Meeting began at 7:30 pm. Councilmembers Patrick Wojahn, Bob Catlin, Jack Perry, Mark Cook and Mayoral Candidate Andy Fellows were present.
The meeting started with Candidate Forum, which was moderated by NCPCA Vice President John Krouse and NCPCA Treasurer Anna Ubeda. The candidates present in the forum were: Larry Bleau, Fazlul Kabir, Christine Nagle and Patrick Wojahn from District 1; Jack Perry and Robert Weber from District 2. Bob Catlin, also from District 2, joined later. The uncontested Mayoral candidate Andy Fellows was also present. Due to a conflict of another engagement, candidates from District 4 could not join. Each candidate was first asked to introduce themselves. This followed by three questions for each candidate; there were two additional questions for the Mayoral candidate.
The County Police’s Community Response Team (CRT) Officer Melanie Sarita spoke to members about recent crimes in the area. The number of crimes in the area went down recently, yet there have been a few incidents of theft and robbery in the past month. In one incident, they have a person of interest in the case of a pawned GPS. There were three incidents of theft from autos on Cherry Hill Road, and another incident of robbery from a Metro bus passenger. She suggested looking around and being aware of one’s surroundings when getting off Metro buses. Councilmember Wojahn suggested residents owning GPS devices write down serial number of the device; since it is fairly easy to track down a stolen GPS device from a national database. There was a fatal accident on Rhode Island Ave. two weeks ago when a speeding vehicle tried to pass another vehicle and collided with an oncoming vehicle. On November 7 at the United Methodist Church there will be a seminar titled “Am I Safe” on crime prevention.
Chris Nagle made a brief presentation on the Sep 28 meeting at City Hall between two members of the Board of Education and the City’s Education Advisory Committee to address the overcrowding issues at the Hollywood elementary school. The Board is currently looking into several options, including re-bounderying the school district and the provide special programs to neighboring schools.
President Larry Bleau announced that the NCPCA’s community picnic has been rescheduled for next spring. He wrote a letter to District Council and M-NCPPC stating NCPCA’s earlier positions on the US 1 Sector Plan; wrote a letter to MD Dept. of Assessments and taxation requesting a copy of NCPCA’s Articles of Incorporation; contacted members of the design committee for the old house at Edgewood and US 1, and appointed a two more members, Bob Seward and Donna Weene; sent email to City Planning staff asking for an update on the blocked sidewalk along Greenbelt Road;; and communicated with Public Services re placing NCPCA meeting announcement signs on public right-of-way.
Treasurer Anna Ubeda reported ending balance of $2003.82. $90 has been deposited towards renewal, $44 was spent on stamps, $19.80 was spent refreshments and $14.84 was spent for copy. NCPCA’s official bank, PNC Bank, refunded $3.00 towards fees.
Vice President John Krouse announced that he has recently accepted the responsibility of NCPCA’s membersip list and introduced a new way of keeping records of attending members in the meeting.
Secretary Fazlul Kabir announced that he contacted many members about renewals; currently NCPCA has 62 active members, he expected to have 20 more members through renewals and new memberships. He also updated the NCPCA site https://myncpca.org with the September 2009 minutes.
Members voted to approve variance CPV-2009-06, allowing setbacks from the Rhode Island Ave service road and from the neighboring property. The proposed addition would have the same setback from the Rhode Island Ave service road as the existing house. Members also voted on variance CPV-2009-09 to allowing 18 inches instead of 2 feet for offset from neighboring properties for 2 sheds and the carport, total lot coverage of 189 sq ft in excess of the 30% limit, and setback of 58 ft instead of 60 ft from the street for one of the sheds.
Moved by Peter Lakeland / Bill Robertson: approve the June 2009 minutes. Motion passed. Moved by Peter Lakeland / Mark Shroder: approve the September 2009 minutes. Motion passed.
Jack Perry reminded members of the need for election judges on November 3. Interested members should contact Jack Robson, Elections Commission Chair, at City Hall 301-864-8666.
Members discussed at length several proposed amendments in the Master Plan of Transportation. Members voted In favor of proposed amendment 12, item 15, No. 122 Rhode Island Trolley Trail, to extend the Project Limit to Quimby Avenue and make other minor changes; in favor of proposed amendment 12, item 16, to add a project for Bike Lanes on Edgewood Road from US 1 east to 53rd Avenue; in favor of proposed amendment 12, item 18, to delete the Pedestrian bridge from College Park; in favor of proposed amendment 30, item 9, to reduce the number of lanes on Rhode Island Avenue to 2; and opposed to amendment 30, item 15, P-200 Autoville Drive, to change the limits of the project. NCPCA requests the outright deletion of P-200, rather than just changing its limits.
Patrick Wojahn asked members to volunteer The PGCPS – C.A.R.E.S. Reading Together Program, which is a partnership between The State’s Attorney’s Office and Prince George’s County Public Schools. The program organizers are currently looking for adult volunteers to tutor second grade students once a week at five of our six host schools: The Methodist Church on the Rhode Island Ave will organize a safety session “How can I make me safe” on November 7.
Members voted to approve variance CPV-2009-06, allowing setbacks from the Rhode Island Ave service road and from the neighboring property. The proposed addition would have the same setback from the Rhode Island Ave service road as the existing house. Members also voted on variance CPV-2009-09 to allowing 18 inches instead of 2 feet for offset from neighboring properties for 2 sheds and the carport, total lot coverage of 189 sq ft in excess of the 30% limit, and setback of 58 ft instead of 60 ft from the street for one of the sheds.
Moved by Peter Lakeland and seconded by John Krouse, Adjourn the meeting. Motion passed, and the meeting adjourned at 10:05pm.
Respectfully submitted by Fazlul Kabir, Secretary