The Town of  GLEN ECHO Chartered 1904 ownnal@glenecno.org  Town Hall - 6106 Harvard Avenue - Glen Echo - Maryland 20812 (301)320-4041  TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES  December 11, 2023  CALL TO ORDER: MAYOR DIA COSTELLO.734PM  PRESENT Mayor: Dia Costello  Councilmembers: (CM) Dan Spealman, Julia Wilson, and Dawn Tanner. Absent: Matt Stiglitz  Town Manager: (TM) Beth Stickler Town Clerk: (TC) Emily Parsons Residents: None  Guests: Ha-Yeon Jeon (Del. Korman intern)  CLOSED SESSION: On December 4, 2023, the Town Council met in open session on Zoom for the purpose of entertaining a motion to enter closed session pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, Maryland Code, General Provisions Article, Section 3-305(b)(1) to discuss the appointment employment of employees over whom this  public body has jurisdiction.  OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL TOH HEARRESIDENTS COMMENTS:  There were no residents.  OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL COMMENTS:  1    Mayor Costello offered an opportunity to take comments from the Council. There were no comments.  Old Business  Mayor Costello asked the Council if they wanted her to pursue converting the Town land by Oberlin and Tulane Aves. from residential to multi-use. CM Spealman said that we shouldn't do iti ifit was prohibitively expensive, but we could find out how much it would cost. TM Stickler recalled that estimates from the research done in 2018 on this were over $100K and added that it is a very complicated process. A developer buying the property could also then rezone it. None of the CMs felt that a lot of effort should go into this at this time. Mayor Costello said she'd see if she could find any real estate lawyers who would give us an estimate for the cost of rezoning. CM Wilson asked if GEPPAC had any interest in buying the  land, and the Mayor said it did not.  COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES: ACTION ON NOVEMBER 20, 2023 MEETING  The minutes oft the November 20, 2023 Council meeting could not be voted on because there wasn'ta quorum. CM Wilson wasn't at the 11/20 meeting, and sO there were only two CMs able to vote at this  meeting. The November minutes will be on the January 8, 2024 meeting agenda.  Per that meeting, the Mayor made note that resident Emily Parsons had been hired by the Town as the  new Town Clerk and was currently training with outgoing TM Stickler.  43WELLESLEY CIRCLE UPDATE: Costello  Mayor Costello said that she would be the main point person on 43 Wellesley, including once a week check-ins with Julie Lull, who works for McFarland Woods. Any new information will continue to be shared with interested neighbors in a timely fashion. Trees will continue to be removed on 12/12 and 12/13, and permits for demo and construction from the County are still pending. Six new street signs indicating construction and resident vehicle parking are being made by Shannon Baum for around $450 and will be delivered next week. McFarland  Woods has volunteered to install the signs.  Construction plans were available for CMs to look over.  TREE STATEMENT: Costello  The tree statement is to explain why the Town Councili is proposing changing the Tree Ordinance (23-05). It will be published on Constant Contact sometime in January after CM Spealman and CM Tanner edit it. The Tree Ordinance hearing will be held at the February 2024 Council meeting. The ordinance was reintroduced at  this meeting.  Motion to Re-Introduce Ordinance 23-05: CM Wilson; 2w CM Tanner. Approved 3-0.  2    23-03VOTE: AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO CLARIFY ANDADD REGULATIONS AND PERMIT REQUIREMENTS FOR FENCES, AND TO REQUIRE A PERMIT FORA  REPLACEMENT FENCE:  For administrative reasons, this needed to be adopted again as the Town lawyer Ron Bolt didn'ts send the revised ordinance tot the County Council prior toi the vote last time. No changes to the ordinance since the last  vote.  Motion to Adopt Ordinance 23-03: CM Spealman; 2w CM' Wilson. Approved 3-0.  ACCOUNTANT OPTIONS: Costello  Mayor Costello has engaged LSWG, formerly the town auditor, to provide the town with accounting services for $850/month. This includes converting everything to virtual except for deposits. LSWG will also create the financial statements for the Council meetings each month. If Mayor Costello wants help from LSWG for reviewing next year's budget, there will be an extra hourly cost. TM Stickler and TC Parsons are getting bids  from potential new auditors.  Motion to hire LSWG for town accounting services: CM Wilson; 2w CM Spealman. Approved 3-0.  ACCOUNTING SERVICE BUDGET AMENDMENT  This also creates a new code and line item ini the current budget.  Motion to amend the budget: CM Spealman; 2w CM Tanner. Approved 3-0. FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER: TM Stickler  The month of November was an average month in terms of revenue and expenses.  Revenue:  Income Tax: The Town received $64,336 which is 47% of budget.  Expenses:  Bolt Legal Expense was $891 for October: 27% on reserved parking space, 73% on traffic ordinance. OIPA Expense was $413 for permit review for 6109 Princeton fence permiteasement issue.  3    CM Tanner asked how often the Town consults with our engineers, OIPA, due to the higher than usual expenses. TM: Stickler said they would most likely look at any plans for brand new fences, but the recent work  on the fence for 6109 Princeton was unusual and therefore more expensive. Motion to Approve the Financial Report: CM Wilson; 2w CM Tanner. Approved 3-0. OPERATIONS REPORT: Social; Infrastructure; Administrative: TM Stickler  Social:  Holiday Party: December 9 from 10-11:30. Thank you to all the volunteers! All went well except the elevator  malfunctioned.  MLK Service Project: CM' Wilson: The Livable Town Committee is organizing a bagged lunch assembly again this year on MLK Day at Town Hall. The space has been reserved from 8:30am-1pm. CM Spealman said that there was money left over from last year's event and it was rolled over to' Winterlude (with resident permission). Again this year, a group of youth volunteers will go door-to-door in town toi fundraise for this event. The Mayor asked that she get to meet with them prior to heading out for a little training session on polite soliciting. This Winterlude: CM Spealman: This raises money for Greentree Shelter and willl be March 2, with March 3 as a rain date. This year will feature a chili cookoff and residents have the option of either cooking orj judging. The chili will arrive hot and be eaten at the start of the event sO that we don't have to plug in cookers. The prize will be. Jan's Jams, supplied by resident Jan Shaut. The event will be outside in the evening with fire pits and  has been planned for January 2, which is a no school day. The kids can earn SSL hours.  luminaries as in past years. Infrastructure:  Elevator: We need to have the elevator serviced again, because it is getting stuck on the second floor again. CM Spealman asked ifi it was time to get serious about replacing it. Last time it was priced, it was over $150K. Mayor Costello said we have the ARPA funds. She also said that many other town government offices don't have elevators and that it isn't required by law to have one in an old building. The CMs agreed that we should have a functioning elevator. TM: Stickler will have the elevator serviced and will ask about getting an estimate for a new elevator. CM Spealman asked if TM Stickler could run a report showing how much we have spent in Rain Garden: Robin Kogelnik will come to the January meeting to update the Council with any estimates for a rain garden in front of TH and also share how an upcoming meeting she will have with Chesapeake Bay Trust goes. The big question is do we have a chance of getting the funding for the rain garden if we reapply. Community Garden: The soil test showed that the soil is good. Aaron Hirsch will likely come to the January  recent years maintaining the current elevator.  2024 meeting with updates.  4    Bike Rack: Mayor Costello continues to consider alternative spots for a free County bike rack. She's going to have her contact at the County take a look at the right-of-way near the Bee and Butterfly garden. HVAC Duct Cleaning: TM: Stickler and TC Parsons will get more estimates for cleaning the TH ducts after an  initial $5,650 estimate. Administrative:  January Meeting Date: It will remain January 8.  OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL TO HEAR RESIDENTS' COMMENTS:  There were no residents.  ADJOURNMENT:  Motion to Adjourn: CM Spealman; 2w CM Tanner. All ini favor. Meeting Adjourned 9 pm  Minutes Prepared by: Emily Parsons, Town Clerk  Approved:  Da//2-2124  bolahkb  Mayor, Dia Costello  5