Glenn Dale
Citizens Association
May
15, 2007
Opening. The meeting began at
Secretary’s Report. Jim Titus summarized the previous meeting. No corrections were suggested and we adopted the minutes.
Treasurer Report. $1643.43 after $6 in membership fees. Henry added: Dues are tax-deductible.
Paula: A sign went up
the past month on
Fred Gasper, who lives in
1. PG Council Committee
for transportation, health, and environment. Fred and his colleagues take care of two
sections of the WB&A trail, which includes
Question: Does USDA
have
Henry: The issue of who is responsible always comes up between USDA, Park and Planning, and MNCPPC. During the last CIP hearings, we requested that Park and Planning to upgrade it. Our comments were received with acclaim; but nothing has happened. We are glad to hear that Fred is taking up this torch.
2. Fred Euler Natural Area. This area is between along the abandoned rail spur from Amtrak lines to Bowie Race Track, run by MNCPPC and Audubon. It is now an all-terrain vehicle and motorcycle park, for all practical purposes, regardless of its official designation. Fred was trying to get video surveillance system for trash dumping. No luck so far.
3. Expansion of
Morris Warren, founder of the WB&A Trail in
Morris Warren added that the WB&A has crossed Little Patuxent River near Bryer’s lane. We discussed the WB&A status in Anne Arundel county.
Danielle Glaros from Eric Olsen’s office. She is the legislative aid and Chief of
Staff. She lives in
Regarding mobile cameras, she continued. They are looking into cameras for dumping surveillance (as suggested by Fred Gasper.) Please feel free to send them suggested sites. Regarding the Eastgate project. One of the steps of the planning process is that decisions go in front of the planning board. They have not yet made a final signoff. County council members can do additional review. It is important to share our concerns about this project. The council member is concerned. “If we can build it green, let’s do so, and encourage pedestrian amenities.”
Council member Olsen arrived just as his staff finished her remarks. The councilman thanked us for coming to the “walking town meeting.” He and his staff learn a lot by walking through the communities, following up on concerns that were raised. He has another staff person coming on board, who also lives in District 3. He tries to hire people from our district. As a procedural matter, he can not talk about specifics of plans that have been filed until the Council acting as District Council has acted. He plans to insist on quality. He is willing to press developers on specific matters, and tell them to go back to the drawing board, addressing traffic issues. He will support quality development. Council passed a law dealing with pawn shops. There were 38 licenses and 31 in operation. He lowered the cap to 31, to prevent additional pawn shops from opening, and there will be a reduction in licenses. This year close to $1 million in stolen goods were recovered from pawn shops.
Q: Glenn Dale is divided into two districts. How often do council members work together in serving Glenn Dale?
A: When he went on the walk, one of the major things brought up was the need for a library in the area. He brought that to Turner and Harrington, to see what they can do to work together to look into that. They are all fairly receptive.
Henry: The walkthrough included various folks who don’t come to our meetings. Mr. Olsen stayed here for about 3 hours. People expressed concerns about water, trash, and the roads. This is the first time a councilmember has ever done this.
Q: What about the WB&A?
A: I have spoken about need to make more connections on that trail. I talk to Jamie Benoit. I am a friend of trails to make the community more pedestrian-friendly.
Brooke Garner. She has been covering us for 3 years and 5 months. Gazette is owned by Washington Post, and some of the Gazette articles will be in the Post. Her first article in the Post was in last week’s Prince Georges section.
Announcement: US-1 Corridor Study. DEIS being prepared. With ICC and Conterra. Big concern is that a lot of traffic will dump onto US-1. Looking for other ways to move traffic. Do you expand MD-201.
Eric Olsen. DER Comprehensive Community Cleanup Program. This includes 21 cleanups. Call Wanda Brooks if we have questions. 301-952-3060. Unclear whether Glenn Dale is eligible.
Old Business.
Recalling the recent presentation of the folks who wanted their old zoning back along MD-564: They want to come back and give us another presentation.
Eastgate/Staybridge. We have updated renderings. Henry said it doesn’t look any different. We mentioned green building, she assured us she would take that back to her client; we mentioned long ugly roofline, and that hasn’t changed either.
Glenn Dale Golf Course. Nothing new. Plans are being prepared for submission, but John does not know when it will happen. Not clear whether it will happen before September.
We adjourned at