Good morning everyone and welcome to this session of the Montgomery County Council. We're glad to have you all today. Just two notes are, Colleague Council Member Lori and Sales will be virtual for today's meeting. And Council Member Andrew Freetzin is on an economic development trip on behalf of the county council and will not be attending the meeting today. We're kicking it off this morning with a great celebration of our National Agriculture Day and I'm gonna turn it over to council members, BELCHEM and LUNKY. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Agday in Montgomery County. So if I could have all the farmers and support come on down. We've got a great crew with us this morning. And we really appreciate everybody being here bright and early. We had a text or an email. It's a great question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going bright and early. We had a text or an email at 610 this morning from one of our farmers saying that they couldn't be here this morning because the calves were birthing. So we appreciate everything that you do and for those of you who couldn't be here. I also want to mention, I'm here this morning with Council Member Donlucky. We have the great honor of supporting the Ag Reserve and it's our pleasure to do it every day. Council Member Freeton is also on the proclamation who's been a strong supporter of farmers and the prior Council Member for the Ag Reserve and he couldn't be with us today. I just wanted to mention that. So I just wanted to talk just briefly, not only is the Agreserv an important environmental asset to the county, but it really is an economic driver for Montgomery County. Over 500 farms, 10,000000 employees our Ag reserve really contributes to our vibrant economy and Not only do you feed us, but you help provide the economic impact for the county and I also wanted to mention that we have table table crops farmers markets we have have grain, food production, horticulture, livestock, equine industry, and we support you all. Today is a great reminder that how important farming is. Farming is a business, and we always wanna remember that we we need the county needs to help you survive every day and We just want to show our support and and have you here with us. I'm going to turn it over to Don Luki Thank you It's such a privilege to be able to represent this community Alongside council member Bacchum and everything they. And when we say that they are true community partners in our work, they really are. There's not a time that either of us reach out to the folks who are assembled here who represent a much bigger, larger agricultural and economic community here in the county with 583 ish farms here in Montgomery County's Ag Reserve. And they are the ones who persistently and consistently step up and deliver on behalf of their bigger, broader community. are such a true joy to work with and as we were just saying upstairs they are not immune to the stresses that we're feeling from down the road as I'm going to say it. I don't like to call it an administration. I'm not really sure that that's worthy of that title. But this community is also feeling the impacts of what is happening down the road. And we owe every duty to make sure that we are supporting them and their time need as well as they have consistently shared, delivered, and given to our communities in need here in Montgomery County. And so with that, we want to have several of our representatives here today speak with you. So first I'm going to turn it over to Chris Miller from Lone Oak Farmbury in my district district seven to speak. All right thank you thank you for having us here today on behalf of Lone Oak Farm my family and my partners we're so grateful to the county to all the different parts of the county, including the office of agriculture, as well as the school conservation district, and the county council who have been incredibly supportive of our operation, as well as all of the operations here standing behind me. It is incredibly important to remember that, it is through economic opportunity that we're able to preserve the land that we're operating on and that the communities can come and enjoy. So it is through the county council and their efforts here that allow us to operate and pursue the different industries that we all are a part of. So with gratitude and thanksgiving, we're here today on this proclamation to accept thanks but also give thanks because that's what it's about. The authenticity that is behind us whether it's the people, the places, the products, the processes, all of those things tied together to make America what it is and to make Montgomery County what it is. So thank you again for having us here today. Thank you, Chris. And now I'd like to invite up Trophina and Tarl's Chote from AfroThive to speak. Good morning everybody. and I chose this my name and I'm a incumbent with my husband and my co-worker. Charles Chote, before I give the remarks, I can invite him just to say hello. Good morning, everyone. Yeah, as Tupinaz indicated, we have been working together in the food industry and promoting the interests of the community, particularly the immigrants of the Canemigrants. And we appreciate the support from the local, the country government a lot. Thank you. Thank you. So you allow me to give my favorite marks. So I want to take this chance to appreciate council members, Paul Combe and the President who is not here for the opportunity to organize and celebrate this day, which is the National ArcGlaza Day. We come here to celebrate the hardworking farmers in the county who are here and some who did not make it here because they sustain us, the land that knowledge is us, and also the food system that connects us all. So for me, this work is deeply personal. I grew up in a very humble village in South, West, and Kenya. Where farming was not just a necessity, but a way of life. From my young age, I was socialized into farming, planting, weeding, and harvesting crops that fed our family and community. Before and after school, that was my playground, tending to the crops. So that connection to the land has never left me. Even today, the most refreshing and grounding experience for me is to tend to the plants at our culture of farm. There's something deeply fulfilling about seeing food grow, knowing that it will nourish a family. And for that, I have a deep respect for the land that gives us life and connects us to our ancestors. Before the pandemic hit in 2020, it laid the bed, the deep inequalities we have in our communities. It reminded us the power of farming to heal, to knowledge and to uplift. That moment, it reaffirmed my hope. And soon I'll quit my international development job to work at every thrive, to ensure that no family goes hungry, and the small scale beginner farmers have the support they need to thrive. As we approach another growing season, many farmers are facing enormous challenges. You all understand. The recent changes down in DC have really affected each and every farmer standing here and those who are not here. Especially for beginner farmers, they are most challenging. Right now the most pressing challenge remains land access. Without land they cannot build a sustainable business, supply culturally-appropriate food, or contribute to our local food system. This is why, as a county, we must stand together, and we must act now to make land available for the farmers who need us. In 2010, Montgomery County Department of Parks said for a vision to establish an in-cubic firm, a place where farmers could receive training, access land, and develop successful farming businesses. Yet, 14 years later, that vision has not been de-arrased. Meanwhile, the Department of Parks has accessible land about 935 acres that leads us out. While small, organic farmers who need small sized passes of land are not included in those lease agreements, this is a missed opportunity. We must ask ourselves why can't we set aside land for our new farmers who have joined the county? I've been championing this for years now, knocking on the doors, engaging our leaders here and beyond, and advocating for land access. But these doors remain closed. Yet, if we are serious about food security, the diversity in our county and about strengthening our local economy and preserving the agricultural heritage of Montgomery County, then we must see invest in an incubator farm. Our county has a great opportunity to be a leader as it has been in many fronts in the state of Maryland. We need to designate land for an in-cuber a farm to provide farmers with access to land, training, and business development resources. We need to ensure that the available leases in the county include small organic farmers who need small-sized parcels of land to grow food for our communities. We also need to prioritize county funding and incentives to ensure that those who are beginning this journey into farming have the necessary support to grow and sustain operations. I must applaud the county for these count kinds of creating the office of the food systems and resilience. I can tell you as a farmer and as a leader in the nonprofit, we are feeling the impact, the positive impact this office is creating because we are partnering with the small farmers to buy the produce and get it to the families that needed most. We can do more, we have a dynamic team at the Office of Arc, led by Mike. I know that we can do if we supported them because they can do more in providing the taking consistent and the resources like Land needed for us to grow our county and overcome the challenge of food insecurity. At every tribe we are ready to partner with others to make this vision a reality. We have seen first and impact what these changes when resources that are available to farmers, what the farmers can do in providing the needed culturally appropriate food. So today is an agriculture day. I want to urge our county leaders who are here, policymakers, community partners to take action. Let's work together to establish an incubator farm, expand land access and invest in the future of our graduate economy. Because when we support the farmers, we invest in the health, economy and resilience of Montgomery County. Let's not wait another decade. Let's make it happen now. Thank you so much for the opportunity Thank you both and thank you For those great words and I both mentioned but I forgot to mention Mike chef.. Mike. So our office of agriculture does such a tremendous job. And so we appreciate all the work that Mike Sheffield does. And Heather Bruskin from the Office of Food Systems Resilience. Thank you so much for everything that you do. Okay, so let's read a proclamation. Whereas, today we are recognizing natural, national agricultural day to celebrate and uplift the significant contributions of our agricultural community in Montgomery County and across the country and. Whereas agriculture is all around us from the food we eat, the items we use, the clothes, we wear, and the fuel that powers our world. Whereas, this year's agricultural day theme is together we grow. In Montgomery County, we have been committed to highlighting the importance of agriculture and expanding opportunities for our youth to learn about agriculture firsthand and. Whereas as a county we are committed to agricultural literacy and our department of agriculture is at the forefront of this work and. Whereas Montgomery County's agricultural producers contribute more than 280 million to our economy each year with the county being home to over 70,000 acres of agriculturally assessed lands and over 500, 583 farms that employ more than 10,000 people and whereas our agricultural reserve is a testament to our commitment to our strong agricultural heritage and continues to be a landmark in land preservation across the nation. Now therefore be it resolved that Council members Marilyn Balcom, Andrew Friedson and Don Ludkey recognize today as National Agriculture Day, where we celebrate our agricultural producers for the enrichment they provide to our daily lives through their tireless work. Montgomery County remains committed to uplifting and empowering our agricultural partners every single day. Presented on this 18th day of March in the year 2025 signed by myself, Council Member Balcon, Council Member Freedson and Council President Kate Stort. you you I'm sorry. All right. Thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning for National Agriculture Day. Thank you again to Councilmember Balcum, Freetzighton and Luki for this presentation this morning. We will now move on to general business. Madam Clerk, will you please share today's announcements? Good morning. Public hearings on the proposed FY26 operating budgets. FY26 to 31 public services program and fiscal policy for the Montgomery County government, Montgomery College, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, WSSC Water, and Montgomery County Public Schools will be held on Monday, excuse me, April 7th, 2025 at 1.30 p.m., and 7 o'clock p.m. and Tuesday, April 8th, 2025, at 1.30 p.m., and 7 o'clock p.m. Those wishing to provide testimony in person or virtually must register in advance via the council's website. Written, audio, and video testimony may also be submitted via the council's website. The council will also hold a public hearing on additional amendments to the FY 25 to 30 capital improvements program on April 8, 2025 at 1.30 pm. Those wishing to provide testimony in person or virtually must register in advance via the Council's website. Written, audio, and video testimony may also be submitted via the Council's website. Also, agenda item number eight, a capital improvements program work session on the Housing Opportunities Commission has been removed from the agenda and will be rescheduled to a later date. Finally, Council Member Sales is expected to attend today's meeting virtually. Thank you. Thank you very much Madam Clerk. The minutes from February 24th, 2025 state legislative session, February 25th, 2025 Council session and February 26th, 2025. Public hearing have been circulated to the Council for review. Are there any objections to approving these minutes? Seeing none, these minutes are approved. All right, this is legislative session day number seven, and the first agenda item is the introduction of bills. The first bill for introduction is expedited bill 9-25 technical corrections. The lead sponsors myself, the Council President of Public Hearing and Action is scheduled for April 1st, 2025 at 130 PM Miss Wellens, up there you are. Any update on this? No, thank you Madam President. Simply the technical corrections bill that the Council does periodically usually every couple of years. I believe the most recent one was in 2023, an exciting bill just to really clean up measure and to correct items in the code that may be a miss or grammatical issues and just a quick thank you to the office of the county attorney for assisting us with putting this together. Thank you. Terrific. Seeing no one wanting to speak on this, this bill is introduced. The second bill for introduction is expedited bill 10-25 personnel and human resources. Hiring displaced federal workers, the lead sponsor is Council Vice President Chawando and the co-sponsors of Council members, Freetz and Ming Stales, BALCAM, and myself. A public hearing is scheduled for April 1st, 2025 at 1.30 p.m. I'll first turn it over to Council Vice President Chawondo. Thank you Madam President and thank you for your co-sponsorship and all of my colleagues Council members, Freetz, and Ming Stales and B balkam. This is Bill 1025 and it would extend the Montgomery County's hiring preference to displaced federal workers who have been displaced since January 20, 2025. This bill will ensure that the qualified federal employees receive earlier consideration in our hiring process and would guarantee them an interview with they meet the position qualifications. Now we know more than 1,000 Montgomery County residents who work for the federal government who are public servants have already been affected by recent layoffs with more expected. These public servants are educated, experienced, dedicated, and actually are more diverse than the overall workforce. And they bring valuable skills that our county needs. A few weeks ago, Governor Moore specifically called on local governments to take action to find placements for federal workers. And we have followed that heed with WorkSource Montgomery, with a series that the Council President kicked off to provide resources to federal workers, and this legislation is a part of Answering that call as well. We need to retain our talent, we need to prevent braingain and we need to help protect our tax base. But most importantly, we need to send a strong and clear message that we value civil service and public service here in Montgomery County. So I thank all my colleagues for co-sponsoring and we'll have a press conference later today where I'll go into more detail. But really appreciate the support. Thank you Madam President. Thank you, Council Vice President Joando, Ms. Wellens, anything to add to that? Nothing to add. Thank you so much. Great. Thank you so much. This bill is introduced. Again, thank you to Council Vice President Jewando. And as he mentioned, we are continuing the United and Service Webinar and Council Vice President Jewando is going to be hosting the next one tomorrow evening. It's a busy week for him. So with that now, we will move on to call bills for final reading. This is agenda item number two, and we have bill 27-24, animal control, impoundment, and disposition for final reading. The Public Safety Committee recommends approval with amendments. I'll turn it over to Chair Kats if you want to share the Public Safety Committee's recommendations. Thank you, Madam President. 2724 and the co-lead sponsors were the Public Safety Committee. Council members Luke Mink and myself. And the co-sponsors are Council President Stewart, Council President Juando, Council members Balcom, Glass, Auburnized Sales and Freetson. And we'd also like to thank director Harefield and Levin Nidoo for and Logan Annbinder for their work on this as well. The intent of the bill is to help address overcrowding at the animal shelter and shorten the timeline for adoption. Under county law there is a the five-day holding period, and this bill will reduce the whole time to three days, which is the current state law. The bill also revises notice requirements to be consistent with the current practice of also posting when an animal owners door. The Public Safety Committee held a work session on March 10th and voted 3-0 in support of the bill with amendments, which include clarifying language supporting additional notice being sent in event of an animal seizure to ensure due process rights and applying the reduction in hold time to stray animals versus those that are seized from an owner. And I'm gonna turn it with your indulgence. I'll turn it over to Ms. Nadoo for any additional information. Thank you, Chair. Katz, Ms. Nadoo. No additional, nothing additional for me. Those were the two amendments made by the committee. And the amended version should be in your staff report. Great, so we have a committee recommendation with amendments. I am not seeing anyone else who would like to speak. So we have this recommendation from the Public Safety Committee. This is a roll call vote. So Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Council Member Dukey? Yes. Council Member Dukey votes yes. Council Member Mink. Yes. Councilmember Mink, vote yes. Councilmember Sales. Yes. Councilmember Sales, vote yes. Councilmember Glass. Yes. Councilmember Glass, vote yes. Councilmember Katz. Yes. Councilmember Katz, vote yes. Councilmember Albernos. Yes. Councilmember Albernos, vote yes. Councilmember Fonding on all those. Yes. Councilmember Fonding on all those votes yes. Councilmember for a ballot? Yes. Councilmember Buernaz-Voces. Council member Fondin González. Yes. Council member Fondin González-Voces. Council member Balcon. Yes. Council member Balcon Voces. Council member Duwando. Yes. Council member Duwando Voces. Council member Stewart. Yes. Council member Stewart Voces. All right. Our next agenda item for consideration is action on a resolution to establish the infrastructure of funding work group. The government operations of the fiscal policy committee recommends approval with amendments. I will just as chair of the government operations and fiscal policy committee, given general overview and gets headed over to Miss Nidoo. First, I want to thank Miss Nidoo, Mr. Ali, and Miss Dunn for all their work on this. During the government operations and fiscal policy committee work sessions and the full council discussions on impact taxes this fall, we all acknowledge and recognize that there are flaws in the current impact tax system that require further study and new creative solutions to how we fund infrastructure. The government operations committee recommended the formation of a work group as did our planning board to study the county's infrastructure needs and provide recommendations on how funding for those needs can be generated. The GO committee has worked on the resolution that we have before council today as we're recommending adoption three to zero. During our committee session, we did make some changes to the resolution that had been introduced. Broadly, these changes were in three areas, the scope of the work group, composition and facilitation. I'm just going to talk about those generally and I'll turn it over to Ms. Nudu, so she can go over the specifics. But on scope, we had a lively discussion in government operations on how to make sure that we are capturing what we need to for this work group but to be specific enough for this work group to actually get something done and provide us actionable recommendations. So we specify in the amended resolution to define infrastructure to include schools, transportation, and parks. In addition to that, we added that the workgroup should balance infrastructure needs with the county policies such as housing, climate resiliency, and economic development. We also added specific racial equity and social justice requirements to the resolution and the final report. In addition, composition was also a topic discussed and I know this was something that we received a good deal of public comment on. We did add thanks to Council Member Class and Council Member Freetzen for the recommendations to add one for profit and one non-profit developer. We removed one of the Montgomery County Public Schools representative and kept one. We removed the DPS Department of Permitting Services and the Department of Housing and Community Affairs and State Highway representatives from actually serving on the work group but they will be agencies that we direct the work group to speak with and collaborate with. I think then we ended up with 12 people on the work group. You can see on page 7 of the packet the complete composition that we're recommending. Finally, we had a discussion on having the council hire facilitator versus having a chair from our central staff. We just recommending a chair to be appointed by and chosen by the executive director of the council. Mainly, our conversation centered around timing, cost and expertise and to ensure that the work group is the council work group and we felt to meet all those goals it was best to have the work group chaired by someone on our central staff. And so I don't know if council member Katz as my colleague on government operations fiscal policy if you had anything to add I don't men and president you did a wonderful job. Thank you Thank you. I'm miss Nidu any other specifics you'd like to highlight for the council Not much to add for me either I know this is a bit unusual but since there were so many changes made There's both a red line version and then the clean version in the packets So you can kind of compare the two and see what changed. As noted, the membership went from 14 to 12 by both adding and subtracting different members through the scope of the work group. The committee did discuss repairs a lot and decided to focus on capacity instead. Planning had recommended as well as other other stakeholders, adding different things to the definition of infrastructure. And the Go committee instead chose to make sure that the work group focuses on county policies in a broader sense, but still keep that focus on schools, transportation, and parks. There was a concern about adding more racial equity and social justice requirements. There's a list of questions on page four and the committee decided to sort of shorten that list of questions into the five big topics and make sure that that's factored both into the mid-report and then the final report. And then to make up for not including everyone in the work group because again the goal is for them to have a small enough number to get some work done. There are more specific requirements added in terms of what that outreach should look like, including definitely meeting with SHA and municipalities. And the final report will have an appendix that should include all the outreach and feedback that was received so that the committee can see and hear who was heard from during the process. And then the final note is during the public hearing, the county executive had recommended that the final report be due in December. Given the work that this work group has to do and that budget just started, the committee found that timeline might be a bit too short, so Joe is not to change the timeline. That was in the original resolution. And that's all from me. Thank you, Mr. Dio. I have councilmember Glass. Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate the work that you and the government operations committee did to put this workgroup together. It's something that a lot of us had been talking about because there is near universal agreement in Rockville that the current policy is not working. The original impact tax is the policy for impact taxes was started about 40 years ago. And it's time that we take another look and rethink this policy because as we continue to grow and develop and modernize, we recognize there are flaws, but there are continuing needs. And the focus on our schools and transportation and parks is exactly what this workgroup should be doing. I appreciate the committee rethinking the makeup so that we could have for-profit and nonprofit partners who are the one to actually pay these impact taxes to see how they can help support our growth while also doing the work of building homes in Montgomery County. The two go hand in hand and I look forward to the important recommendations that will eventually come out of the script. So thank you very much. Thank you, Council Member Class, Council Vice President Joando. Thank you. I really appreciate the work. I just wanted to make sure that I'm looking at the red line version. So there were two MCPS representatives. One was removed to make room for some of the others, and then you also removed, looks like permitting and housing community affairs, with those basically the puts and takes. Yes, so the executive had testified, actually recommending adding a DOT representative, so schools and transportation were even. So the committee technically took that recommendation and made them even by removing an MCPS wrap. And then DHA and DPS were removed because while they administer a lot of our housing goals and the impact tax fees, they're not involved in the policy end of things. Got it. And the, so presumably this task force for work groups, excuse me, will make recommendations, they will vote on recommendations that come out and so the numbers matter for that reason as well. So there was a discussion at committee regarding the numbers in fact about how that would work if they have to vote. Obviously we always hope our work groups get along and everything is unanimous. We understand that that may not always happen. I believe when we did the development of the work group last year, the group itself decided how it was going to decide if and when to vote on things. So the committee took a similar approach here where the resolution doesn't specifically say that they have to vote. But they are going to have to issue that final report with recommendations. So if the work group chooses to do votes, they could note that in their final report. Got it, okay. Well, you know, thank you. It's chair of the Education Committee. I'm glad they're still there, you know, but it makes sense. I think the people you added, we want to have a full some group, so appreciate the committee's work and I'm happy to support it. Thank you. Great, Council member Mink. Thank you really appreciate the work that's been done on this. This is this is important and I'm really eager to see the recommendations that come out of it. Agree with the remarks by the vice president something for us to keep in mind but I think it makes sense what was done here and then also wanted to just look back to the question of maintenance and and I understand why that was done as well but that is also an issue that I think it's going to be important for us to come back on and get eyes on and just draw an analogy with what we did. What we're working on doing with MCPS and the Board of Ed in terms of kind of overhauling how they're approaching their scheduling there and really putting a big emphasis on the balance of maintenance and making sure that we're getting that work done on the front end. And so figuring out how that's going to interplay with this work is an important piece. And so I think it'll be important for us to loop back and think about a systemic way that we can analyze how we're approaching that on the county side as well so so that we're really looking at the full funding gap between the infrastructure task force reports versus the, you know, the ideal versus the current level of effort there to include maintenance and repairs. Thanks. All right. Not seeing any other speakers. We have a recommendation from government operations and fiscal policy committee. Those in favor of approving this resolution, please raise your hand. And that is everyone present. All right. Good morning. Okay. I didn't see it. Yeah. Oh, she's over here. I got it. Sorry, I was looking up there. Appreciate the help. Okay. We are a bit early. Thank you everyone for that. Really looking forward to this work group. Next, we have our six items, our work sessions and reports on the committee recommendations for several capital improvement amendments. I just want wanna note that the amendments that are being discussed today are from the County Executive January 15th Transmiddal and prior agency proposals. The County Executive did transmit another batch of CIP amendments on Friday, March 14th, which. This is a very fluid budget process this year. And so we expect those related amendments to be taken up by council committees by Council committees in conjunction with our operating budget reviews in April and early May. But it's never too soon to get a jump on understanding the CIP and amendments that are before us. And so we're going to kick it off first with economic development and I'm going to turn it over first to the chair of the Economic Development Committee, Council Member Fannie Giselle. Thank you so much, Madam President. This is always very exciting, right? Talking about money and breaks moving forward, that we've been waiting for a very, very long time. So the Economic Development Committee had two projects. They both have full support by the committee. The first one I have seen for a long time is the White Oaks Science Gateway Development Project. I'm just going to highlight one thing before I pass it to that to Ms. Raleigh. I think the most important thing is to emphasize the schedule, honestly, because people want to see movement going on based on the schedule that they gave us. And the good thing is that they're working closely with the friends from DOT, Montgomery Planning, DGS, as well. We are supposed to see, we have by the, let's see, collaboration with Montgomery County and GSA to progress the plans for submission to achieve the planning board and DPSS rules by October or November of this year. So there's something that we're going to track and make sure that it happens. And that is all I'm going to say. That I'm being I'm glad that it's finally moving alone. And then the second project very quick is the life sciences technology centers that we have also full support. And with that I'm going to ask our economic development staff to provide more details for the full council. Thank you so much. Good morning. As the Chair mentioned, the first project is the White Oak Science Gateway Redevelopment Project. The amendment basically just reflects that the project timeline has been accelerated with the bulk of the work to be completed in FY26 and the project to close out by FY28. This reflects just sort of the headlines and the newspaper about the progress on the project and the new development team that was announced last year. They submitted some additional testimony for the committee on the work that they've been doing that sort of supports the need for this accelerated timeline. And I also think there was a little bit of balancing the money spread across the six years and for the full CIP as well. So that's sort of all reflected in the changes here. And then for the life sciences and technology centers, which is the CIP projects, it supports upgrades to the incubators. It just reflects the reduction of $1 million in state aid, which ultimately wasn't realized. All right, not seeing anyone with any council member make. I just wanted to give a big thank you to the Econ committee for their work on this and for supporting the amendment to this project and for just being great supporters of the Viva White Oak project and of this area in general and really want to extend that thanks as well to the full council. It's you all have been a great team on making sure that the work in this area gets done and that you know we are remedying where things have been slow rolled you know back in the past and we're moving full steam ahead here and very very much appreciate that we're excited about the momentum with a new developer, Viva White Oak, MCB looking forward to getting all the pieces in place to finally break ground on this project that East County residents have been waiting for for over a decade. So thank you very much. Thank you very much. Council Member Mink, I not seeing any other comments. Thank you Ms. Darley for that update. And next, Capital Improvement improvement program work session is on culture and recreation and I will turn it over to Council Vice President Chawanda. Thank you very much. I see we've got our great director of recreation. We're on Riley coming up. We also have the great former director of recreation sitting up here with us. The committee recommended approval of all amendments, but conditioned its recommendation for the recreation facility's refurbishment indoor pools project on the assumption that the proposed funding is sufficient to support a facility assessment at the only indoor swim center. And we also have Director Dyson and OMB is well here. DGS confirmed that there was sufficient funding to complete the facility assessment on our February when we had that meeting. Two of the amended projects included an FY25 supplemental appropriation for the Silver Spring Recreation in Aquatic Center. And the Referbishment Supplemental Appropriation in the amount of $2,043,000 was approved by the Council on March 11th. So thank you for that. The Silver Spring and Recreation in Aquatic Center will go to Council Action at a further date following a revision for the amount requested. Did I leave you anything or miss anything? That was everything, thank you. You're welcome. Anything from Dr. Riley or Mr. Dice? Okay. I learned to shut up. I learned to take yes as an answer. Director Dice. Thank you. I am not seeing any colleagues who wish to comment. And I do wanna thank the Culture and Recreation and Culture Committee for going over this and particularly as we look at our Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center. I know there's a lot of work that goes into that building, but I can say that residents across the county and the downtown Silver Spring area are just thrilled with having that. It's a great facility. And thank you to DGS and our recreation department. And I should mention this was a PHP recommendation. Okay. We even know we have culture, but since Councilor Freeden is not here, I'm stepping up as the next senior member. So. Thank you very very much that. All right you all are done. Thank you. Our next item is a work session on the capital improvement program amendments for the police department and we'll have council member Katz as chair of public safety review that. Thank you Madam President. The public safety committee had a work session on March 3rd on the county police department, CIP projects and we voted three to zero in support. I see assistant chief Frank is here as well. There are four projects that we discussed. The six police district which is project caused has remained the same, but spending was accelerated in FY 24. And we're expecting the station to be operational this summer. I watch it every day as I drive past and I think we're going to get there, right Mr. Dice? The only satellite police substation approval of state funds to aid in planning, design and construction of the station. The third was Public Safety Communication Center Phase 2. The project costs remain the same but extended and the FY27 and FY28. And the last was outdoor firearms training center. Its recommended amendments pushed this project beyond the FY30 for fiscal reasons. This project has been delayed many times, and the Public Safety Committee has had pay-as-discussions and wanting to see something happen and to find a way to move forward with the project. That said, our latest Public Safety Committee discussion, it was recognized there was a need for a new program of requirements that outlines updated specifications and needs for this range. This project was initially included in FY07 through 12 CIP and consideration needs to be taken regarding safety concerns, outdated equipment, and the need for a scenario based tactical training area. The committee requests an additional information from the county executive regarding cost and source of funding for a new program of requirements. We want to also thank Chief Yamada in the department for its work, and we'd also like to thank Ms. Farag for her informative packets and turn it over to her with your indulgence, Madam President for any additional information of see, hasn't it? Great, thank you Chair Katz, Ms. Farag. I don't have anything to add. Public Safety Committee Chair Katz covered everything. Terrific. Mr. Dice, are you good with this one too? I will just wanted to note to brag on yourselves the six district police station which does open late spring is our first a net zero and the only net zero police station in the region. It's something again Montgomery County takes the lead in. Thank you very much director D Dice. I have Council Member Fannie Gonzalez, just because we said that. I look forward to the police station for District 4 moving alone very soon, and also having all this beautiful net zero and everything else that you want to add to it. Because I'm desperate on that one. Thank you. We have begun working on the POR. We have the completed POR for the police station. We're working with the park police as well, so it'll be a combined facility. All right, terrific. That is our review of the capital improvement program for the amendments for the police. So thank you for joining us today. Agenda Item 7 is a work session on amendments to the Capital Improvement Program for transportation projects. And I will turn it over to the chair of the Transportation Environment Committee. Council Member Les. Thank you very much, Madam President. The Transportation and Environment Committee took up the transportation projects within the CIP, which include approximately 16 projects that range from mass transit to roads, the pedestrian safety facilities, to bikeways, to bridges, and highway maintenance. To be more specific, those projects include an extension of the bus rapid transit along Colesville Road Route 29 up to Howard County, bus stop improvements, North Bethesda Metro Station, North Entrance, Goshen Road South Highway Noise Abatement, bikeway program, minor projects, good hope road, shared use path, the 198 sidewalk improvements, transportation improvements for schools, beach drive, beach drive bridge, along with the Garret Park Road Bridge and the Greg Road Bridge, and residential and rural road rehabilitation as well. There was one change that the committee made and that was returning summit Avenue extension back into the CIP. This has been an ongoing back and forth between the council and the executive branch and the committee unanimously voted to include Summit Avenue. And we asked for consideration among our colleagues to try to find the appropriate funding for this shovel ready project, which is not simply a road extension, but it is economic development and housing. The town of Kensington has put in a lot of time, effort, and study to ensure that this project be the whole package in which we support the extension of road and they work with affordable housing providers to build more housing and the small businesses that will also align that street. And so that is the one change that we made unanimously as a committee. And I'll yield back to you as the district council member as well. Council member, sir. Thank you very much, Chair Glass. And I want to thank my colleagues for putting back in consideration of some and have extension as the chair said. It is the whole package and we need to be looking at it this way. Mr. Kenney, before I take questions from my colleagues, anything else to add? Just to reflect how that changes the big picture of the transportation CIP, the amendments that the Kenney Executive Transmitted were a net roughly $19 million decrease in the total transportation CIP. This moving back the 31 million dollars for this project means that we're now at about a 12 million dollar increase in the transportation CIP. So sort of on the other end of that. And this is, you know, all of course subject, subject to resources as they're available. If I could, as well as the other CIP amendments, we received not Friday, but yes, go ahead. If I could just add to that real quick, the County Executive's amendments to the CIP in March, the total reduction was about 39 million due to write down in recordation taxes. And additionally, the delayed impact taxes from Bill 2244, for the reduced star availability of resources in the CIP. Thank you. Council member Albinas. Thank you. I just really want to express my appreciation of the committee for unanimously supporting putting that very important project back for discussion. It checks so many boxes and I think makes so much sense and has a great deal of community support. Well obviously, you know, we're an uncharted territory here. This is a project I will continue to actively support and thank again the committee for their leadership on that. Thank you, Councillor Memberelcome. Thank you. I just wanted to add my support for adding the project back and just to convey that this is not, this should not be a surprise. We had this discussion last year. The council unanimously added it back last year and so it was disappointing to see the budget come over without it and as I said it shouldn't have been a surprise and I support adding it back thank you. Okay thank you council member Ming. Thank you. I appreciate the work of the committee. I also wanted to highlight my thanks for the 198 project being expanded from the five foot to the 10 foot. That's important to the community noting also important to the community is are the issues impacting kind of the broader stretch of road there for which we need state help. And I know that we have state colleagues who are working on that but I think important for us to note that that's a that's a major priority moving forward for us to keep eyes on as well and I also wanted to give a shout out to the district 14 team for helping secure the funds for the noise payment. Director Kotlin, did you want it? Just following on that comment I wanted to mention we had a discussion at committee about changing the name of the project and we elected to leave the name the same so that it's consistent with the state grant language. But you're correct about the change in the scope of the project. Yes, understood and thank you for including that explanation there for folks. Thank you, Director Conklin. All right. Seeing no other council members with questions or comments, thank you very much. Mr. Kenney and to DOT. As the clerk previously noted agenda item number eight has been removed from today's agenda. So we're going to move on to agenda item number nine, a work session on amendments to the CIP for Health and Human Services. And I will turn it over to the Chair of Health and Human Services Council Member Albinas. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Not a great deal of adjustments in the CIP as proposed. So, and I want to welcome back this. Hold on real quick. Sorry about that. Miss Rodriguez Hernandez for being with us today. It's great to have you back. So I will turn it over to her to give any highlights and then see if Dr. Bridgers wants to add anything. All right. A good morning, everyone. Thank you. The joint HHS and ANC committee reviewed three umbrella projects all around child care renovations child care renovations for ADA remediation playgrounds and child care facility replacement projects You'll note that there was over the six-year period for the three projects a total decrease of 6.8 million dollars With a shift of 13.7 million dollars into the Beyond six-year period. For FY26 specifically, expenditures decreased by about $577,000. You can see the specific projects for each of these umbrella projects within the staff report on circle pages 2, 3, and 4. And while most of the projects involved a less than 10% change, we do note in those that were greater than 10% were mostly a decrease, that there was a 295% increase for the Martin Luther King Jr. recreation park, childcare innovation, childcare facility project, replacement project. And that's mainly due to new construction and subsequent storm water management and electrical work costs that were not originally known at the beginning of the project scope. Otherwise, the Joint Committee recommends approval as submitted by the executive for all three umbrella project. And as the chair noted, that is mainly due to the fact that these projects reflect re-evaluated implementation schedule feasibility. And as Mr. Dice noted in the committee meeting we are going to be looking at a continual shift of these expenditures and changes as each project is reevaluated within each umbrella project. Thank you. It was a unanimous vote, Madam Chair. Madam President. Thank you. Director Dice, Director Bridges, anything to add? Good morning, Madam President. I like saying that it has a good ring to it. Council of Vice President, Jawando and EC Chair and then HHS Chair Albernos and the entire Council this morning sitting. When we looked at this CIP, we looked at a lens that was equitable, was cost beneficial, and would provide accessible spaces. Couple with the relationship that we have, partnership that we have with MCPS and looking at those areas that would be cost beneficial, which would also be a rider, you will with some of the spaces and MCPS's CIP. I also want to thank Ms. Hernandez for all the great work that you continue to do in this space and taking over from Ms. Yowl. So we put a lot of time and effort. I appreciate the joint committee session that we had in discussing this and working through this to look at a realistic but workable budget as Ms. Rodriguez Hernandez indicated there may be adjustments in the out years but looking at the current CIP based on the executive recommendation so I'll stop there with those remark and turn it over to my colleague to recognize I'll just add that the ADA efforts and the playground efforts are moving on track. Everything's going very well. There's not much difficulty associated with those. And as Dr. Bridges pointed out, the child care renovations themselves will very markedly, based upon the existing condition of the facility or the site conditions of in the construction of a new facility, which was the case with the MLK project. So we'll continue to adjust those. My commitment was to keep the committee informed as things develop. Great. Thank you to both committees for their work on this and Ms. Valdedigo Sanandas. Thank you for that. I think this is your first time before the full council, at least this time around. So it is good to have you back and thank you, particularly as we're starting budget. Thank you very much. All right, we will move on to our final CIP work session today and that is for the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission. And I'm going to ask Council Vice President Chihuando as a representative from the PHP committee to take us through that. Wonderful. We have misdone with us. These were minor adjustments related to the park acquisitions that reduced MNCC, MNCPPC bond revenue by 15,000 and FY29 and 9,000 and FY30, this was to be in line with the county executives request and affordability guidelines. And we had unanimous support for the list of projects designated as pending closeout. I'll let Ms. Dunn mention any of those as she thinks we need to. And universal unanimous approval of the text correction for the facility planning local parks PDF. But Ms. Dunn anything any context there? Good morning, Council. I don't think there's anything of material to add to that. This was probably the lightest to lift on the Parks CIP that we've had in a while. I know it's an amendment. And I'll also reiterate that in the package that you received with your operating budget, there will be another affordability reconciliation PDF for the Parks Department related to government obligation bonds. So you'll be reviewing that in the weeks ahead. but as for what's before you, it was very minor and very administrative almost in nature. And so unanimously supported by the committee. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Great. Not seeing anyone else who would like to speak on this. Thank you very much to the committee and to Ms. Dunn. The Council has respected whole work sessions on additional capital improvement program amendments next week. And the council will vote on the CIP amendments along with the operating budget in May. So thank you everyone who helped us walk through all that. Our next item is item 11, which is a motion to approve the consent calendar. Do I have a motion? Council member Fanny Gonzalez moved, Council member Bacum II. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is everyone present here on the dius and Council member sales virtual. That is it for our Council session this morning. We are in recess until 130. Thank you all. We have. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the continuation of the Montgomery County Council meeting this afternoon We have a number of public hearings our first is item 12 on our agenda is a public hearing on bill 4-25 Administration surveillance technology acquisition and use by the county this bill would require the submission of impact reports in the adoption of regulations prior to the acquisition funding or use by the county of certain surveillance technology. Limit the act to position and use a facial recognition technology by the county consistent with state law, require annual reports and public hearings regarding surveillance technology, and generally amend the law regarding the acquisition funding and use of surveillance technology by the county, a joint government operations and fiscal policy, and public safety committee work session will scheduled at a later date. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 27th, 2025. There are no registered speakers for this hearing. This public hearing is now closed. We will move on to item 13, which is a public hearing on Bill 5-25, demolition tax for affordable housing production. This bill would establish an excise tax on certain demolitions and renovations of single family homes, specify the uses of tax revenues for affordable housing initiatives, and generally amend the law concerning taxation. A joint government operations fiscal policy committee and planning and housing and parks committee where section will be scheduled at a later date. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the closed business on March 27th, 2025. As a reminder of our public hearing testimony and guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear a tone when your time is up, and we appreciate everyone abiding by their allotted time. We have seven speakers all here in person, so I will call you down. First, we have Rojit Khanah, Hilary Swab, Ebony Cox, Julie Greenberg, Antonio Francis, Mimi Bratsky-Cress, and Eden Aaron. Okay. All right, Mr. Kanna, you may start when you're ready. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. My name is Rohit Kanna. I'm a member of the Somerset Town Council. I am testifying in support of the bill because it addresses the two primary forces driving the housing affordability challenge. First, in many metro areas, including in the Washington region, growing income inequality creates unequal competition for housing. Wages for the top 25% have risen faster than housing prices, meanwhile housing costs are increasing for the bottom 50%. This mismatch between the distribution of incomes and the distribution of housing prices results in pervasive shortages for low income households. Second, the investors that fund the production of housing are increasingly institutional investors, Wall Street banks, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and real estate investment trusts. These investors have created a highly financialized and speculative housing system which has boosted land values and pushed developers to focus on projects with ever larger profit margins. Therefore, new housing supply tends to cater to higher income groups, worsening the crisis and affordability for lower income earners. Furthermore, the rate at which developers respond to new building incentives is just slow enough so that they do not undermine the expected returns. Fortunately, Montgomery County already has an alternative to solve these problems, the Housing Production Fund, which uses a very efficient model to finance and develop publicly-owned self-sustaining, mixed income, good quality and permanently affordable housing. I commend the Council for considering a dedicated funding stream for the HPF. A robust public option for affordable and workforce housing is essential just as it is for other social goods such as education and health. However, the revenue generated from the demolition tax will be insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge. The county, therefore, could raise its ambition on mixed income social housing. I hope that in the upcoming budget deliberations, the council will consider sufficient annual appropriations Supped by revenues from the demolition tax for the HPF to deliver a thousand additional affordable units of all types each year. Given the leverage capacity of the HPF and its revolving nature, this would be the most cost effective public investment in affordable housing. Thank you. Thank you, next we have Ms. Wab. I wanna thank the county council for holding this public hearing about council member Mankin council vice president Juwanda's legislation that would establish an excise tax on tear downs of old houses that are being replaced with larger houses. I support this legislation. I think that affordable housing is an incredible, important issue for this county. But I also would like to remind the county council that councilmember Glass in 2019 had a very similar legislation. Only the fee or the excise tax would be split between the housing development and MCPS. As we know that MCPS is facing some financial issues and we also know that right now the federal government is looking to cut funding across education. You can see the demand for new bills in the wildwood and ashburn community that has not dropped off. But with the new bills comes a very public cost. Many of the older homes that are being torn down do not have school aged children living in them and have not for a long time. And these houses pay no impact taxes, no impact taxes, because impact taxes weren't imposed until the 1980s. In 2019, the Maryland Building Industry President noted that impact taxes were created in the 1980s. Additionally, as the Maryland Building Industry also correctly observed that new impact taxes only apply to new homes on vacant lots. So these tear downs have essentially paid no impact tax. But if you walk the Ashburn and Walter Johnson's service area, you can see how tear downs have not only continued to increase the population of these schools in the WJ cluster, but have attributed to the outsized demand in those schools. A constant talking point I hear is that only new development on new plots such as Amelene are driving school enrollment. That is a falsehood. The Ashburn Elementary School population pushed 900 students prior to the development of Amlin, and we are back there again. It is clear that not just new development of new homes are driving the population but the attractiveness of newer homes replacing older homes that have ultimately paid no school impact taxes. This is why it is critical that the county council not only passed this legislation, but amended so the fees shared with MCPS. The county council can end their addiction to giving money away to developers and begin to make common sense changes to impact fees that will not only provide MCPS more financial stability, but stop promoting the false narrative that you have to choose between funding important public goals such as affordable housing or public education and spurring development through tax giveaways. If you have any doubt about the impact of tear downs in neighborhoods, I invite you all to walk our neighborhood with me so you can see just how much money the county council has lost and this county council of this county has lost by delaying the passage of councilman glass is legislation of 2019 and will continue to lose by not passing common-sential legislation like this one. Thank you Miss Bob. Miss Cox. have any cocks? No, okay. Julie Greenberg. All right, well, if she gets here before we finish, thank you. Julie Greenberg. Hi. I'm Julie Greenberg. I'm a 35-year resident of the town of Somerset and a voter who was never missed a county election, but who has also never testified on any issue before the council. My testimony in support of this bill has two major points. First point, the county's Housing Production Fund is a resounding success in producing affordable housing and doing so in a way that serves important community values. It deserves to be publicized and celebrated much more than it has been. It also deserves as much additional funding as can be raised responsibly given the economic climate of county and used productively as determined by the Housing Opportunities Commission. Councilmember Minks proposed bill to establish an excise tax of $20,000 on the demolition of single-family homes to generate an additional infusion of funding for the HPF is a plan with inherent logic of tax the elimination of housing to promote the production of replacement housing with a burden that falls appropriately on those who are demolishing housing. It also has the additional merit of the production of replacement housing that furthers, that is expansive and furthers community values. My second point, I have found that even county residents who count housing issues as their foremost concern are completely ignorant of the HPF. Why is this the case? Even as the county council has engaged in intense public outreach on housing initiatives that deal with the issue of housing production and affordability. My understanding is that the housing production fund has figured in no way in these initiatives and is figured in no way in council consideration for the last six years, even as housing production and affordability problems steadily worsened. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I rely on evidence. And the evidence suggests that the council is being unduly swayed by the interest of private housing developers and has deliberately skirted discussion that would promote the public production of housing. I ask you to stop doing the public a disservice by sideline and minimizing the potential value of the HPF. And instead promote it as a remarkable Montgomery County achievement. Thank you very much. Thank you. And next we have Antonio Francis. Thank you. Good afternoon members of Montgomery County Council. My name is Antonio Francis, owner of Francis Development. I'm a chair of MBI's Custom Home Builder Council of Montgomery County. In addition to representing our group's opposition to Bill 525, I would like to share my personal views as a small business owner, based in downtown Silver Spring, on Silver Spring Avenue. My business is hyper-local. As a business deeply rooted in Montgomery County, we primarily conduct our operations within the county. Our commitment to the local economy is demonstrated through our engagement with over 90 plus trade partners for every home that we build. These trade partners and vendors for each new home that we build are mostly residents among Emory County and contribute to the economic stability and growth of our community. I do understand the increased need for revenue in the county. However, I'm concerned that this proposed tax may have unintended adverse effects. The initial intent of generating more revenue might be compromised by the following considerations. Decrease in demo permits. Over the past couple of years, there has been a significant 50% plus decrease in building permits, I'm sorry, in demo permits issued. This trend has been driven by the escalating cost of capital, materials, labor, and recently increased transfer and recordation taxes. The addition of a $20,000 demolition tax will forever reduce this number. If this bill is adopted, I foresee new construction activities being concentrated in more affluent areas of the county, leaving other regions financially disadvantaged. This concentration of development contradicts the equitable growth in development goals of this council. It is crucial to foster balance growth through the county to ensure that all communities benefit from new construction and redevelopment efforts. Areas such as Silver Spring, North Kangington, Weedin, Rockville, and others will not as easily be able to absorb a $20,000 tax. Lastly, the proposed tax may inadvertently encourage homeowners to work around parts of existing homes to avoid the tax, leading to less than desirable outcomes for new occupants. By patching up older structures instead of opting for complete rebuilds, the overall quality and safety of housing could be compromised. Disapproach does not align with the long-term vision of creating sustainable and high-quality living environments for our residents. In conclusion, while the intent of it proposed $20,000 demolition tax is to generate additional revenue from Montgomery County, I believe it may result in unintended consequences that could handle development, disproportionately impact aging communities and encourage suboptimal housing solutions. I urge the Council to consider these potential ramifications and seek alternative solutions to support balanced growth and economic stability for all parts of the county. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Ms. Cress. Thank you, Council members. My name is Mimi Brotsky-Cress. I am a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and MCPS graduate. Residential home builder for almost 40 years and a very active community nonprofit leader. I am deeply concerned about the excessive tax on housing. The idea that the cost of a demolition permit would go from several hundred dollars instantly to twenty thousand dollars seems ludicrous. It feels like another new tax on housing on top of the increased recordation taxes recently and it could possibly ruin the already difficult for infill builders. The county and state are both facing budget shortfalls and possibly a recession. And as we know, there is a significant shortage in housing of all types and all price points. We cannot afford to worsen the current housing shortage, but I fear this demolition tax will do that. It is not in keeping with the needs of our community for new and equitable housing, and it is ultimately passed along to every new homeowner who builds on a property that has a house to be demolished. As was said, the number of homes being demolished in Montgomery County is drastically down from pre-pandemic numbers basically half the amount. So already the county is feeling the effects of fewer new homes being built on tear down properties, less transfer and re-cordation tax and less real estate taxes. The amount of increased real estate the county collects in perpetuity on a new home is a huge amount and if we're building less new homes you are losing a very state, the county collects in perpetuity on a new home is a huge amount. And if we're building less new homes, you are losing a very large revenue stream. And I know you've been provided with data that shows the enormous revenue benefits of new homes in our county. The ripple effect of decreased building is not just less halvesing of all types and lower revenue, it affects companies and individuals working in the home building industry. These newer homes bring people to our area for jobs, and the newer homes are often much more sustainable and energy efficient than older homes. While the legislation claims to add a huge sum to build affordable housing, I do believe you will find less infill building will occur, and that is where much of our affordable housing is needed, close to transportation. The industry is facing increased costs from possible tariffs, uncertainty in the market so that people are worried about whether they should build or not and stay where they are and possible labor shortages. Many of you know I am very involved with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Maryland and other organizations, but I understand the need for decent and affordable housing. I do not believe the demolition tax is the way to create more affordable housing in our county. It seems to be one more way to make it less affordable. Thank you, Ms. Aaron. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart, Vice President Joendo and members of the Council. My name is Aidan Aron. I'm a policy analyst at CASA, and I'm here on behalf of CASA and strong support of Bill 525, the demolition tax of affordable housing production. The housing landscape in Montgomery County shows significant disparities and access and affordability, especially for black and brown immigrants and working class families. While the county has taken steps to address the housing affordability crisis, such as by implementing rent stabilization to protect renters from rent hikes and providing housing resources to help people stay housed. It's no secret that it's become difficult to rent in this county, let alone on a home. As housing prices continue to rise and gentrification grows, the demolition of single-family homes to make way for larger, bigger, and more expensive homes is hindering the development of affordable housing for working-class families. This is especially concerning for the nearly 42,000 Casa members in Montgomery County, who are in desperate need of more affordable housing options. For many of our Casa members, including those who work multiple jobs to make ends meet, that threat of displacement is a constant worry. Members like Maria, a lifelong Montgomery County resident who has lived in the White Oak neighborhood for over 25 years. As a single mother of two college-aged children, Maria struggles to keep up with the rising costs of housing and inflation. Her dream of home ownership or even staying in an affordable unit seems further out of reach with each passing year. For many of our senior members who live on fixed incomes, the threat of displacement can be devastating. With fewer affordable housing options available, our seniors are being forced to leave communities they've built and the homes they've lived in for decades. Bill 5-25 is critical to prevent new development from driving up costs without creating affordable housing options. It protects our communities from housing instability and displacement. For these reasons, Casa Urges the Council to support Bill 525. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm just checking if Miss Ebony Cox is here yet. We can leave this public hearing open as we go through the others if she gets here later. So we'll just hold this public hearing open but move on to our next item, which is item 14 and a public hearing on sectional map amendment H-153 to implement the approved and adopted 2024 Great Seneca Plan Connecting Life and Science. theMA was filed on November 4th, 2024 by the Montgomery County Planning Board to implement this specific zoning recommendations of the 2024 Great Seneca Plan. Council action is tentatively scheduled from March 25th, 2025. Those wishing to submit materials for council considerations should do so by the close of business today. As a reminder of a public hearing testimony guidelines your comments must be limited to issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear it tone when your time is up and we appreciate everyone abiding by there a lot of time. We have one speaker signed up for this item this afternoon. Jack Goodman. Jake, I'm sorry. I'm like, look, read it too. Jake Goodman, sorry. Mr. Goodman. Okay. All right. Not seeing Mr. Goodman here. We will now close this public hearing. And I just want to acknowledge that we have students here from the University of Shady Grove, the Student Council President and Student Members of the Macklin Center. Thank you for coming and being with us today and for your director for joining us. We're glad that you're spending your spring break with us today. Thank you very much. All right, we'll move on to item 15, which is a public hearing on 24 police statistical data report as required by Bill 45-20 police community policing data a public safety committee work session will be scheduled at a later date. Those wishing to submit material for the council's consideration should do so by the close of business on March 27th, 2025. As a reminder, public hearing testimony guidelines, your comments must be limited to issues relevant to the public hearing topic for which you are testifying and are appropriate for a public meeting. You will hear a tone when your name is up and we appreciate everyone abiding by there a lot of time. We have one speaker signed up for this. Mr. Robert Landu, can you come to the table, press the microphone to turn it on and you can start whenever you're ready? Good afternoon, President Stewart, Vice President Juwando and Council members. My name is Rob Landau. You may, some of you may know me from speaking about the Silver Spring Justice Coalition. Today I'm speaking on my own behalf because Silver Spring Justice has not had an opportunity to completely leave that testimony that I submitted to you last night. We have looked at the last three years of MCPD data, 22, 23 and 24, and tried to provide some greater context for you to examine that information. I'll just mention some concerns that we have that surface as a result of the data. Calls for service related to substance abuse and mental health remains stubbornly high. Though there's no data about the number of times that a mobile crisis outreach team or MCOT has responded to these calls and there has been some requirements in the statute, in the county statute about that that we haven't seen in the report. Also, officer overtime is dramatically and disturbingly increasing raising the risk of exhausted officers and mistakes. As I alluded to before, there are many requirements in County Law 35-6A, which are not included in this statistical report. And I hope that the council will ask MCPD for further explanation and further detail about where is the missing information and why is it not in the report or a link that's in the report that could be examined in greater detail. Another point that we have been working on and I think is furtherance of the county statute that you enacted is that we've been trying to reconcile MCPD data between the reports and data Montgomery and we found that the data cannot be reconciled. To that end I want to compliment Assistant Chief Frank who's met with several SSJC members to discuss some of these issues. The discussions have led to some clarification and some additional commitments by MCPD. I'll also want to mention the training problem that was supposed to be elucidated by the county statute. MCPD has repeatedly touted how much time and effort it spends on training recruits on de-escalation. But the problem persists that the neighborhood patrol officers are in the greatest need. We've seen that numerous cases when police have unnecessarily shot and killed black men who have mental health crises. But we also saw that police have been able to save lives, and specifically the life of an officer who seems to have been suicidal. And yet, deescalation is required by county and state law, and we still see situations where dees where de escalation is short changed and lives are cut short on officers who recklessly endanger themselves and others. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your testimony. That thank you for sharing. That is all that we had signed up for that public hearing that public hearing is now closed. Moving on to item 16 is a public hearing and action on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-44 to the FY25 operating budget Montgomery County government department of police, federal Bureau of Justice Assistance, FY24, Matthew Shepherd and James, for a junior hate crimes program award in $2 million. The source of funds is federal grant. Council action is scheduled immediately following this hearing. There are no registered speakers for this hearing. The public hearing is now closed. We will now move to action portion on this item. Is there a movement to approve supplemental appropriation 25-44? So moved council member Luki, moved council member Balcom second, not seeing anyone wishing to speak to this item all those in favor please raise your hand and that is everyone present on the dius. So that is moved and voted on action taken next we have item 17 is a public hearing an action on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-56 to the FY 25 operating budget Montgomery County government Department of Health and Human Services continuum of care program in the amount of 493,095 dollars. The source of funds is a federal grant council action scheduled immediately following this hearing. There are no registered speakers for this. The public hearing is now closed. We will now move to action portion on this item. Is there a motion to approve supplemental appropriation 25-56? So moved. Council member Albinaz moved. Council member Council member, seconded. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is everyone present on the dias. Moving on to item 18. This is a public hearing and action on a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation 25-57 to the FY 25 capital budget Montgomery County Department, excuse me Montgomery County government Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions Montgomery County digital equity number P 341700 Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Home Stretch, Public Housing Grant, in the amount of $4,629,208, the source of funds is federal aid, council action and scheduled immediately following this hearing. There are no registered speakers for this hearing, this public hearing is now closed. We will now move on to action portion of this item is Their motion to approve supplemental appropriation 25-57 so move council member now if any Gonzalez move council member lutee second all those in favor of the Resolution please raise your hand that is everyone present on the dius Moving on now to item number 19 is a public hearing and action on a resolution to approve an amendment to FY 25-30 capital improvements program and special appropriation 25-59 to the FY 25 capital budget Montgomery County Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions. Digital Equity Montgomery Connects project number 341-7000 in the amount of 960,960, $998, the source of funds is federal aid, council action is scheduled immediately following this hearing, no register speakers for this hearing, the public hearing is now closed, we will now move on to action portion of this item. Is there a motion to approve supplemental appropriation 25-59? Council vice president Will Duando moved council member, Malcolm II. All those in favor, please raise your hand. And that is everyone present on the dius. All the public hearings we have, I'll do one more call from Ms. Ebony Cox. Unfortunately, she's not there. She can submit her written testimony. We appreciate everyone who did testify so far. Bill five-twenty-five demolition tax for affordable housing production. That public hearing is now closed. We are now done in adjourned for this afternoon. Again, thank you to our visitors who are here and all members of the public who are here to provide test results.