1.
Agenda Item 1. Officers Present. Officers
present were President Kevin Young, 1st Vice President Harry Pitt, 2nd Vice
President Gene Baur, Recording Secretary Liesl Koch, Treasurer Lori Young, Board of Director Jerry
Anzulovic, and Berwyn News Editor Michele Garnes.
2.
Agenda Item 2. Minutes from Last Meeting. A motion to
accept the minutes from the February 2011 meeting was made, seconded, and
passed.
3.
Agenda Item 3. Treasurer’s Report. Treasurer
Lori Young reported that BDCA’s current balance was currently $2,994.60,
which includes deposits totalling $185.00 and
expenses (Minuteman Press) for the February and March newsletters of $329.88.
(The previous reported balance was $3,139.48.)
4. Agenda Item 4. Special
Guest. A motion to suspect the regular order
of business in order to allow two special guests. President Young
introduced Lt. Charles Duelley, Commander of P.G.
County’s Investigations unit in District 1. President Young has been
meeting with Lt. Duelley and our COPS officer,
Officer J.J. Blacks (who was also in attendance), at the Coffee Club. Lt. Duelley discussed a recent string of commercial robberies
in north College Park. He was instrumental in getting them solved; the suspect
turned out to be a prior violent offender, a felon, who was violating his
parole. There was also a serial breaking-and-entering (B&E) artist working
out of the north College Park/Hollywood areas. Lt. Duelley’s
unit apprehended the suspect, a career criminal, thanks to information a
resident gave the police about a teal-colored car; since then, the number of B&Es
has gone down. In spite of these arrests, there has
still been a number of burglaries in the area and theft from autos. Even if you
remove your GPS device from your dashboard, a would-be thief might see a
tell-tale suction cup and break into your car to retrieve the GPS device that
you might have hidden under the seat. Lt. Duelley
mentioned a recent spate of thefts from automobiles as gas stations, where
someone steals a purse, for example, while the owner is pumping gas. Dodge
Caravans and Chrysler Town and Country vans are especially popular with car thiefs. They know that the police can’t chase them
for a stolen car, so they head toward the District if they’re being
followed by the police. They know that if they’re stopped in D.C., only
the driver of the car can be arrested. Lt. Duelley
stressed that you shouldn’t confront a car thief if you see him trying to
steal your car. Residents can obtain a free steering wheel club, which deters
thefts.
Lt. Duelley
addressed the state of gang activity in P.G. County. There are gang issues at
every high school in the County. He said that their gang expert is Sgt. George
Norris, who could come to a BDCA meeting and give a presentation.
After Lt. Duelley’s
presentation, President Young introduced COPS Officer J.J. Blacks.
Officer Blacks said that residents should
call or e-mail (his preference) with concerns. Getting to know one another and
looking out for one another as a community is important.
President Young introduced College Park City
Engineer Steven Halpern.
Among the topics that were discussed with Mr. Halpern were the following:
several near-misses involving traffic entering the Village Pump from eastbound
Greenbelt Road
(President Young will have the Corresponding
Secretary write a letter to the Village Pump owners, making them aware of the
problem); the storm drain inlet (on Rhode Island Avenue?) that has become
dislodged since the State fixed it, and the trash that those State workers left
behind; several streetlights in the neighborhood that are out; the disrepair of
the eastern edge of Holy Redeemer’s parking lot; a recycling sign that is
alongside the Trolley Trail; potentially missing stop signs at the intersection
just south of the exit to Holy Redeemer’s parking lot; the street-sweeper
that came two days later than the signs said they would, that was ineffective,
and that left oil behind on the roads; and abandoned vehicles and trashy lawns.
Mr. Halpern said it was important to follow
up in a timely fashion when something isn’t done that was supposed to be
done. He said people should feel free to call him or e-mail him with concerns.
1.
Agenda Item 5. New Business. Among the
topics discussed were the following: graffiti clean-up along the Trolley Trail
and on the side of the Kidwell building; and the possibility of planting Leland
cypruses or ivy alongside
the Kidwell building in order to discourage taggers.
2.
Agenda Item 6. Unfinished Business. At last
month’s meeting, Mr. Timothy Triplett, Chair of the Bylaws Committee,
read the proposed changes to the bylaws. The proposed changes were also posted
on the website. A two-thirds vote is required in order to adopt the changes. A
motion to accept the changes was made, seconded, and passed by a show of hands.
3. Agenda
Item 7. Councilmen’s Report. Councilman Jack Perry said that if
anyone observes a code violation, he or she can contact him and ask him to
report it if we don’t want to go on record ourselves as having reported
it. If a streetlight is out, if you don’t have the pole
number, report it by the street location.
The City is currently in the process of
reapportionment; a redistricting commission has been appointed. The Committee
has been instructed to keep the current numbers of 4 districts, with 2 members
from each district.
Councilman Bob Catlin reported that the Ciy is currently requesting bids for redoing the Trolley
Trail through Lakeland. A blue-light phone has been erected at the corner of
Rhode Island Avenue and Lakeland Road. A number of politicians from the larger
area have attended the Experience and Enjoy College Park Tour. The next one
will take place at the Seven Seas Restaurant, where U.S. Representative Steny
Hoyer will be the guest speaker. The City’s budget proposal is available
online; you can also request a copy; copies should be available around April
1st. Audience members asked about the commercial district in Berwyn, the Starview site, and the vinyl fence on Berwyn Road alongside
the hotel, the City’s strategic plan, and the lawsuit concerning Alvin
Jenkins.
4. Agenda Item
8. Other Business. Mayor Andrew Fellows was in
the audience. He thanked people who came to City Hall to hear discussion about
the City’s strategic plan. There is more activity at the moment regarding
the Knox boxes than the other properties scheduled for development along Route
1. The closing of Berwyn Cafe should make us take another look at the
commercial district. Mayor Fellows said he plans to run for reelection.
President Young stated that the BDCA board
wrote a resolution on the FY12 action plan and he read it to the City Council.
The resolution had to do with the CA zone, which is problematic for
Berwyn’s commercial district. We’re concerned about blight, and the
effect of Berwyn Cafe’s closing on Smile Herb Shop. We want to go back and
look at the 2000 economic plan, which had a number of economic goals for
Berwyn. Berwyn isn’t even mentioned in the City’s new strategic
plan.
President Young and BDCA Director Jerry
Anzulovic walked along the edge of the old Washington Post site. There seems to
be a lot of activity there, as they saw a lot of beer cans, etc. They are
working on getting the fence repaired and the storm swales cleaned out.
At next month’s BDCA meeting there will
be a representative from Looney’s Pub, a new restaurant opening up across
the street from the fire station. Davis Hall will be open Saturday mornings in
April for yard waste.
A member of the audience expressed concern
about Senate Bill 671, currently in the legislature, which would allow
municipalities that run speed cameras to no longer require that a police
officer issue the tickets but will allow a contractor to do so.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50pm.
|
Meeting
Attendees (from sign-up sheet): |
|
|
Jerry
Anzulovic |
Chris
Larsen |
|
Gene
Baur |
Jack
Perry |
|
Robert
Catlin |
Harry
Pitt |
|
Marina
Dullnig |
Carol
Savard |
|
Michele
Garnes |
Forrest
Tyler |
|
Harvey
Himmelfarb |
Sandy
Tyler |
|
Margaret
Himmelfarb |
Michael
Wilson |
|
Doug
Hunter |
Kevin
Young |
|
Liesl Koch |
Lori
Young |
|
Marie Labonte
|
|
Liesl
Koch, Recording Secretary, BDCA.
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