COLLEGE GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION (CGCA) MEETING MINUTES
18 MAY 2016
(Download the Meeting Minutes)

GENERAL MEETING

Meeting called to order at approximately 7:10 pm. 26 people were in attendance.

WELCOME

Jerry Callistein, President of CGCA, introduced himself and called the meeting to order. Board members introduced themselves.

REPORT FROM CITY OF ROCKVILLE

Janet Kelly from the City of Rockville announced upcoming events in Rockville. Hometown Holidays will occur May 28 – 30.   As usual, there will be several performances. Rockville Recreation and Parks will have a booth with information and giveaways. More information on HTH can be found at http://www.rockvillemd.gov.

The Rockville 2040 Master Plan listening sessions have been completed and residents are invited to participate in public forums. The first forum on Apr 19 discussed ‘What do you want to see in the future?’  The May 10 forum discussed ‘Where do we want to go?’  The next forum on May 24 will discuss ‘How do we get there?’  The last forum on June 14 will set goals for the city. The meetings take place at the VisArts Center in Rockville Town Square at 6:30pm.  More information can be found at http://www.rockvillemd.gov.

The City Council will discuss the Bus Depot issue at their May 23 meeting. The Council will not take public comment at that time.

REPORT FROM ROCKVILLE POLICE

Corporal Matney informed us that the Rockville police will have a booth at Hometown Holidays. There will be a police vehicle that children can sit in and have their picture taken. Theft from autos continues to be an issue in the city, but has decreased compared to last year. There have not been many incidences of crime in our neighborhood from Jan 1 through May 12. Teenage kids are going into the woods along the creek bed to smoke marijuana, which is a civil offense that results in a $100 fine and contacting the parents. There will be a search for a new police chief after Chief Treschuk’s resignation is effective later this year. Under Chief Treschuk’s leadership, Rockville’s police department is a community-oriented force, a strong asset.

ROCKVILLE’S PIKE PLAN

On May 16, the mayor and city council listened to input from the public (second of two public hearings) regarding proposed changes to a 2-mile section of Rockville Pike.  The deadline for written comments is May 23. The mayor and council must approve the plan, including any modifications, by mid-August. Otherwise, the Pike Plan will be approved as is.

OTHER CITY NEWS

A local and national search is underway for a new Rockville City Manager.  Presently, Craig Simoneau is Acting City Manager.

ELECTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS

All four Board members of CGCA have completed a term and the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer were available for election.  The present Board members were not interested in continuing for another term and meeting attendees were asked to volunteer for the board positions.  Bob Mills (Clemson Ct) agreed to be Treasurer.  However, no meeting attendees volunteered for the other Board positions – the present Board members will continue until replacements are found.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT (NNO)

Volunteers are needed to help with NNO.  There are many tasks including: shop for groceries; organize kids’ activities; set-up; cook hamburgers and hotdogs at the event; cleanup.  John Mosely Hayes volunteered to help overall (Jerry Callistein will provide information about the grill and Carmen’s), Ashia Mann volunteered to shop at Costco (Naomi Miner will provide her with last year’s shopping list), and Elaine Felsen agreed to help with set-up.  Tom Miner volunteered to help as needed with NNO.

COLLEGE GARDENS DIRECTORY

This year, present Board members and block captains will work on collecting information from the neighborhood and assemble the 2016-2018 Directory. Karen Carp will take the lead; Gamal (Jimmy) El-Masry agreed to help.

GARDEN CLUB

The Garden Club of College Gardens is always eager to get new members. Recently the Club completed a successful plant sale. In the fall, there will be a bulb sale. Funds raised from these sales are used to maintain ‘The Hill’ (corner of College Parkway and Nelson St.) and a native plant garden near the playground on College Parkway. The Garden Club also donates funds and supplies to several local charities. Contact Janey Nadler if you’re interested in bulbs.

On a related note, Alice Von Saunder (13 Clemson Ct.) has free bulbs available for pickup. They need a home very soon.

SCHOOL BUS DEPOT AT CARVER (Board of Education) PARKING LOT 

Kevin Karton, President of Woodley Gardens West Civic Association, is co-leader of the Carver Coalition.  Mr. Karton presented information and answered questions regarding the County’s plan to move 100 school buses to the Carver building parking lot, which is located at the intersection of MD 355 and Mannakee St.  The Carver Coalition started approx. 2 months ago and has been involved in contacting officials, watching videos from County Council meetings and gathering information in regard to the issue.   Further information can be found at http://www.carvercoalition.org, including a donation form to support their efforts with legal counsel.

Presently, MCPS has a bus depot with 430 school buses located on 30 acres near the Shady Grove Metro station.  A contract is in place between a developer and Montgomery County to develop this property.  According to the original agreement, the developer is required to find a suitable alternative location for the buses prior to development.  However, the developer paid an unknown amount of money for the County Board to find an alternative site for the buses.  The (latest) deadline is to move the buses by January 1, 2017.  The County Council wants to use county-owned land and there isn’t any property that is large enough in mid Montgomery County.  Therefore, the County Council is planning to move the buses to multiple sites across the county in the midst of neighborhoods, including two neighborhoods in Rockville.  This will result in maintenance staff and equipment facilities at various locations, which will be substantially more costly than the present site. In addition, there is a requirement for a pre-check of all buses, which includes honking the horn, turning on the headlights and starting the diesel engine.  This procedure will result in sound pollution, light pollution and diesel exhaust starting as early as 4:30 am (very cold mornings) to 6:00 am (optimal weather and route). Some of the homes in College Square Condominiums are within 100 ft of the proposed bus depot at Carver. In addition, school buses may travel on Mannakee St. and Nelson St. on their way to and from schools and so residents in other neighborhoods will be impacted.

One more important point, Montgomery College is located at the same intersection as the proposed Carver bus depot. This intersection is backed up in the morning due to students and staff arriving at Montgomery College.  According to the Rockville Trend Transportation Report 2016, page 13 (http://www.rockvillemd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12052), the intersection at MD 355 and Mannakee St. at peak morning time has a letter grade of E (intersection is at 90% – 99% capacity) according to a traffic count in 2009. The traffic impact from a substantial number of buses exiting the bus depot in the morning will affect everyone travelling on MD 355 through the Mannakee St. intersection, far beyond its impact on nearby residents.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 9 pm.

COLLEGE GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION (CGCA) MEETING MINUTES
27 MAY 2015

Download a copy of the Minutes

GENERAL MEETING

Meeting called to order at 7:02pm.

WELCOME

Jerry Callistein, President of CGCA, welcomed approximately 40 attendees.  He explained there was a full agenda because CGCA did not have a meeting in the fall 2014.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Naomi Miner, CGCA Treasurer, presented.  She reported that CGCA spent $862.16 on National Night Out and CGCA has a balance of $9351.61.  Approx. $4000 of this is reserved for a study of the CG pond.  The original scientist from UMD will not continue the evaluation of the pond and so Karen Carp (who donated the money) will find another person willing to evaluate and document the pond habitat.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT (NNO)

Volunteers are needed to help with NNO.  There are many tasks including shop for groceries, cook hamburgers and hotdogs, set-up, obtain items for raffle, and kids’ activities.  A sheet was passed around during the meeting so attendees could sign-up to volunteer.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME

Rockville police officer Corporal Ken Matney presented useful information about safety for the neighborhood.  An attendee promptly asked a question regarding the safety of homes while many neighbors are present at NNO.  Officer Matney could not guarantee nothing will happen to homes, but historically there hasn’t been a single issue in our neighborhood.

A question was asked about a recent armed robbery College Gardens. Cpl. Matney explained that this event was an anomaly. Three people (18 – 22 years old) in a car robbed three victims. One of the three victims knew the perpetrators and notified the police. This event was targeted specifically at the people involved. The fact that it happened to occur in College Gardens was a coincidence and not an indicator of a rise in crime in our neighborhood.

Officer Matney said that since January 2015, our neighborhood has had 8 thefts from autos (5 of the cars were unlocked, 3 others unknown); all the cars were parked at home.  To prevent theft, Officer Matney emphasized that residents should not have valuables visible in their cars and should lock them when they leave.  In addition, the neighborhood has had 4 vandalism incidents, 6 disorderly conduct incidents (noise), 4 traffic incidents (including 1 DUI) and 15 alarm calls (which includes the 8 thefts from cars) since the beginning of the year.  College Gardens is not a drive-through neighborhood and so it has a low level of crime according to Officer Matney.  The crime that does occur is usually from residents within the neighborhood.  If a neighbor calls 911 for an emergency, the law enforcement officer that is closest will respond which may not be Rockville police.  All calls to Rockville police are kept confidential, but one can also call anonymously.  If a resident sees suspicious activity, call the Rockville Police non-emergency phone no. 240-314-8900.  Call if you see something suspicious; use your ‘6^th sense’.   A meeting attendee commented on suspicious activity in the woods off Princeton Place.  Officer Matney said he was aware of this.  He said it is important to call immediately.  If you wait, then it will be too late for the police to do anything about it. You can see Rockville’s crime statistics report from 2014 here: http://www.rockvillemd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10969

COLLEGE PLAZA UPDATE

Naomi presented.  According to Combined Properties, New York Mart will open in a few weeks.  The lot that used to be a gas station will be an M&T Bank with a drive-thru.  Presently it is under review for a building permit.  In front of College Plaza, the trees along Rt 355 were cut down by PEPCO because they were interfering with the power lines overhead.  Along College Pkwy across the street from the plaza, the property belongs to the gas company and is bordered by an ugly fence.  The city of Rockville does not have jurisdiction.  Richard Navarro suggested that neighbors ask the company to grow vines or other vegetation along the fence.  The discussion evolved and Jerry will prepare an online petition for neighbors to sign requesting the gas company replace the existing fence with a nicer looking one.

ROCKVILLE MASTER PLAN UPDATE

Susan Swift, neighbor and Director of Planning for the City of Rockville, presented. Rockville’s Comprehensive Master Plan describes the broad vision for the City’s future. It is the core philosophy that guides development, conservation and capital improvement projects to improve the quality of life in the Rockville community. It guides where and in what form development occurs in the community and frames the City’s capital improvement projects. The Master Plan is required by law to be reviewed every 10 years in a process that typically takes 1-2 years.

The City is working hard to get as much input from our residents as it can. At the community kickoff event on May 9^th, the department of Community Development and Planning Services launched a survey for Rockville residents to gather their ideas and visions for the future of Rockville. You can view the results of the survey by going to http://www.rockvillemd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10892.

Currently the City is holding Listening Sessions to give residents a chance to focus on issues and opportunities specific to their neighborhoods. The listening session for College Gardens will be Tuesday, November 17 at 7:00pm at the Rockville Senior Center. You can see the full schedule of sessions at http://rockvillemd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11887. From these sessions, a list of top priorities will be generated.  These priorities will help guide how the City focuses its attention on traffic, recreation and, parks, housing, the environment, development, and other quality of life issues.

Rockville is at a turning point. There is no empty space for new development, so future growth will require redevelopment and re-imagining of currently built-out areas. Most of this envisioned growth will take place near the three Rockville Metro stations (Twinbrook, Town Center, and Shady Grove) with mixed-use development including mid- to high-rise housing.  It is estimated that Rockville’s population will increase from its current 62,000 to approximately 80,000 in 2040.

For more information, visit the Master Plan update page at http://www.rockvillemd.gov/index.aspx?nid=203

ROCKVILE SOLAR CO-OP

Pieter Mumm, a member of the Sustainable Energy Committee, presented.  He explained that a solar co-op is able obtain a substantial discount on solar panels and installation, i.e. 25%. In the next few months, Rockville’s solar co-op will have enough homes to move forward and evaluate bids from local installers.  All projects will be completed with the single installer that was selected and lock in the discount for all homes in the co-op.  Afterwards, each home can pick options for an individualized proposal.  An estimation of energy savings can be found at pvwatts.nrel.gov to determine whether switching to solar makes sense for your home. For more information about Rockville’s solar co-op, visit http://mdsun.org/solar-bulk-purchases/rockville/

GARDEN CLUB OF COLLEGE GARDENS

Kathy Oehl, the incoming president of the Garden Club of College Gardens, presented.  She talked about the Club’s activities, such as making corsages for the residents of Collingswood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.  Speakers on a variety of gardening, floral, and environmental topic present at meetings on the second Thursday of every month.  In addition, the Club maintains the vegetation on the ‘hill’ at College Pkwy and Nelson St.  Janey Nadler mentioned that the Garden Club is selling bulbs.  Go to the Garden Club’s page on our website for more information (www.collegegardens.org/?p=420).

BANKSHOT BASKETBALL

Neighbor Mark Pierzchala proposed that CGCA make a donation (suggested amount of $1000) along with other local entities for the purchase and installation of Bankshot Basketball at College Gardens Elementary School.  Total cost is $45,000.  According to bankshot.com website, “Players of all ages and abilities, including disabled participants, proceed through a course of angled, curved and non-conventionally configured brightly colored backboards, banking shots off the Bankboards™ and through the rims. Bankshot™ Sports are non-aggressive and entirely inclusionary. Participants play alongside, not against, each other.”  It was decided that this topic will be discussed further at the November CGCA meeting.

UPDATE CGCA BY-LAWS

Karen Carp, vice president of CGCA, notified attendees that the association’s by-laws are outdated.  (By-laws are located on CG website.)  Karen requested and got two volunteers help her update the by-laws. They will report their progress at the winter meeting. If you wish to participate, please contact Karen. You can view our current by-laws on our website at: http://collegegardens.org/?page_id=218

ROCKVILLE CITY COUNCIL PROPOSAL TO ALLOW CHICKENS

Neighbor Betty Spano is concerned about the ordinance to amend the City’s animal control laws to allow chickens to be kept at private homes within city limits. Neighbors were concerned about noise and sanitation issues along with the potential impact on property values. Betty strongly encouraged attendees to notify the Mayor and Council of their opinion.  Jerry will send a letter stating the CGCA “overwhelmingly” opposes chickens in Rockville. The letter and more information about the vote and its implications can be found on our website at http://www.collegegardens.org/?p=436

CGCA AND SOCIAL MEDIA

CGCA has three means of contacting neighbors: The College Gardens Civic Association email list (uses email addresses from our neighborhood directory), Yahoo group (informal, chatty, 100+ members) and NextDoor.com (Facebook type site for a neighborhood, 100+ members).  To sign up for any of these, go to the “Contact Us” page on our website: http://www.collegegardens.org/?page_id=16

UPDATE CG DIRECTORY

Block Captains will collect information in fall 2015 and the directory will be published in spring 2016. More information and discussion about the new directory will take place at our next meeting.

OTHER

Naomi announced that a neighborhood street party featuring our local band The Digits will take place at Hard Times/Carmen’s parking lot on May 30, 7 – 11 pm.  A handout was available.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 8:58pm.