Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board: May Meeting Round-Up

Here are some highlights from Tuesday’s meeting of the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board:

Costco Gas Station

The newly elected Kensington Heights Civic Association president, Howard Nussbaum, attended the meeting to reiterate why KHCA is concerned about the proposed Costco gas station at Westfield Wheaton and to ask MCCAB to support the Representatives from Costco and KHCA are scheduled to attend MCCAB’s next Land Use committee meeting.

Rapid Transit Vehicles

Tom Street, an administrator in the office of the county executive, gave a presentation about the plans for Rapid Transit Vehicles in Montgomery County. The county's Transit Task Force, which has been working for the last 14 months, will deliver its report on Tuesday to the county executive, he said. The report will then be available on the county government website. Street said that the task force is recommending a “sleek, stylish, and comfortable” experience, with dedicated lanes on roads for the rapid transit vehicles. He also spoke briefly about the need for a new mass transit agency in county government. Street said the first riders are anticipated in 2016.

Aggressive Towing

Ana Lopez van Balen, director for the , shared with MCCAB that she has been seeking out solutions to the aggressive towing problem in Wheaton. Van Balen said that, even though towing is the number one complaint made to the county’s Office of Consumer Protection, the county cannot do much to address abuses in the system. “Federal law preempts us from fixing this problem at the local level,” van Balen said.

Ambulance Fee

The Montgomery County Council voted on Tuesday to pass the controversial Emergency Medical Services Transport fee, which would enable the county to seek reimbursement from insurance companies for ambulance rides, but the issue may still be put to a referendum. At the MCCAB meeting, a motion to support the legislation did not carry; the vote was 5-2 with three abstentions, which did not add up to the majority required to pass. MCCAB member Greg Intoccia said he felt uneasy voting to support a policy that county residents had rejected in a 2010 referendum. MCCAB will likely address the issue again at its next meeting.

Additional Notes

Van Balen said she is starting a childcare task force in Glenmont with the support of the Greater Glenmont Civic Association. She is also organizing a regional non-profit summit in an attempt to unify outreach and cooperation among the 700 registered non-profits in the mid-county region.