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The Mayor and Council, along with City staff, will honor in September the hundreds of wonderful Rockville residents who give of their time and talents to help out in Rockville.
Words alone truly can’t express the gratitude for the good efforts of so many who give back to their community by mentoring Rockville students, lending their expertise to a board or commission, cleaning up streams, delivering meals to those in needs or the myriad other volunteer work that goes on every day throughout the city.
The City’s volunteers are critical to the success of the city, and each year around this time, it’s important for all of us to say thank you. Without you, we couldn’t accomplish so much of the good work that takes place.
If you have been thinking about volunteering, the fall season also offers a great opportunity to get involved in your community, no matter your interest. The City has openings on several of its boards and commissions, including the Board of Appeals, Environment Commission, Human Rights Commission and Historic District Commission, to name a few.
Boards and commissions are a great way to share your expertise, lend your passion and offer your views about issues relating to topics you may hold a particular interest in.
It’s your chance to get involved, to make recommendations and to help guide the Mayor and Council. You can learn more about all the boards and commissions, as well as committees and task forces that serve the city, through the City Clerk’s Office and by reviewing the various boards.
The Recreation and Parks Department also offers volunteer opportunities and we encourage you to learn about them.
Each year the City of Rockville puts out its Annual Report, which is an opportunity for the City to highlight for the shareholders – you, the residents – what is happening in Rockville.
The Annual Report gives residents a look at how the vision and priorities outlined by the Mayor and Council have been met during the past fiscal year and the work being done to meet them in the coming one.
It is an opportunity to highlight how the Mayor and Council, City staff and residents are working together toward the goal of making Rockville great and that it meets the needs of all who live, work and visit.
This Annual Report is based on Fiscal Year 2010 and therefore highlights the goals achieved based on the former Mayor and Council vision priorities.
We hope you find this report helpful and we look forward to serving you in the coming year.
Summer is coming to a close and with its end comes the start of school. The Rockville City Police want to make sure students returning to school and heading off to college are safe, so they’ve issued some important safety reminders.
For students returning to college or beginning their first semester away from home, remember the following tips:
You can read a complete list of tips for students returning to college in the Aug. 9 police report.
Montgomery County Public Schools begin Monday, Aug. 30, and most private schools begin about the same time. Some reminders for motorists, parents and students are as follows:
You can read a complete list of safety reminders in the Aug. 16 police report.
The City of Rockville recently expressed interest in participating in a regional bike share program.
The self-service public bike rental program is aimed at enhancing the public transportation system already in place.
The City submitted a letter to the director of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation recently expressing interest in participating in a regional bike-share program. The letter states that Rockville would like to be part of Montgomery County’s application through the Transportation Planning Board.
In Rockville, possible locations for the bike stations could include Metro stations, Montgomery College and Town Center.
The program recently started in Washington, D.C., and bike stations consist of a rental kiosk and docking point to secure the bikes when parked. The kiosk processes bike rentals and provides information.
If Rockville could participate in such a program, it would be consistent with the Mayor and Council Vision, 2020, which supports a multimodal transportation system and promotes a quality environment.
It’s uncertain when any decision would be made on the program, but we’ll keep you posted.
The Rockville City Police Department received its fifth re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, which was formed in 1979 that establishes standards for law enforcement agencies.
The City's police department has now been nationally accredited for more than 15 years. The commission recognized the department for compliance with all mandatory standards and 99 percent of optional standards (80 percent compliance is considered acceptable for optional standards).
The re-accreditation is significant because it ensures that the department is subscribing to national standards of performance and methods of operation and management.
Officers with the department go out in force each year for National Night Out. The 27th annual National Night Out takes place Aug. 3 and dozens of neighborhoods throughout Rockville will take part in the event.
Each year, hundreds of residents come out to take part in the national crime prevention initiative. National Night Out is an effective and enjoyable way to promote a police-community relationship through our cooperative efforts to keep neighborhoods safe from criminal activity.
In Rockville, that's a relationship that works well beyond the one night each year it is promoted through this event.
That’s evidenced through the City's crime statistics, which were released in April, and that showed the most serious crimes declined 15 percent in 2009 comparend to 2008. These crimes decreased by 7 percent in 2008 compared to 2007.
Serious crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and auto theft. While there was no change in the number of murders (one) and rapes (eight) that occurred in Rockville in 2009, there were significant decreases in other serious crimes across the city.
Burglaries dropped by 36 percent, from 285 to 183, in 2009; thefts dropped by 15 percent, from 1,288 to 1,094; auto thefts dropped 7 percent, from 96 to 89; and robberies dropped 2 percent, from 62 to 61.
Rockville and its police department are dedicated to keeping residents safe, and to ensuring the working relationship needed to do that is strong.
So while taking part in National Night Out is important, please take the time to get to know your neighbors and we can all do our part to keep our community safe.
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| Carl Henn |
Mother Nature seems to have once again thrown the region a curve ball that has the community working together to weather the storm.
This time a short, but powerful storm battered the area and theft thousands without power. By now, more and more residents are having their power restored.
Our community also suffered a tragedy when longtime resident and civic activist Carl Henn died Tuesday night from an apparent lightning strike.
Carl was a man dedicated to his community and he will be missed.
While not having electricity, including central air conditioning, computers, working refrigerators and freezers to store food and all of the necessities and luxuries of life is frustrating; there are many people in the community helping each other out. That's the kind of city Rockville is.
The City crews are working hard to clean up felled trees and debris, and to reopen the facilities that are closed. If you need to call about a tree that has fallen, call 240-314-8700 during business hours. If a tree is interfering with wires, call the Pepco emergency line at 202-872-3432. To find out about any recreation programs, call 240-314-8620 or the recorded line at 240-314-5023.
And if you have any stories of neighbors helping neighbors, please share them. Sometime, a story of the kindness of neighbors and community can brighten an otherwise dreary week.
It seems that whenever people in government mention infrastructure, it’s a safe bet a lot of eyes glaze over. That is until something like a water main breaks, especially when it creates a geyser that is aired repeatedly on network television.
So while the geyser has been fixed, the real work for the city has just begun.
Currently, the City is working with a team of engineers and consultants to determine exactly what the issue is because it’s not just about fixing a broken or leaking pipe; it’s also about the operation of the City’s water treatment plant.
The 24-inch pipe that broke – the City’s main water transmission line – is 52 years old. The break earlier this month was the first since it was installed.
There have been plans in place replace and test valves, and perform pipe maintenance during a scheduled shutdown in September. A new surge tank was also already planned for the water treatment plant for this fiscal year.
So now, the City is working with firms that specialize in pipe inspection, and who can assist with the issue of power surges at the water plant.
Fortunately the City can work diligently to investigate and solve pipe and surge issues because of a partnership with WSSC that’s been in place since 1976. WSSC will continue to supply Rockville with water as long as it’s needed.
How long will that be? That’s what the Department of Public Works is working around the clock to determine.
The City will ensure the reliable operations of its water plant and distribution system as it has always done.
Your continued patience is appreciated as we work through this, and we will keep you posted as we learn more.
Lately, Rockville has been receiving big kudos, and we’d like to give our community a big ol’ high five.
In the past week, Rockville has received national attention as being the best.
According to Money Magazine’s annual Top 100 Best Places to Live, Rockville is ranked No. 31 as one of the best small cities for families to live. Rockville was also included in this list in 2006 and 2008.
U.S. News and World Report named Rockville as an editors’ pick for Best Places.
And about two months ago, Rockville was named in the Top 10 of cities in the nation to start new companies, according to Bloomberg Businessweek and ZoomProspector.com.
These are all significant accolades for the city, and we should all be proud to live in a community that is being recognized as the best in the U.S.
We hear from people who enjoy living in Rockville for a variety of reasons, including the parks and the proximity to public transportation.
We like hearing about what you like and what you think can be improved.
Tell us what you think about living in Rockville. We’d love to hear from you.
RedGate Golf Course has been discussed at numerous Mayor and Council meetings over the last several years.
Most recently, the Mayor and Council tentatively scheduled a work session on RedGate Golf Course for Sept. 20. On July 19, the RedGate Advisory Committee will present a report to the Mayor and Council.
During June, there were several discussions at Mayor and Council about RedGate. On June 21, they heard a presentation on the course’s business plan financial update. You can take a look at that plan and read the details.
On June 14, they heard a report about a Request For Information (RFI) that was issued to golf course management companies in March.
Details of that report give specific information about the goals and challenges associated with the RFI, as well as a general overview about the companies.
Information was also given at that meeting about returning the course “back to nature.” Details can be found in the same June 14 report.
And on June 7, the Mayor and Council heard two proposals for alternative uses of the 130-acre RedGate Golf Course, located near the intersection of Gude Drive and Norbeck Road.
D&A Sports and Entertainment, LLC, presented a plan for a 6,500-sear civic arena and 2,500-space surface parking lot that would encompass three to five acres of the current course.
Opening Day Partners (OPD) also made a presentation for an alternate use for the city-owned course. The proposal is for a “Brooks Robinson Youth Learning Center,” banquet hall and minor league ballpark to be located on 40 acres, which would reduce the course to nine holes.
Let us know if you have an opinion on RedGate.
The Mayor and Council approved on June 21 the "vision" for the city.
The Mayor and Council meet every other year, following an election, to determine what priorities they want to pursue. Those priorities help to achieve a vision they set for Rockville.
The vision is an overarching strategic policy statement expressing the Mayor and Council's consensus view of how Rockville should be in 10 years.
The vision focuses on the following seven major themes: Strong and Distinctive Neighborhoods, Urban Sensitivity; Engaged Governance; Business Friendly; Multimodal Transportation; Exceptional City Services and Amenities; and Quality Environment.
Read about the vision and the seven themes, and share your thoughts on them.
