Odor at treatment plant

I’m sorry to have missed this past Monday’s meeting on the Wastewater Treatment Plant odor issue, but our final Council vote on the budget was the same night, which I could not miss. I have spoken to a number of people about the meeting, including the Anne Arundel Director of Public Works, and will be including some information about the issue at the end of this email.

FY25 budget approved – Ward 7 wins big

We have voted to approve the FY25 budget. I’m happy to report that all of my amendments passed. Here is a list of what I was able to get accomplished:

1. Money for an additional social worker position – We clearly need to do more in our communities to help break the cycle of poverty and crime, and I believe that social workers are an important part of ensuring public safety.
2. Urban tree canopy funding – We have long had a goal of reaching our 50% tree canopy target by 2035. Unfortunately, we have determined that there is no way we can meet that target because our tree program was never properly funded when the goal was adopted. Even if we tried to catch up and planted the thousands of trees we need, they simply can’t grow fast enough to meet the target. Now our urban tree program will be a part of our Watershed Restoration Fund, ensuring that it is properly funded in perpetuity. This will also likely entail setting a new target year to meet our 50% canopy goal.
3. Noise camera pilot – I secured funding for a noise camera pilot on Tyler Avenue. Assuming we can get permission from the State to do so, this could help turn Tyler Ave into a “Quiet Street”, automatically fining vehicles who violate our existing noise restrictions. This is in response to complaints I’ve received about noisy vehicles racing down this road late at night.
4. Enhanced Bembe Beach Rd crosswalk – The crosswalk near Baywoods has long needed an upgrade with a push-button and flashing lights, even more so now that we are creating a new public park at the newly acquired Carrs Beach property.
5. Bay Ridge Rd “Road Diet” study – We will be soliciting a study of Bay Ridge Rd between Arundel on the Bay and Hillsmere Drive, to see what kind of “road diet” we may be able to put that roadway on. “Road diets” are helpful in that the goal is to create a road that is slower and more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. And once you create such a pedestrian friendly environment, you also get an economic boost because more people will be visiting your business; not just by car, but now by foot and cycle. As a part of this, we will look at reducing the lanes, installing bike paths, possibly installing street trees, narrowing the lanes to slow traffic, and possibly converting the signalized intersections to circles. If we are serious about having zero pedestrian deaths from vehicles, and creating safe routes to schools, we need to start looking at how to do that. My son bikes every day to school this way, and so I am very committed to looking to make it safer for him and other kids like him. If we can come up with a good study, and convince the County to partner with us, this could be a model for the rest of Forest Drive. Maybe we could finally change Forest Drive from our most dangerous road in the City to the safest. Imagine that!
6. Mini-roundabout study – We will be looking at doing conceptual studies at 4 intersections for possible conversions to mini-roundabouts: Georgetown Rd & Victor Haven, Forest Hills & Bay Ridge Ave, Bay Ridge Ave & Chesapeake (or Sixth), and Duke of Gloucester & Conduit. Mini-roundabouts are safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and automobile drivers, and also help to slow traffic down generally. We also save money by not having to supply electricity to the traffic signals. If this goes well, I’ll be looking to install some on Edgewood Rd (and yes, they can be designed to allow large trucks and boat trailers to traverse them). After Tyler Ave, Edgewood Rd is next on our list for traffic calming and road diet.
7. CIP text amendments – I adjusted many of our transportation-related Capital Improvement Projects to include analysis of converting traffic signals to circles before spending half a million dollars to upgrade them, installing trees when re-constructing roads, and incorporating bike paths in some street upgrades.
8. Reusable bags for low income residents – pretty self explanatory, but with a plastic bag ban likely to pass in the City, we need to offer free bags to those who need them.
9. Watershed fund overhaul – I’ve allocated funding to allow us to move towards a more equitable fee structure where “users” are charged by their actual impervious surface coverage. This will hopefully help us adequately charge large industrial or commercial users with large parking lots, to make sure they are paying for their poor runoff.
10. Carrs Beach annexation support – for whatever reason, the Carrs Beach community was never annexed into the City and is now completely surrounded by the City despite being in the County. Residents are looking to be annexed to given that they have old, failing septic tanks that are likely polluting our waterways. If annexed, they could connect to our water and sewer systems, pending adequate capacity. This money would help support them, if annexed, as far as helping with utility connections on a need basis.
11. AI street camera study – this would have us look at the feasibility of moving towards a street camera system that is somewhat monitored by AI. Currently our cameras are monitored by about half a dozen individuals, which come with their own human limitations as far as attention.
12. Other – we also approved funds for domestic violence outreach, field upgrades, minority business development fund, approved a children and family success grant, clay street community development fund, and set aside money to pay for the HACA pool for one season.

Stay healthy and stay safe,

Rob

Next Council meeting – 6/17/24 (agenda)

This meeting starts 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

• R-4-24 - 2024 City of Annapolis Comprehensive Plan - For the purpose of adopting a new comprehensive plan for the City of Annapolis. This is likely your last chance to officially comment on the proposed Comprehensive Plan.

Legislation being introduced on first reader

• R-28-24 - City-supported Special Events in Fiscal Year 2025 - For the purpose of adding the Annapolis Family Day Festival to annual City events and City-supported events; and waiving certain fees for the Annapolis Family Day Festival in in Fiscal Year 2025. I don’t yet know what the “Annapolis Family Day Festival” is and have submitted an inquiry.
• R-30-24 - Collective Bargaining Agreement - United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, Local 400 - For the purpose of submitting a written memorandum of Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City of Annapolis and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, Local 400, for the Fiscal Years 2025 through 2026 to the City Council for its ratification or rejection.

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

• CA-1-24 - Department of Central Services - For the purpose of reconstituting the Department of Central Services in the City Charter; moving public purchasing duties from the Finance Department to the Department of Central Services, and moving facilities management, fleet operations, and fleet replacement duties from the Department of Public Works to the Department of Central Services; and generally related to Department of Central Services responsibilities. I’m inclined to support re-creating this department, pending any comments from you.
• O-8-24 - Department of Central Services - For the purpose of reconstituting the Department of Central Services in the City Charter; moving public purchasing duties from the Finance Department to the Department of Central Services, and moving facilities management, fleet operations, and fleet replacement duties from the Department of Public Works to the Department of Central Services; and generally related to Department of Central Services responsibilities. I’m inclined to support re-creating this department, pending any comments from you.
• O-9-24 - FY 2025 Changes in Exempt Service Job Classifications - For the purpose of updating the classification grades for City employees in exempt service positions; adding the Director of Central Services to the exempt service classification chart; and generally related to City employee salaries for exempt service positions. This simply moves staff from the old payscale to the new payscale, utilizing the new payscale designations. This does not involve any reclassification to a new grade. Pending input from you, I’m inclined to support.
• O-33-23 - Expiration of Special Exceptions to City Zoning Requirements - For the purpose of making the deadline for builders to utilize their special exception to City zoning requirements from one year to two years; making the issuance of a grading or building permit as the point when the special exception is "established"; adds requirements on when special exceptions expire; and generally related to the expiration of special exceptions. I think this will be sent back to committee since they haven’t concluded their work yet.
• O-2-24 - Hours for Tolson Street Park and Tucker Street Park - For the purpose of limiting public access to Tolson Street Park and Tucker Street Park at night; closing those parks to the public between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; and generally related to public peace and order in City parks. I think this will be withdrawn, which I support.
• R-29-24 - For the purpose of submitting a written memorandum of Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City of Annapolis and IAFF Local 1926, AFSCME Locals 3162 and 3406 for the Fiscal Years 2025 through 2026 to the City Council for its ratification or rejection.

Community & Political updates

Delegate Shaneka Henson Fundraiser

I wanted to invite everyone to a fundraiser I am co-hosting for my good friend Delegate Shaneka Henson, on June 29^th from 11AM-1pm. I got to know Shaneka when we served together on the City Council for two years, during my first term in office. She gives voice to those who are often unrepresented, brings empathy and compassion to her efforts, has a very keen legislative eye, and prioritizes doing what’s right for the community over what’s politically expedient. So of course, I said I wanted to co-host when I found out she was doing a fundraiser in our Ward. Hope you can make it. RSVP through the link below.

Juneteenth Carrs Beach celebration

On June 19^th, there will be a celebration and concert at the City’s newly acquired Carrs Beach property. There will be music at the Moyer Park Annapolis maritime Museum Back Creek campus (nothing different than their typical performances, as far as sound), along with a small band playing a set at the beach itself on the Bay side (nothing too large or loud for this particular performance, due to the proximity to BayWoods).

Odor at Treatment Plant

Here is the County’s webpage dedicated to this issue. County DPW director Karen Henry assures me they want to get to the bottom of this issue. Based on my conversation with her, they don’t know for certain what is causing the odor issue, but they are taking immediate, short term actions to try to help address it now, as well as securing contractors, studies, and physical improvements over the mid to long term. We also spoke about adding a monitoring device on the Chesapeake Harbor side. I’m going to try to get you further information about this timeline, and also will try to push the county to accelerate things where they can. You can find some of this information on their website. I am also looking into holding a City Council meeting, or Environmental Matters Committee meeting with the County on this topic, possibly in July.

BGE Small Business Grant

The BGE Energizing Small Business Grants Program is accepting Applications! The BGE Energizing Small Business grant program, presented in partnership with Hello Alice and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), is offering $20K grants to help eligible central Maryland businesses succeed and thrive. Applications for the current round are open through July 12, 2024, at 6 p.m. ET.BGE’s 2024 Energizing Small Business Grants Program Accepting Applications | BGE - An Exelon Company