $30 million that MCPS would have to put in because of

[1:24:46] the topography being uneven and the need for bridges and things like that.

[1:24:51] Now, I'm going to throw something out of left field, which I know drives Judd and Tony

[1:24:55] crazy but I'll do it anyway. If we're willing to consider citing things on victory farm park,

[1:25:03] if we decide to go forward with the elementary school as proposed today, maybe we can take

[1:25:07] some of victory farm park and repurpose it right now. It's a passive park that's just a bunch

[1:25:12] of trees. I like trees, but maybe we can put some tennis courts or some other amenities there

[1:25:17] as we go forward, so that we're really not losing anything.

[1:25:26] So, so if I can take a few more minutes, I went back to my notes from actually June of 2018,

[1:25:33] a little over almost two years ago. And we had a number of meetings up to that point,

[1:25:40] and we had a decision to go back to MCPS with a list of things that we wanted.

[1:25:46] And I'd like to read through that list and talk about what they've given us and what they haven't given us.

[1:25:51] So first of all, we asked them to take a look at Victory Farm Park near Forest Oak Middle School.

[1:25:58] The result of that was that, as I mentioned, topography, why is it would be very expensive to build a school there.

[1:26:05] And MCPS doesn't have a lot of extra money to throw around. We're lucky where we'd be, we'd been offered what we'd been offered.

[1:26:11] We asked for the earliest possible boundary study and we asked for a boundary study to also include

[1:26:17] Forest Oak Middle School and strongly biased the discussion toward walkability.

[1:26:24] We got that.

[1:26:25] It hasn't happened yet.

[1:26:26] It never happens before the decision is made because they don't do that unless they

[1:26:29] know they're going to get a school but it's was supposed to have started already except

[1:26:34] for the COVID issue and we all know that things are getting delayed.

[1:26:38] We asked them to have a public process to continue the discussions over the last couple of years

[1:26:44] with the Citizens and Residents of Gafersburg that's happened.

[1:26:49] We asked them if they, indeed, decided to go forward with the proposal on Kelly Park that they minimize the physical footprint

[1:26:55] to maximize public access to the park at all times, also during construction.

[1:27:01] That is absolutely part of the proposal.

[1:27:04] They, we asked them to examine multiple options for sighting the school to find the least disruptive site and improve sight lines for the surrounding communities.

[1:27:12] That has actually happened. The current plan is much improved sight lines from the original plan.

[1:27:19] We asked them to add a green spit, add more green space to a land spot so we could create new parks that hasn't happened.

[1:27:27] I talked to Tony, Tom Aselo, and he said basically it just turned out to be way too complicated to achieve.

[1:27:32] But we do have other space in the city that we could possibly have new Parklands, too, as I said earlier.

[1:27:39] We asked them to increase the top lot of amenities and possibly relocate them during construction,

[1:27:44] so that they're not lost during the construction period.

[1:27:47] The top lot was relocated in the plan, and parking has been added.

[1:27:53] We asked them if we could upgrade the field to organic turf.

[1:27:56] if we want to, organic artificial turf like we use at Lakeland's Park, they're open to that.

[1:28:01] It's our decision to make, but they're willing to fund it if we decide to go forward.

[1:28:07] We asked them to share the maintenance costs for shared facilities and make indoor facilities

[1:28:11] available at no cost to the city for camp and other civic uses. That was agreed to.

[1:28:16] That's a huge win as Tony said. We asked them, if we, we asked them to look into improved

[1:28:22] transportation and reducing congestion, that actually is something that we would have to do is the city that's not really part of MCPS, but we should commit to revisit that as part of this process.

[1:28:34] We asked them there's two more points we asked them to make sure ball fields and other amenities are freely accessible from parking at all times.

[1:28:42] That is the in fact the case and we asked them that the walking pass should be accessible at all times and perhaps enhanced with lighting.

[1:28:50] They are maintained inaccessible and will be continuously available during school hours, as well as non-school hours.

[1:28:57] So I haven't seen any discussion about lighting, so we should ask the city staff if that's what's going on.

[1:29:03] But anyway, coming back to the point of fairness, we entered into this discussion.

[1:29:08] We gave MCPS a list of our asks that we're discussed in a agreed to and publicized as part of this process.

[1:29:15] They gave us the vast majority of those asks.

[1:29:18] I think at this point, it would be unfair to go back and say, well, sorry, but we change our mind.

[1:29:26] You know, in one last point, in terms of the points that MCPS is not paying for everything here,

[1:29:34] they're asking for us to do some things.

[1:29:38] They're giving us a 30 million dollar state-of-the-art elementary school with a lot of community facilities.

[1:29:44] I don't think that should be under-emphasized, that's really important, not only school space for our kids, but community space for meetings, some are activities, all kinds of things.

[1:29:55] And as Judd said, I think most real estate agents would say that having something like...

[1:30:00] I'd like that in your neighborhood as an enhancement. So I think repurposing 20% of the park to an elementary school, improving the other 80% of the park, and possibly adding some additional amenities is not a bad deal at all.

[1:30:15] I think it's something that we really strongly should consider and doing it where it will be delivered in two years is unheard of.

[1:30:23] So I think this is a sounds good to me and I'd love to hear from everyone else and see

[1:30:29] what they think.

[1:30:31] Thank you, Dale.

[1:30:32] We'll move on to Council of Upper Wu.

[1:30:36] Thank you, Mr. American, hear me.

[1:30:39] Yes.

[1:30:40] Good.

[1:30:41] Thank you.

[1:30:42] I'm not going to bore you with a soap off speech as I have in the past iterations we've had

[1:30:48] on this.

[1:30:49] Just to summarize, I think that this is an extraordinary ask for

[1:30:54] MCPS. I appreciate the job and effort and consideration that we use put into this, that the

[1:31:03] sets have put into this, and they've come to the table, putting forth the best position for

[1:31:10] the for MCPS itself. However, here in the city, as I stated before, we have to balance the interests

[1:31:19] of both indirectly responsibility for meeting the educational needs of our residents that's

[1:31:28] a benefit for us.

[1:31:28] We should be looking out for that, but MCPS is ultimately the organization, the political

[1:31:34] subdivision that is responsible for funding and educating our students.

[1:31:40] We have a separate interest as well, which is preservation of green space in fact it's

[1:31:45] strategic plan. So, you know, I've kind of been trying to balance those interests, you know,

[1:31:51] this is not my neighborhood. I live in the parklands. We used to have trees, now we don't.

[1:31:58] But when I look at situations, I try to put myself in the position of those that would be

[1:32:04] most impacted by this, either for and against having a school in neighborhood for, I think it's

[1:32:10] It's beneficial.

[1:32:12] Having a parking in the neighborhood is beneficial as well.

[1:32:14] So really, the role we have is to balance those interests.

[1:32:19] And two years ago, when this started,

[1:32:22] I've been trying to push the process.

[1:32:24] So it's not a school versus park choice.

[1:32:28] We are where we are now.

[1:32:30] Any kind of decision that would go forward

[1:32:33] could impact the progress of whatever may come.

[1:32:39] But it is what it is, and so rather than give a long speech, I've got questions, and I've got markups of the resolution itself, so Tony on future Mike, and get a piece of paper and pen.

[1:32:58] So the question or in the presentation itself, it mentioned the stormwater infrastructure for the field itself.

[1:33:04] was there any provision in the construction of the school itself for either stormwater infrastructure

[1:33:11] that would completely mitigate its runoff into the surrounding area or in agreement with the

[1:33:17] MCPS to pay for stormwater mitigation fees for this property?

[1:33:23] I'll let Seth Adams or Seth Durian jump it on the on the fee issue, but the planning aspects

[1:33:31] and the development aspects are not part of this agreement other than they need to comply with

[1:33:38] the modern stormwater management practices. We did make an ask that they pay stormwater management

[1:33:44] fees on this site. I do understand that MCPS was not willing to set the precedent that they would

[1:33:52] pay for one site when they don't pay for any other site in the county. So we decided to leave it out

[1:34:01] of the agreement in case statewide legislation is enacted that requires boards of education

[1:34:11] to pay what we consider their fair share of stormwater management fees.

[1:34:16] So the two sides agreed to simply be silent on the matter.

[1:34:20] They would have preferred, I'm sure, that they would be guaranteed to never have to pay

[1:34:24] stormwater fee on this site.

[1:34:27] We could not get there.

[1:34:28] So we thought the best way to do it was to decide if there's a broader legislation, then we would let that prevail.

[1:34:36] Okay.

[1:34:37] Thank you Tony.

[1:34:37] I mean, I would think we would be in an atypical situation in the future if we were considering giving up another portion of a park for a school site.

[1:34:45] So I would see this as a unique situation.

[1:34:48] My preference would be for the resolution to also include language.

[1:34:53] either requiring MCPS to pay criminal management fees for this site or to fully mitigate the stormwater runoff such that there is no runoff from the impervious services that they'll be adding to the site.

[1:35:07] We had talked early on about a landswap. I didn't see anything about that.

[1:35:12] I mean, Rob, could I stop you from saying, did you want to give MCPS staff a chance to, I'm sorry, Steve, but for anything that I say, please feel free Tony and the staff to jump in. I'm sorry.

[1:35:27] So so again, this is set that on for the record. So just from a stormwater management perspective, I would just say one minor change. I think what we're talking about is stormwater maintenance fees for essentially after construction is completed.

[1:35:46] The reason that we do not pay that is we partner with the county department of environmental protection who does maintenance at all school sites throughout the county.

[1:35:56] What we would pay, however, though, is any fees associated with stormwater management that are part of the overall design and construction of the project.

[1:36:05] As well as, you need to talk about mitigate runoff.

[1:36:09] It's really important to understand the new state law.

[1:36:13] So this is not essentially juristic and juristic in the state law that any project, such as this,

[1:36:20] essentially makes existing conditions better than what they are today.

[1:36:25] So, for instance, you know, tennis courts are parking that does not have some more management.

[1:36:29] We have to take into that into account and correct it as part of the overall design of the building.

[1:36:37] So, pretty much every school site, every major development in the county in the state

[1:36:42] does move forward under the premise that stormwater mitigations are in place,

[1:36:48] and it's a better place once it's done construction.

[1:36:52] So, I think I just wanted to clarify that the fees that we're talking about are these maintenance fees

[1:36:57] And the reality is we are not as a school system responsible for the maintenance, that's the department of environmental protection, that's why there's been some of the issues around us paying those maintenance fees.

[1:37:09] Okay, thanks, Seth.

[1:37:12] And so, you know, if there is binding law on that would govern the construction of this site for stormwater.

[1:37:20] mitigation, either through infrastructure, or whatnot,

[1:37:24] perhaps inclusion of a recital at the beginning of the agreement.

[1:37:30] Now, if there is not a sufficient legal precedent to bind,

[1:37:36] my concern is making sure that this project does not

[1:37:39] add stormwater runoff into, as was mentioned by a caller before,

[1:37:45] environmentally sensitive area.

[1:37:47] And so if there's not sufficient protection, I would want some kind of agreement placed into the, um, the later portion of the agreement.

[1:37:55] Rob, uh, laying water to jump in on this.

[1:37:58] Yeah, I did an paragraph for the agreement. It does, um, require the board and all of their plans to conform with the city storm water, uh, concept and final storm water sediment control plans.

[1:38:10] with folks state and city law. And again, that this city law based on state statute does follow

[1:38:18] what the state law requires. So that's already building to the agreement that they would

[1:38:23] comply with all both the state and city laws on stormwater and settlement control.

[1:38:28] Okay, great. Thank you, Lynn. Second point is with regards to the earlier discussion of

[1:38:37] either paying for the property or for a landswap.

[1:38:42] I've moved on to a different topic, sorry.

[1:38:46] And I see that's not the agreement.

[1:38:49] It's not a red line for me.

[1:38:53] Was there any discussion Tony on a commensurate landswap, for example,

[1:38:59] at Forest Oath Middle School?

[1:39:00] There's a lot of passive area up there,

[1:39:03] not utilized by the school that is a property of the school.

[1:39:05] It's also appears to me to be environmentally sensitive areas.

[1:39:09] It might be a good opportunity to look at whether or not taking it under city control might

[1:39:14] allow us to have more control over the environmental preservation of this entire watershed.

[1:39:19] Just throwing that out there as a thought if there's going to be any future negotiation on the agreement itself.

[1:39:32] And this is most relevant to, I think, paragraph two of the

[1:39:36] therefore, I didn't see anything that covered damage or interference

[1:39:44] with surrounding properties, construction interference.

[1:39:48] You know, something happens on site where either a city,

[1:39:52] Facility is damaged or it got for bid a neighboring house is damaged.

[1:40:00] Are there provisions dealing with this and obviously my preference would be the the

[1:40:05] Board of Education MCPS bear the burden of any of kinds of claims or anything that would occur as a result of that.

[1:40:13] They have a defined construction easements outside of the 5171 acres which

[1:40:19] Which, customarily, would encompass all of their construction activity, storage materials, those types of things, there really aren't that many residences that close to the school building itself.

[1:40:34] They'd have to be pretty far afield to damage a house and they would be liable for that damage.

[1:40:38] If they went outside the dedicated area and the construction easement.

[1:40:44] Well, so, for example, here in the parklands when they were constructing, must have been more than a half mile away from us.

[1:40:51] They were driving things into the ground, and there were at least allegations that the vibrations caused damage to the properties, not necessarily adjacent to a good distance away.

[1:41:01] Just at a protective layer, I would like a whole harmless, I would like to see a whole

[1:41:07] harmless clause in here that BOE, MCPS would bear the cost responsibility and damages

[1:41:13] for any potential claims against the city resulting from construction on the site.

[1:41:21] No response required just throwing it out there.

[1:41:26] One of my red lines that I was talking about in my prior meeting was this concept of writing

[1:41:35] the wrong from Forest Oak Middle School in the boundary study here and folks have mentioned

[1:41:39] that here today. There's no recitals in the agreement itself dealing with the boundary study

[1:41:45] itself and I have faith in MCPS that they will abide by their commitments and they hear us loud

[1:41:53] clear, but faith is not concrete.

[1:41:58] And so I would like to see, and this is where

[1:42:00] Lin can come in at some point, to try to craft language

[1:42:04] in the agreement itself that prior to closing

[1:42:08] the boundary study must be complete,

[1:42:10] and that we get to approve it for the transfer of the property

[1:42:14] does not occur.

[1:42:16] Again, don't need to comment.

[1:42:17] I would like to throw that out there.

[1:42:21] Let's see, we'll cost the funding transfer, if suit, suits born by MCPS.

[1:42:26] Okay. There is the possibility that we could be wrapped up in litigation due to the transfer

[1:42:34] of this property. I don't know one way or the other way that will occur. However, I would

[1:42:39] like to see another whole harmless agreements in this resolution that MCPS would bear the

[1:42:46] loss of defending the city and any damages that result from those kind of legal challenges,

[1:42:51] resulting from this decision to transfer the property for the construction of the school.

[1:42:59] Paragraph 4 dealing with the courtesy site plan review.

[1:43:02] I'd mentioned this to Dennis.

[1:43:03] I don't know if it filtered out to folks.

[1:43:07] It talks about courtesy site plan review.

[1:43:09] And I know there's an MOU between the county and CPS and

[1:43:15] regarding the ordinary practice as it applies to the construction of schools within

[1:43:21] Gathersburg, but this is extraordinary again because we are providing land

[1:43:25] if this resolution is passed for this school. I think that all of the planning reviews,

[1:43:34] all of the permitting, everything resulting from anything related to the site that would ordinary

[1:43:39] we applied to a construction of a facility within the city of Gatorsburg should go through with planary authority, our processes, including approval by the city council.

[1:43:57] Something that I couldn't tie to a paragraph, MCPS has indicated that they intend to fund this project with sounds like groundbreaking.

[1:44:07] later this year construction by 2022. I don't know if that's set in stone. I'm not sure

[1:44:15] anything is really set in stone until the contract is awarded for construction. So I would

[1:44:19] like to see a provision in this resolution that states that if MCPS agrees to fund according

[1:44:27] to the schedule they proposed and if this gets pushed as projects have been pushed in MCPS

[1:44:34] but just in the past, the deal is off.

[1:44:36] They cannot close on the property it reverts to us.

[1:44:42] Paragraph six and paragraph eight relates

[1:44:46] to the inspections.

[1:44:48] Again, I don't, my preference would be

[1:44:51] that we take authority.

[1:44:54] Paragraph six, paragraph eight, this stuff that's discussed there.

[1:44:59] Let's see.

[1:45:00] Okay,

[1:45:03] paragraph 14. I see if this flip a few pages. And I'll give you the opportunity to flip those pages.

[1:45:22] And let me know when you're there Tony. Okay, great. I was very uncomfortable with this notion that if the board sees us to use the elementary school site as an elementary school, that the property reverts to the county's disposition system for the property.

[1:45:41] even the we get preference. I would like to see in the in the resolution a provision that if the school is no longer used actively as an elementary school by MCPS, there's an automatic reversion of the site and the building to the city.

[1:46:02] And that was kind of what I had as far as flipping through the resolution my primary concerns.

[1:46:12] I would ask that, you know, the process that we kind of outlined here.

[1:46:18] No, it was kind of quick to getting this meeting together.

[1:46:20] We provided notice last Thursday to the public.

[1:46:23] We got some robust input here, but, you know, it seemed a little quick.

[1:46:28] And so what I would suggest to my colleagues is instead of taking a vote here tonight to approve or disapprove of the resolution is to authorize or have the city manager go back and renegotiate these matters.

[1:46:44] Have MCPS look at them and have the BOE vote on them and then ultimately at our next meeting perhaps come back and take another look one way or the other as to whether or not to approve the resolution.

[1:46:59] I guess I'm putting that out there to my colleagues to see if there's a second or any individuals who think that might be a better course of action than simply taking a vote tonight.

[1:47:11] Okay. Well, we'll move to if you're done with your initial marks Rob will move over to Ryan and if anybody wants to chime in during their remarks.

[1:47:21] if they want to pick up on those ideas they can.

[1:47:25] Thanks Mr. Mayor.

[1:47:25] And again, Tony Seth, I appreciate your time and diligence.

[1:47:29] Thank you, Rob.

[1:47:31] Let's go with Ron and.

[1:47:33] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[1:47:36] First of all, I just want to mention that I also

[1:47:39] was curious about paragraph 14 of the draft.

[1:47:43] And I had a conversation a few days ago

[1:47:45] with the city attorney about that.

[1:47:47] It's my understanding from speaking with her

[1:47:49] that that paragraph is reflection of requirements under state law and that's not something that's

[1:47:55] negotiable. So as much as I would prefer to have paragraph 14 be a little bit stronger in

[1:48:00] favor of the city's right to take back the property in the event that the school was

[1:48:05] cease operating as a school that that's just not something that's negotiable under Maryland law.

[1:48:11] So maybe before I make any further comments Mr. Mayor, would it be all right if Lynn just address

[1:48:17] That question.

[1:48:19] Go ahead.

[1:48:20] Yeah.

[1:48:21] That is correct.

[1:48:22] And the paragraph 14 does cite the provision of state law that regulates the disposition

[1:48:28] of property owned by the Board of Ed and I mean that's something that we cannot change.

[1:48:34] We did include in there that it would also, that's disposition would be done not only in

[1:48:39] accordance with state law that also the provisions of the deed and the annexation agreement.

[1:48:43] And the annexation agreement does have limitations on what this property can be used for.

[1:48:49] So it would need to be used for a public use, which includes a school of schools specifically,

[1:48:55] delineated in the annexation agreement itself.

[1:48:59] But if this were to dispose to someone other than the city, there would be a lot of limitations on the use.

[1:49:05] The annexation agreement also does specifically give the authority to the city to designate what types of public uses could be used on the property.

[1:49:17] So I think that that gives us a pretty broad range of authority should the the property no longer be used for a public school.

[1:49:28] Thank you.

[1:49:30] Mr. Mayor with your permission tonight I'll proceed.

[1:49:33] Go right ahead.

[1:49:34] I just want to first make some initial comments about the process here because a few folks

[1:49:39] from the public have expressed some concern that we're debating and potentially deciding

[1:49:43] this matter at a virtual meeting, of course, during the COVID-19 pandemic. And first of all,

[1:49:49] I just want to say I hope everyone in Gatorsburg is staying safe and healthy and following the

[1:49:55] direction in guidance from the governor on the CDC and state and county health officials.

[1:50:00] But the fact is that the work of government at all levels, including our city, has to continue and just like businesses and families and nonprofits who are embracing new technologies and new ways of operating in this unprecedented time, government has to do so as well.

[1:50:17] And I think that the extensive history of the debate on this issue in the city can't be ignored here.

[1:50:26] With all the respect to the notion that, you know, somehow this was a quick from together decision

[1:50:32] today. City residents have been testifying at council meetings, speaking up at community gatherings,

[1:50:40] at MCPS open houses, writing emails to the city, in several cases multiple times, for

[1:50:46] the last several months, really years. And many of us personally sat in living rooms. I know

[1:50:54] I did more than once for many hours hearing the concerns of residents on these issues. And I have

[1:51:01] walk the park property many times over the last several years,

[1:51:04] at different times of day, days of the week,

[1:51:06] once the year, I know my colleagues have as well.

[1:51:09] And of course, the voters got the chance to weigh in

[1:51:12] on these issues through a citywide election

[1:51:14] in just last year.

[1:51:16] And we posted the information about this meeting

[1:51:18] and the draft agreement on multiple pages

[1:51:21] of our city website.

[1:51:22] We pushed out the notice by email.

[1:51:25] We specifically reached out to interested residents,

[1:51:27] including many of those who signed up to testify tonight.

[1:51:29] And we've been barred in social media with notices about this meeting and how to participate.

[1:51:36] And I think we've taken many extra steps to reach out and inform the public precisely because we're implementing this new format.

[1:51:43] And we've gone to great lengths to ensure that our technological approach allows live testimony for those who signed up

[1:51:50] and that our meeting is being broadcast on our TV stations and on YouTube.

[1:51:54] So, I think you could even argue that never has a public meeting in the city been so well advertised before.

[1:52:01] And of course, the fact that we received a large number of additional emails in recent days,

[1:52:06] and the fact that many people signed up to testify live tonight,

[1:52:09] are evidence that we have given sufficient notice in the people who have taken advantage of the multiple means of submitting their input.

[1:52:17] Incidentally, this discussion in vote is not subject to the formal public hearing requirements of state and city law.

[1:52:24] because the approval of an agreement actually falls under our resolution's power, not our ordinance authority,

[1:52:31] but we took all of these aforementioned steps anyway.

[1:52:35] So I would disagree with any suggestion that this agenda item was scheduled for today

[1:52:39] and some sort of attempt to hide it or limit public input.

[1:52:43] I think there's even an argument to be made which was reflected in the testimony of a few people tonight

[1:52:48] that for some, it's actually easier not harder for them to follow along or participate

[1:52:53] Since many folks are now stuck in home, able to watch us when they made otherwise be at work or driving their kids through activity.

[1:53:01] We've been working on this issue for a long time.

[1:53:03] We have heard repeatedly in many open forums, the questions and points of argument on all aspects of this debate.

[1:53:12] City Manager Tony Thomas Sello has been our point person in the many months of negotiations with MCPS.

[1:53:18] He knows the issues and the players and the process intimately, and Tony is going to be retiring in a few weeks.

[1:53:26] And when he announced his retirement a few months ago, we asked him to try to complete these negotiations before his last day.

[1:53:33] And so he did.

[1:53:34] And I don't think he would make any sense to have to start over with new negotiators at this point.

[1:53:39] And I think the matter is right for a decision by this body.

[1:53:42] So the public can get some closure and so the school system knows whether or not to move forward with design and construction and planning for the operation of new school by August 2022, which is not that far away.

[1:53:55] So I don't think there's a basis to delay this important decision any longer.

[1:54:00] Certainly not just because we happen to be holding this meeting virtually due to the pandemic.

[1:54:04] It's our regular Monday night meeting time.

[1:54:06] We've provided all the usual methods to view it.

[1:54:08] We did cancel several weeks of meetings to give us time to develop a more robust approach to virtual meetings and to ensure compliance with the open meetings laws before we proceeded with tonight's meeting.

[1:54:22] And while not required by law, we had even set up this way to receive live public comment as I mentioned earlier, even though we already received many in-person public comments, at several prior council meetings.

[1:54:35] The work of government can and should carry on even during the pandemic, and to anyone who says that scheduling the vote now was some sort of cynical ploy to use the coronavirus as a way to get this thing passed, it's not true. It was not.

[1:54:51] The city's process has been and continues to be open and transparent with plenty of opportunities for the public to observe and weigh in, even if folks ultimately disagree with the decisions that are made.

[1:55:04] So it's earnings of the merits of what's before us tonight.

[1:55:11] I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record from what others have already said so well,

[1:55:15] but this is a difficult decision that weighs competing priorities against each other as the mayor said well.

[1:55:22] But that's often the case in governing, governing requires balance and compromise of competing values and priorities to try to get to the best imperfect result

[1:55:32] that can reasonably be achieved.

[1:55:36] This draft agreement is far from perfect.

[1:55:38] It does not contain every guarantee and every protection

[1:55:42] that the city would want to have in a perfect world.

[1:55:45] But as Carolyn Donovan and Jim McNulty and others

[1:55:48] said so well, we don't live in a perfect world.

[1:55:53] And the council has to ask ourselves

[1:55:54] a number of very difficult questions,

[1:55:57] including not just whether it's possible,

[1:56:00] But whether it's really likely that this part of our city will get the elementary school capacity that it desperately needs to serve communities that are largely underrepresented, underrepresented and under served, if we don't proceed with disagreement.

[1:56:17] We have to ask ourselves whether we believe that the school system will truly make its best efforts to include surrounding neighborhoods in the new school boundary, which we will continue to strongly advocate for.

[1:56:29] as that process moves forward.

[1:56:32] And I note that the school board has already authorized the boundary study with the conditions we requested,

[1:56:38] including prioritizing walkability and revisiting the forest of middle school boundary.

[1:56:43] And although that process has been slowed by the pandemic, it will ultimately go forward.

[1:56:49] We have to ask ourselves whether it's realistic to think that a massive and complex government institution like MCPS,

[1:56:56] which is subject to a host of laws, policies, procedures, and regulations governing its school boundary processes,

[1:57:05] and its land acquisition processes, and its construction processes.

[1:57:10] Could simply negotiate or contract away that entire process for the sake of one school.

[1:57:17] Or whether a boundary guarantee, or a veto authority over the closing of the land transfer,

[1:57:22] is something that we just could not ever get into a written agreement.

[1:57:28] We have to ask ourselves whether we believe based on the information and materials and history of this discussion,

[1:57:35] that Kelli Park, although changed, will continue to be a vibrant public space for the adjacent neighborhoods

[1:57:42] with significant active and passive parkland that is accessible, high quality, and respectful of the environment.

[1:57:51] or whether the presence of a school will effectively eliminate the entire benefit of the park.

[1:57:58] We have to ask ourselves if we believe the negative impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods are outweighed by the benefit that is likely to be achieved for the city and the communities in the long run.

[1:58:10] Whether things like noise and light and temporary disruptions from construction activity and potential traffic impacts and the removal of certain assets like a tennis court

[1:58:20] and a change to the walking paths are outweighed by the opening of a new school on a portion of the property with a linkages to learning resource center,

[1:58:32] pre-K facilities, and a new soccer field, and a new top lot among other things.

[1:58:39] We have to consider such things as public safety and property values, and to ask ourselves what we truly believe about how the introduction of such a school will impact.

[1:58:49] those things. Will it make them worse? Will it make them better? We have to ask ourselves whether it's

[1:58:56] really possible given all these other factors to persuade MCPS to place the school elsewhere.

[1:59:04] Whether another site would really be workable, whether the costs of using another site outweigh

[1:59:09] the benefits, and even if it were theoretically workable to use another site, whether we have the

[1:59:19] authority or the will to make that happen. Or whether we risk losing the window of opportunity

[1:59:27] for a new elementary school that we have fought for decades to get, as we compete with dozens

[1:59:34] of communities throughout the county if we don't proceed with an imperfect plan now.

[1:59:41] This is a decision that cannot and should not be purely political with legislators simply implementing

[1:59:49] the will of only the loudest and most frequent and most well-organized voices.

[1:59:55] Respectfully, that is not how good governing happens.

[2:00:00] Home of Government, small or Republican. The council is elected to make the best decisions to

[2:00:06] can, hopefully based on the merits, while still being accountable to the public. But we are not a direct

[2:00:14] democracy in which council members are not permitted to exercise their own best judgment, even if it

[2:00:20] conflicts with the will of certain groups. If we were, there would be no need for elected officials at

[2:00:26] we would just put every decision to a popular vote.

[2:00:31] And that's also the reason why I felt it was not appropriate last year

[2:00:34] to commit to a position before we had all the information.

[2:00:38] And then I thought such a move really would be pandering.

[2:00:41] And I tried to be honest about that with those who opposed the school site.

[2:00:45] Even as I tried to listen respectfully for countless hours

[2:00:49] and read carefully the countless emails we received.

[2:00:53] But this is also not a purely apolitical decision either, and we need to recognize the realities that there are residents who have voice strong opposition to a school year.

[2:01:08] As I have said before, a vote in favor of the school site cannot fairly be characterized as ignoring or disparaging those residents.

[2:01:17] I know tensions run high and emotions run high, but quite to the contrary of ignoring or

[2:01:24] disparaging anyone, an elected official has no political self-interest in casting a vote

[2:01:31] for something that he or she knows will incur the wrath of a vocal and well-organized opposition

[2:01:38] that is actively engaged in city elections. So a vote for something that will incur such a cost

[2:01:45] has to be motivated by something else. It has to be motivated by a genuine belief

[2:01:51] that a course of action, while perhaps unpopular, is ultimately the right thing to do.

[2:01:58] I hope that in time, those who disagree will see that my views are not in any way motivated by

[2:02:05] spite, but by a particular perspective about trying to do what's best for our city.

[2:02:10] Whether or not you agree with my vote, please know that I take seriously the obligation to

[2:02:17] listen, that you were most certainly heard and that I think all my colleagues have reflected

[2:02:23] carefully about your concerns.

[2:02:27] And like the mayor, I'll do whatever I can to try to make sure that whatever the result of

[2:02:30] this vote, the outcome is implemented in a manner that respects the community and serves the

[2:02:36] city well.

[2:02:37] So here's where I am.

[2:02:40] We have an opportunity to substantially improve the lives and the educations of literally thousands of children, ages three to eleven, not just children those ages now but children of those ages in the future, many of whom come from underprivileged and underrepresented segments of our community.

[2:03:00] So curing a new school has been a top-top priority for the city for many years, and improving

[2:03:07] opportunities for underserved populations, advancing equity and social justice, and building

[2:03:15] socio-economicly diverse communities anchored by shared resources and experiences have been

[2:03:22] priorities as well.

[2:03:24] It will probably be a generation or more before an opportunity for a new elementary school

[2:03:29] in this area comes along again and there is no realistic path to moving the school site

[2:03:36] to somewhere else in the vicinity. They're just isn't. I trust that our city manager,

[2:03:43] who is highly experienced and professional and whom we have empowered to negotiate with

[2:03:47] MCPS fully understands his role as an advocate for the best interests of the city and his

[2:03:53] work hard to get as much as he reasonably can into the conditions of this agreement.

[2:03:58] even people who opposed this school site testified to that tonight.

[2:04:04] If he thought he could get more without losing the chance for this desperately needed school, he would have.

[2:04:11] I am persuaded that the school board understands our position.

[2:04:15] And like Rob, I believe they have taken serious concrete steps toward addressing our concerns about serving the neighborhoods,

[2:04:22] adjacent to the site.

[2:04:24] and about writing a 20-year-old wrong with respect to the boundaries of forest oak middle school.

[2:04:32] Admittedly, it is not an outright promise to predetermined the outcome of the boundary analysis.

[2:04:39] But they are legally and procedurally prohibited from doing that.

[2:04:43] All indications, short of that, however, are that the school system will do the right thing in this pending boundary study.

[2:04:51] I know it's difficult to trust and put faith in that notion when you come from a community that was burned 20 years ago.

[2:05:00] But I would join the mayor in advocating strongly to make this happen and I believe it will happen.

[2:05:06] I am persuaded by the conditions and concessions and preliminary designs under consideration.

[2:05:11] We'll preserve the vast majority of Kelly Park as an open, accessible, high quality park for the public to enjoy.

[2:05:18] and that aspects of the park will even be improved, and that the fair and legitimate concerns about traffic and use of public space and the view shed and environmental protection will be mitigated.

[2:05:33] It will be perfect, but we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[2:05:38] Because of the active participation of so many residents in this long and open process, we have a better result.

[2:05:45] So I want to say thank you to everyone who participated respectfully in the process of civic engagement on this topic.

[2:05:53] Some people will be very unhappy even angry about whatever decision we reach tonight.

[2:06:00] But moving forward with the school site at this time,

[2:06:04] even though it undeniably comes with costs and even though I understand that some of you will feel a loss,

[2:06:12] Respectfully, I have concluded that those costs do not outweigh the benefits.

[2:06:18] It is my sincere hope that in time the entire community will come to see this school as a shining asset that is a magnet for community engagement and coming together.

[2:06:29] And as a compliment to the park that exists symbiotically with it and activates it even further rather than diminishing it.

[2:06:38] That the school will be a central space for brightening the lives and opportunities of children and their families and not just those who attend the school.

[2:06:48] But the neighborhoods around it will benefit from having it in their orbit.

[2:06:52] So having weighed all the input and all the materials and all the questions raised over many months and even years.

[2:06:58] I'm going to vote in favor of moving forward with this imperfect draft agreement. Thank you.

[2:07:04] Thank you Ryan. We will move on to council member sales.

[2:07:18] Hello. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mayor. So I just want to get started with a few

[2:07:26] questions. Appreciate the power point that Tony went through. I had a few questions about the status

[2:07:35] of the boundary study. I know has been moved up instead of a year before to 18 months.

[2:07:42] I'm hearing from some people that it's been postponed because of COVID that it's not being postponed.

[2:07:50] So can someone from NCPS elaborate on the status?

[2:07:55] Sure.

[2:07:56] So the process has started.

[2:07:58] We had two meetings.

[2:08:00] And unfortunately, the next four that were scheduled are pretty much right in the middle of our restrictions surrounding COVID-19 pandemic.

[2:08:11] So, from our perspective, the next steps are, you know, really to, you know, either transition to more of an online-based process or to wait a few more months and reconvene those meetings.

[2:08:27] the decision, however, though, is scheduled for March of 2021.

[2:08:34] So, from a timeline perspective, while it was moved up early and we have started the process.

[2:08:42] There is still time whether or not we reconvene the summer or early in the fall to be able to go through the process.

[2:08:50] And it goes into the very robust process in order for the board to deliberate in the coming March of 2021.

[2:09:03] And will the schedule be deleted all the fast tracking of the project?

[2:09:08] Are we still on track to be completed to open August 2022?

[2:09:15] Sure.

[2:09:16] So one thing I would say is, and this is a misnomer by some, that Montgomery County Public

[2:09:21] Schools is not a funding body. And what that means is we make a request to the County Council,

[2:09:26] and we also make a request to the state for our funding. The funding request was part of our FY21 program,

[2:09:35] was significantly reduced by the kind of executive. And we're actually ongoing and trying to work

[2:09:41] through the County Council on what the capital and operating budgets, how the hearings work through

[2:09:51] that process.

[2:09:52] But one thing I would say is even with those funding cuts, the board has made Gathersburg

[2:09:56] number eight of priority, where they've had to make some tough or staff.

[2:10:01] We've had to make some tough recommendations to consider for cuts.

[2:10:06] Gathersburg Elementary Number eight is not one of those schools.

[2:10:10] So again, we're not funding bodies, so we have to rely on others to fund us, but where we are right now is that we feel confident that this project fits within the county executives budget and we're hopeful as we work through the county council that not only will they add funding, but obviously keep the priorities of the board and MCPS on schedule.

[2:10:37] Okay, thank you.

[2:10:40] Another question I have was about the traffic study.

[2:10:44] I understand MCPS will be conducting the traffic study.

[2:10:48] Will that be doing the courtesy review, the frequency review, or when would we be able to get that information?

[2:10:57] I'm going to turn that over to Mr. Ferriano to fill in some of the details on that one.

[2:11:02] Thanks, Seth. I'm Seth Ferriana for record. We've already performed the preliminary study,

[2:11:09] and that is available on our project's webpage for download and review. We have submitted it to

[2:11:15] the city for a preliminary look, and that's kind of where it stands now.

[2:11:22] But you can download

[2:11:23] everything that you haven't received any feedback from the city based on what you submitted to it.

[2:11:30] Just just minor comments, I think it's sort of an holding pattern till we move forward.

[2:11:39] So, do you want to say something?

[2:11:43] No, I mean, it's my understanding that MCPS staff and public work staff have met on the preliminary traffic study.

[2:11:52] And we'll move forward with the rest of the project.

[2:12:01] Okay, and I know that we've evacuated that the middle school may be included in the boundary study.

[2:12:07] Is that still the case?

[2:12:10] Yes, post, post middle schools are included in the current boundary study scope from the board of education.

[2:12:17] That there's a memo of the board of education from last November, ensuring that the board of school and a bunch of elementary schools are all in one consolidated boundary stuff.

[2:12:28] So that has been passed on.

[2:12:35] And then, lastly, I know that the Board of Education voted on a resolution that acknowledged

[2:12:48] that this site would be pedestrian friendly to you or call that resolution?

[2:12:59] I'm not sure of this specific resolution, but I know we have partnered with the county

[2:13:05] as a whole around vision zero and and certainly that is a priority of our of our board is to make

[2:13:12] every site not only existing sites but future sites are very pedestrian friendly moving forward.

[2:13:19] So absolutely that would be a high priority of the board but I'm not familiar with the specific

[2:13:24] resolution around this particular project but but I could be wrong on on the resolution side.

[2:13:29] It was my understanding that board members from Drowsky added language during the discussion

[2:13:37] of the resolution of proving the site.

[2:13:40] But I'm just working from memory there.

[2:13:44] But we are relying on that they're trying to make all their sites pedestrian friendly.

[2:13:50] Is that something that anyone would be opposed to us including in the agreement?

[2:14:02] That

[2:14:04] would be up to the board, I mean, it could be aware as, you know, not a specific number

[2:14:11] paragraph.

[2:14:13] I'd be happy to.

[2:14:14] Okay.

[2:14:14] I'd be happy to approve the moment.

[2:14:16] Craft on.

[2:14:19] And then when I was looking at the design.

[2:14:21] I know there were concerns about the loss of parking along victory's farm or that there's only going to be five dedicated parking spaces.

[2:14:31] Are there any other parking alternatives for park dollars?

[2:14:43] So, I think the parking differentiator was during school and after school.

[2:14:49] I think when you look at after school, it's significantly much more parking than what is available now.

[2:14:56] The during school options are the...

[2:15:00] We probably would would lose some general parking. We do try to minimize our parking lots.

[2:15:10] So in terms of the number of parking counts, it would be really for staff. It would be for a few visitors and then like a just learning staff members and families as well.

[2:15:21] But I think really that during the school time frame,

[2:15:25] we did really try to explore a lot of opportunities,

[2:15:28] but adding excessive parking isn't one that's typically

[2:15:33] promoted because of the impervious surfaces that it creates.

[2:15:38] So I think we feel like we're at a pretty good balance

[2:15:40] point at this moment, but we can certainly explore other options

[2:15:43] or continue to explore options on parking.

[2:15:47] Would victory farm parking be an alternative to put some dedicated spaces along there during the full day?

[2:15:57] Is the street wide enough?

[2:16:06] So from our school from a design standpoint, there's not much we can do from street parking perspective.

[2:16:13] I think the added curb cuts from a bus loop do limit to the number of street parking options.

[2:16:20] But I don't foresee, and that would be more of a city determination, whether or not there are parking restrictions around timing of the school, school zones or those sorts of things, but I don't think from a school or design standpoint that street parking would really fall into the purview of this overall project set might be deferred back to Tony on that particular question.

[2:16:41] We would be happy to re-look at the Austria party. It wasn't our intention other than the necessary cuts to remove any parking from victory farm.

[2:16:52] Yeah. You'll only be losing a few spaces I would say maybe for due to the curb cuts.

[2:17:00] Okay.

[2:17:03] Okay. Well, I wanted to make sure that I had my thoughts together, so I prepared a statement that I just want to read before we hear from the rest of my colleague.

[2:17:15] So, this has probably been one of the hardest votes I've had to make since being elected.

[2:17:21] I was attracted to pilotics because of the opportunity I've served in the decision-making process to make a difference in the lives of others.

[2:17:30] I ran for office because I thought I could make an impact on the educational outcomes of those impacted by the opportunity gap.

[2:17:37] My daughter is now in college and I remember going to a napolis with the PTA year after year to advocate for school construction funds to ensure adequate facilities and resources for our students.

[2:17:52] We're provided.

[2:17:54] Now I joined my colleagues here in Gatisburg year after year.

[2:17:58] We've had to ask school construction funding request to our list of legislative priorities.

[2:18:03] Many have said you have no oversight over schools in how when or where they are built, but we do have a unique opportunity before this evening.

[2:18:15] I want to be very clear while we're reminded daily of the decisions that resulted in forced open middle schools.

[2:18:24] I will work tirelessly to ensure that it does not happen to this neighborhood again.

[2:18:30] I was discussing with my husband the fact that I do not like the word compromise because

[2:18:36] while both sides come to an agreement it implies the parties walk away with less than they could have or should have gotten.

[2:18:44] I don't think we have a compromise in this instance because I feel like everyone gets what they want and need.

[2:18:52] This agreement ensures we will be included throughout the project timeline.

[2:18:57] But more specifically, the Mayor and City Council, in cooperation with the Planning Commission,

[2:19:04] will have an opportunity to provide courtesy reviews prior to construction, as well as residents.

[2:19:12] The board will also here, will also bear responsibility for keeping the construction site safe and secure.

[2:19:18] The city bears limited cost while we receive a modern and environmentally friendly educational hub that will become the cornerstone of this community.

[2:19:30] And last but certainly not least, this new school will ensure that our city students no longer have to learn in overcrowded schools.

[2:19:41] And we'll receive a world class education and a new building closer to where they live.

[2:19:46] Is this a perfect solution?

[2:19:49] No, but it is an incredible opportunity to be an active partner in addressing barriers to achievement by alleviating school overcrowding.

[2:20:00] So to this end, I support authorizing the City Manager to execute the agreement with NCPA to locate Gakersburg Elementary School Number 8 on a portion of Kelly Park.

[2:20:15] And I'd like to include not to exceed seven acres.

[2:20:21] I believe it was 5.71, not to exceed six acres and I don't know how close we can get to ensure that

[2:20:32] we maximize the area of the park that is still available to the public throughout the day regardless of the school hours.

[2:20:44] And that's it.

[2:20:46] Thank you.

[2:20:46] Thank you, Lorian. We will move on to Mike. Thank you for your patience and for those who are holding and waiting for our budget hearing. Thank you for your patience too. We're going to get to you shortly. Go ahead, Mike.

[2:21:00] Mike, you're muted. Take yourself off mute.

[2:21:05] There you go.

[2:21:06] All right. Thank you. Ready. I want to hope everyone is doing well and staying safe watching your hands regularly and keeping appropriate social distance.

[2:21:17] And I want to thank you all for participating in our first virtual meetings kind of historic

[2:21:22] night.

[2:21:24] And, you know, this is one of the historic issues.

[2:21:26] I want to express my gratitude to Tony and for carrying this ball for this to the one yard line.

[2:21:35] I feel like we're first and goal here.

[2:21:38] And it's always better to score on first and goal than it is to go to the fourth.

[2:21:42] Anyway,

[2:21:45] we've heard a lot of things over the last few years about this site and the need for school in this part of the city and also to relieve primarily to relieve overcrowding but to create a greater and better educational environment for our children.

[2:22:04] When I first ran in 2005, one of the reasons I ran was the concern about educational infrastructure, in other words, our schools.

[2:22:12] I was concerned about a lot of things, but that was one of the primary issues I had been involved in PTA, local PTA and both, and in two clusters, actually three clusters at the elementary middle school and high school levels.

[2:22:30] So I've seen a lot of this happen this back and forth and I've seen the process go through

[2:22:39] conspiracy theories to misinformation, to repeating misinformation and repeating

[2:22:44] conspiracies and just the general mistrust of MCPS.

[2:22:48] I think I have great empathy for the communities that were denied assignment to four-stroke middle school and I think that's a wrong that should be corrected here and hopefully it will be.

[2:23:07] I think the other, but it's clear that that is still sticking in the prov many people and just a general mistrust and a disbelief that MCPS will do the right thing.

[2:23:17] we're doing the fair thing for these neighborhoods.

[2:23:22] So, heading back to my history on the council

[2:23:26] and how we've worked with MCPS and our partnership

[2:23:28] with MCPS.

[2:23:31] When I started, we were looking at Brown Station,

[2:23:35] a renovation of Brown Station.

[2:23:36] We finally have a new school after that period of time.

[2:23:41] And for a completely new Gator's Burger High School,

[2:23:45] we worked very hard and very closely with MCPS

[2:23:47] to get make sure both of those projects culminated in the fantastic new facilities that we have

[2:23:56] now.

[2:23:57] And I think those are both of those schools are benefits to the community and benefits to

[2:24:02] the student, not just to the students who attend them, but to the communities that surround

[2:24:07] them and to greater data spirit.

[2:24:09] So I think we have another opportunity here to continue our strong collaboration and partnership

[2:24:16] with MCPS and identify another school and create great the facilities that are going to benefit

[2:24:23] our children, our residents and our neighborhoods and I think that's the plan that we have. I agree

[2:24:31] I don't want to repeat everything that you've already said because my colleagues have been much more

[2:24:37] eloquent than I am ever able to be but I would say that Ryan basically said everything I was going to say

[2:24:43] so I want to thank him for that and saving me time, Ryan,

[2:24:50] but I think, you know, I think we've

[2:24:54] got as much out of this in terms of our assurances and guarantees, and we have to be confident in

[2:24:59] our relationship with MCPS going forward. They're going to need us in the future. We always need them.

[2:25:06] We always, we work successfully together to address both the needs of our children, but also the

[2:25:12] of our communities and I think we have to remember that that school communities are important

[2:25:18] building block of our neighborhoods and we have an opportunity here to create a new school

[2:25:24] community, the diverse school community and innovative school community.

[2:25:31] And that's I think largely

[2:25:32] why I support this. I think for all of the reasons that have already been stated by my colleagues

[2:25:37] that we're going to address capacity issues and facilities issues and the learning environment

[2:25:44] issues that are all compromised by the type of over-capacity and over-crouting that we have

[2:25:52] particularly in the Gatorsburg cluster. Gatorsburg elementary school number eight is going to help us

[2:25:59] relieve that it's going to not just create a new school community at this school but it's also going to

[2:26:05] change that and hopefully improve the school communities in the rest of the cluster.

[2:26:11] And that's very important because I think part of the strength of our city is the

[2:26:17] communities that helped build it and help maintain it. And a lot of that begins in the schools

[2:26:22] because that's where children become activated parents become contributors to the community to

[2:26:28] the school environment and to their neighborhood. So I guess it's no secret where I'm headed

[2:26:33] is that I endorse this not so perfect agreement,

[2:26:40] but I think the way I'm looking at it,

[2:26:43] it's a win-win for everyone involved.

[2:26:46] It's a win for the city.

[2:26:47] I think it's a win for MCPS.

[2:26:49] I think it's a win most importantly for our children,

[2:26:52] not just the children who are going to be attending

[2:26:55] in the short term, but the children will be attending

[2:26:57] in the next 25 to 30 years at the school.

[2:27:00] and in the other schools that we're relieving with this construction.

[2:27:05] So while I, there are many things that I would like to see in this agreement,

[2:27:10] I think Rob is a numerate son of those. Neil has,

[2:27:15] Lorian and Ryan. Everyone has a numerated son of those issues. I think we've also looked at the

[2:27:22] the strengths in this agreement too. And that's why I'm in support of it and that's why I'll

[2:27:27] support of it. That doesn't mean that I don't have great respect for those who felt very strongly

[2:27:33] of what we might be losing here and what we might be giving up but the way I look at it is

[2:27:38] we're we're gaining a lot more than we're losing. We're not losing a park we're transforming a park.

[2:27:44] We're transforming a park for the entire for the entire city but most importantly we're

[2:27:50] transforming the neighborhoods that are going to be able to walk to it and continue to use it.

[2:27:56] That's about it. Thank you.

[2:27:59] Thank you, Mike. Okay, raise your hand if you'd like to move the resolution.

[2:28:04] Mike, go ahead.

[2:28:07] I will move the resolution to move forward with this agreement with MCPS.

[2:28:13] Okay. I saw Neil raise this hand first. Go ahead. Neil.

[2:28:17] The second, the motion. Okay. We'll call the roll. We're going to start with Mike. All those in favor please say,

[2:28:21] Mike. Meal. Ryan. Lorian. Rob. You want an eye, Mr. Mayor, or? I or

[2:28:36] Nay if you're voting against. Okay, so I'm not there yet tonight and because I'm

[2:28:41] not there and the vote's being called I'm going to vote. Okay, all right, so the

[2:28:46] The motion carries proving the resolution for one with Council Member Wu voting against.

[2:28:53] Thank you very much, Seth and Seth.

[2:28:57] We appreciate you being here and your patience for staying this long.

[2:29:03] And stay safe and stay well and we will be in touch.

[2:29:07] Next we'll move on to our public hearings and we're going to start with our budget public

[2:29:13] hearing and we will bring in our finance staff. We have Rafael here and we have Nate and we want

[2:29:23] to thank them for their patience as well. I believe Rafael's going to lead us to this discussion

[2:29:27] on the budget and then we'll get to our testimonies.

[2:29:30] I'll be doing this one too, Mayor.

[2:29:33] Okay. Go ahead, Tony.

[2:29:34] And Rafael and Nate, who I will thank in advance for doing almost all the behind-the-scenes

[2:29:39] work. This is going to be a little bit of a different budget public hearing. As I've explained

[2:29:45] a couple of times, many of the forecasts and assumptions that we made had to be made in January

[2:29:53] February and then, frankly, the world changed and we are.

[2:30:00] To get some fairly high-level feedback, and then we will be back next Monday on the work session to give you specifics about where we think we can, how we think we can balance the shortfall in the budget.

[2:30:15] We'll get you that information just as early as we can, and put it out to the public as well.

[2:30:20] So, Brian, if you could load the PowerPoint and I believe packet page 49,

[2:30:32] so we can go to the agenda next slide, but Brian, we're going to give you the required overview, we still have to bring in what was legally required to be advertised.

[2:30:43] So, we'll spend just a couple minutes on that, then we're going to discuss the FY21 proposed revenues and expenses.

[2:30:50] Those are the originally proposed revenues and expenses, almost all of which will change.

[2:30:58] We're going to talk about the effects of the current emergency on the process, and then discuss

[2:31:04] some potential impacts on revenues and expenses, get your feedback on some of the vehicles

[2:31:11] that we might be able to use, specifically relating to expenses, and then just really quickly

[2:31:19] wrap up with some next steps.

[2:31:23] It's too slides, please.

[2:31:27] So,

[2:31:29] not sure what that is, but Ryan is

[2:31:33] something blocking the slide, is it? Okay. Back one, please. There we go. Back one, please.

[2:31:44] So we do expect to conclude FY 2020 well given the circumstances relatively well. We believe

[2:31:51] will be on budget. Most of the large revenue sources were nearly fully collected. It's April.

[2:32:00] There's only two months, two and a half months left in the fiscal year. The large sources

[2:32:06] like income tax and real property were met. We did have some additional expenses and we'll continue

[2:32:13] to have some additional payroll expenses related to the emergency, but our calculations is that

[2:32:19] of those were offset by closures and event cancellations and especially the mild winter.

[2:32:26] We were not, we did not have to buy salt, we did not pay a lot of overtime for snow plowing.

[2:32:34] Bullet four is unprecedented happiness, all reflected in this year's budget, not next year's,

[2:32:42] But as you know, we're in a healthcare pool and we do, we go to Great Lakes to support

[2:32:49] healthy lifestyles with our employees.

[2:32:53] We do get a refund of unspend claims, or at least most of unspend claims, which is the

[2:33:01] specific aspect of the pool that appeals to us.

[2:33:03] And this year we received nearly $900,000, which is a record refund.

[2:33:08] And more importantly, that moved into something that's never happened before in all of my years with the city, which is a zero percent increase in healthcare costs next year.

[2:33:25] The legit and Benacon representatives were pointed out how remarkable that was, and that's going to be a big help to us.

[2:33:33] This is the biggest single thing that we buy other than salaries.

[2:33:40] The use of the Undasinated Fund Bounds was budgeted about $2 million,

[2:33:46] but will actually

[2:33:47] be we're projecting to only be about $250,000.

[2:33:52] We have ceased onboarding.

[2:33:54] We have canceled some advances I mentioned before, and this will provide us with a little

[2:34:00] of a head start going into FY 2021.

[2:34:06] I would point out that we had another record year in investment

[2:34:09] income, but that obviously cannot be expected to continue with next year with race being as low

[2:34:19] as they are.

[2:34:22] Okay, right. Next slide. So this is what we advertised. This is the overview. We were

[2:34:29] proposing about a $72 million budget, which was up $3.7 million, about 5.4% from the current

[2:34:37] year that we're in. Obviously, mostly most of this is personnel cost, but we also had fairly

[2:34:44] robust CIP plan for next year. And other normal functions of government, the open trust,

[2:34:53] asset replacement in the housing program.

[2:34:57] And we were assuming, as I communicated to you, previously

[2:35:01] a reduction in reappropriation to about $1.9 million.

[2:35:06] And that would be a trend that we eventually

[2:35:08] would phase out reappropriation.

[2:35:12] But then we have come across these new challenges.

[2:35:18] OK, bye, next slide, and then next.

[2:35:23] This was the proposed revenue budget.

[2:35:25] See, mostly local taxes that would be property taxes, personal property taxes, licenses and permits, and then grants and shared taxes includes income tax.

[2:35:38] Charges for service, fines, and then miscellaneous revenues that would include investment income.

[2:35:47] Subtled was a little bit less than the proposed expenditure budget, so as I mentioned in the last slide, we had a reappropriation about $1.9 million.

[2:35:58] five fees. This is just the basic break down of personnel costs. You see it's well above half of our expenses are personnel and then operating would would include obviously all of our equipment and maintenance and gas and those types of things and then we had transfers including the CIP but that would also include other transfers like asset replacement.

[2:36:27] So that concludes the kind of a predictome of part of the presentation, and then we get into the situation that we currently have before us.

[2:36:37] Next slide please, Brian.

[2:36:40] So we're looking at expected revenue decreases between three and four million dollars from the original projections.

[2:36:46] That is why we had to modify the approval process to address this situation.

[2:36:54] It's unprecedented, even the 2008 recession coincidentally happened in the fall, which

[2:37:03] gave us a lot more time to react to what was going on.

[2:37:09] And we had a budget that didn't have to have these labor-cain changes.

[2:37:15] So we had to completely re-evaluate all of our revenue categories, and we are continuing to

[2:37:22] re-evaluate.

[2:37:22] There are still a couple of wildcars out there, including Iowa user revenues, which we still

[2:37:28] don't really know.

[2:37:30] We have not been confirmed that the million dollars in bond funds for the police station

[2:37:34] are actually going to be paid.

[2:37:37] We know they're in the budget of the state government, but so was Iowa user in 2008, and

[2:37:43] was completely reduced.

[2:37:47] But so we don't really need a lot of policy guidance because revenue pretty

[2:37:51] much is what it is. We really have to talk about expense reductions and whether you want things

[2:38:01] reallocated and then specifically if you're comfortable with using increased amounts of reserve to

[2:38:07] balance the budget. So we'll get to that later in the presentation but we have to we have to move

[2:38:13] quickly here. Because we only have seven weeks before the budget actually needs to be adopted.

[2:38:23] The budget you're going to talk about next Monday is still adraft.

[2:38:28] So what gets adopted, they can be very different from what's discussed now. So you can expect

[2:38:35] changes and we'll keep you in the loop or Dennis will keep you in the loop.

[2:38:39] Right up to a few weeks before an option and the adopted budget has to be proposed budget for adoption becomes presented to the public.

[2:38:55] One more please.

[2:39:00] So we have the two general categories of budget short term long term.

[2:39:06] The transactional budget requires us to make some fairly bold assumptions about really about consumer behavior.

[2:39:17] of admissions at amusement tax using the analogy today.

[2:39:22] If the theaters open tomorrow, if David Buster's reopened tomorrow,

[2:39:27] great, would anyone go?

[2:39:29] We're not really sure.

[2:39:31] So we have to take,

[2:39:33] I guess, when things might open and when they do open,

[2:39:37] how they will be utilized.

[2:39:39] Hotel motel tax,

[2:39:42] we received a report this morning from Tom,

[2:39:44] that I believe general oxygen hotels about 20%, which actually was surprisingly high,

[2:39:51] and that long-term stay was somewhere around 40%, which was remarkably high. We have a lot of

[2:39:57] hotels. Those are transactional things that come and go immediately. They're collected at the desk

[2:40:05] and they're remitted to us almost immediately. And then rentals and missions of our own facilities,

[2:40:10] Again, our kind of unhold at the moment, so we had to make some assumptions there.

[2:40:15] Long term, income taxes, clearly you're going to take a hit.

[2:40:22] Highway user revenues, we trim some, but we're not really sure.

[2:40:26] We could get them all.

[2:40:26] We can get not corporate personal properties based on the presciated value of equipment.

[2:40:32] We're going to assume that people are not buying a lot of new equipment in the current.

[2:40:36] have a economic conditions. So we had to cut that as well. And the real property, some of

[2:40:44] the lessons from 2008 were that takes a little bit of time to hit us. So actually, I don't

[2:40:51] believe we cut real property very much. But it will be an issue in the 22 budget. I'm pretty sure,

[2:40:59] a lot of our properties get reassessed this year in a three or three year cycle. So this will probably

[2:41:05] be the worst year for that. And there's no presumption on the part of the staff that there's any appetite for

[2:41:11] a general feeder tax increase given this current situation. Let us know if we can change the line

[2:41:18] of it.

[2:41:21] Okay, so the potential impacts on expenses. There's two slides here. We expect that there'll

[2:41:30] be some combination of virtually all of these things. No one categories is big enough or

[2:41:36] would we consider eliminating completely?

[2:41:41] So we would consider removal of the positions that

[2:41:45] were in the FY 2021 budget effectively instituting

[2:41:48] hiring freeze.

[2:41:51] We will have some increased personnel costs from the CARES Act.

[2:41:56] Most of that, as I understand it, it is a complicated act.

[2:42:00] We already are covered with most of the aspects of the CARES Act,

[2:42:04] But there are some like daycare that we have not so there will be some increased personnel, those are TBD at the point

[2:42:16] We had programs in

[2:42:19] I believe a 3% merit increase in a 1.5% cola at this point

[2:42:27] That's

[2:42:28] Unfortunately, personnel costs are where the money is

[2:42:31] So we will very likely propose a reduction

[2:42:34] of the merit adjustment, and we just very consistent with what other governments are doing it

[2:42:39] at this time. We'll probably see some decreased personnel costs because we just aren't hiring

[2:42:46] anybody right now, even for existing positions because we just can't onboard them. When you onboard

[2:42:53] something, it's a hand-holding process, it's a personal process, we have a few people that kind of

[2:43:06] on board. We do need to budget for them, but they probably won't be paid until possibly the end of

[2:43:13] the summer.

[2:43:17] Next slide, please. We have to account for the potential reduction of event budgets or

[2:43:25] conversely budgeting for events that may or may not happen. The big upcoming one for next year

[2:43:34] be some or fast and then October fast and I guess the parade so we're going to have to make a policy

[2:43:41] decision whether we just decide not to have them which is difficult to do that many months in advance

[2:43:48] or that we're comfortable budgeting for possibly a smaller event with the expectation that

[2:43:55] possibly isn't going to happen but that will result in its savings. Reduced travel,

[2:44:01] contracting budget is a commonly proposed outcome by the departments. We have already received

[2:44:10] some department supported cuts about a million dollars from six of our operating departments.

[2:44:22] And a lot of those have to do with personnel costs as well. For example, public works will not be

[2:44:27] seasonal summer. We have a large part-time summer workforce. Since we're only calling in a few

[2:44:34] public workers at a time right now, they will be taking over and doing seasonal work as it's

[2:44:42] need. So that will be a significant savings and public works is able to propose almost a

[2:44:47] 500,000 dollar cut to their existing FY21 proposal. We are not at this point proposing to

[2:44:57] L.A.L.A. or...

[2:45:00] We're going to reduce grants and economic development fund, but possibly a reallocation, not only of the amounts, but the purpose.

[2:45:09] Excuse me, an example that would be the economic development toolbox. Currently, it's not used for things like rent. It's not used for things like keeping people from going out of business.

[2:45:20] But would we temporarily change those guidelines and then it's probably end up spending more money than we normally would out of those.

[2:45:31] That's a policy discussion we'll have to have.

[2:45:34] And the reduction of fund transfers, including the CIP, asset replacement fund, the other post employment benefit fund.

[2:45:43] Some CIP projects could be pushed out of your two.

[2:45:48] current projects that are right in front of us right now, like CPSC, we probably not fall in that category, because we're going to do four down the road, but there are some other projects like facility projects that we'll get to on the next page.

[2:46:06] So, to the next page,

[2:46:10] these are the areas that, you know, we'd like for you, originally I had intended to kind of go through this and say, you know, are you okay with this bullet? Are you okay with that bullet?

[2:46:22] Now, you know, four weeks later, we're probably going to recommend to you a program that includes all of these things.

[2:46:33] With a focus on the increased user reserves, as everybody who follows us knows, we do have

[2:46:39] substantial reserve balance and if there was ever a time when reserves were put to good use,

[2:46:48] this is probably it.

[2:46:50] So we're looking at kind of generally splitting the shortfall between cuts to the existing

[2:46:56] budget and use of reserves, but I do think I do need to hear from you guys that you're

[2:47:02] okay with that. The other issues on here, you know, that's these are just the brainstorming

[2:47:10] that we had in going through this exercise.

[2:47:17] At the bottom of the page, the capital projects

[2:47:20] for facilities, public work, city hall and then KC. Those are tough. I mean, those are facilities

[2:47:26] that need work, but they're also very high-dollar, except for Casey, so we would need to push those

[2:47:35] off a little bit. Not something we want to do, but it's, you know, the situation is a difficult one

[2:47:42] as you know. And the asterics at the final bullet, you know, we do need to maintain infrastructure,

[2:47:48] we do need to continue to maintain our facilities, so we don't anticipate cuts to that aspect of the

[2:47:54] IP. So this is the key slide which I'd like to kind of open up for discussion. If anybody has

[2:48:03] any particular hot buttons that they would like us to avoid or to focus on, that would

[2:48:09] help a lot. I can just leave it at that and then we'll get to the next time. Tony, before I kind

[2:48:19] like have you go ahead and finish the the slides and then do the public comment

[2:48:28] at a respect for the poor members of the public who want to testify on this

[2:48:33] and then we'll come back to that slide and comment on that's that cool. Sure. I

[2:48:37] think there's only the one more on

[2:48:45] the back up here. Yeah next steps. So I

[2:48:55] a few days. We need to cut, make the budget cuts, and we need to prepare a revised budget

[2:49:02] plan for you to discuss next Monday using tonight's guides and sounds like you want to hear

[2:49:07] from the members of public that want to comment as well. And the rest of the slide is really

[2:49:13] just about what's going to happen in the next few weeks. So I think I can wrap it up at this point.

[2:49:19] Okay, well then let's go to the public and then we'll come back to the main questions.

[2:49:29] So we're going to go in the water people signed up.

[2:49:32] Our first speaker, our tech team, if Jason will Cox is still around, what's bring up

[2:49:38] Jason and Jason, just stay your name and go ahead and start.

[2:49:50] Well, unmute yourself too.

[2:49:57] Yes.

[2:49:57] I can hear you.

[2:49:58] Great.

[2:49:58] Thank you. Again, Jason Wilcox.

[2:50:03] Well, it is understood that the city is expected to face extraordinary revenue shortfalls due to

[2:50:08] the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[2:50:11] I asked that the mayor and council at minimum maintain funding for the city's community service,

[2:50:16] school, and nonprofit school grants at the FY20 levels in the FY21 budget.

[2:50:21] It is undeniable that many of our city's residents are currently exposing themselves to the threat of COVID-19 and low-wage jobs,

[2:50:27] such as food service workers, grocery store stockers, drugstore clerks, and hospital custodians

[2:50:32] that are essential in keeping our economy running and the rest of us safe and healthy.

[2:50:37] Many of these residents, among others, have relied upon and will continue to rely upon the

[2:50:41] myriad of services provided by Gathersburg area nonprofits to make ends meet, including for food

[2:50:47] and nutrition, housing, education, financial empowerment, and mental health and wellness.

[2:50:53] These nonprofits in turn have been stretched to the absolute limit in providing emergency

[2:50:57] assistance and resources to those in need during this unprecedented time. Food

[2:51:02] pantries, including nanophoots center, gathers work health in women-to-care

[2:51:05] ministries, are temporarily waving income requirements to provide food to any

[2:51:10] resident impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Our most vulnerable residents are

[2:51:14] depending on the primary care coalition now more than ever to connect them to a

[2:51:18] high quality comprehensive healthcare safety net. Identity has gone completely

[2:51:23] virtual to continue serving our Latino youth and their families, running virtual

[2:51:27] reading groups, census parties, ESOL and GED classes, and individual and small group therapy

[2:51:32] by phone or video. The same can be set of career captures, which continues to provide career

[2:51:37] counseling and vocational services to under and unemployed immigrants, victims of domestic

[2:51:41] violence, and those trying to break the cycle of poverty. There are just too many examples to

[2:51:46] list. The city of Gathersburg has always prided itself on delivering excellent services to

[2:51:51] all of those who live and work here. This would not be possible without the continued partnership

[2:51:55] with Gapersburg area nonprofits and the support that the city provides through the community service,

[2:52:01] school, and nonprofit school grant programs. In fact, Mayor and Council will be remiss to

[2:52:06] forget that when other municipalities reduce support for social services during the great recession,

[2:52:11] the city of Gapersburg redeveloped its support through the continuation of funding for these very programs.

[2:52:17] Now that we enter a second once in a lifetime economic downturn in just the last 12 years,

[2:52:21] The City must again renew its commitment to Gapersburg area non-profits and the vital services that they provide by at minimum

[2:52:28] maintaining funding for the city's community service, school, and non-profit school grants at their current levels in next year's budget.

[2:52:36] Thank you.

[2:52:39] Thank you very much, Jason.

[2:52:43] We still have Jackie with us.

[2:52:47] Yes, I'm still here.

[2:52:48] Okay.

[2:52:49] First off, Jackie.

[2:52:52] Please forgive me and us for keeping you this long.

[2:52:56] And second off, before you even start on behalf of all of us in the city, we want to thank

[2:53:02] you for what you're doing and how you're helping the community in such an amazing, incredible,

[2:53:09] unthinkable time of need.

[2:53:11] Manna has just been a stalwart part of our community and I'm following what you guys are

[2:53:19] doing on social media and I'm sure all of us are and we just, we just really appreciate

[2:53:23] you and your team, Jackie.

[2:53:24] so with that go right ahead. Well, I certainly want to return the gratitude. I mean the

[2:53:33] dedication that you all have and not just because you've slung through this very important

[2:53:38] meeting, but I'm just so admiring that you all is public servants and it's my honor to participate.

[2:53:46] I guess I have the same message that Jason just did that we're just really encouraging you even though

[2:53:52] there are uncertain financial times ahead that you maintain the allocations to the safety

[2:54:01] net providers. I'm representing the Food and Nutrition Coalition, which is a Mana Food Center

[2:54:07] nurse now and give this break up and all of us have tried to respond to this latest

[2:54:17] shop of the pandemic and we are seeing the data coming out on a week-to-week basis that

[2:54:26] the zip code of 2.77 is particularly hard.

[2:54:30] We at NAMMA experience the 22% increase in food requests from the city of Skatefish Burger residents, just since the middle of March.

[2:54:41] And so I think everybody recognizes that no matter how long the pandemic lasts, the economic preparations are going to be even longer.

[2:54:50] And we want to make sure that the food nutrition coalition can remain strong and stable and able to help.

[2:54:57] We appreciate the partnership with the each of you with your outstanding staff and as we move toward the uncertain future.

[2:55:09] Please be assured that we are ready to serve, but we do need the support from public funds to complement what we're raising from private sources and the business community.

[2:55:20] So with that, I'll just, you know, obviously answering questions, but thank you for considering maintaining support of the food and nutrition coalition.

[2:55:32] Thank you, Jackie.

[2:55:33] As I said, we're grateful beyond words for what you guys are doing and appreciate your testimony.

[2:55:44] Next, we'll move on to Bob Punichtera.

[2:55:49] And again, please forgive me for the time that this is taken,

[2:55:54] but Bob, we're glad to hear from you.

[2:55:56] Please unmute yourself, state, state your name, and go right ahead.

[2:55:59] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:56:00] My name is Bob Punichtera.

[2:56:01] I'm the Executive Director of Liberty's Promise.

[2:56:04] Mr. Mayor, how do members of the City Council?

[2:56:06] City representatives, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you this evening.

[2:56:10] And these on Orthodox circumstances and what are certainly unusual times.

[2:56:15] I will endeavor to make my remarks brief since you're going to be hearing from our director of Montgomery County programs,

[2:56:22] Mr. Julian LeBiche.

[2:56:24] And he's going to tell you about the wonderful and important work our organization does in your community.

[2:56:29] First of all, I'd like to thank all our basis berg elected officials for the passing current support of our work.

[2:56:37] The presentation by Mr. Thomas Ellis just now, sort of illustrated the situation that you folks are in because of the current health crisis and that we're all in.

[2:56:49] Now, nonetheless, I would ask you to most earnestly consider leaving funding for non-profit

[2:56:56] agencies and tech. I cannot speak to the work that many other non-profit organizations

[2:57:01] do in the city, although Mr. Jackie did eloquently before me, and I'm sure you're

[2:57:08] all well aware of this. I can't however speak to the perennial light at the end of the tunnel.

[2:57:14] Come the fall, Liberty's promise will be ready to begin our app to school programs for immigrant youth, the Gates of Bird High School,

[2:57:21] which engage both English speakers and Spanish speakers in the civic life of the Gates of Bird Community.

[2:57:26] Moreover, we submitted a proposal this year to expand this work to Quince Origin High School,

[2:57:32] an idea that has a strong support of QO principal Beth Thomas.

[2:57:36] In conducting these programs, we take you with out into the broader Gatesburg community and give them a chance to learn about all the many opportunities for success this country has to offer them.

[2:57:47] The vast majority of our program participants graduate high school, they go on to some form of higher education and they embark on meaningful careers.

[2:57:57] The youth in city high schools are great kids and their individual talents and gifts can contribute so much to Gatesburg as a whole.

[2:58:04] I would ask you then to consider funding the city's nonprofit sector without cuts.

[2:58:10] Long after this crisis over, the use of our programs will be making a positive contribution

[2:58:15] to the civic life of the Gasesburg community.

[2:58:19] And it's with that future in mind that we request your full-site financial support.

[2:58:23] Thank you.

[2:58:25] Thanks Bob.

[2:58:26] Thanks for all you do to support the recent immigrant community in the city of Gatorsburg.

[2:58:31] you guys run a great program and and now we have Julian coming up, Julian will be

[2:58:37] and Julian, I'm new to yourself and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

[2:58:44] Thank you very much for hearing us. We appreciate the work and the support you've provided

[2:58:51] over the years. Let me just promise you started programs in 2007. So that's 13 years now

[2:58:57] of impacting the youth in the community and you've seen the youth, you know the impacts that

[2:59:04] our programs have on them and just to illustrate that I will talk about a few of them. One of

[2:59:10] of them is a young man from the Philippines who wasn't my program last year and he was a senior

[2:59:16] and didn't have the confidence to apply for scholarships. He almost applied for one and then he

[2:59:21] because eating feel like he could do it. So it was a matter of sitting with him and laying it out in front

[2:59:29] of him and showing him what the steps are to apply for the next scholarship and he felt much more

[2:59:33] confident once he had the support for this. You apply actually for the care to count scholarship,

[2:59:39] which he got in and he got another scholarship which helped him apply, which helped him in roll at

[2:59:44] Montgomery College. Without our support this young man wouldn't be in college. He would be

[2:59:50] you probably be working for time jobs to make meets end.

[2:59:57] His case is not singular.

[3:00:00] Many, many other young people, and I could name many of them, who went to college or got jobs that they liked and are living healthy lives, because they got the support from me, which is promise and another non-profits like us.

[3:00:16] I could talk about Audrey, who is now who graduated from George Washington University last school in July now.

[3:00:23] or Sotheira, who's a software engineer at the U.S. Census Bureau, who got internships at Samsa

[3:00:29] with overall programs. Audrey got rental assistance, she got scholarships, she went to

[3:00:35] internships, she benefits from many jobs, she has workshops from us. As did her family,

[3:00:42] other members of her family. I could talk about Obedon, who is a patent examiner at the U.S.

[3:00:47] and trade marks. Many, many young people are relying on this help, and the cost to the community or the saving,

[3:00:59] the return of interest to the community is enormous. So, as Bob was explaining earlier,

[3:01:07] this is a long-term impact that this programs have, and this impact will be felt next year,

[3:01:14] In two years and five years, in ten years, because the community as a whole will benefit the economy

[3:01:19] will benefit from the success of these use.

[3:01:21] These program of civic engagement and internship programs, again, have been running on for

[3:01:26] 13 years, and we ask to council and mayor to consider sustaining these programs, helping

[3:01:35] us sustain these programs, because these young people are, to generation of the future, and

[3:01:41] will tremendously give back their talents and put that in back into the community. Thank you very much.

[3:01:49] Thank you very much, Julian. We look forward to seeing you soon, please stay safe, stay well.

[3:01:54] Next we have Michelle, if she's still there.

[3:02:00] Just unmute yourself, stay to your name and go

[3:02:05] Okay, good evening Michelle Levy representing mobile medical care and the Gapishburg Health Network.

[3:02:15] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and the Council for allowing us to speak tonight.

[3:02:21] Thank you for your longstanding commitment to Gapishburg's most vulnerable residents in this wonderfully diverse community.

[3:02:28] I'm proud to serve as the Director of Development, the New Director of Development at Wage at Mobile Medical Care.

[3:02:34] For over 50 years, our mission has been to improve the health of low-income people who face the greatest barriers to care access.

[3:02:42] As you know, mobile med delivers high quality, comprehensive, culturally competent primary care to low-income and under-insured residents.

[3:02:52] We also serve as a lead agency for the health care network, and tonight I'm also representing

[3:02:58] a Spire Counseling Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Davisburg Health, Holy Cross Hospital,

[3:03:07] Health Center, Korean Community Service Center, and Mercy Health Clinic.

[3:03:10] Through this collaborative, we serve nearly 2,000 city of Davisburg residents this year.

[3:03:16] As you know, primary care, which includes integrated behavioral health, can have a tremendous

[3:03:22] positive impact on quality life and is highly cost effective, timely care and regular

[3:03:28] screenings can reduce not only expensive treatments later, but also help prevent unnecessary

[3:03:36] ER visits.

[3:03:37] In light of COVID-19, the demands of healthcare or further stretch, our network remains strong

[3:03:42] an agile in this crisis.

[3:03:44] Mobile Med has instituted healthcare telehealth visits

[3:03:47] for established patients and will be doing

[3:03:49] so with new patients as needs evolve.

[3:03:51] Tomorrow, we will be launching a home visit

[3:03:54] for a group of patients and blood

[3:03:55] that are performing a blood test

[3:03:57] and then following up with a telehealth visit the next day.

[3:04:00] A spire counseling has been implementing

[3:04:02] both telehealth and audio only visits.

[3:04:05] Patients are highly responsive to the shift

[3:04:08] and will likely continue this option after a crisis.

[3:04:11] Mental health needs have only increased during this untartered and trying time for a resale.

[3:04:16] KCSC has implemented new wraparound services for its patients, providing groceries to them.

[3:04:21] They report through collaboration, they have seen them take a more active role in forcing their concerns and fulfilling more preventative care testing.

[3:04:30] Mercy health clinic and other partners have seen a steep increase of individuals who have recently lost insurance and may not be eligible for Medicaid.

[3:04:40] We ask for your continued support for the for the gave us work health care network,

[3:04:46] even in a tight budget we request an increase in funding to meet the anticipated increase

[3:04:51] in the number of residents who seek their services.

[3:04:55] I would also like to add that we have a good working relationship with community services staff

[3:04:59] who are responsive, helpful, and professional.

[3:05:01] We're extremely grateful for the city's commitment to the most vulnerable residents

[3:05:06] and look forward to continuing our work together to address their health needs.

[3:05:10] Thank you for your time.

[3:05:12] Michelle, thank first, thanks for your patience.

[3:05:14] Second, thanks to you and to MobileMed and all your partner organizations for all that you're doing in our community, particularly in this time of need.

[3:05:24] We will see you soon.

[3:05:27] Okay, that concludes our test of the money, so Council members, raise your hand if you'd like to go first as we take as we circle back to Tony's American Council feedback areas who wants to go first on that.

[3:05:44] Okay, I see Ryan first. We'll go to Ryan and then Neil.

[3:05:48] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just briefly, I want to say, you know,

[3:05:52] I think Tony hits the nail on the head with respect to the philosophy of trying to address

[3:06:00] the current economic situation with cuts and use of reserves.

[3:06:06] And I just want to make the comment, even though I know we're not in policy discussion.

[3:06:10] I mean, it's quite remarkable that as a city, because of our fiscally conservative approach

[3:06:16] and fiscal responsible efforts to make sure we have good reserves and good budgeting.

[3:06:22] and a lean operation that we really aren't as devastated at least not yet by the situation,

[3:06:30] the way that many other communities are. And as the President of the Maryland Municipal League,

[3:06:35] I'm feeling phone calls from cities and towns all over the state who are really in much more

[3:06:40] dire straits than we are in. I don't want to minimize the challenges that lay ahead of us.

[3:06:46] And, you know, I mean, this is a massive, this is a massive, massive challenge for our economy, for our people, for our city government, but all things considered, we're in relatively good shape to whether this at least in the short term and in this budget cycle, and I know that Tony and staff have to address these issues on the fly quickly.

[3:07:04] So, I think it makes perfect sense to empower him and the staff to make reasonable recommendations.

[3:07:12] Targeted strategically with respect to the items that he's listed in this presentation

[3:07:16] of things like freezing new hires where it makes sense.

[3:07:20] There may be a couple of exceptions to things like that.

[3:07:24] And looking at deferral of certain capital projects and other things.

[3:07:28] but generally speaking, the idea of strategic cuts while still protecting our full-time workforce

[3:07:36] and preserving basically what they have now, and dipping into our reserves because as Tony said,

[3:07:44] what are reserves for if not to use them in a time like this? I think that makes perfect sense.

[3:07:50] And I just want to say I sort of endorse that approach. And with respect to the testimony of the comments

[3:07:56] if I Mr. Wilcox and of course the testimony of all of our great non-profit providers.

[3:08:01] Tonight, my understanding from Tony's presentation is that there is no intent to cut any of the current levels of funding for non-profit grant programs and social safety net support for non-profit partners.

[3:08:16] There may be some reallocations internally in terms of what types of services will prioritize in versus others in the short term,

[3:08:24] depending on what the needs of the community are.

[3:08:26] But in terms of the overall pot of what we're continuing

[3:08:29] to dedicate and budget to those kinds of services,

[3:08:33] sounds to me like there's no intent from Tony's,

[3:08:37] at least as a latest proposals to do any cuts to that,

[3:08:40] whether we should do any increases or can even afford

[3:08:42] to do any increases to that is another question.

[3:08:47] But Mr. Wolkoch was absolutely right

[3:08:49] that back in 2008, 2009, or we were dealing with this,

[3:08:52] had an important and good discussion about how that was the time not to be cutting back on the

[3:08:58] social safety net services but to be double down on them and we did and I was proud to be

[3:09:05] you know one of the folks leading the charge on that back in 2009 and I don't know if we're going

[3:09:11] to be in the same position to be able to increase funding for those services this time around but

[3:09:15] the very least it sounds to me maybe you can confirm it doesn't seem like you're planning to

[3:09:19] cut any of that on it. That's correct. And the latest thing is, there are some grants, you know,

[3:09:26] for example, school grants that may or may not happen. And as opposed to just those those

[3:09:32] funds just disappearing, you know, can we sweep them into safety net services? That would just be an

[3:09:38] example.

[3:09:41] Great. We'll move on to Neil. Sure. I'm going to cover some of the same ground as Ryan

[3:09:48] but use fewer words,

[3:09:52] okay, sorry, it's getting late.

[3:09:56] Actually, I have a big question for Tony before I want to weigh in

[3:10:00] on anything in particular, which is this.

[3:10:04] It does this, does the city staff have any kind of a worst case

[3:10:07] estimate for what it looks like?

[3:10:10] I mean, you mentioned that the property tax revenue

[3:10:14] was not likely to be as severely impacted as some other things,

[3:10:17] And that's kind of the big number.

[3:10:20] So the question is, how much of a shortfall?

[3:10:23] Assuming this goes on for months forward

[3:10:27] and then public gatherings stay are still discouraged

[3:10:36] to some extent, and we don't do some big events,

[3:10:39] and we don't have a lot of hotel occupancy.

[3:10:43] What's the bottom line for the next fiscal year?

[3:10:45] we're talking about a million dollar shortfall of ten million dollars. What are we looking at you think?

[3:10:50] A next year do you mean twenty-one that we're playing for an hour twenty-two?

[3:10:54] The current one. The next year, the year behind that is, yeah, we'll deal with later.

[3:11:00] Well, we believe three and a half to four million, which is where we came in.

[3:11:06] Some of those were pretty confident. Some of them are frankly guesses, because we, you know,

[3:11:15] But we think we need to cover between three and a half and four million dollars for F-821.

[3:11:24] And we believe we can with a mixed program.

[3:11:28] Okay, thank you.

[3:11:29] So on that basis, that's basically what I thought what I expected to hear as a number in that general range.

[3:11:35] So again, going back to what Jason said and what Ryan reiterated.

[3:11:40] And times like this is not the time to cut back on social safety net services, right?

[3:11:44] people are in need out there, they're hurting, I mean everybody's hurting to some extent, but

[3:11:50] the most vulnerable people need to be taken care of. It's not their fault. You know, we just

[3:11:56] need to do what we do, and if we can increase in some way, it's not the biggest budget item that

[3:12:02] we have, so I think we're not going to break the bank by taking care of people that need to

[3:12:07] be taken care of. That said, you've already identified what you described as probably a million

[3:12:14] dollars worth of savings on that three or four million dollar shortfall.

[3:12:18] And fortunately, as we all know, the reserve situation is pretty solid.

[3:12:23] And I'd say that the two areas that we want to focus on for the next fiscal year that

[3:12:28] we're working on right now are probably deferring, CIP, expenses, pushing them out of

[3:12:34] year.

[3:12:35] I don't love doing that, but especially for things that are farther in the future that's

[3:12:41] much less painful than other things.

[3:12:42] And dipping into our reserves, that's, you know, as you said, that's what they're for, if it's a rainy day fun, it's raining and it's time to get out the umbrellas.

[3:12:54] So that's it for now. Thank you.

[3:12:57] Thank you.

[3:12:57] Thank you, Neil.

[3:13:00] Calts about it. Rob, go over the head, Rob.

[3:13:06] Thanks, Mr. American, hear me.

[3:13:09] Yes, go right ahead.

[3:13:10] Okay, awesome. I'm exactly where my colleagues are on this issue.

[3:13:16] You know, if we need to dip into the rainy day fund, we should. We should also be tightening

[3:13:21] our belts. And I trust telling in our teams discretion in trying to weather this in the most

[3:13:28] physically prudent way possible. I'm not necessarily in favor of across the board hiring freeze.

[3:13:36] if we need the positions, absolutely need them, then I think a strategic

[3:13:40] hiring is a better way to go. But if we can defer the positions or we don't need

[3:13:45] them, we can look to future budgets to fill those needs, everything else I think

[3:13:53] just makes sense to me. I'm kind of where Ryan was with respect to providing support

[3:14:02] through our grants programs for social safety nets, we shouldn't be cutting, possibly I think

[3:14:09] we should be looking to meet the needs of the community and we're robust to the extent

[3:14:15] that we can, which I think is where Ryan was going as well. I've had some discussions

[3:14:21] Tony with you and with Dennis and Tom about providing perhaps small business assistance to the

[3:14:33] You know, kind of an off the wall type idea, you know, and Lynn may pop on and start screaming at me.

[3:14:40] What about a matching challenge?

[3:14:42] City publicizes some kind of fundraising ability for where we will match whatever is raised from the public.

[3:14:50] I don't know, just throwing it out there.

[3:14:53] The concept is supporting the concept or idea that, you know, in times of trouble.

[3:15:00] We need to be the community support. We need to be working with the community support to meet the needs. And, you know, this is an unprecedented time that we're in.

[3:15:11] I guess finally, you'd mention, cancelling major events. I'm not sure I'm in favor of that, perhaps reducing the scope is a better way to go to the extent that we can.

[3:15:24] But I think it's important, particularly in the summer event, if we are able to attend the event in a socially responsible way that we should be looking to hold that in certainly October fest in the fall time frame is a major soon to be events.

[3:15:45] And then as Neil had commented about the, my preference on capital projects is take care of what needs to be done, but what can be pushed I'm fine with pushing and I'll leave that to your discretion and your staff's discretion to identify which projects fit was chat which category. Thank you.

[3:16:08] Thank you Rob, Mike Lorian, Mike. Go ahead. You're muted.

[3:16:16] I had her hand up first.

[3:16:18] Okay, go ahead, Lorian.

[3:16:23] Thank you, Mike.

[3:16:26] Thanks, Jen.

[3:16:27] So I will probably share the same sentiments as my colleague.

[3:16:33] I don't believe we should be considering decreasing

[3:16:39] decreasing our contributions for the community grant program and I like the idea of any unused

[3:16:48] monies from the Education and Richmond Committee that won't be allocated for the scholarship

[3:16:53] fund to be put toward our nonprofit budget for funding our nonprofit grant program.

[3:17:06] Over the weekend, I was able to go to one of the food pantries parent gate that's for our friend of the city due to Clark, she is in charge of doing the weekend backpack program.

[3:17:21] before COVID she was doing about 2,500 and now that's doubled.

[3:17:28] So I can only imagine what everyone that's testified

[3:17:31] from Manna to LiPherty's Promise to Mersees.

[3:17:37] I'm sure all of our nonprofit partners are overwhelmed

[3:17:40] and so if we're dozing event budgets and delay

[3:17:48] some capital improvement projects, but are way down the line. I'm definitely in favor of that.

[3:17:57] Also in favor of the hiring freeze. But definitely want us to prioritize any strategic

[3:18:05] additions that are absolutely necessary.

[3:18:11] And we just look forward to hearing the recommendations

[3:18:16] actual recommendations. We're not going to know when we can congregate in a big crowd again,

[3:18:23] and so I'm curious to see which event we would consider producing the budget on, and if we could

[3:18:30] maybe get a line item of our events. I know that Parks and Rec has shared that with us before,

[3:18:39] but if we can see that before the next meeting or that can be included, the events that we're

[3:18:44] considering resizing that would be very helpful in coming to final decision.

[3:19:00] And that's the thank you guys.

[3:19:03] Thank you, Lorien. Mike.

[3:19:05] Okay, so this is kind of deja vu all over again.

[3:19:11] Three of us were on the council when we went through this in 2007-2008.

[3:19:16] Ironically, it's also when we had a transition in city manager and leadership.

[3:19:20] And I think it's important that we remember some lessons from that period of time, some things that we did well, mostly we did well, and I think we are very creative and some things I think we're a little bit perhaps we we thought about them now in terms of things like deferred maintenance and holding CIP expenses things like that.

[3:19:49] because in the long run they ended up costing a second and perhaps the short-term benefit

[3:19:56] was not realized, had a consequence later on.

[3:20:04] So I'm glad that everybody's on board with maintaining our commitment to our nonprofit partners.

[3:20:12] You know, Brian, I push for that back in 2008, I think we impressed a lot of people with that that we were able to do that, but I think we designed a budget going back that allowed us to do that. We have a reserve and then we have a surplus on our reserve and I think we've been able to maintain that over a period of time.

[3:20:36] for major projects but also to keep us well above water, we're not treading water actually, I think we're swimming laps here.

[3:20:47] So I'm glad that there's a commitment from staff to maintain that effort to our nonprofits, to our partners and to helping those who are most vulnerable and most of the greatest victims of the current situation.

[3:21:01] So I think the other thing I want to remind everybody about is that one of the things we're

[3:21:06] created during this period of time was our economic development fund. We decided to spend some

[3:21:12] money, what's a money on the line, and committed to economic development. And we created the, we

[3:21:19] we also then decided to create the position of economic development director and department

[3:21:28] within that framework.

[3:21:30] So when everybody else was cutting back,

[3:21:32] we decided to make the investment

[3:21:33] and trying to generate some economic incentives

[3:21:41] for companies that were here, businesses that were here,

[3:21:45] but also to attract new businesses.

[3:21:46] And I think that actually put us on the map in many ways.

[3:21:49] So I think we've seen the great benefits of that

[3:21:52] over the period of time.

[3:21:53] And I think we need to remember that kind of a lesson.

[3:21:55] In terms of the feedback areas, I would say we need to not be, I understand the need for

[3:22:05] iron and freeze, but I think we need to think about strategic additions to that. Certainly,

[3:22:10] the reserve is there for specific reason, and if we have the reserve available to allow us to do

[3:22:17] certain creative things, then we should think about those things like we did in 2007-2009.

[3:22:24] So I think the rest of it makes sense,

[3:22:26] but I'm looking forward to hearing the plan.

[3:22:29] I think we're all kind of on,

[3:22:31] we're all more or less on the same page.

[3:22:32] I think it is remarkable that we've been able to maintain

[3:22:36] the kind of reserve and surplus

[3:22:39] that we have over a period of time.

[3:22:41] And I think a lot of that has to do with the fiscal management

[3:22:44] that Tony's been the major leader on in terms of the city.

[3:22:48] So I think in terms of his parting gift to us

[3:22:52] is that we can use that as he retires that we'll be able to use that to help us dig our way out of this.

[3:22:59] And I think that what we're digging our way out of is a lot less than what many other municipalities are.

[3:23:06] So that's that's basically it. I think you know, it doesn't sound like there's a lot of

[3:23:12] difference of opinion here on the council. And I think I'm sure Judd feels the same.

[3:23:17] You are correct. I agree. I agree 100% fact I agree with everything everybody said on this. Tony, the question is do you feel you feel guided to get us to next week to our work session.

[3:23:31] I do. I've got a whole page of notes actually from what's been from the public and from you guys and I see Nate and Matthew been writing all over. So we're ready to jump on this pretty quickly.

[3:23:41] Okay, right. I see Ryan wants to jump in.

[3:23:44] This very briefly, none of us mentioned it in our previous comments, but I think it goes without saying,

[3:23:50] uh, we all agree that there should be no tax rating creases at this point.

[3:23:56] Um, and assume that that in your presentation, and I think he was assumed it very correctly.

[3:24:01] Okay.

[3:24:02] Thank you.

[3:24:03] Yeah.

[3:24:04] Okay.

[3:24:05] It's going out too far on a limb.

[3:24:07] So, um, we ever brought that up, because I don't think it's ever been proposed while we've been up at the day as this year.

[3:24:13] So yeah, one time we did, it was 2000, no,

[3:24:20] I'm sorry.

[3:24:23] So, let's see our staff recommends that we hold a record open until 5 p.m. on Wednesday,

[3:24:29] May 13th, raise your hand if you want to say so moved. Okay, Rob.

[3:24:36] So moved, Mr. Mayor. Do we have a second? Okay, Mike is seconded it. Okay, we'll take the

[3:24:44] Council member Cessma.

[3:24:47] What?

[3:24:48] That was Neil the second.

[3:24:49] Okay, sorry, Doris, that was Neil.

[3:24:52] Council member Cessma, yeah or nay?

[3:24:56] Council member Harris.

[3:24:58] Yeah.

[3:24:58] Council member Spiegel.

[3:25:00] Yeah.

[3:25:00] Council member Cels.

[3:25:03] Yeah.

[3:25:04] Council member Wu.

[3:25:08] Okay.

[3:25:09] We will move to the

[3:25:10] you'll public hearing Tony take it away.

[3:25:14] And now this one's actually ref you, so.

[3:25:16] Okay, ref you.

[3:25:17] Well, thank you, Miss Smith.

[3:25:19] Well, post one to a state law.

[3:25:22] Look at governments are required to hold a public hearing.

[3:25:26] If they are maintaining a quality test rate,

[3:25:30] we'll lead to an increase in revenues.

[3:25:33] If we maintain the two points point two six two,

[3:25:38] up $100 of a set value property tax rate, property tax revenues will increase by 1.5%.

[3:25:48] To collect the same amount of property tax revenue as last year, which is FY 2020, the city

[3:25:55] would need to reduce a tax rate, though 0.2582, the constant year rate per $100 of a set

[3:26:06] However, we are requesting a web proposing that a city maintains its current tax of .262 of

[3:26:15] every hundred dollars of our sales value. The public hearing was introduced on March 16th

[3:26:22] and advertised that according to said law on April 2nd to be head today. Our staff requires

[3:26:29] that mayor and city council vote to hold the record open until Wednesday, May 13th at 5

[3:26:36] here under the five Republic of the proposed task rate of 2.6 to power $100 assets value

[3:26:43] will be voted on during the May and Council meeting on June 1st.

[3:26:50] Thank you.

[3:26:51] Thank you, Raffee.

[3:26:52] We do not have any speakers signed up to speak on the topic.

[3:26:55] Do we have any questions or comments from the council?

[3:26:59] not seeing any okay. I don't have that page in front of you. I'm assuming that the recommendation is also May 13th is that correct? Yes. Okay. Mike, I said you're raising your hand. Yeah, I was going to move. Are you going to move week? Okay. So staff recommends we all the 15th 2020 and I would comment then when we raise the tax by a nickel in 2009 we were still number 19 out of the

[3:27:28] out of the top 20 cities or municipal governments in the state of Maryland, so we weren't anywhere near the highest tax rate.

[3:27:37] We're still below us for any of the big cities in Maryland.

[3:27:41] Neil, do you have your seconding it?

[3:27:44] We'd like to second the motion.

[3:27:46] Okay, Dan, all those in favor will say, I'll call the Royal Council Member Sessma.

[3:27:51] Why?

[3:27:52] Council Member Harris.

[3:27:53] All right.

[3:27:54] Council Member Spiegel.

[3:27:55] All right.

[3:27:56] Council Member Sales.

[3:27:59] Aye.

[3:27:59] Council Member Wu.

[3:28:01] Yay.

[3:28:02] Okay.

[3:28:05] Thank you for that.

[3:28:06] We appreciate you staying in this late with us.

[3:28:09] We're going to move on from the Mayor Council.

[3:28:11] And we're going to start with Council Member Wu.

[3:28:16] Thanks, Mr. Mayor.

[3:28:17] I'm going to keep this exceedingly short.

[3:28:19] Stay home, everybody.

[3:28:21] Stay safe.

[3:28:22] And that is all.

[3:28:23] Okay.

[3:28:23] Well, then we will.

[3:28:24] Thanks, Rob.

[3:28:25] We will move on to Council Member Sales.

[3:28:30] Thank you, Mayor, so I will second what Rob has said, please stay home, stay healthy.

[3:28:41] Don't forget to fill out the census if you're at home and you have not completed it yet.

[3:28:47] I think only 50% of the census takers have completed their census and only takes 10 minutes.

[3:28:56] I also like to remind everyone that the April primary has been delayed until June 2nd.

[3:29:04] Please make sure that you are registered to vote and your registration is up to date since we'll be doing vote by nails this year.

[3:29:15] And please stay tuned to our website.

[3:29:18] It's updated regularly with updates about resources, regarding unemployment benefits,

[3:29:24] is nonprofit and business grants through the city,

[3:29:29] I mean through the city state and the county.

[3:29:34] So I know that money is running low,

[3:29:37] but please be sure to stay tuned to our website

[3:29:41] for updates and always reach out to our amazing staff

[3:29:45] if you don't find something that you're looking for

[3:29:49] in our website.

[3:29:50] And thank you all for your patience

[3:29:52] during the difficult time, take care.

[3:29:55] Thank you, Lorian.

[3:29:56] We'll go to Council Member Spiegel.

[3:29:59] Thank you, Mayor.

[3:30:00] The delivery workers, the postal workers, food workers, grocery clerks, all those volunteers, so are helping people in need.

[3:30:08] And our businesses and our nonprofits that have really been stepping up, and all of our city workers who continue to deliver critical services in these trying times.

[3:30:17] Everybody please do what you can to support them, whether it's with symbolic acts of thanks, or by safely volunteering your own time, or donating to the many good causes out there,

[3:30:28] or supporting businesses by ordering delivery or carry out or just by staying home to keep yourself

[3:30:34] and others safe. I also want to give a shout out to all the teachers and all the parents who are

[3:30:40] working hard to continue caring for and educating our kids at home while still trying to make

[3:30:45] ends meet and stay sane. As a reminder, face masks are now required in Maryland by executive order

[3:30:54] the governor, if he go out to any stores or businesses or offices, and I want to thank the governor

[3:31:00] for his strong leadership in this crisis. As President of the Maryland Municipal League,

[3:31:07] I certainly do not anticipate having to leave the league during a crisis like this, but

[3:31:11] I want to just give a shout out to the League staff and the leadership in members, mayors and council

[3:31:18] members and other municipal officials from around the state who've really been stepping up

[3:31:24] with creativity, with compassion, and the league itself has been really working hard to provide regular

[3:31:33] updates to our members, to compile resources and guidance, and to really serve as a clearinghouse

[3:31:38] of information for all of the cities and towns of Maryland. Like the City Council, the

[3:31:44] Municipal League has been holding virtual meetings, and has a virtual chat room where mayors

[3:31:49] and council members can exchange ideas and questions, and the very well-known, if I were

[3:31:55] mayors, essay contest that is sponsored by the Maryland Municipal League, and in which

[3:32:00] Gatorsburg actively participates each year has been reimagined, consistent with our theme

[3:32:08] of reimagining tomorrow, which has proven prescience.

[3:32:13] It's been reimagined as an online learning module

[3:32:17] that parents and teachers can use as content

[3:32:20] as we're doing remote and virtual learning.

[3:32:24] So I would encourage folks, particularly teachers

[3:32:26] to check out the Maryland Municipal League website

[3:32:29] at MD Municipal.org to learn more about how they might

[3:32:34] able to use this free online learning module for third, fourth, and fifth graders while

[3:32:40] they're putting together their remote learning curriculums.

[3:32:44] Laurie Anne already talked about encouraging folks to check out the city's website for resources.

[3:32:49] I just will echo that.

[3:32:51] That is updated regularly.

[3:32:53] And I just want to remind everyone that this week are the days, the official days of remembrance

[3:33:00] in the United States to commemorate the Holocaust and tomorrow is Yomhashallah, the official

[3:33:07] day of remembrance for the Holocaust, particularly important as we're seeing a rise in anti-Semitic

[3:33:15] hate speech and crimes in protests where people are carrying signs, blaming Jews for COVID-19.

[3:33:24] These are exceptions, not, you know, not the norm, but we still need to remain

[3:33:30] ever vigilant that people don't use these trying time to

[3:33:35] an opportunity to continue to grow in the hate and

[3:33:41] discriminatory acts and speech, and of course with respect to the Holocaust

[3:33:45] we need to never forget.

[3:33:47] That's all I've got.

[3:33:48] Thank you.

[3:33:50] Thank you, Ryan.

[3:33:51] We'll go to Neil.

[3:33:53] Thank you Mayor and thank you everyone for your comments.

[3:33:58] You know, I'm sure that when Tony agreed to stay on for a few extra months he didn't quite realize what he was stepping into.

[3:34:08] But I want to thank Tony for not only for stepping up and proactively dealing with this crisis situation from a budget point of view as well as from the city's point of view.

[3:34:19] But for all he's done in his tenure in the city,

[3:34:22] and I've been on the council now for about five and a half years,

[3:34:26] and Tony has always been someone who has been a steady force

[3:34:31] at the helm and someone that you can talk to and bounce ideas

[3:34:36] off of and share thoughts and has been a fountain of wisdom

[3:34:41] as far as city operations are concerned.

[3:34:43] So I just wanted to say this in public

[3:34:45] because we don't have that many meetings left with you on board,

[3:34:47] only unless you're changing your mind at this point, which is probably a slim chance.

[3:34:54] On a more serious, on a different serious note, I want to comment on something that was

[3:34:59] said during the public comment section early, where it was discussed, somewhat accused

[3:35:10] It's a totally, if that's actually a word,

[3:35:15] of the discussion a few months ago about the

[3:35:18] from the Board of Supervisors of Elections in terms of the possible elimination of right

[3:35:26] in candidates and the possible change of the polling place in that part of town.

[3:35:33] And I want to tell you that, first of all, one of the residents of the Sabro Community

[3:35:39] Dave Anderson was at the meeting, attended, listened to a whole conversation and came up to

[3:35:46] us afterward.

[3:35:47] In fact, I think even spoke publicly during the meeting that he was surprised that he

[3:35:51] actually felt that everything was on the up and up, that some of the recommendations

[3:35:56] that the Board of Supervisors and Elections were making were all based on experience and legitimate

[3:36:03] concerns and recommendations.

[3:36:07] I know, speaking for myself and I believe for my colleagues, competition is healthy and we're

[3:36:14] happier when there's a healthy election campaign with a number of people running.

[3:36:19] It was just felt that it works better when everyone's actually on the ballot and follows

[3:36:26] the rules and qualifies to be on the ballot.

[3:36:30] And that's why the discussion went in that direction as a recommendation from the board that right in candidates in the city were probably not a good idea and that's actually pretty common in the at least in this state.

[3:36:43] And in terms of moving the polling place, it was just a discussion in terms of efficiency.

[3:36:48] I mean, none of our polling places are busy on election dates, sadly.

[3:36:53] It would be nice if they were busier and it's hard to get volunteers, it's hard to get

[3:36:57] election judges.

[3:36:59] So there's been some discussion of ways to make that process more efficient, and that's

[3:37:04] really what was being looked at in terms of other possible options for polling places.

[3:37:09] So I know that people are suspicious, and I know that there's a bit of an atmosphere, but

[3:37:17] this is really very sincerely it's not aimed in any particular direction other than making our

[3:37:23] election process work better. I just wanted to put that out there for those who weren't

[3:37:27] at the meeting. Like I said, the person who wasn't the meeting came away feeling very differently.

[3:37:33] All right, thank you for your time. I know we have a lot more to do, so I won't go on any longer.

[3:37:39] Thank you, Neil. Mike.

[3:37:41] Well again, I want to tell everybody to be safe out there. Be careful. Stay at home.

[3:37:47] Wash your hands. Keep your distance. We're all in this together. We need to flatten the curve, but we're not out of the woods yet.

[3:37:56] So it's most important that we do our part. And I want to call out and acknowledge the great work that our governor has been doing. It might be a surprise to hear for some of you to hear me say something like that.

[3:38:10] about Governor Hogan but he's been quite an impressive leader through all of this and I think he really

[3:38:15] recognizes the urgency of our emergency and the critical nature of it and I don't think I think that

[3:38:23] he's made the right moves including at times being critical of leadership at the federal level when

[3:38:31] it hasn't been there when it hasn't been consistent or where it hasn't been well fought out.

[3:38:36] So one again, thank the governor for that.

[3:38:39] And then the other person that I think I want to call out

[3:38:42] is our own Ryan Spiegel.

[3:38:44] President of the Maryland Municipal League,

[3:38:46] I can't think of someone who would have been a anyone.

[3:38:50] And I know a lot of city officials in state of Maryland,

[3:38:52] and I don't know anybody who would have done a better job

[3:38:54] in this particular situation where we're reimagining Maryland

[3:38:58] and reimagining municipal government in Maryland.

[3:39:01] So Ryan's been a real leader both through the league,

[3:39:03] But I think also, some of those ideas have been shared nationally.

[3:39:08] So I want to thank Ryan, again, for that.

[3:39:12] So as always, Kudos to our staff for their earnest work and dedication to the job.

[3:39:19] I hope we're taking care of you as much as we can.

[3:39:21] I hope you're taking care of yourselves and each other.

[3:39:25] And then thank you to our team here, our clerk or city attorney.

[3:39:33] And the IT team that have been enabled us, Brian and Andrew and some others that enabled us to have this kind of historic meeting and I think it really was a historic meeting so that's all I have for now. Again, stay safe. Everybody be well. We're all in this together. We are Gatorsburg.

[3:39:54] Thank you, Mike.

[3:39:56] You speak about the meeting in the past tense, but there is still more to go.

[3:40:02] I will just note two items.

[3:40:05] First off, to give a shout out to our multicultural affairs committee,

[3:40:10] and that we have, even though it's sort of got overshadowed by a lot of other things,

[3:40:16] we have dedicated April as our proclaimed April as their American heritage month

[3:40:22] in the city of Gator'sburg and through social media we're continuing to put out information about

[3:40:31] ways that the community can commemorate that and a quick note about the book festival while we

[3:40:39] did cancel the in-person book festival that was scheduled for May 16th. Look for some announcement

[3:40:44] soon from the book festival team for some virtual programming that's probably set to begin

[3:40:51] over a period of several weeks around May 16th and it's good.

[3:40:56] We're going to have some amazing authors just virtually instead of in person.

[3:41:01] So that's coming up.

[3:41:02] Next we'll go to From the City Manager.

[3:41:05] Oh, I'm sorry.

[3:41:07] Before we go to Tony, just to the regular announcement that next join us next week,

[3:41:13] April 27th for a work session on the budget,

[3:41:16] where we'll sort of get down into a deeper dive than we did this evening and then the next

[3:41:22] regular meeting of the mayor and council is on May 4th. Now Tony, all yours.

[3:41:28] I think I talked enough for one night and I will pass.

[3:41:34] Okay. Well then we will go to economic

[3:41:36] development update and I'm wondering if is Tom Watering is coming up on the screen. Thank you very

[3:41:43] much time for staying with us till 11 p.m.

[3:41:48] Go ahead, Tom.

[3:41:50] My pleasure, Mr. Mayor.

[3:41:51] And I promise not to take too much of your time,

[3:41:53] as you're all well aware, the public health crisis

[3:41:56] and mandated shutdown of non-essential businesses.

[3:42:00] This had a crippling effect.

[3:42:02] Not only in the nations economy, but here in Gafersburg,

[3:42:04] as our business community hasn't been spared.

[3:42:07] By the impacts, city salons, bars, theaters, fitness studios

[3:42:10] are just among some of the categories of businesses

[3:42:13] that have been ordered closed to help prevent the spread of the potentially fatal contagion,

[3:42:18] forestry, forcing scores of proprietors to lay off staff cut overhead and figure out

[3:42:24] how or if they're able to pay their rent. While we're unable to obtain city-level data,

[3:42:30] first-level, first-time rather unemployment filings in the county of Skyrocketed since the onset of

[3:42:36] prices, nearly 39,000 initial claims filed just since mid-March.

[3:42:41] Cities hotel industry, while still legally able to operate, has been decimated honestly

[3:42:46] by the precipitous decline in business leisure and other travel activity.

[3:42:51] Three of the cities, 13 hotels have temporarily closed for now, while though still operating

[3:42:57] a reporting occupancy is in a fraction of where they ordinarily are.

[3:43:01] While it's pretty challenging to identify any real good news that's occurring in the city

[3:43:07] and beyond, we are hopeful that the support systems being funded and implemented will help

[3:43:11] our business community whether and survive the storm.

[3:43:15] Based on interviews we've conducted with commercial property owners, many to most of them are

[3:43:19] trying to work with their tenants with rent, deferral, or forbearance, even with the mandatory

[3:43:24] restrictions on commercial evictions during the crisis.

[3:43:27] Many of our landlords have made it clear that they would prefer to work with their tenants

[3:43:31] to help them get through the crisis, then lose them and cope with high vacancies after

[3:43:35] this passes.

[3:43:37] In general, lenders that hope commercial debt on commercial real estate are communicating

[3:43:41] with their borrowers and regulators are not currently pressuring lenders to demand payments

[3:43:46] as long as the borrowers can show legitimate need, which many can.

[3:43:51] Additionally, economic development staff has been regularly communicating with city businesses

[3:43:55] and commercial property owners and relaying information about federal, state and county disaster assistance funding programs as they're introduced.

[3:44:04] Unfortunately, due to crushing demand, many of those programs have run out of funding, and will not be accepting any new applications for support unless or until additional appropriations are approved.

[3:44:15] The most recent program to run out of funding is the economic impact disaster loan or EIDL as it's commonly known.

[3:44:21] would stop accepting new applications this past Friday, though applicants who have already submitted applications,

[3:44:27] who will continue to be processed in a first come-first or basis. We hope and expect that

[3:44:32] particularly popular programs such as PPP will be replenished in the not-too-distance future

[3:44:37] until then for businesses who have a relationship with an SBA lender, they should look into an SBA

[3:44:43] expressed bridge loan mow waiting on the EIDL program. The SBA is also allowing small businesses

[3:45:19] lot of information. The Federal Reserve just announced it's Main Street Lending Program.

[3:45:29] which will enhance support for small and mid-sized businesses that were in good financial

[3:45:33] standing before the crisis by offering four-year loans to companies employing up to

[3:45:38] 10,000 workers and less than 2.5 billion in revenue, which is most.

[3:45:44] Also, I want to mention that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this is a pretty small grant,

[3:45:48] but it's better than nothing. It's offering $5,000 to small businesses with three to 20 employees

[3:45:54] In certain economically vulnerable zip codes 20877 in the city is eligible 20878 is not the site.

[3:46:03] Just went live today.

[3:46:05] It saves small business.com.

[3:46:08] We encourage people to apply as we are sure that money will go pretty fast.

[3:46:13] And finally, the Maryland Department of Commerce has a number of programs like Advantage Maryland,

[3:46:19] which provides conditional loans for new businesses or business expansions and the non-profit

[3:46:26] interest-free micro-bridge loan program which provides loans to non-profits to support ongoing

[3:46:31] operating costs while awaiting future government grants. Also, I want to mention that Governor

[3:46:36] Hogan has signed an emergency order to protect families from price gouging on everyday household

[3:46:40] items and essentials. Staff has received a couple of email complaints about some city retailers

[3:46:47] that they suspect you're doing that, we remind them that retailers who attempt to exploit

[3:46:51] this crisis for profit, or personal gain will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[3:46:57] If anyone suspects that price gouging may be occurring, we encourage them to report these

[3:47:01] instances to the attorney general office directly. As economic development staff continues to

[3:47:07] communicate all available programs to city businesses, we encourage anyone who has a business

[3:47:11] or knows of a local business struggling to identify programs where to complete applications

[3:47:16] to reach out to myself for sharing this kind of my team directly. We'll be happy to lend a hand,

[3:47:22] either by helping them ourselves or directing to the right people and our resources

[3:47:26] and we're genuinely here to help them throughout this. That's all I got, Jen.

[3:47:30] Thank you very much Tom. We will move on to policy discussions and we will

[3:47:37] say by the time and we will invite Frank Johnson to join us to lead us in our policy discussion

[3:47:45] on the amendment to chapter 90.

[3:47:50] Okay, thank you.

[3:47:52] I'm assuming everybody can hear me then, very good.

[3:47:55] This is a policy discussion on a proposed ordinance

[3:47:58] to amend chapter 19 of the city code.

[3:48:02] I won't go through the entire history of everything,

[3:48:06] but these were some changes recommended.

[3:48:08] After the city mayor and city council approved two MOUs

[3:48:12] to allow participation in the capital bike share program and the county's

[3:48:20] doctors vehicle sharing demonstration program. In any event these

[3:48:26] were changes initially recommended on February 3rd and public hearing

[3:48:31] was held on March 2nd. Record was held open until March 22nd. The record

[3:48:36] does not include any public comments as none were submitted and the initial

[3:48:41] policy discussion was set for April 6 and after the crisis we are now working through, this

[3:48:48] was moved to tonight. The basic proposal, I won't reintroduce all of the changes, but basically,

[3:48:58] section 19-4, there are a couple of updates, but primarily focuses on the use of e-bikes and

[3:49:07] users and imposing some reasonable limits.

[3:49:11] And secondly, Section 195 deals with parking

[3:49:15] or where they're going to be left.

[3:49:17] And what are some restrictions there?

[3:49:21] There have been some changes that I want to highlight

[3:49:24] in what is now being proposed based on comments

[3:49:28] and discussion at the public hearing.

[3:49:30] And we were actually pleased to be able,

[3:49:32] believe to address the concerns based on without having to say, well, we've got to go back

[3:49:39] to a public hearing because that was some of the discussion at the time. Section 194,

[3:49:46] Subsection A, the definition of subway, segway has been clarified, which was suggested.

[3:49:54] Subsection B now does include, which was proposed, a subsection

[3:50:00] as a limit and unsafe using either one of these items in an unsafe manner or unreasonable

[3:50:08] rates of speed also does have a instead of just an overall 10 mile an hour limit, allowing

[3:50:17] the limit overall of 20 miles an hour or 10 when pedestrians are present.

[3:50:25] Third, or minor clarification to the helmet requirement,

[3:50:28] basically to make sure that we're referring to an ASTM compliant helmet.

[3:50:36] And fourth, there was a suggestion that we recount the limitation on passengers or other persons

[3:50:48] in addition to the operator in the draft before you. Subsection B7 and this is of

[3:50:56] 194 does say that. It was pointed out that if we leave that if you decide to leave it in that

[3:51:04] way, that would potentially eliminate a child seed or a seed for a kid or even perhaps a built-in

[3:51:13] or a task seating for a passenger.

[3:51:16] So it would be suggested that perhaps to avoid that

[3:51:22] what I would presume would be an unintended result

[3:51:25] to add to Subsection 7 where it says that

[3:51:30] may not be operated with a passenger or any other person

[3:51:34] in addition to the operator comma,

[3:51:37] except those using designed or attached passenger seating

[3:51:42] including a task-seeding for children, which is compliant with safety and

[3:51:49] manufacturer standards.

[3:51:53] The sense there would be, it has to be safe, it can't be

[3:51:56] something that violates the basic manufacturer standards. The changes to,

[3:52:09] excuse me,

[3:52:09] I just did a bit to refer to parking restrictions rather than prohibitions and secondly,

[3:52:19] subsection b's been changed. There was a suggestion I to indicate where doctors vehicles

[3:52:26] could be parked. So this now does specify the can be parked and standing upright position

[3:52:33] in areas which are subject to a restriction or prohibition or designated areas or in

[3:52:39] the operators on private property or on bicycle stands or certainly private property with

[3:52:47] the owner's permission. And then there is also in a suggested addition to for enforcement

[3:52:59] to provide notice to vendors in the opportunity for that vendor to retrieve the doctors

[3:53:07] vehicles, and that's partly based on the fact that these vehicles may well be owned by vendors.

[3:53:14] And since we're talking about these two MOUs with the county, that was a suggestion from

[3:53:19] the county.

[3:53:20] But those are the changes.

[3:53:21] Again, from the draft you have, the one change is to subject section 19 for subsection B7, just

[3:53:32] to specify that we're not saying you can't have a child seat there.

[3:53:40] And these changes of course can be adopted in part or entirely.

[3:53:44] We would recommend with the change to subsection 194 B7.

[3:53:51] And this the effective date here would be in 20 days, which unless I'm incorrect in my calculation

[3:53:57] would be May 11th, 2020.

[3:54:00] I'm certainly happy to answer any questions or look at anything else.

[3:54:06] Thank you, Frank.

[3:54:07] I saw Mike's hand up.

[3:54:09] Mike, go ahead.

[3:54:10] Mike, you're muted.

[3:54:13] Okay.

[3:54:13] Sorry.

[3:54:15] I had to find my cursor.

[3:54:17] You know, we've talked about this at Nazium.

[3:54:19] I think we agreed last time that we should go ahead and move forward this.

[3:54:23] And even though there might be some areas that we wanted to clarify later.

[3:54:26] I like Frank's addition to B-7 related to passengers and what might be what we would consider

[3:54:37] a legal modification that would allow carrying children or somebody else.

[3:54:44] Based on that, in our prior discussion, there are differences even in terms of the speed of these bikes on a on a sidewalk.

[3:54:54] you know, I certainly expect that we're going to be revisiting this after our experiment

[3:54:59] begins with the Dockless and Bikeshare bikes. So anyway, I was going to go ahead and move

[3:55:06] this with the amendment to what was it B7, 19, 19, four B7.

[3:55:19] Okay, so Rob's hand up first.

[3:55:21] Yeah, thanks, Mr. Mayor. I'll second it and thank you, Frank, you know, thank you.

[3:55:26] I caught the B7 issue as I was thinking about Neil writing his bike around the back.

[3:55:33] And I thought he would be very upset if we made that conduct illegal.

[3:55:37] So I appreciate the quick response and rewarding that. I agree with it and I'll second it.

[3:55:42] Okay, I did see Neil's hand up.

[3:55:43] Neil, what did you want to add? Anything more?

[3:55:45] You're going to say the same thing. First of all, I didn't catch in previous drafts.

[3:55:49] the fact that child seats would be potentially an issue. And as Rob said, I love driving around the

[3:55:57] city with my son on the bike with me and it's on a seat that has been designed to carry a large

[3:56:03] child. Also, I think your change to the language of the speed limit on sidewalks is a great

[3:56:09] is a great move forward. You know, if there's no one else on the sidewalk 20 miles an hour,

[3:56:15] which is what these bikes are going to be limited to is very, very reasonable.

[3:56:20] And if there are pedestrians around, I'm certainly in favor of the fact that 20 miles

[3:56:28] an hour is too much, so that's, I think that's a great change and I support the new language.

[3:56:35] Any other comments before we go to call the roll?

[3:56:39] Okay, not seeing any, we have a motion.

[3:56:41] We have a second.

[3:56:42] and all those in favor, please say aye.

[3:56:44] Council member Cessva.

[3:56:46] Council member Harris.

[3:56:48] Council member Spiegel.

[3:56:50] Aye.

[3:56:51] Council member Cels.

[3:56:53] Aye.

[3:56:54] Council member Wu.

[3:56:56] OK, carries unanimously.

[3:56:59] Next, we have staff guidance and Chris Berger, God bless.

[3:57:04] Thank you, Frank, by the way.

[3:57:05] Thank you, Dennis.

[3:57:09] Chris Berger, God bless you.

[3:57:10] You're still here.

[3:57:12] And this is just a request to extend the record for the STP for the CPSC Park.

[3:57:19] Take it away.

[3:57:21] Yeah, the Planning Commission will schedule to provide a recommendation on STPA-275-2019

[3:57:27] to the mayor and city council.

[3:57:29] It is April 1 meeting, but the Planning Commission's meeting was cancelled because of the pandemic.

[3:57:34] The Planning Commission eventually provided its recommendation at the April 15th virtual meeting,

[3:57:39] which began at 730 p.m. and the mayor and council's record closed on the same date at 5 p.m.

[3:57:46] so just a few hours prior to the recommendation. So staff recommends or request that the mayor

[3:57:52] and city council reopen its record for three days until 5 p.m. on Thursday, there's April 23rd

[3:58:00] to allow for planning commissions recommendation and any other public comment.

[3:58:04] The mayor and city council's policy discussion will be unaffected by the record reopening

[3:58:09] and remains scheduled for May 4th.

[3:58:12] Mike, I saw your hand.

[3:58:14] Oh, move.

[3:58:17] Ryan.

[3:58:17] Second.

[3:58:18] OK, all those of the favorite police say,

[3:58:20] I count some member Sessma.

[3:58:22] Right.

[3:58:22] Count some member Harris.

[3:58:24] All right.

[3:58:24] Count some member Spiegel.

[3:58:26] All right.

[3:58:26] Count some members sales.

[3:58:28] All right.

[3:58:29] Count some member Wu.

[3:58:31] All right.

[3:58:31] Carries unanimously.

[3:58:33] Chris can't believe you waited until 11.30 at night

[3:58:36] to get that quick agenda item.

[3:58:38] But thank you very much.

[3:58:40] You're welcome 28. Come on 11 28. Okay, I don't want to sell it short and late. I think there's the watch and rock go.

[3:58:50] Thank you Chris from the city attorney.

[3:58:55] I just have one comment. I wanted to follow up on council members sales coming about the upcoming primary election.

[3:59:04] I'm sure you all saw that it has changed to a vote by mail election.

[3:59:10] However, the governor has decided that there will be a few voting centers open on primary

[3:59:17] election day.

[3:59:18] There will be four Montgomery County and we are working on the activity center being one

[3:59:23] of those four.

[3:59:26] Thank you for that, Lynn.

[3:59:28] We look forward to updates on plans for that.

[3:59:32] I got a text from Dennis that that he has nothing from in from other staff. I don't know if there's any other staff that's even still around.

[3:59:42] So we are at this point. I'm just going to say thank you very much in particular to our tech team, Brian Helms, Andrew Barnes, we're not over Gomez and anybody else that that really helped facilitate this.

[4:00:00] We are adjourned.

Mayor and City Council Regular Session

Agenda

Transcript