Regular Meeting on May 13, 2010

Meeting began at 7:37pm. Council member Christine Nagle was present, Council member Jack Perry and Bob Catlin joined later.

Prince Georges Co. Police COPS officer Sarita could not come due to a prior engagement; however, she sent a crime report for the members. The crime trends in the area have been breaking and enterings. There were 3 on Hollywood Rd, one on 52nd, and 48th Pl. All but one have been during the day and the one on 52nd occurred around 1 am. There was a stolen auto off of Cherry Hill Rd. and one on Edgewood; in the latter case the victim left the vehicle running while he went inside the store.

City Public Services Director Bob Ryan and Parking Enforcement Field Supervisor Scott Osborn made a presentation on the City’s Parking Permit program. The city currently has 16 parking zones – all were set up at the request of city residents. The restrictions in each zone are unique, and can be changed by residents of that zone to meet changing needs. The department has 5 F/T and 1 P/T parking enforcement officers (PEO), 1 field supervisor, 1 manager, 1 F/T and 1 P/T clerk. One PEO retired in early May; the position will not be replaced in FY2011. The total budget for the department is $800,541, which includes $590,630 on payroll and benefits. A total of 1008 tickets have been issued in north College Park in FY2010.

Moved by Bill Robertson and seconded by David Turley, the April 2010 minutes was approved.

President Larry Bleau reported that he appointed Fazlul Kabir to By-Laws Committee at the request of the committee members and he accepted resignation of Bill Robertson as Chair; no replacement chair has yet been appointed. He appointed M Sarwar to Nominating Committee along with Donna Weene (chair) and Bill Robertson. He decided not to appoint a Vice President but to allow the position to remain vacant until elections in June.

As of May 2010 NCPCA has 164 members in 91 residences.  So far there have been 9 renewals (15 members).

Although no Treasurer report was given, Mohammed Taluckder later provided the following: NCPCA’s April 2010 bank statement ending balance: $1,733.33. Revenues: $10 dues.  Expenses: $44.44 postage; $48.34 for copying; $24.27 other.

Council member Chris Nagle announced a joint forum involving candidates for the offices of County Executive, County Council, and State’s Attorney on May 18, and that PEPCO will be having a public hearing on a proposed rate hikes on Thursday, May 20. Council member Jack Perry stated that the Ledo’s Pizza store will be moving to the downtown in the building where the City’s Garage is located; the Maryland Book Exchange property is up for sale; the budget was introduced recently, but has not yet been approved; the City has a new animal control officer; Mazza GrandMarc will begin leasing this fall (the student housing complex has 630 beds and rent is set at $900 per bed); and the City has lost more than $600,000 on state highway user fees this year.

The 2010 Picnic coordinator, Valerie Bleau, reported that about 30-40 people attended, we all had a nice time, and the weather was beautiful. She spent $333.39 on the picnic, which does not include $10.03 on sodas that can be used as meeting refreshments. NCPCA authorized $300, $106 was already paid for the Halal food. She requests reimbursement of $204.03, and will absorb the remaining cost of the picnic.

The former By-Laws committee chair Bill Robertson reported that the Committee met twice, had real good discussions, and talked about a lot of topics. The committee will continue to meet over the coming year to review all the suggested changes.

Donna Weene, Nominating Committee chair, reported the following nominations: Mark Shorder for President, Arthur Eaton for Vice President, Fazlul Kabir for Secretary, and Joe Smith for Treasurer. Bill Robertson and Mohammed Taluckder nominated themselves for Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Moved by Peter Lakeland /Bill Robertson: Close nominations, motion passed.

Larry Bleau appointed Donna Weene as Elections Committee chair, with Kennis Termini and Mohammad Sarwar to assist.

Members discussed informally if NCPCA should set a policy on audio recordings of NCPCA’s regular monthly meeting proceedings, after which Bill Robertson moved: Authorize the NCPCA Secretary to make an audio recording of the meeting to assist in preparing accurate minutes and for no other purpose. An amendment by Peter Lakeland / Fazlul Kabir to prohibit others from recording the meeting unless they first obtain permission from the President failed.  The original motion then passed.

Moved by Mark Shroder and seconded by Peter Lakeland, Adjourn the meeting.  Larry Bleau pointed out there were still two more agenda items. Motion passed, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:30pm. 

Respectfully submitted by Fazlul Kabir, Secretary.