Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a pleasant time with family and loved ones. Don’t forget about our Grand Illumination today at 6pm downtown.

Below you will find details on the holidays in Annapolis (and our parking discounts), as well as information on tomorrow’s Council meeting. Please let me know if you have thoughts on anything on our agenda.

I also wanted to remind you to fill out the community survey if you haven’t done so already. Today or tomorrow are your last days to do so.

On Wednesday from 5-6:30 is our Ward 7/8 community meeting regarding the City Dock redevelopment project. This project represents a complete re-envisioning and rebuild of our City dock area. The primary intention is to prepare for sea level rise related to the climate crisis, but at the same time we want to increase the amount of usable green/open space downtown and move the cars to our new garage.

Also, as you’ve seen in the newspaper, our local/state delegation has returned from the Netherlands. We traveled with two representatives from the Moore administration (Planning Secretary Flora and Risk Reduction Director Sara Bender) and the County Bicycle and Pedestrian Planner Tanya Asman. Those from the Council included Mayor Buckley, myself, and Aldermen Schandelmeier, Gay, and O’Neal. We were hosted by the Dutch Cycling Embassy and the Netherland Water Partnership, who had created daily agendas packed with presentations, meetings, and tours of their infrastructure. We will be releasing more information about this shortly but suffice it to say it was an incredible experience that I wish I had done earlier in my first term. Hearing about and seeing the flood mitigation technologies, approaches, and mindset of the Dutch was incredibly useful as we face our own flooding challenges. We will be incorporating what we’ve learned into our projects and initiatives. The same can be said of the cycling infrastructure. To say they are avid cyclists is an understatement. They have complete infrastructure enabling and promoting cycling. I’ve never seen so many cyclists! In contrast with the United States, cyclists rule the road in the Netherlands. Building such networks enables healthier citizens (even seniors cycle out there regularly and use the paths for travel on their scooters), connected and more equitable neighborhoods, less traffic and parking issues, improved economic growth (known as bikeconomics) and more sustainable transportation (from an environmental and climate perspective). I hope we can incorporate some of what we learned to address the parking and traffic concerns we have locally. Expect more to come on all of this.

Town Hall meeting – NEW DATE – Tuesday Dec 12^th 7:30-8:30pm

Since I had to cancel the November Town Hall meeting, I’ve found a new date for Tuesday, December 12^th. The only catch is that we will only have an hour (7:30-8:30). For that reason, I’ll keep things short and just give you a 20 minute or so update and then we can have an open dialog for the rest of the meeting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a better date/time. I’ll try to get the meetings scheduled out for this spring and next fall earlier so we can have more time for dialog or even a special guest. As always, I would really appreciate any help you can provide in spreading the word. I'll have flyers made up shortly to hand out in your communities. If you can help, please let me know.

Stay healthy and stay safe,

Rob

Next Council meeting – 11/27/23 (agenda)

This Council meeting is starting at 7pm and will be televised on local cable, YouTube, Facebook, and the City website.  You can submit public testimony at http://www.annapolis.gov/testimony. This will be an in-person meeting.

Public Hearings

• O-22-23 - Business License, Taxes and Regulation - Creation of Art Establishment Beer and Wine License for specific art venues as authorized by MD

Legislation being introduced on first reader

• R-56-23 - FY 2024 Fines Schedule Update - Abandoned Vehicle - For the purpose of increasing fines for abandoned vehicles in the City of Annapolis, and generally related to Title 12, Vehicles and Traffic.
• R-58-23 - Annual Meeting and Tourism Industry Reception - For the purpose of identifying the Annual Meeting and Tourism Industry Reception that will be held on January 23, 2024, as a Special Event and waiving certain City of Annapolis fees for services related to that event.

Legislation on second reader (i.e. final vote)

• O-23-23 - Alcoholic Beverages Code Technical Corrections - For the purpose of making technical corrections to the Alcoholic Beverages section of the City of Annapolis code; and generally dealing with Title 7 section 12. This legislation makes technical corrections to the code and does not represent substantive changes. I’m inclined to support, pending input from you.
• R-38-23 - FY 2024 Annual Fees Schedule - Art Establishment Liquor License Fee - For the purpose of specifying the fee for the new Art Establishment liquor license. The Maryland General Assembly updated their laws, and non-profits, like Maryland Hall, can now secure annual liquor licenses instead of one-time licenses. This legislation simply creates a fee for these licenses. I’m inclined to support, pending input from you.
• R-47-23 - Public Kayak Rack Pilot Program - For the purpose of creating a City of Annapolis pilot program to allow a public kayak rack in a street-end city park located on the City's waterfront. The purpose of this legislation is to create a pilot program to allow a public kayak rack, managed by the Harbor Master, in a street-end park. I support increasing public access to the water, so I’m inclined to support this legislation, pending input from you.

Community & Political updates

Annapolis Community Survey Underway Now Through Nov. 27

Holiday season kicks off in Annapolis – tree lighting today

City dock community meeting on redevelopment project

Holiday parking discounts

Annapolis Police Department Crime Suppression Plan Update