Montgomery News

Village of Martin's Addition Village Council met Oct. 18.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Council Members Present: Richard Krajeck; Arthur Alexander; Susan Fattig; Tiffany Cissna; Council Member Absent: Katya Hill; Village Manager: Matthew Trollinger; Assistant Village Manager: Tina Lurie; Attorney: Ron Bolt; Building Administrator: Doug Lohmeyer; Residents and other attendees: Keith Allen (Turner Ln.); Elissa Bean (Turner Ln.); Sally Maran (Turner Ln); Bernice Duval (Taylor St); Robin Saidov (Pepco)

7:30PM Call to Order: Krajeck

7:32PM Opportunity for Council to hear resident comments:

Keith Allen (Turner Ln) gave the weather report. He called for spectacular weather in November. The first frost could come tomorrow morning (Friday October 19).

Sally Maran (Turner Ln) says the Costabile’s son David will be appearing on the television show Murphy Brown tonight.

Bernice Duval (Taylor St) has been having mail issues again. She has been receiving other residents’ mail, and she received a box that was crushed. She is asking the office to intervene.

Ms. Duval also asked about the empty lot next to her at 3410 Taylor. Doug Lohmeyer explained that there is a problem with financing and the project is on hold.

7:35PM Committee Updates:

Elissa Bean (Turner Ln) reported that there was a meeting between Kristi Tampi, Richard Krajeck and office staff regarding the Community Engagement Committee plans for future events and the upcoming Halloween party on October 28. She also gave a street captain update and said welcome bag deliveries are going well. The committee wants to work with the Chevy Chase Historical Society. Elissa asks about the revitalization of the playground at Chevy Chase Park at the Turner Lane cul-de-sac. Manager Trollinger responds that he sent a letter to Montgomery county the day of the meeting.

7:40PM Action on Meeting Minutes of September 20, 2018

Council member Cissna moved to approve, Council member Fattig seconded, all in favor. Full minutes have been posted and are available on the Village website at: https://www.martinsadditions.org/governance/council_meeting_agendas_and_minutes/index.php.

7:41PM Building Administrator’s Report: Lohmeyer

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

FROM: Doug Lohmeyer

DATE OF MEMO: October 15, 2018

SUBJECT: Building Administrator’s Report

7204 Chestnut St.

The applicant has submitted at building permit package to the County and the Village. The application is undergoing the initial Village review.

7210 Chestnut St.

The Village has received an application for a new house to be built on the vacant lot. The information meeting with the residents was held on Monday Sept. 17th.

The County issued their building permit on Oct. 1, 2018 and the Village issued their building permit on Oct. 11, 2018. Work begun at the site on Oct. 11th.

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.

7213 Delfield St.

The property owners have submitted a permit to replace with ex. driveway. The existing concrete driveway apron will remain. The Village permit is being processed.

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.

3508 Shepherd St.

The applicants have submitted at building permit package to the County and the Village. The application is undergoing the initial Village review.

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 removed the stockpiled material at the rear of the lot but has not re-graded to the lot to comply with the County approved sediment control plans. 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 tall grass has been mowed.

The applicant has selected a new architect and submitted plans to the County on Oct. 9th and the Village on Oct. 12th for review. The plans are being reviewed now.

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 – repairs have been made. MSHA Brookville Rd. and Quincy intersection ponding rainwater

Mr. Lohmeyer mentions that construction on 7210 Chestnut has begun. He also said that plans have come in for 3407 Thornapple and that, as currently drawn, a wall plane length waiver may be needed. The county has not released the settlement control permit for previous work at 3405 Thornapple because the empty lot was supposed to be re-graded, and that work has not been completed yet. Mr. Lohmeyer suggested the Village withhold our permit for the new lot until the county sediment control permit is finalized. In addition, the builder has not repaired the curb on the new house property at 3405 Thornapple.

Mr. Lohmeyer also stated that a preliminary application has been submitted for the property at the corner of Cummings and Brookville.

Finally, Mr. Lohmeyer said the county has finished repairs on Quincy St. for the storm drain and the leaking has been fixed at 118 Quincy, where a resident had connected to the storm drain pipe.

7:47PM Annual Survey Results: Trollinger

Mr. Trollinger provided the following report:

The Village survey response rate was higher than last year. In the four years the Village has done the survey, it has gone back and forth from about 125 responses to about 170

responses. This year we were back to about 170. In general, the questions that are put in to measure year-to-year trends were largely unchanged: response rates from both the Village staff and Council are staying steady; Village Code enforcement and the elections both continue to generally be perceived as fair; and resident satisfaction with Village operations remains high - though there was an uptick in people who listed themselves as "extremely satisfied," and for the third year in a row the number of people who were "dissatisfied" with Village operations went down.

In terms of Village events, there is a noticeable positive impact from the Community Engagement Committee: across the board residents responded at a higher rate that they have attended at least one Village event. Thank you to the Committee, as well as to residents who took the time to offer suggestions for future events, the Committee will be reviewing the responses and will be coming up with some new ideas with your help.

The survey also had a few new questions. One asked if residents support including email addresses in future versions of the Village directory. The results were very much in favor: over 75% of those that answered the question said yes.

In another new question, the Village Council wanted to gauge interest in a composting program. Of those that responded, over 50% were in favor. However, there was a high non- response rate to the question, and it is difficult to ascertain whether that is because many people were apathetic or if they needed additional information to make an informed decision.

Finally, the Council sought to determine interest in installing sidewalks in some of the "north end" streets, specifically Thornapple and Delfield. Again, the outcome is left open to interpretation - to a degree. Of those that answered, over 70% of respondents were in favor of such a proposal, vs. about 29% who outright opposed it. This question, however, had nearly 50 (of 168 total) respondents leaving it blank. This could be interpreted many different ways: do those residents not care because it is not a street they live on? Do they need more information? Do they support sidewalks on one of those streets but not the other? There are many different possibilities, and the narrative responses illustrate that. The Council recognizes this is a delicate issue, and requires more discussion and understanding of the issue(s) at hand before any definitive decisions are made.

Thank you to all of those who took the time to take the survey. Although short, it is informative and useful for the Village Council and staff for self-evaluation, and for setting priorities in the months and years ahead.

A full breakdown of survey results are posted on the Village website at:

https://martinsadditions.org/governance/annual_survey.php#revize_document_center_rz112

Elissa Bean (Turner Ln.) asked about how a composting pilot program would be administered.

The Council discussed how to handle the questions of sidewalks. They directed Village staff to have a civil engineer put together a survey. Council member Cissna suggested staff begin discussions the Village’s Building Administrator, Doug Lohmeyer, and Traffic Engineer, Joe Cutro, to get ideas on how to start this and how to go about getting a project manager. Village attorney Ron Bolt noted that several neighboring municipalities had undergone similar projects recently, and may be able to provide resources.

8:09PM Financial Matters: Alexander

Village of Martin’s Additions

Financial Report for May 2018

Arthur Alexander, Treasurer

Oct. 18, 2018

July 2018 through September 2018

Revenues $ 60,509 209,225

Expenses (excluding capital projects) 172,402 179,375

Net Income (revenues minus expenses) -111,894 29,850

Capital expenditures $0

Allocated capital improvements funds $ 1,000,000

Reserve account (current assets less designated allocations): $ 1,818,348

September marks the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year. The Village’s revenues do not arrive in a steady stream, but in a lumpy fashion. The first major receipt of property taxes, for example, arrives in our accounts in mid-October, and the first large transfer of state income tax can be expected the end of November. The uneven receipt of revenues is the reason that the actual revenues, above, are considerably less than what might be expected for the first three months of the fiscal year. By the end of November, we should catch up with the projections and have a much better idea of the most uncertain part of our income, the Village share of the income tax.

Although total expenses are running lower than projected, waste and recycling has jumped above budget because of sharp price increases; apparently, Waste Management, our contractor for this service, had been miscalculating the price for some time and just recently discovered its internal error; we will have to reconcile the higher price in an amended budget.

Council member Alexander reported that property tax information came in today but the income tax information is not in yet. The budget for the trash pickup will need amending. Council member Krajeck asked if enough money was budgeted for community activities. Manager Trollinger says $30,000 is budgeted.

Council member Fattig moved to accept the report, Council member Cissna seconded, all in favor.

8:15PM Manager’s Report

Manager's Report

October 15, 2018

Administrative Matters:

• MML Fall Conference: Village Manager Trollinger attended the fall MML

Conference in Annapolis from 10/10 – 10/12.

• 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.

• Leaf Bags: Expected to be delivered in the next week. Laniado’s (leaf bag provider) is no longer able to deliver, so the Village will be delivering leaf bags to residents.

• 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. Village staff is looking at whether additional indicators, such as in-street signs or creative crosswalk designs, would increase the effectiveness and safety of the crosswalks, particularly at Brookville Road.

• Tree City USA: Village staff is meeting with the Village’s Tree Supervisor next week to complete the Tree City application.

• 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 and planting by the end of the month. An email will be sent out notifying residents of locations and types of trees to be planted.

• Tree Maintenance: Pepco will be doing regular tree maintenance in the Village within the next couple of weeks. Village staff is working to get a list of addresses where Pepco will do pruning.

• Community Events:

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 provided by Ledo’s Pizza, magic from WonderBunny, pumpkin painting, and a “cookie potluck.” There will also be a costume parade and music.

• Contractors and Contracts:

o GIS: The Village has access to online software, and has been meeting with E.N.E. to tweak various aspects of the layout. 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. E.N.E. will perform a survey to get some of the new information.

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: This year, we will have leaf vacuuming on Fridays, beginning next Friday, October 26. However, Village staff is exploring other options.

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 continues its sewer replacement project on Quincy Street, and are on course to finish by the time we are ready to have AB Veirs begin repaving. A.B. Veirs is scheduled to begin concrete repairs and repaving on Raymond Street on October 29, and will move on to Quincy Street once that is complete. We are on track to finish repairs and repaving before the winter.

• Additional streets that will need sewer work: 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.

Sanitation:

• The last bulk pickup occurred on September 8. The next pickup will be on

November 10, with a Wider Circle pickup on November 9. Building Administration:

• Please see report from Doug Lohmeyer, attached.

Manager Trollinger began a discussion of small cell towers, saying the topic is complicated. The FCC has issued a ruling that limits what kinds of restrictions local governments can make for their installation. Wireless companies are lobbying state governments to pass their own laws as well. MML has made it a legislative priority to stop further limitations in state law. The local municipalities have discussed pooling resources to create uniform language that could be added to each municipality’s respective Code of Ordinances. By passing local laws, it may preempt the State government from feeling the need to take preemptive action if it has already been addressed at the local level. Mr. Bolt stated he put together a draft ordinance for other municipalities that will be shared at a meeting in November. Mr. Bolt noted that the Village does not have zoning authority.

Manager Trollinger reported on leaf bag delivery delays, and Council member Cissna suggested the Village look into purchasing from Costco, Home Depot or Target. Mr. Trollinger reported that the extra police officers that were hired have completed their assignment and Council member Cissna recommended continuing the extra patrols for a few more weeks. The Council agreed without objection.

Regarding the tree subsidy, Mr. Trollinger stated that we have received 6 or 7 applications, but some residents said they were no longer interested because they did not like the selection of trees on the list.

Mr. Trollinger also reports a letter went out today regarding upgrading the Chevy Chase Park (often referred to as Shepherd park) playground equipment. He also said WSSC is finished working on Quincy St. and that repaving is scheduled to start on October 29.

8:56PM Opportunity for Council to hear resident comments:

Elissa Bean (Turner Ln) noted that sidewalks are important for safety and is a different issue than speeding cars.

8:57PM Council member Krajeck motioned to adjourn, Council member Cissna seconds, all in favor. The meeting is adjourned.

https://www.martinsadditions.org/Draft%20Minutes%20for%20Council%20Mtg%20on%2010-18-18,%20TL.pdf