The Town of GLEN ECHO Chartered 1904 ownnal@genecno.arg Town Hall - 6106 Harvard Avenue - Glen Echo - Maryland 20812 (301)320-4041 TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES November 28, 2022 Held Virtually Via Zoom CALL TO ORDER: MAYOR DIA COSTELLO.731PM PRESENT Mayor: Dia Costello. Town Manager: (TM) Beth Stickler. Town Attorney: Ron Bolt Councimembers: (CM) Mona Kishore, Dan Spealman, Matt Stiglitz, and Julia Wilson. Residents: Amy Chused (Wellesley C), Robin Kogelnik (Princeton Ave), Gloria Levin (University Ave), Emily Parsons (The Echo), Holly Shimizu (Bryn Mawr Ave). OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL TO HEAR RESIDENTS COMMENTS: Mayor Costello offered an opportunity toi take comments from the residents. There were no comments. Mayor Costello noted that Gloria Levin had been added to the agenda to discuss the Glen Echo Fire Department. INTRODUCE ORDINANCE 22-06 SMALL CELL CODE AMENDMENTS: Bolt Town Attorney Ron Bolt spoke about the proposed amendments to the Town's small cell ordinance. There will be a public hearing on Ordinance 22-06 at 7:30 PM at The Council Meeting on December 12, 2022 via zoom. The Glen Echo Town Council is considering Ordinance 22-06 to update the ordinances on small cell regarding placement by utilities of 5G antenna in Town. The Council adopted a small cell ordinance in 2019, which will be amended by Ordinance 22-06. This revision is needed as the Montgomery County Council amended its rules, which affects the Town. The FCC order requires that the Town allow 5G antenna along Town roads. The Ordinance was discussed and introduced at the Council meeting on November 28, 2022. It will be the subject of further discussion and a public hearing at the Council Meeting on December 12, 2022. Residents may provide comments on the Ordinance at the hearing or via email by December 121 to the Town Manager. As currently drafted, the Ordinance would amend the Article as follows. Each antenna would have a 12 cubic foot equipment box (reduced from 28 cubic foot) Require vendor to give a two year plan tot the Town for deployment of 5G in the Town 1 Newi towers have to be 500 feet from any other tower owned by the same vendor (changed from 1000 feet). Reduce the number of antenna on a pole from five to three. Requires application fee and annual inspection fee. Ac complete copy of the ordinance is available on the Town website and copies may also be obtained via email or in hard copy from the Town Manager. So far the Town has not been approached by any utility about installing 5G antenna. Motion to Introduce Ordinance 22-06 (Small Cell): CM Stiglitz; 2- CM Wilson. Approved 4-0. PROPOSED SMALL CELL RIGHT OF WAY USE AGREEMENT: Bolt The Council will vote on this agreement at the December 12 Council meeting. It includes the application fee and annual inspection fee. COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES: ACTION ON OCTOBER 10, 2022 MEETING Minutes of the October 10, 2022 Council meeting were approved. Motion to Approve Minutes: CM Kishore; 2w CM' Wilson. Approved 4-0. CHESAPEAKE BAY TRUST GRANT UPDATE: Kogelnik Residents Robin Kogelnik and Holly Shimizu (Chair of the Environmental Committee) attended the meeting to brief the Council on engineering plans from Coastal Resources Inc. for the rain garden at Town Hall and the dry swale int the right of way between Harvard and Bryn Mawr Avenues. There have been several rounds with Coastal Resources as they add more details to the engineering plans, but Ms. Kogelnik and Ms. Shimizu both reported that the process with Coastal Resources Inc has been great and the end result will be something implementable and effective at mitigating some of the Town's stormwater issues. The plans created by Coastal Resources will be used for getting bids for the installation of both features as well as for applying for more grant money from Chesapeake Bay Trust. They aim to develop an RFP and start getting bids for the work in early 2023 and to submit for the next stage grant from the Trust in early March. Ai funding decision from the Trust is expected in June 2023. GLEN ECHO FIRE DEPARTMENT UPDATE: Levin The Town representative on the GEFD Board, resident Gloria Levin, joined the meeting to share some history and recent developments. The first GEFD was housed in the middle of Vassar Circle starting in the 1930s. In 1953, it moved to its current home on Mass Avenue at Sangamore Road. And now after nearly 70 years, the station needs to be rebuilt. Ms. Levin says with rising building costs, this project's fundraising needs will be over $20M. A new ambulance is also on order. She'd like to see young residents of Glen Echo volunteering- --they do get volunteers from DC colleges and universities, future doctors and nurses-and another resident joining the Board, and gifts of financial support. Ms. Levin would like regular updates to be relayed at the Council meeting, which she can't attend since it conflicts with the GEFD Board meeting each month. Mayor Costello will appoint a Council member to relay Ms. Levin's updates at the Council meetings. 2 MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF APPEALS VARIANCE HEARING ON 41 WELLESLEY SHED: 41 Wellesley Circle owner Amy Chused discussed her variance request with the County. The Town has alerted her nearby neighbors, as has the County. Ms Chused wants to build a storage shed closer to the road and to the neighboring property than code allows. The Town heard back from only one nearby neighbor expressing concerns. The County has the say over whether to grant the variance, but the Town can weigh in for or against iti if it chooses to. The Council asked if they could come walk the property to have a better understanding of the layout. Several Council Members encouraged Ms. Chused to find another spot for the shed on her lot to avoid needing a variance from the County Board of Appeals. The Costello Council decided not to weigh in on the variance hearing. RESOLUTION 22-07 PERMIT FEES: Costello The Council discussed adding a demolition permit fee. Mayor Costello discussed what other nearby Towns charge for main building demolition, which ranges from no fee to over $2000. She proposed a fee of$ $500, which the Council lowered to $300. This fee would only affect demolition of main buildings. Motion to Adopt Resolution 22-07 (Permit Fees): CM Stiglitz; 2w CM Kishore. Approved 4-0. VENDOR SFLECTONCOLUMEA AVE: Stickler The Town went out to bid on Columbia Avenue drainage upgrades and repaving. The RFP was posted on Town website 9.26.22, sent out to 3 vendors via email 9.26.22, and posted on MML The FY23 budget for stormwater is $10,000 and for street repaving is $10,000. The Town could use ARPA Chamberlain Contractors bid for Columbia at Yale Drainage Improvements: $14,600, Columbia at Harvard Classifieds (sent 9.26.22). Bids were due 10.25.22 at noon. The Town received two bids. Funds. Paving: $8,100 for a total of $22,700 A.B. Veirs and Sons, Inc.bid for Columbia at Yale Drainage Improvements: $6,600 and Columbia at Harvard TM Stickler checked references on both bidders. Both have extensive municipal work experience in such Paving: $13,1501 for a total of $19,750 projects. TM Recommendation: From the RFP: Contract Award. The Contract will be awarded by the Mayor and Council. The award will be made to the qualified bidder who, in the determination of the Town officials, is the lowest responsible bidder that best meets the needs of the Town. 3 TM Stickler recommended selecting Chamberlain as they have al lot of experience in storwater/drainage control remedies in other municipalities. They provided a comprehensive, detailed proposal with exactly what they are going to do and how long it will take. They have done extensive work in local municipalities. The Council chose AB Veirs for the work on Columbia Ave because the bid is less expensive, they have done great work in the town ini the past, and are easy to work with. Motion to Approve AB Veirs as Contractor: CM Spealman; 2w CM Kishore. Approved 4-0. INVESTING RECOMMENDAIONS: Stickler Current investments: Maryland Local Government Investment Pool (MLGIP) Recent rate 3.5% and balance $84,588 Money Market Rate 3.12% and balance $978,189 The Town can invest up to $250,000 per CD per bank (must be a Maryland bank per state law). 2.5-3.5% is a good rate for a CD. Sandy Spring Bank CD rate for 14 months 3.75% APY 3.68% interest rate TM Stickler will look into fees charged by Sandy Spring Bank. The Council decided it would prefer to move more funds into the MLGIP from the Money Market Account, as the CD rate is not much better than MLGIP. FINAL FONT DISCUSSION FOR STREET SIGNS: Costello The Council discussed their preferences for the font for the street signs. Since they could not decide on whether to have the street names in all capitals or sentence case, they requested that the Mayor confirm the various font sizes with the vendor (Shannon Baum) and then make that decision. The names will be centered in neutraface bold, and the signs will not have a black border. The names will have Ave or Cir etc in Superscript sentence case. COMPOST CREWAND TREE MONTGOMERY: Kishore CM Kishore had Compost Crew put on a presentation at Town Hall October 25 for residents to encourage them to compost. Several attendees signed up. CM Kishore will have TM Stickler send out a Constant The Tree Montgomery agreement has been finalized. They will donate and plant six trees on the trolley Contact about Compost Crew. right of way near Town Hall. FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE MONTHOF OCTOBER:. TM Stickler The month of October was an average month in terms of revenue and expenses. Revenue: 4 Received $64,111 property tax; at 52% of expected. Verizon: Received $670; at 22% of expected for Cable Franchise account. Expenses: Bolt Legal Expense was $62 for September: 100% correspondence on PCB class action lawsuit. OIP&A was $1072 for September: 41% on Yale/Columbia drainage improvement recommendation; 59% on stormwater improvement recommendations by Greening Urban and next steps for potential projects. Motion to Approve the Financial Report: CM Wilson; 2w CM Kishore. Approved 4-0. OPERATIONS REPORT: Social; Infrastructure: Administrative: TM Stickler Social: Halloween: October 31 from 5-6pm. It was held upstairs in Town Hall due to rain. Ordered 20 Ledo pizzas, and the town had about 8 leftover pizzas which were given to residents. Minnehaha creek clean up: This was held October 15 and had about 15 volunteers. Holiday Brunch: The Town was able to reduce the Mr Omelette contract $1661 down from $2703. It will be on December 10 in Town Hall 10-11:30am. Infrastructure: Parking Lot: A B Veirs moved the handicapped spot over on October 27 and re-striped all lines/arrows. MacArthur Blvd Traffic Signal near Oberlin: Update from County Dept of Transportation via Del. Korman: We have completed the installation of the new vehicle sensors on all approaches of the intersection 10/18/22. The new sensors/detectors should improve vehicle detection and respond to presence of vehicles more efficiently. Upcoming Building permits: 43 Wellesley Circle Demo/rebuild 5 7317 University tree removal 11/30 with crane, will shut down Harvard. 41 Wellesley Circle Shed permit (needs County variance) Administrative: AC Units: AC Units passed inspection 10/12/22 The Council discussed the December Meeting scheduled for December 12. It will start at 7:15 via Zoom and will begin with a closed session. Town Manager will be out of Town December 26-29 as will Mayor Costello. CM Stiglitz will be in Town for that Mayor Costello announced a closing opportunity for comments by the residents. Emily Parsons noted that week. OPPORTUNITY! FOR COUNCIL TO HEARRESIDENTS COMMENTS: the new Town Directory will go to the printer shortly. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn: CM Stiglitz; 2v CM Kishore. All in favor. Meeting Adjourned 9:39 pm Minutes Prepared by: Beth Stickler, Town Manager Approved: Mayor, Dia Costello Date:_ 12-16-202 ASE 6