Dear Neighbors:
Here’s a link to the agenda for the February 12, 2020 City Council meeting: https://takomaparkmd.gov/meeting_agendas/city-council-meeting-agenda-wednesday-february-12-2020/. The key agenda items are a continuation of our discussions on the tree ordinance and forest policies, plus a staff presentation on the responses to the City’s RFP for a community engagement contract connected to the future redevelopment of the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center. We’ll also have two votes: on the closure of Laurel Avenue on two specific dates later this year, and an appointment to the Grants Review Committee.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
2020 Census Jobs. It’s crucial for Takoma Park to have a full count of all our residents for several reasons: so our population is accurately recorded for Congressional representation; in order to receive appropriate levels of funding for which we’re eligible; and to ensure we have a full picture of our community. The City will be taking a series of advocacy and publicity steps to promote participation in the Census count by everyone in the City. But it’s also critical for there to be a sufficient corps of temporary Census workers to conduct the count. This can be a great opportunity for residents seeking short-term employment opportunities. A Census job recruiter will be in the Computer Center rotunda in the Community Center on Wednesdays in February from 5:00 - 7:00 PM and Saturdays from 1:00 - 4:00 PM. Anyone who may be interested in working for the Census is encouraged to stop by.
Office Hours -- February 12. I’ll be available to chat with resident about local topics this Wednesday from 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Takoma Bevco. No appointments necessary.
District 20 Night in Annapolis -- February 17. State Senator Will Smith and Delegates David Moon, Jheanelle Wilkins and Lorig Charkoudian will be hosting the annual District 20 night from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. More details and information on transportation options will be provided in a separate message.
Azalea Award Votes -- Deadline Feb. 20. This is your chance to vote for local heroes who help make our community the amazing, unique place it is. There are 11 categories on the ballot. https://www.takomafoundation.org/events/azalea-awards-ballot
CORRECTION for Feb. 25 State Highway Administration Vision Study Event on Takoma Junction Development. I mis-stated an important aspect of this event in an earlier blog. While the event is open to the public, only appointed members of the Stakeholder Advisory Group will be able to participate in the workshop on the SHA recommendations. The event will take place at the Takoma Park Middle School Cafeteria from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.
Presentation and Council Discussion on Library Renovation -- February 26. With the proposed Library renovation design work having been delayed in order to consider floodplain requirements, we’ll be receiving an update on the project, including potential cost implications of any needed floodplain work. That in turn will help determine whether significant changes to the project design may be necessary.
UPDATES FROM LAST WEEK’S MEETING
Climate Change Resolution. Over 30 people testified in last week’s public hearing on the proposed climate change resolution. The speakers generally agreed we ought to take action at our local level to address the climate emergency. But many felt we shouldn’t call for requirements -- like, for example, phasing out the use of natural gas for home heating -- without doing a lot more analysis of the potential costs first. My preference is for the resolution to be more of a framework for future analysis on costs and other impacts as opposed to a commitment today to undertake a specific series of mandated steps over the next 15 years. I’m exploring options for revising and clarifying the resolution along those lines. I’d also like to see us add some components not in the current draft, including more detailed language on adaptation and resilience to climate change, especially in areas like stormwater management (see below).
Rather than re-stating my thoughts on these points and some of the other ways I’d like to see the resolution changed, here’s a link to my blog from last week on this subject: http://www.councilmemberkovar.com/blog/2020/2/4/statement-on-climate-change-resolution-february-4-2020. You can also see a good summary of my current thinking on the resolution through the video from this past week’s Council meeting: https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/meetings-and-documents/city-council-video/. I spoke several times on the climate resolution, but I would suggest looking especially at my remarks that start at the 2:39 mark.
Stormwater Rate Structure. All single-family homeowners in Takoma Park currently pay an annual $92 stormwater management fee. This is tied to Federal and State requirements that we treat stormwater from at least 20 percent of our impervious surfaces. Our budget allocates $700,000 annually for this purpose. The flat fee doesn’t take into account the individual variations in properties or the extent to which they contribute to stormwater flow. So in 2018 the City commissioned a study with an outside contractor to determine the impervious area on each property. Based on the study’s findings, staff have proposed that we institute a tiered fee structure which more accurately reflects the conditions on each property. Here’s the link to the background information on this issue from last week’s meeting agenda: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200205-5.pdf
The downside to this approach is that it would mean fee increases for a majority of homeowners, with about 20 percent seeing declines, though homeowners would be able to appeal their impervious area calculation (if for example they have installed a rain garden or have a driveway made of porous material). I agree it would be fairer to have a fee structure that’s connected to properties’ actual contributions to untreated stormwater flow in the City. But I’m reluctant to support a fee change that will cause immediate significant increases on property owners in this fashion. You can see the impact of the tiered approach on your individual property through this map: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/Meeting-Documents/Stormwater-Fee-Map_Proposed-Fee-Distribution.pdf. At a minimum, I’d like to explore phasing in the tiered approach over several years to minimize its immediate impact. But I’d also like to see if there are other options that could inject more fairness into the fee structure without imposing large fee increases. I welcome residents’ thoughts on this topic.
Looking at this more broadly, and as noted in the comments above on the climate resolution, stormwater is one of the issues we need to consider within the larger climate context. That’s also true of our tree policies (discussed in more detail below). And, while I don’t believe that every individual step or action we may decide to take on climate change has to literally be spelled out in the resolution, I do think it’s important to at least show in the resolution how separate initiatives like stormwater management and new tree policies are connected to our climate response. So I’ll continue to emphasize the need to consider these various initiatives as part of a broader, more coordinated approach.
VOTING SESSION
Laurel Avenue Closure on April 25 and June 12: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200212-1a.pdf. In last week’s meeting, we discussed the request by the Old Takoma Business Association for the closure of Laurel Avenue on April 25 for Art Hop and June 12 for an LGBTQ Pride Celebration. In that discussion I emphasized the importance of adequate advance notification and signage so residents and patrons of businesses in the area would be aware of the impending closure, as well as the importance of reaching out to Pepco to coordinate with them on any potential plans for street excavations on the part of Eastern Avenue near Laurel. With those points being addressed -- and as a fan of Art Hop and someone who thinks the Pride event will be a great new celebration for the City -- I do plan to vote in favor of the closures. Going forward, based on our experiences with these two closures (and a third one scheduled for early May), I’d like to see us come up with some general guidelines on how best to plan for and provide notice about any such closures in the future.
Grants Review Committee Appointment: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200212-1b.pdf. I’ll be voting yes on the proposed appointment.
WORK SESSION
Recreation Center Community Engagement Contract: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200212-2.pdf. City staff and the Council have begun exploring options for renovation of the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center with the ultimate goal of combining the renovation with development of affordable housing units on the same site. In considering potential options for this project, the Council approved funding for a community engagement contractor to conduct an inclusive outreach process that’s focused on ensuring input from a diverse range of City residents, especially those who live in close proximity to the redevelopment site. The City issued a Request for Proposals for this community engagement work in December, with a submission deadline of January 31. Staff will be reporting this week on the five responses to the RFP, with the expectation that the Council would vote on awarding the contract at our February 19 meeting. I’m encouraged that the five groups with applications under consideration all appear to have serious commitments to the kind of inclusive engagement process we’re looking for.
Tree Ordinance/Policies: https://documents.takomaparkmd.gov/government/city-council/agendas/2020/council-20200212-3.pdf. Since late 2018 the Council has conducted a number of work sessions on potential changes to the tree ordinance as well as actions to strengthen our urban forest policy, including the establishment of tree canopy goals. This week we’ll continue those efforts as we discuss further refinements of the detailed set of potential changes to the tree ordinance we’ve been reviewing for several months, along with a proposed resolution on Principles and Overarching Goals for Tree Canopy and Urban Forest Policies.
Given the complexity of these issues, we still have plenty to discuss, particularly -- from my perspective -- around the treatment of hazardous trees in the ordinance, and how (as mentioned above) both the ordinance and our broader forest policies connect to our efforts on climate change. To this point, the input and recommendations from City staff, the City Attorney, the Committee on the Environment, the Tree Commission, and many residents who work in these fields professionally or who are otherwise knowledgeable about tree-related matters have been crucial to our work. I’m confident that with the continued assistance and advice from these sources we’ll end up with a significantly improved ordinance and a positive approach to our forest policy and tree canopy.
As always, please feel free to be in touch with me about any of the matters that are covered in this message.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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