Dear Ward 3 residents,

The Takoma Park City Council has our final meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, Dec. 9) before the holiday recess. We start off in a joint meeting with the District 20 State Delegation to discuss legislative priorities during the upcoming session in Annapolis. Afterwards, we transition to a regular Council meeting. Our agenda is below.

COVID cases in Takoma Park and our region are rising. Please take precautions and ensure you are protecting yourself and your most vulnerable neighbors -- especially those who have medical conditions that make them especially at-risk and those whose jobs require them to work in close contact with others. We should all be socially distancing, avoiding gatherings, wearing masks, and washing hands.

Please join me on Wednesday, Dec. 16, from 7:30-9pm for a virtual Ward 3 Discussion on COVID. Let's come together to talk about actions we can take as individuals, neighbors, and a community/city to reduce the spread and ensure people's needs are being met. 

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86837659614
Call by phone: 301 715 8592
Meeting ID: 868 3765 9614

Another thank-you to the residents who have taken my Ward 3 Survey. I am still reviewing responses and will be in touch with you over the coming weeks if you included contact information. If you wanted follow-up on something that needs immediate attention, please contact me directly so I can make sure to get to it sooner. Thank you!

Sincerely,

• Adopted an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to to sign a contract for facilitation services for the Reimaging Public Safety Task Force. I voted in support of this item
• Adopted an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to sign a contract for executive search services for the City Manager Recruitment Process. I voted in support of this resolution. I was part of a small group that reviewed applications, interviewed firms, and made a recommendation on the firm to select. The firm we chose has experience in hiring the current Deputy City Manager and the Gaithersburg City Manager, and expressed a strong sense of understanding the city's needs and solid outreach plans/capacity.
• Adopted a resolution extending use of public and private Space for outdoor seating, sales, and customer pickup. I supported this resolution after making an amendment that created a clearer and firmer sunset clause on the closure of Laurel Ave to allow for regular Council review. Thank you to the residents who noticed the unclear clause in the draft and suggested a change. The new language reads as, "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution will sunset on September 30, 2021, and Council will consider a new resolution based on information available at that time."
• Adopted a resolution removing the HCD Director position from the hold list. I supported this resolution. Although I had concerns about hiring for this position when we addressed it during the budget process earlier this year, I have seen the need for this position to be filled and the increased capacity it would allow for COVID response and assistance to residents and businesses.
• Adopted an ordinance authorizing execution of a contract for tree removal and pruning at various locations. I supported this ordinance, which allows for pruning and removal of trees in poor shape in several locations.

• Resolution Regarding Library Renovation and Expansion *see below for more details related to the library project and my thoughts on it
  • Presentation from December 2, 2020
• Resolution Setting Forth the Dates of the City Council’s Holiday Recess
• Resolution Providing for Appointments to the Grants Review Committee

News & Information

Pepco Community Look Ahead
The Pepco Takoma to Sligo Project Community Look Ahead is available here.

The very loud work on New Hampshire Ave that required the vac truck has been completed. They will be back to mill and overlay the road in the spring. That work is anticipated to be night work, but it will not be very loud because it is paving work rather than using the vac truck. Pepco will share more information when that work is planned in the spring.

Police Department Joins ABLE Project
The Takoma Park Police Department has been accepted into the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, Georgetown University Law Center’s national training and support initiative for U.S. law enforcement agencies committed to building a culture of peer intervention that prevents harm. See here for more details.


Takoma Junction Project Updates
As you may recall, the Takoma Junction Redevelopment Project developer NDC has resubmitted plans to the County for the Development Review Process. They recently received comments from the County on their preliminary plan. See here for some further details. It is anticipated the project may come before the City Council in February.

Library Renovation Project

The Takoma Park Library Renovation Project is continuing to the next stage with a vote on a resolution this week. This resolution would authorize the City Manager or designee and RRMM Lukmire Architects to proceed with construction document preparation, permit application preparation, and competitive bidding for the library. Please take a look at this presentation for some details about the plans.

As we begin to recover from the COVID period, I believe that the library can play a very important role in our community and help meet the needs of our community. I see potential for the library to bring people together, provide educational and workforce development opportunities and resources, bolster educational opportunities for students who may have additional needs due to the COVID period, offer economic empowerment opportunities, and more.

Moving forward, I believe we have an important opportunity to consider the future of library programming and resources, especially as we have a new library space and a new library director coming in. I would like to see targeted outreach to Black and Brown residents, immigrant communities, and renters in particular as the interior design/provisions and programming are further developed in the future. I believe the library could play a key role in emergency and long-term assistance to residents and businesses and in addressing racial inequities.

I asked a number of questions at the meeting last week and followed up with some further questions and suggestions for staff and the architect. I would like to see additional outdoor space with seating to allow for wifi use during hours when the library is closed, as well as provide space for people gathering prior to the opening of the library (i.e. there are often people gathering prior to circle time). Additionally, I'm interested in whether one or two parking spaces could be removed to allow for some additional space there.

The Council will further discuss cost considerations during the procurement phase. The project is estimated at about $7.3 million for the hard costs, plus costs for interest on the library bond that the City has already borrowed (over 30 years). The Council has discussed adding an additional $200,000 or so for important environmental and sustainability changes to reach a higher LEED certification and improve the building's energy efficiency. There are additional soft costs estimated for a total project cost of about $9.3 million (before the additional sustainability improvements are added in). Further details are available in the presentation.

I'm happy to answer further questions and appreciate any thoughts you have on this project. I encourage you to also watch the presentation from last week's meeting for further information.