Meeting Round-Up: Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board

Although the the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board did not take a position on the teen curfew bill in the Montgomery County Council, it is weighing whether to do so for the community benefits bill. Last night the board ultimately referred the discussion to one of its committees.

Here’s what else happened at the Nov. 15 meeting:

Fire Station Redesign

Gregory Eisenstadt, who is not on the board, which would negatively impact some property he owns. At this meeting, he called the board’s attention to the redesign process, particularly the lengthy amount of time between the redesign and when the new plans were made known to the public--with little time for public comment. “The design change was made over a year ago, and nobody was notified,” Eisentadt said. The board voted to send a letter to the county executive, asking for an explanation of the changes in the redesign and the little opportunity for public input.

Shared-Use Paths

John Salzberg of the Sandy Spring Civic Asssociation gave a presentation about shared-use paths in the Route 108-Dr. Bird Road-Norwood Road triangle. Pedestrians and cyclists would share the proposed paths, which would be wider than sidewalks. Salzberg asked the board for a letter to the county executive endorsing this project. The board had many questions for Salzberg about the projected cost and the attitudes of the 20 property owners that would be affected by the project. The board decided it needed more information and referred the issue to its Land Use subcommittee.

Teen Curfew and Anti-Loitering Bill

The county executive responded, thanking the board for its input, and his letter was read at the November meeting.

Councilmember Phil Andrews (D-Dist. 3) stopped by the meeting quickly before heading to the public hearing on the anti-loitering bill he is sponsoring in the Montgomery County Council. Ariel Winter reported that the Quality of Life committee had examined Andrews’ proposed anti-loitering bill and found the key definition of loitering “extremely vague and subjective.” Winter noted that an opinion from the county attorney’s office had questioned the bill’s constitutionality.

Wheaton Sector Plan

Ana Lopez van Balen reported on , noting that there has been little opposition. Van Balen announced that she will be teaching a class on civic engagement at the . When the board asked for an update on Costco, van Balen said, “They are proceeding with construction as scheduled because they have been assured that the community benefits agreement bill will not affect them.”

Community Benefits Agreement Bill

The board referred discussion of the community benefits agreement bill to the Land Use, Zoning, and Transportation committee. Because the council will likely not vote on the bill until after Christmas, the board has yet to decide whether it wants to wait and see how the bill evolves before taking a position or submit its ideas for how the bill can be improved while it is still in the formative stage. The board has not taken a position on the Wal-Mart plan, but the Land Use committee chair expressed an interest in doing so. Van Balen said that she had spoken to Wal-Mart earlier that day and “Wal-Mart will not come in if there is a community benefits bill.”

Budget Guidelines

Kieran McHargue reported that the Budget & Capital Improvement committee had created a set of guiding principles for examining the county budget. The guiding principles call for a more proactive approach to scrutinizing the distribution of funds and the timely availability of cost and performance reports. Some board members applauded McHargue’s ambition, but warned him that it would be too much work. Others said it read more like a political platform. Kieran responded that he would relax the language to avoid potentially constricting the board.

Wind Energy

Board member Steve Morrison brought up and warned the board that the power company PJM could potentially set up a monopoly. He asked the board to refer the issue to a committee for review, but the board voted no. “This is a state issue, not our priority,” Winter said.