7. Agenda Item 7. Councilmen Reports. City Councilman Bob Catlin reported that the year has been busy so far for the City Council. The Council took some
action on having a city/university charter school; they are trying to have it implemented by 2013. Currently the Council
is trying to identify a location for the school; it doesn’t have to be a former school building. The University is
anxious to move forward on the school. Councilman Catlin believes that there will be a big demand for spots in the
school. The University is close to announcing plans for the northernmost 8 acres of the East Campus development
parcel. They would include a moderately sized conference facility, graduate housing, and retail, as well as the
bookstore currently located in the Student Union at the University. The Birchmere, which Councilman Catlin
believes still plans to open a hall in the East Campus development, would be located to the south of Fraternity
Row, so will not be part of the first phase of development. Councilman Monroe Dennis stated
that Councilman Catlin had already covered most of the issues he would discuss. Councilman Dennis is concerned about the
impact on traffic of all the new buildings being planned along Route 1. Councilman Dennis stated that there would be a
gala at the community center located in Lakeland this coming Saturday. It starts at 6:30pm and will last a couple of
hours; the doors will open at 5:00 or 5:30pm. The event is being organized by Maryland Park and Planning and the Lakeland
Heritage Project. President Young asked the Councilmen to keep on the State Highway people about Route 1 improvements.
The design and engineering phase is taking four years and costs $8 million. Traffic on Route 1 has actually declined by
50 percent over the past 5 years. There is still talk of the FBI relocating to the Greenbelt Metro area. There are a
couple of other sites in Prince George’s County that are vying for
A lot of the new businesses, etc., expected to be part of
the East Campus development will not generate property tax revenue for the City. Currently, the talk is of downsizing
the original plan. The Cafritz property development plans have also been downsized. The University of Maryland is trying
to self-finance the development and not have bonds issued.
A developer is talking about redoing the Kinkos and Applesbee’s property. There will be a real estate roundtable on March
15th at the Clarion Inn from 8:30am to 10:00am. Breakfast will be provided. Typically, 60 to70 people attend. The main
speaker will be the new vice president, Rob Specter.
Councilman Catlin discussed the site plan for the Koons Ford
property. The anchor store will probably be a CVS. The developer is proposing a 150-room hotel
A kebab shop will
share the Rita’s ice cream shop on Route 1. The person who runs the Hanami Japanese Seafood restaurant plans to open up
a Pho Delight this spring.
There is not enough parking at the Varsity for patrons and employees of the businesses
located there. The City has authorized free use of its parking garage the businesses in the downtown area.
The Sunday
market will come back this summer. The City Council hopes to bring together a group of residents to talk about how to
improve it; people like the market but wish there were more variety.
Councilman Catlin was unaware of any progress
on the lawsuit over the right of way. Councilman Catlin stated that as far as he knew, there were no new businesses slated
for the retail space of the Enclave.
A clothing store is expected to occupy the former Jordan Kitts site.
it.
8. Agenda Item 8. Coffee Club. Dan Blasberg reported on the Coffee Club, a meeting where residents can discuss goings-on with police from District 1. The Coffee Club meets every Wednesday morning at Jason’s Deli at 9am. The sessions typically last an hour and 30 minutes, though lately they’ve been shorter, just 45 minutes.
In recent years there was a spike of house break-ins during the winter break. That didn’t happen this year. One reason is because two individuals who were reponsible for 95 percent of the apartment robberies in the Knox Boxes are under lock-up, waiting for their court dates. Dan sends out the crime statistics he gets from Officer Black on a weekly basis. We are considered South College Park (south is considered anything south of Greenbelt Road). Officer Logan focuses on
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North College Park.
Special guests are invited to the Coffee Club. Last week the special guest was a person in special operations who does traffic enforcement.
Dan reminded the audience that if they see something suspicious, they should contact the police. Also, send an e-mail about it to the Neighborhood Watch listserv. If you’re unsure whether to call 911 or the non-emergency number, call 911—both go to the same switchboard.
The contract officers and COPS officers have gotten the District 1 units to do more traffic enforcement in the area, including enforcing stop signs. The intersection of Tecumseh and 49th is the worst intersection in the neighborhood. President Young added that for years he has asked for speed enforcement on Berwyn Road. Dan Blasberg stated that he had raised the issue with Corporal Philipps. Corporal Phillips took notes; we’ll see what happens. In the past two years, Prince George’s County has increased its traffic enforcement units from two to ten.
Councilman Catlin added that the downtown College Park management authority authorized spending of $16,000 to install cameras downtown. The University is willing to monitor them for free. The merchants are willing to spend money “to fill in the gaps.” When the City or County writes traffic tickets, all the fine money goes to the State, not to the jurisdiction. Attempts to share the revenue in the past have gotten nowhere. “Speed traps” are not, therefore, money-generators for the jurisdiction where they are located.
9. Agenda Item 9. Other. President Young stated that Father George will have his homeless initiative in Fealy Hall at the time of next month’s BDCA meeting, so the BDCA meeting will take place at Fishnet.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm.
| Meeting Attendees (from sign-up sheet): | |
|---|---|
| Jerry Anzulovic | Liesl Koch |
| Dan Blasberg | Larry Knox |
| Bob Catlin | Bob Kuligowski |
| Monroe Dennis | Elizabeth Kuligowski |
| Michele Garnes | |
| Larry Knox | |
Liesl Koch, Recording Secretary, BDCA
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