Minutes from Annual Meeting, College Heights Estates Association, CHEA

Monday, April 27, 2015, 7 p.m., University Park Elementary School

1. Introduction and Welcome

President, Beverly Silverberg, welcomed all to the annual meeting of CHEA, moved from winter to spring this year to avoid inclement weather. There were 38 persons in attendance. .

She then introduced the CHEA officers and board. She also thanked Pat Cunniff, Newsletter Editor, and Joel Scheraga, webmaster, for their efforts.

2. Review of Past Year’s Activities

President Beverly Silverberg pointed out that CHEA had:

  • Monitored area developments including the Cafritz Property, PG Plaza Development , Knox Boxes, Maryland Book Exchange, Kiplinger Property on East West Highway, and University Town Center;
  • Hosted CHEAFest 2014;
  • Attended County meetings on Environment, transportation and Permitting Issues;
  • Coordinated snow removal in College Heights Estates with DPW&T;
  • Coordinated with Councilwoman Danielle Glaros’s office on issues of importance to CHE;
  • Coordinated with PG Police Department on community safety including an unprovoked dog attack that sent a community member to the hospital;
  • Coordinated with PG Police Department, UP Police Department and UMD Police Department regarding use of the “path” from College Heights Estates onto UMD campus.
  • Coordinated with PG Department of Public Works and Transportation to have signage placed on path warning of police surveillance.

A College Heights resident noted that snow removal was excellent this past year. He suggested that CHEA write to the Department of Public Works commending them for their efforts. President Silverberg said that she had already written the County Executive, with a copy to the Director of Public Works, commending them on their excellent job of snow removal.

3. Nomination and Election of Officers and Board members.

The following officers and board members were elected unanimously

Officers:

President: Beverly Silverberg

Vice President:

Treasurer: Donald Hein

Secretary/Communications Director: Patricia Cunniff

Board Members:

Ron Blunck

Ronald Browning

Lisa Holt

Matthew Kinnard

Rick Macpherson

Joseph Novello

Kimberly Nugent

Marilyn O’Brien

Jean Pirovic

Jud Samon

Joel Scheraga

Ellen Wallis

Non-voting Member:

Jean Lee

4. Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Don Hein reported that CHEA has $8,600 in its treasury. President Silverberg noted that 70 of the 180 households are CHEA members and that she hopes more homeowners join CHEA. Dues are used for maintenance and repair of our “signature” street signs, placement of flowers at the entrance to CHE, and for our annual CHEA Fest.

5. Approval that Dues Remain at $25/household.

A motion was made and approved that CHEA dues remain at $25/year.

6. WSSC Upcoming Replacement of Water Pipes in Community

The speakers were Tom Fegley, AMT Engineering, Contractor to WSSC; WSSC Project Manager for Design Phase, Dana Karzoun; and Luis Maya, WSSC Community Relations. The discussion with slides was led by Mr. Fegley who pointed out the 25% of our water pipes are over 50 years old. WSSC is in the process of trying to replace at least 35 miles of underground piping annually. To date, WSSC has done some surveying on our streets, marking lawns and streets.

Mr. Fegley noted that a significant portion of our water pipes are not only old, but also small in diameter. He indicated that the replacement pipe would likely be Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or duct iron. Also WSSC is looking at renewal of about 272 water-house connections in the general University Park- College Heights area.

Questions were raised regarding the environmental safety of PVC pipes; safety issues from stray current; placement and pressure issues related to fire hydrants in the community; any problems that individual homeowners might have connecting new piping to meters on their property; possible interference of WSSC work with lines associated with individual homeowners’ underground water irrigation systems; any possible damage, temporary or permanent, to streets and owners’ lawns; water shut downs; possible traffic disruptions; and making sure there is adequate coordination of WSSC digging with other utility lines; and, lack of coordination between replacing water pipe lines and sewer lines.

It was noted that DPIE does permitting for this project in Prince George’s County.

The timeline appears to be: Surveying done – April 2015; Design Work – April-October 2015; Bidding, November 2015-February 2016; Construction, April 2016 – October 2017. There were many questions raised and many questions still unanswered. Several residents indicated that it would be good to have another meeting with WSSC to discuss this planned work.

7. University Town Center Construction – ECHO Realty

President Beverly Silverberg introduced Jonathan Shartar, Senior Director, ECHO Realty, who spoke on the current construction underway at UTC. ECHO Realty is a Pittsburg –based company Mr. Shartar indicated that some of the economic problems that UTC has encountered were due to the lack of an anchor store there. The upcoming, 54,000 square-foot Safeway, due to open in fall 2015, will fill this role. In addition, ECHO is planning to lease space for a Wine and Spirits Store, a MedStar Urgent Care Center, a PETCO store, and a “fast casual” restaurant, as yet unnamed. Above the Safeway, there will be parking for about 200 cars. Individuals will be able to go directly into other retail on the second level from this garage. Questions were raised about how parking at this planned Safeway Garage would be monitored such that it would be available for Safeway and other retail customers at UTC, and not for extended METRO parking. Other questions dealt with the type of restaurants that might be placed there.

8. PGCounty Budget and Property Tax Proposal.

Danielle Glaros, County Council Member was delayed at meetings so her Chief-of-Staff, Aimee Olivo, opened the discussion on the county’s budget and property tax proposal. Prince George’s County has been under a TRIM statute that stipulates that county government could not raise property taxes without the consent of its citizens. This has been reaffirmed twice. However, a recent Attorney General ruling indicates that counties in Maryland that have a tax cap can go around the voter consent stipulation provided the tax increase is used to maintain effort for education. This ruling is still under discussion. Council Member Glaros indicated that this Attorney General ruling appears to be interpreted broadly so as to allow the county to raise taxes without a voter referendum. She also noted that state law supersedes county law.

Kevin Maxwell, CEO of the County Public School System, has spoken in the media on the need for increased monies for the school system. Council Member Glaros noted that often Prince George’s County will hire new teachers, spend professional development monies to mentor them over the first five+ years of employment, and then have them leave for more lucrative jobs in adjacent counties. The proposed budget plan is shown below. Council Member Glaros indicated that she had not made up her mind on various facets of the budget package. She also encouraged CHEA residents to follow her e-newsletter statements on the budget, make their views known to her, and attend a planned meeting on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at UP Elementary School where County Executive, Rushern Baker, will discuss the county budget issues. The budget should be approved by May 28th.

Handout from CHEA Annual Meeting, April 27, 2015 from County Council Member, Danielle Glaros.

Respectfully submitted,

Patricia A. Cunniff, Secretary

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