COLLEGE GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION SPRING MEETING MINUTES May 22, 2024
This was a hybrid meeting with [16] people attending in-person; and three members participating via phone or video link.
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. by the Vice-President of the College Gardens Civic Association (CGCA) Gamal (Jimmy) El-Masry (GE).
Introduction and Proposed Meeting Agenda (GE): GE explained that the Association President Jennifer Weiland (JW) had hoped to chair the meeting, but her flight back to DC had been delayed and she was unable to join online.GE introduced the Association Secretary John Mosely Hayes (JMH). The Treasurer position was currently vacant, and volunteers were welcomed to serve as Treasurer and complete the Executive Committee. The meeting followed the proposed agenda: Police Report – Rockville Police Lieutenant Bill Nieberding Treasurer Report – GE City Updates – Barry Jackson, Rockville City Councilmember Update on College Gardens Park Picnic Shelter Mural by Karyn Miller, Arts, Culture, and History Program Manager Printed Directory Update by Karen Carp; and College Gardens Directory Update and Bi-annual CGCA Membership Dues Updating Electronic CGCA Membership Directory and Collecting Membership Dues By-law Amendment – Vote to complete process to amend bylaws to allow electronic voting on CGCA issues Geothermal Installations in College Gardens – GE and CG resident Robert Wise New Business
Police Report, LT. Bill Nieberding (City of Rockville Police):. LT. Nieberding explained that there were no major safety issues that had occurred in the CG community to report on. One issue in general for Rockville, is that there were occasional car thefts that occurred in Rockville, or stolen cars from elsewhere that found their way to Rockville. The City Police as a rule does not engage in hot pursuits of such stolen cars because the car chase usually ends up causing more harm to persons and property than the loss or limited damage of an insured vehicle. Regarding the occasional large presence of City Police vehicles in the neighborhood, as had recently been seen, this usually is the result of a suspicious person being reported to the Police. If capacity allows, the Police usually respond with overwhelming presence (which may make such an incident seem more dangerous that it really is) so as to minimize the probability of any one police officer needing to or the suspect using force.
Treasurer Report, GE: The bank account balance since the last meeting has grown from just under $5,750 to a balance of $5,778.86 as of end-April 2024, thanks to some new membership dues and interest income. No major expenses were incurred since the Fall Meeting. Looking ahead, there may be some expenses in the coming few months in connection with the August 6th National Night Out (always the first Tuesday in August).
City of Rockville Update, Councilmember Barry Jackson (BJ): Budget: The City Council recently approved its annual budget. There will be no increases in city taxes. The City succeeded in increasing staffing in some critical areas, including: a new staff member responsible for making City Parks more accessible to physically challenged people; and six more police officers (the latter to offset in part some cutbacks in coverage of Rockville by the Montgomery County Police; county police will continue to assist with violent crime incidences, but no longer help as much as they had in the past on non-violent situations). Widening I-270 and toll lanes: This remains a possibility despite the unanimous opposition by the City Council. To this end, the Mayor had sent a letter expressing strong opposition to this project to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The exact position of Governor Wes Moore’s Administration is not clear since it formally approved the plan to go ahead with the widening/toll project, but also said it would not implement the plan for now. This project appears to have been pushed from 2040 to 2045, but it could be reactivated earlier if the political majorities change. We all need to be vigilant. Unlike the Rockville City Council, city governments north of Rockville are not opposed to the project Woodley Gardens Shopping Center Vape Shop update: The City Council will be considering changes to the zoning ordinance that will require minimum distances of vape shops from places where young children gather and play (parks, schools, playgrounds, etc.). If approved, this could bar a vape shop from opening in the Woodley Gardens Shopping Center. In the end, a reasonable compromise will have to be worked out because it will not be possible for the City to prohibit outright such activities, given that the shop owners are engaging in a legal business. Access to the Senior Center from Gude Drive: Plans by City Planners are going ahead to allow access to the Senior Center’s north parking lot from Gude Drive, while barring through-traffic into the Woodley Gardens neighborhood. There will likely be some removable obstacle installed that would allow police or emergency (fire/ambulance) vehicles to drive through. Zoning: The City Council might approve changes to the zoning ordinance that would allow homeowners to add small separate construction units on their land, such as for use by elderly parents, guest quarters, etc. However such exceptions would only be allowed on large properties and with sufficient distance from neighbors; conditions that most, if not all properties in the College Gardens neighborhood do not meet the size lot size requirement (comment from Mark Perzchela, former City Councilmember).
Update on College Gardens Park Mural, Ms. Karyn Miller (Arts, Culture, and History Program Manager, City Manager’s Office, City of Rockville): Following the recommendation of the Artist Nomination Committee (which GE served on) to select Artist Andy Dahl and his proposed artwork, the proposal went to the City’s Cultural Arts Commission where it received unanimous support. The project will next go to the City Mayor and Council for consideration at their July 29 meeting. Once formally approved by the Council, the City will be ready to start the contracting process with the selected artist. Mr. Dahl was invited to attend this meeting, but had a scheduling conflict. He looks forward to engaging with the community in an active and inclusive way. There are a few more steps to go, but the City hopes to start implementing the project in the fall. Handout provided (attached herewith).
CGCA Printed Directory Update, Karen Carp (KC), (CGCA Printed Directory Special Committee Chair, Scott Butterworth Co-Chair): KC has been working with others (Scott Butterworth, CG resident), to put the electronic directory into a format that can easily be printed in the form of a booklet. There are a few more steps to go. She hopes to have this process completed by September 2024. It would be good if she could have a better idea of how many households would be interested in having printed booklets. She was of the impression that they could be as high as 50% of the membership. KC can use the CGCA Google Group to canvas the membership and verify this number.
Updating Electronic CGCA Membership Directory and Collecting Membership Dues, GE and JMH: JMH explained that IAW the CGCA bylaws, the biannual membership dues (currently $10 per household every two years), is not intended to pay for a printed directory, but that the CGCA Executive Committee will continue to help maintain and periodically provide the Membership the Electronic CGCA Membership Directory to its members and the Special Committee Printed Directory. Later this year will be time to collect another round of dues (every two years). It was agreed that this would best be done with the help of block captains, who could also help prompt and supplement collecting directory information from the homes in the neighborhood. A volunteer is needed to help lead the dues collection and directory update effort.
Proposed amendment to by-laws to allow electronic voting on CGCA issues, GE: GE explained that the proposed amendment would allow the Executive Committee to solicit members’ views on an important matter of interest to the Association by electronic means between the General Meetings. The draft was recommended for a vote at the last Association meeting in November 2023. If approved at this meeting, it would go into effect immediately. The proposed amendment would be added to Article VIII, and would read as follows: “Article VIII, Section 5- Between General Meetings, the Executive Committee is authorized to hold electronic votes on matters it deems to be important or of significant interest to the Association. The same quorum requirement will apply to the electronic vote as spelled out in Article XI, Section1. The outcome of the electronic vote will be determined by the majority of the votes cast. The Executive Committee may then communicate, or otherwise act upon, the outcome of the electronic vote, as if such decision were taken by the membership in a General Meeting.” The proposed amendment was approved by a unanimous YES vote. A suggestion was made, and generally agreed upon by those in attendance, that, particularly for those members who do not follow their email inboxes on a daily basis, the Executive Committee can post signs around the neighborhood when such electronic voting takes place. This would help alert members to check their inboxes for important electronic information and/or action that was required. These alerts could be similar to the signs posted around the neighborhood that invited members to attend today’s meeting.
Geothermal installations in College Gardens, GE and CG resident Robert Wise (RW) made a joint presentation of their experience with installing a geothermal (GT) heating and cooling system in their homes: A slide show was provided with pictures of the work that was done, along with explanations (attached herewith). RW had his system installed in 2014, GE just a few months ago. The costs for such a system are quite high, having risen from about $37,000 in 2014 to about $42,500 in 2024. However, there are considerable financial incentive programs that reduce the net out-of-pocket costs, including a 30% federal tax credit on the total amount; $3,000 in grants from the State of Maryland; and another $1,500 from PEPCO. The installation can take about 4-6 weeks, depending on the availability of drillers and the permitting process. It also involves major digging and trenching in the yard. Once installed, the outside air conditioning (AC) unit becomes obsolete and is removed, and the previous gas heating furnace is replaced with a much quieter electric pump and compressor. The overall carbon footprint is reduced substantially, especially if combined with solar panels that generate free electricity. In addition to significant savings from lower utility bills (about $100-$150 per month) , the system also generates so-called renewable energy credits (RECs) which can be sold through brokers for around $70-$90 per month.
New Business, JMH: JMH asked that a Special Committee/Task Force be formed and in partnership with the Woodley Gardens Civic Association (WGCA) to continue to try and address the growing deer menace in the neighborhood and ecological injury to the Upper Watts Branch Nature Preserve to which the two neighborhoods are adjacent. JMH explained that he had met with a similarly concerned WG resident (Michele Berlove introduced to him by the WGCA) and a person with a lot of deer management experience who has been in touch with county and city officials gathering useful information. Members agreed to authorize the CGCA to support the formation of a Special Committee on Deer Management (to give the proposed committee flexibility, the proposed committee can be outside of CGCA and CGCA still support the committee, have them speak at meetings, use the CGCA email group, adopt their findings in letters to the city or county, etc.). Ideally the proposed committee would be one that the WGCA would support in a similar fashion as well. The special committee’s proposed initial goals would include: To gather/summarize the city council information and actions that have already been done (8 city council meeting discussions as reported by Mark Perzchela) Plan and mobilize CGCA and WGCA community members to conduct a deer survey at the end of the summer. Formulate, propose and help implement (if there is support) a deer management plan.
The meeting ended at 9:15 pm.
Attachments (included with email distribution): Mural Presentation Handout Geothermal system slides
