MAYOR AND COUNCIL
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND

Meeting No. 01-08
January 7, 2008

The Mayor and Council of Rockville met on Monday, January 7, 2008, at 7:04 p.m. in the Mayor and Council Chamber, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland.  Prior to the meeting, upon motion by Councilmember Britton, duly seconded by Councilmember Robbins, and unanimously passed, the Mayor and Council convened in Executive Session pursuant to Section 10-508 (a) (3) of the State Government Article, Annotated Code of Maryland.  Present at the Executive Session were City Manager Scott Ullery, Deputy City Manager Catherine Tuck Parrish, City Attorney Paul T. Glasgow, Assistant to the City Attorney Marylou Berg, and City Clerk Claire F. Funkhouser.  Also present were members of the District 17 Delegation: Senator Jennie Forehand, and Delegates Kumar Barve, Jim Gilchrist, and Luis Simmons.  The Mayor and Council discussed the acquisition of real property in the Town Center for a public purpose and matters directly related thereto. There being no further business, the Executive Session adjourned at 6:51 p.m.

In attendance: City Manager Scott Ullery, City Attorney Paul T. Glasgow, and City Clerk Claire F. Funkhouser.

City Clerk Claire Funkhouser reported that the item related to parking fees for Town Square had been removed from this evening’s agenda.

Re: City Manager’s Report

City Manager Scott Ullery reported on the following:

• The Public Forum on the Zoning Ordinance to be held on January 10 
• The workshop for homeowners considering historic designation scheduled for Saturday, January 12
• The ceremony commemorating Martin Luther King’s Birthday on January 21 at Rockville High School
• Workshop on the Rockville Pike Corridor Plan scheduled for February 26

Mr. Ullery also mentioned that Art Chambers, Director of Community Planning and Development Services, will be retiring from the City on January 8.  Mayor Hoffmann, speaking for the Mayor and Council, thanked Mr. Chambers for his eight years of service to the City.

Re: Zoning Ordinance Update

Chief of Planning Jim Wasilak reiterated the date for the Public Forum mentioned by Mr. Ullery previously.  Public Hearings are scheduled for January 23 and 30.  The record is expected to stay open for some time after the public hearings.  Mr. Wasilak said that, to date, over five hundred comments had already been received by the Commission.

Presentations will be made to the Woodley Gardens West Civic Association later this evening, to citizens from Fallsgrove on January 19 and to the Cultural Arts Commission on February 13.

Re: Citizens' Forum

Re: Response to Citizens' Forum

Councilmember Robbins said that she concurred with Mr. Meyer’s concern about the outage of the lights along Wootton Parkway, including ones in her area near McCormick Drive.  Councilmember Robbins wished Ms. Meisner well in her move and stated that she agreed with Mr. James comments.

Councilmember Marcuccio also wished Ms. Meisner well and that she also agreed with Mr. James’ comments.

Re: Adoption of a resolution to support the defense and ultimate implementation of Maryland’s Clean Cars Act, and to endorse and encourage legal and other action be taken by the Governor and the Attorney General to implement Maryland's Clean Car Act and to reduce greenhouse gases from vehicles

Resolution No. 1-08

City Manager Ullery introduced Mark Charles, Chief of Environmental Management, to explain the details of the resolution, which Mr. Charles informed the Mayor and Council is an updated version from the one listed in the briefbook.  The updated version reflects litigation entered into by the State of Maryland on January 2, 2008 in support of Maryland’s Clean Car Act, despite possible rejection by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Maryland was following California’s lead in trying to enact more restrictive measures than endorsed by the EPA and it is expected that the EPA, which rejected California’s law, will also reject Maryland’s law.

There was discussion about why the EPA had acted the way it had, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s pronouncement that greenhouse gases are indeed a pollutant.  Councilmember Robbins said she felt it had been a decision made at the presidential level, not the EPA level.  There was also some discussion about the energy bill enacted by Congress as to whether or not it addressed carbon dioxide emissions.

Councilmember Gajewski asked if it was fair to say that the provisions in the clear Car Act would accelerate the provisions for reducing carbon dioxide by four years and Mr. Charles said that it would.  Councilmember Gajewski also asked if the state had asked for this endorsement through passage of a resolution and Mr. Charles said he was not aware of any other City that was doing such a resolution.  Councilmember Gajewski said he thought it was important to note such.

At this point, Counilmember Marcuccio made a motion to approve the resolution, which was seconded by Councilmember Robbins.  In discussion of the motion, Councilmember Gajewski said that he would abstain form voting on the resolution.  He said that he was not sure that this issue even belonged on the Mayor and Council’s agenda.  He said that he did not feel it was appropriate for one level of government to take an official position on something another level of government was doing. 

In reply, Councilmember Marcuccio said that Maryland had a long track record of trying to solve the issue of air pollution, which she felt was important to support.  Mayor Hoffmann said that it should be incumbent on the City, which had passed the “Sustainable Rockville” to support this in an effort to move forward. 

The vote was taken, with Mayor Hoffmann and Councilmembers Britton, Marcuccio, and Robbins voting, “aye,” and Councilmember Gajewski abstaining and Resolution No. 1-08, supporting the defense and ultimate implementation of
Maryland’s Clean Cars Act, and to endorse and encourage legal and other action be taken by the Governor and the Attorney General to implement Maryland's Clean Car Act and to reduce greenhouse gases from vehicles, was adopted.

Re: Approval of Financial Policies for the City of Rockville

Director of Finance Gavin Cohen said that the Financial Policies had originally been adopted in 1999, revised in 2001, and presented for review after additional revisions last spring.  At that time the Mayor and Council had deferred action. 
Mr. Cohen highlighted some of the areas that had been included in the most recent revision.  These included the addition of a purpose and objectives and dividing the document into sections, which were individually analyzed.  Mr. Cohen reviewed the changes in the policy sections, highlighting the addition of the “Productivity Policies.”  He said that, ideally, the financial policies should be reviewed on an annual basis as part of the budget process.  Mr. Cohen added that, if the policies are adopted, the refuse fund should show a thirty-day reserve.

Councilmember Marcuccio thanked Mr. Cohen for taking to heart so many of the things that had been discussed with the Mayor and Council last spring.  She said that she remained concerned about making the connection between the financial review process as highlighted in the audit with the financial policies.  Mr. Cohen responded that staff would be setting up a project, which will address this.  There was some discussion about the possibility of an audit committee and/or a budget committee that could react.  Mr. Cohen said that he had had positive experiences with committees in the past, but that he felt that the more specific the criteria that a committee had to work from, the better.
Councilmember Marcuccio also asked about the criteria for purchasing, especially for contractual or consulting services.  Mr. Cohen said that the City’s Purchasing Ordinance was very thorough with regard to the procedures that must be followed.  Councilmember Marcuccio said that needed to be considered and Mr. Cohen said that he would be happy to provide a copy of the ordinance, with specifics on the City’s process and procedures, to the Mayor and Council.  Councilmember Marcuccio said she felt there needed to be a reference to this in the financial policies somehow.

Councilmember Marcuccio also asked about the issue of five-year budget projections, which Mr. Cohen said would be part of a new section in the FY2009 budget featuring a model of revenue and expenditure projections.  She also wondered why the policies referred to the City Manager as the one who prepares the budget.  Mr. Ullery replied this was a responsibility of the City Manager as specified in the Charter, with the approval specified as the responsibility of the Mayor and Council.

There was a broad discussion about other elements in the Financial Policies such as the inclusion of the cost recovery process as utilized in the Department of Recreation and Parks into the document, how budget transfers are made, and the variation in the suggested amounts of reserves for the Enterprise Funds. 

Councilmember Britton asked about any reference regarding investments and Mr. Cohen said that one suggestion had been to incorporate it, but Mr. Cohen said he felt this should be handled separately so he could not recommend that.  Councilmember Britton also asked about the suggestion that a project must be at least $100,000 to qualify as a CIP item.  The criteria is now $25,000. 

There was also discussion about what the role of an audit committee might be.  Mr. Cohen responded that it might include hiring the auditors and the report would go to the Mayor and Council via the committee rather than through Mr. Cohen’s office.  Mr. Britton said that he favored further consideration of a Finance Committee.  Councilmember Britton added that he thought the inclusion of a “whistleblower” policy would be beneficial. 

Councilmember Robbins agreed, saying that she also thought an audit committee could provide an extra level of oversight.  Councilmember Robbins alluded to a situation that had occurred some time ago when the Mayor and Council were not informed of some substantial changes to the budget mid-year, resulting in mistrust of the oversight process as well as the communication between management and the Mayor and Council.  Mayor Hoffmann wondered if an audit committee would have caught this.  Mr. Cohen said he was not sure, but clearly reporting, open and often was critical to making wise decisions and maintaining trust between the elected officials and staff.  Councilmember Robbins said she was under the impression that, if someone had caught the problem earlier, it would have come to light so that a bad situation was not made worse by the passage of time.  Councilmember Marcuccio said maybe she was confused by the use of the term “audit” committee and that maybe what would be more helpful would be something more generic.
At this point, Councilmember Gajewski said that he agreed with Councilmember Britton who had praised the document for its simplicity.  He said he was aware that the policies had come before the Mayor and Council several times now.  He said he thought there were two basic choices at hand: 1) continue to perfect the policies or 2) adopt and then amend later.

 Mr. Cohen said that it would be staff’s preference for the Mayor and Council to adopt the Financial Policies.  He reiterated that the policies are a “living” document, which would be subject to review in April along with the FY 2009 Budget.  He added that there would be some revisions along the way, such as the ones submitted by Art Stigile today, which had been received too late to be considered for inclusion in tonight’s document.

At this point, Councilmember Gajewski made a motion to approve the recommended Financial Policies, which was seconded by Councilmember Britton.  Mr. Cohen said that he would change the document to reflect the changes mentioned tonight and the typos also noted.  Councilmember Marcuccio said she wanted to make it clear that whenever she asked for something, it did not mean that she was criticizing the staff.  The vote was then taken and, by unanimous vote, the Mayor and Council approved Financial Policies for the City of Rockville.

City Manager Ullery said that he would look into the issue of whistleblower policies, perhaps as part of the personnel policies.  He said that he would also provide the Mayor and Council with copies of the City’s current Purchasing Ordinance, as requested.  Councilmember Britton asked for some information on the prospective committees mentioned this evening.

Re: Authorization for the City Manager to sign, on behalf of the City of Rockville, an agreement with Montgomery County regarding Rockville Library Parking in a form approved by the City Attorney.

City Manager Ullery reiterated that this agenda item was to be accompanied by another agenda item related to other parking fees in Town Square, but there were still some outstanding questions about it.  Mr. Ullery said he hoped to be able to bring that item back for approval by the Mayor and Council soon.

Mr. Ullery said that, in 2006, the Mayor and Council had passed a resolution endorsing free parking for library patrons.  Since then, staff has been negotiating with pertinent staff from Montgomery County Libraries to find a solution for users of the Rockville Library that would work with the City’s payment system.  The solution also needed to address the long-term needs of staff housed within the library building, including library administrative staff (both Rockville Library and Montgomery County Department of Libraries) and staff of the County’s Human Rights Commission. 

Mr. Ullery said that the City’s parking technology has facilitated this, reiterating that the companion agenda item would have explained this more thoroughly.  David Levy, Chief of Long-term Planning for the Department of Community Planning and Development Services, said that County employees would use a coupon number or a code so that the hours of usage could be tracked and the cost reimbursed to the City from the County.  The County will also reimburse the City for parking used by library users.

Mr. Levy explained the details related to the free parking for library patrons.  In order for library patrons to park for free under this agreement, they must park in one of the Rockville Town Square parking garages using the, “15 Minutes Free for Library Patrons,” option that would be offered at each garage pay station.  When a patron selects this option, the pay station will produce a ticket showing the expiration time and the space number, which the patron can take to the Library when registering for free parking. 

 The patron will have 15 minutes to reach the library pay station to register for free parking before the system will show that parking space to be expired, thereby exposing the patron to the potential of receiving a parking ticket.  The library pay station will permit free parking for as long as the patron wishes.  However, in order to minimize abuse, the patron will only be permitted to register for two hours at a time.  If the patron wishes to stay longer, he or she must return to the pay station and register again.  The hours charged to the County will include the amount of time accumulated from the “15 Minutes Free for Library Patron” option.  Mr. Levy cautioned that a system like this will be hard to monitor, but it is hoped that by limiting the increment of time for free parking to two hours with the need to go back for renewal of the time will dissuade abuse.  Also, the County is willing to bear the risk in order to achieve its goal of free parking for Library patrons.  The City and the County will review monthly reports to see if there are patterns of abuse for this, and other components of this agreement, and make the appropriate adjustments to procedures.

In discussion, Councilmember Britton asked about the cost for the installation of the pay system and the maintenance costs.  Mr. Levy responded that each one costs approximately $15,000 and the maintenance costs are expected to be very low due to a service agreement and a software system to back up every machine.  Councilmember Britton wondered what would happen if the machine in the library breaks and Mr. Levy replied that staff was working on a system of using one of the other machines as a back-up, perhaps the one on the via next to Austin Grill.

There was discussion about the matter of how the patron parking would work for some who spend significant time at the library, such as volunteers.  There was also a mention of the method of pay for the garages, which will include the ability to use credit and debit cards, some thing not currently available in the County garages in Bethesda and Silver Spring.  Mayor Hoffmann said this manner of payment would be significantly different and beneficial to patrons of Town Square. 

Councilmember Robbins credited several people who were instrumental in getting the issue of free parking at County libraries addressed by the County, particularly County Councilmember Phil Andrews and citizens Irwin Cohen and Lora Meisner.

Upon motion by Councilmember Robbins, duly seconded by Councilmember Britton, and unanimously passed, the Mayor and Council authorized the City Manager to sign, on behalf of the City of Rockville, an agreement with Montgomery County regarding Rockville Library Parking in a form approved by the City Attorney.

Re:      Future Agendas

City Manager Ullery announced that there would be no meeting on January 14.

Re: FYI/Correspondence

Councilmember Gajewski mentioned that he had attended the farewell ceremony for troops on their way to Iraq at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre on January 3.

Re: Old/New Business

Councilmember Gajewski said he would like to suggest that the City Manager look into the current model of contractual legal services to the City and investigate alternative models of in-house legal counsel and made a motion to that effect, which was seconded by Councilmember Robbins and unanimously approved by the Mayor and Council, the Mayor and Council directed the City Manager to investigate various models for the provision of legal services to the City and report back to the Mayor and Council

Re: Adjournment 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.