City Council Worksession Preview: July 5

The College Park City council will convene for its worksession Tuesday at 8 p.m. Meetings and worksessions are held in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 4500 Knox Road. A complete agenda is available online.

Animal Control Program Review

The City's Animal Control Officer Vivian Cooper and the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) will be updating the Mayor and Council on the animal control program in College Park. At a recent , Cooper said she anticipated discussion about the donations collected upon animal adoptions. This was previously a fee, but after council questioned its legality, it became a "voluntary adoption donation." The AWC plans to defend the collection of this money to reimburse pre-adoption costs, including some exams, vaccinations and sterilizations. In addition, the plans to make two more requests to the council: (1) that the city code be updated to reflect contemporary animal control operation, and (2) that the city be responsible for maintaining the animal shelter. Members of the AWC recently purchased a $149 air conditioner for the facility.

New County Stormwater Regulations

City staff is recommending that the City of College Park support new county stormwater regulations, meant to be a compromise between developers who viewed previously proposed regulations as too strict and the environmental community that saw them as too soft. (College Park also supported the previously proposed legislation, though it was not passed.) However, neither developers or the environmental community are 100 percent in support of the revised legislation.

Budget Amendment

The City's finance director is proposing that a portion of funds gathered from speed enforcement camera revenue, Optotraffic processing costs, and contract police to certify the tickets replace operating funds for public safety. The freed-up operating funds would budget for the taxable parking garage BAN payoff, Bank of America commercial loan payoff and certain C.I.P. transfers.

Ethics Ordinance

Changes in the state's Code of Ethics required amendments to the City of College Park code as well. Those changes will be reviewed on Tuesday.

Beer and Wine License

The county has received an application for a Class B, Beer and Wine License from a party that wishes to operate a restaurant called Pizza Autentica at 8300 Baltimore Ave. City Council will review the property use agreement draft before opposing or approving the license transfer, which will then move on to a county-level hearing.