Montgomery News

Village of Martin's Addition Village Council met Sept. 20.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Council Members Present: Arthur Alexander; Susan Fattig; Katya Hill; Tiffany Cissna; Council Member Absent: Richard Krajeck; Village Manager: Matthew Trollinger; Assistant Village Manager: Tina Lurie; Attorney: Ron Bolt; Residents and other attendees: Keith Allen (Turner Ln.); David Bjorklund (Turner Ln.); Elissa Bean (Turner Ln.); Lauren Biel (Delfield St.); Sally Maran (Turner Ln); Janine Trudeau (Bradley Ln); Monty Boland (Turner Ln); Kristi Tampio (Summit Ave.) Lieutenant Nicholas Picerno (Montgomery County Police Department)

7:33PM Call to Order: Cissna

7:34PM The Village has hired two additional police officers to monitor various locations in the Village and along Brookville Road and enforce speeding and stop sign laws. They have been instructed to issue tickets for offending drivers. Montgomery County Police Officer Nicholas Picerno gave the following update on the extra patrols:

Lieutenant Picerno gave a brief overview: The weather really has a significant impact on traffic in the village. When traffic is bad on Connecticut Ave—due to volume or weather or both—many GPS Apps (like Waze) re-route traffic through the village side streets. The infractions listed above are almost exclusively stop sign violations. I believe only two are speed violations, and both officers who patrolled reported speed really isn't an issue compared to stop signs. It should be no surprise that stop sign violations are the most significant issue, particularly at Brookville and Taylor in front of La Ferme. There was a downward trend, but violations have remained fairly steady.

Council member Hill asked that more attention be paid to the Raymond/Brookville intersection. Officer Picerno said that he will pass that along, but noted that it is a difficult intersection because of the lack of shoulder in which to pull people over. The Council agreed to keep the extra officers to patrol the intersections for an additional period of time.

Keith Allen (Turner Ln.) introduces his neighbor Monty Boland. (No weather report).

Committee Updates

Lauren Biel (Delfield St.) announced that the Farmer’s Market will have its grand opening on Saturday, September 22. She also said the Community Engagement Committee and office staff are working on the Halloween event, planned for Sunday, October 28.

Kristi Tampio (Summit Ave.) said the Committee is setting up monthly meetings and schedules for events. Elissa Bean (Turner Ln.) is head of street captains. The Committee worked on a letter with Manager Trollinger to improve the playground. They’re also working on getting the Green Thumb Committee underway and an Oral History project. They are still trying to recruit more volunteers.

Elissa Bean (Turner Ln.) asked that the playground letter to the County mention that the trees on the basketball court are overgrown.

7:57PM Manager Trollinger read the Election Committee report on behalf of Committee Chair Marty Langelan, who was unable to attend the meeting:

Election Committee Report Sept 20, 2018

The 2019 VMA Election Committee will hold its initial meeting in October to welcome our new Committee members and go over the village election procedures. We will post the meeting time and date (TBD), and residents are always welcome to attend.

Respectfully submitted by Marty Langelan, Chair.

7:58PM Action on Meeting Minutes of September 20, 2018

Council member Alexander moved to approve, Council member Fattig seconded, all in favor. Minutes are available on the Village website.

7:59PM Building Administrator’s Report: Lohmeyer

TO: The Council at the Village of Martin’s Additions

FROM: Doug Lohmeyer

DATE OF MEMO:

SUBJECT: Building Administrator’s Report

7210 Chestnut St.

The Village has received an application for a new house to be built on the vacant lot.

The plans are being reviewed by staff. The information meeting with the residents was held on Monday Sept. 17th. As soon as MCDPS issues their building permit, the Village’s permit will be ready.

The Village contacted the County Housing and Community Dev. Office in order to have the land owner mow the high grass on the lot. It appears the applicant is cutting the tall grass.

3405 Cummings La.

The approved addition to the rear of the existing house has been completed. The MCDPS building permit and the Village building permit have been closed.

7208 Delfield St.

A dumpster permit has been issued for interior kitchen improvements in the ex. house. A performance bond has been posted to cover any damage to the Village right of way. The applicant recently amended the MCDPS permit for additional interior improvements.

3404 Shepherd St.

The proposed improvements were not completed prior to the original building permit expiration date. The Village has extended the applicant’s building permit until May 16, 2019.

3501 Shepherd St.

The applicant has submitted a building permit application to make several improvements to the existing house. The County and Village has issued building permits and the work is proceeding.

3412 Taylor St.

An application for a County and Village building permit has been submitted. A resident’s information meeting was held on Tuesday, June 19th. A Village right of way permit will required for this connect, since the proposed 6” pipe will pass through the Village right of way. The Village building permit has been issued, but the applicant has not picked up the permit and work has not begun,

3512 Taylor Street

The staff noticed that when the retaining wall was re-built, the contractor left a 2-inch-wide depressed area between the existing Village sidewalk and the base of the new wall, which may cause a pedestrian to trip and fall. The staff is attempting to contact the homeowner to correct the situation.

3405 Thornapple St.

The house construction is completed. However, several sections of ex. curb in front of the house have chips and cracks and I recommend they be replaced. MCDPS has release their building permit and the staff recommends releasing the Village’s building permit.

MCDPS will not release the sediment control permit until the applicant removes the excess dirt that was placed on the lot at 3407. The additional grading was not approved by MCDPS. The owner has placed some materials on-site and covered it with a tarp but has not begun the re-grading of the lot. I recommend the Village retain the performance bond until the grading has been completed, the MCDPS has released their sediment control permit, the old driveway apron has been removed, and the damaged section of curb are replaced.

3407 Thornapple St.

The applicant’s engineer says the owner is looking at different architectural options and plans. The Village contacted the County Housing and Community Dev. Office in order to have the land owner mow the high grass on the lot. The lot was mowed last week.

Miscellaneous Items

The staff is presently working with the following properties:

3520 Bradley La. – concept plan for an addition at the rear of the ex. house 6701 Brookville Rd.- concept plan for improvements to house and lot 3521 Cummings Lane - concept plan for improvements to house and lot 7209 Delfield St. - concept plan for improvements to house and lot

Quincy St. storm drain relocation

120 Quincy St. – water leaking from behind the curb

3508 Shepherd St. – drainage issues and pending building permit application

Mr. Lohmeyer updated his report by stating that owner of 3412 Taylor is having a funding issue, and the permit has not been picked up. He also said the engineer working on 3407 Thornapple is still working on plans.

8:03PM Introduction of Code Amendments: Tiffany Cissna

Mr. Bolt provided a brief history of the amendments to be introduced, including reminding the Council that the wall plane height as currently written could be taken to mean that it be measured from the front of the house. The Council asked Mr. Lohmeyer if he felt that the changes would render certain houses with walkout basements as non-conforming. Mr. Lohmeyer explained that the Code is currently being enforced as it reads with the amendments, so the changes would be for clarification purposes. Council member Cissna introduced Ordinance Number 9-18-1. Council member Alexander seconded, all in favor.

8:12PM Annual Survey: Katya Hill

Council member Hill presented annual survey questions from the previous year. The Council went through the questions, deleting a question asking residents to rank the services, instead making a question open ended about what additional services (if any) residents would like to add. The Council added questions asking residents if they would like the option to share their emails to the resident directory; whether they would support installing sidewalks on Delfield Street and Thornapple Street; and a question gauging interest in a composting program. The Council also wanted to add Council meeting(s) to the list of options of Village events residents have attended.

The Council discussed how long the survey should be open, and whether to extend the deadline beyond Columbus Day. The Council agreed to have the survey open from September 22 until October 8.

8:31PM Financial Matters: Alexander

Village of Martin’s Additions

Financial Report for May 2018

Arthur Alexander, Treasurer

Sept. 20, 2018

July 2018 through August 2018

Revenues $ 37,595 36,670

Expenses (excluding capital projects) 112,212 106,150

Net Income (revenues minus expenses) -74,617 -69,480

Capital expenditures $0

Allocated capital improvements funds $ 1,000,000

Reserve account (current assets less designated allocations): $ 1,862,008

Two months into the fiscal year, revenues and spending are about what the Village had projected when the budget was adopted in May. Expenses are running ahead of revenues because the major disbursements of property tax and income tax do not occur until October and November. Major road paving projects are awaiting completion of sewer work, but ongoing repairs may be undertaken sooner.

Council member Alexander moved to accept the report, Council member Hill seconds, all in favor.

8:32PM Manager’s Report

Manager's Report September 18, 2018

Administrative Matters:

• Audit: The Village has retained LSWG for its annual audit. The audit is currently underway, and LSWG will present its findings at the November Council meeting.

• Accounting: Once the audit is complete, the Village will meet with the accountant to discuss the best way to take additional accounting processes in the office.

• Records Archival: Another pickup is in the queue at Maryland State Archives.

• Payments: Village staff met with a representative from a company that would allow the Village to take credit card payments through the website.

• MML Fall Conference: Village Manager Trollinger will attend the MML Fall

Conference in Annapolis from October 10 – 12.

• Records Archival: Another pickup is in the queue at Maryland State Archives.

• Leaf Bags: Should be delivered the first week of October. Due to recent unexpected staffing changes, Laniados may be unable to deliver to individual households this year (still TBD). Village staff is working on a contingency plan.

• Community Policing: VMA has hired two additional police officers to monitor some of the problem areas, including the Brookville/Taylor intersection, and on Thornapple Street, among others. The officers are working two shifts per week each at a.m. and p.m. rush hour times, and have been given explicit instruction to ticket and issue written warnings to traffic law violators. We have contracted with them through the end of September, but they are available to extend that if the Village wishes to do so.

• Tree City USA: Village staff is planning to meet with the Village arborist and Tree Supervisor to over additional details needed for Tree City recertification. The application deadline has been pushed back this year to December,

• Tree Planting: The Village arborist and Tree Supervisor will be identifying spots for new trees in the Village right-of-way in the next couple of weeks. The Village is also planning to do an email blast for the Village’s Native Tree Canopy Program. So far, only six households have expressed interest.

• Community Events:

o Movie in the Park: The Village organized a Movie Night in the Park on Saturday, September 1st, airing Back to the Future. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this time, and due to thunder and lighting, the movie was ended early. However, there was a terrific turnout, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Thank you to the Community Engagement Committee, in particular Kristi Tampio and especially Barbara Sacks-Singer for their work in helping to put it all together. We hope to make it an annual event.

o Halloween: Village staff met with volunteers to help begin planning this year’s Halloween celebration, which will be held on Sunday, October 28 from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. The plan is to have pizza, magic, pumpkin painting, and a “cookie potluck.” There will also be a costume parade and music.

o Farmer’s Market: The Community Engagement Committee, in conjunction with Section 3, and New Morning Farm, have scheduled for a farmer’s market to be held this weekend, on September 22. The farmer’s market will be held on Taylor Street in Section 3. No Village funds have been spent on this project.

o Chevy Chase Local Park Playground: The Village has drafted a letter to be sent to Montgomery County Parks to ask for an upgrade to the playground equipment at the Chevy Chase Local Park (a.k.a. “Shepherd Park”). Chevy Chase Village and Sections 3 and 5, as well as Rollingwood have all been asked to sign on.

• Contractors and Contracts:

o GIS: The Village has access to online software. E.N.E. will be able to input new data, including update tree sizes, locations, and type; new streetlights; speed bumps; changes to fronts of houses; utility pipes; and traffic data. Staff is working to schedule a survey sometime in October/early November.

o Street Maintenance: The Village may be interested in hiring a contractor for general street maintenance after all streets have been repaved to fill large potholes and make repairs as necessary between now and the next major repaving.

o Leaf Vacuuming: We were hopeful to have leaf vacuuming on Mondays, but unfortunately Lee’s Tree Service is unable to do Mondays. This year, we will have leaf vacuuming on Fridays, beginning in late October.

o Landscaping/Lawn Service (Abraham’s): Village staff is putting together a new RFP for the contract, which runs out at the end of the calendar year. Utilities: WSSC

• WSSC has returned to VMA for a sewer main replacement project. Raymond Street has been completed, and Village staff met with A.B. Veirs on Wednesday to begin marking concrete to replace. Quincy Street is also underway – WSSC began sewer replacement work, but came to find a misplaced County storm pipe sitting atop the sewer main for a chunk of the street. WSSC and the County worked out an agreement to move the pipe, and that is ongoing, with an anticipated end by next Tuesday. At that point, WSSC will continue with the sewer replacement. They have estimated that they are roughly halfway done with that aspect. We are still hopeful to be able to repave Quincy before the winter, and have expressed that important goal to WSSC. Additional streets that will be affected: Chestnut, Taylor, and Thornapple, along with a section of Brookville Road near Cummings Lane. All the streets should be completed by mid-May 2019, and we will finish with repaving at that point as well.

Streets & Sidewalks:

• The Brookville/Taylor intersection has been completed, and is awaiting inspection from State Highway. State Highway would not sign off on an ADA parking sign because it could not accommodate the necessary size; however, the Village is planning to install a reserved parking spot near the marketplace once State Highway’s inspection is completed.

• The Village is planning to install a speed bump at the Village entrance on Thornapple Street this fall. Section 5 staff and Council would also potentially be interested in a discussion about installing sidewalks on Thornapple to help with pedestrian safety.

Sanitation:

• The last bulk pickup occurred on September 8. There was a slight mix-up with A

Wider Circle, as they had put the second Friday in their calendars. Because the 1st of the month fell on a Saturday, the bulk pickup and A Wide Circle pickup were not on the same weekend.

Building Administration:

• Please see report from Doug Lohmeyer, attached.

Manager Trollinger reports that the vendor we use for leaf vacuuming only has Sunday vacuuming available. The Council discusses if we should possibly send out an RFP for new service. Manager Trollinger also mentions about the possibility of putting a speed bump on Thornapple.

8:59PM Opportunity for Council to hear residents’ comments:

Lauren Biel (Delfield St.) suggested that the Community Engagement Committee might be able to help with getting shoveling teams to help the elderly. She also mentioned the flags at the intersection of Brookville Rd. and Taylor St. are falling off.

9:01PM Closed Session: Discussion of Personnel Matters

Council member Alexander moved that the Council move into a closed session, pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, General Provisions Article, Section 3-305(b)(7), to discuss personnel matters. Council member Cissna seconded. All in favor. The Council entered into a Closed Session. Present were Council members Tiffany Cissna; Arthur Alexander; Katya Hill; Susan Fattig; and Village Manager Matthew Trollinger.

9:22PM Council member Cissna motioned to adjourn, Council member Hill seconded, all in favor. The meeting is adjourned.

https://www.martinsadditions.org/2.%20Draft%20Minutes%20for%20Council%20Mtg%20on%209-20-18%20FINAL.pdf