City-GHI Stakeholder Meeting Tackles Tax Assessments, Power Outages and Crime Trends

In this economically challenging time, areas of common fiscal concern -- routine and controversial -- dominated the Greenbelt City Council’s joint work session with representatives of the 1,600-unit housing cooperative, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI), at Monday night’s city-GHI stakeholder meeting.

Seated around a large conference table, Mayor Judith “J” Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Emmett Jordan and other City Council members engaged in an exchange with six of the nine members of the GHI Board of Directors and GHI general manager Gretchen Overdurff, who discussed topics as diverse as walkway lighting, the city’s 75th anniversary celebration, crime, right of ways, snow, water meters and piping.

Lighting

Several GHI board members expressed concern that the well-used inner walkway between 11 Court and 13 Court of Ridge Road that directly connects it to Crescent, near the community center, is poorly lit at night. While GHI normally responds directly to member requests for lighting improvements, the oval strip of land along the pathway is city property.

Overdurff stressed that GHI would share the results of assistant general manager Eldon Ralph’s consultations with a contractor and that GHI would consider helping to pay for improved lighting. Mayor Davis said that the City Council would study walkway usage; replacement of, repairs, or additions to existing lighting infrastructure; as well as survey neighbor opinions about lights. 

75th Anniversary Celebration

Mayor Davis briefly listed events planned for the 75th anniversary of the founding of Greenbelt, including a three-day symposium, house and garden tours and a gala dinner. Anniversary committee member and GHI board member, Irv Wartell, reminded everyone about plans to sell commemorative T-shirts and hats.

Mayor Davis noted that the committee selected events from more than 500 suggestions, but she invited other Greenbelters to plan and staff events as well as come up with creative ideas, since volunteers are “what makes Greenbelt, Greenbelt," she said. The mayor also reminded council and GHI that the anniversary celebrates the entire city, not just GHI pioneers and the founding of historic Old Greenbelt, and that the events should include and involve all parts of the city.

GHI president Tokey Boswell stressed the need for volunteer-driven shuttles and parking enforcement during the celebration period to minimize the impact on the center of town.

Crime Trends

Greenbelt police officer Carl H. Schinner reported on the city crime statistics for GHI and Old Greenbelt. He praised the new crime mapping system for spotting trends and stated that this year, so far, there were only six burglaries and eight robberies, including the armed robbery at the Greenbelt Credit Union, which he suggested were relatively low figures compared to the rest of Prince George’s County.

Officer Schinner credited these numbers to the saturation of officers during key times, like when Eleanor Roosevelt High School lets out. He especially recognized officer John Rogers’ efforts in establishing good rapport with the students and diffusing many incidents.

In response to Boswell’s request for advice for GHI residents who wanted to lessen crime, officer Shinner replied, “If you see something unusual, call it in.” And Mayor Davis reminded everyone to lock their house and car doors.

Crescent Road Right of Way

Assistant director of planning, Terri Hruby, reported that she informed residents, Verizon, Pepco and Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) of the proposed right of way in February, 2011, but has received no feedback from either Pepco or WSSC.

At the suggestion of Mayor Davis, Hruby agreed to send an official letter to Pepco and WSSC stating that the city will assume they consent to the right of way, if they do not respond within a certain time, and the city will go forward with plans for the right of way. Overdurff requested some guidance for GHI members.

Hruby responded that the city’s policy has been to honor the right of way lines that the city and GHI previously agreed upon as a temporary measure and inform permit seekers that temporary structures like sheds might later need to be removed. She added that permit seekers for permanent home additions would require a more detailed discussion.

Greenhill-Hillside Stream Stabilization, Pepco Outages and Heating and Cooling Stations

Hruby also informed the group that the council has approved and awarded the contract for the storm drainage project near Greenhill and Hillside Roads. The contractor has 90 days to complete the project, which will occur in several phases. Overdurff was concerned about adequately informing residents in the area. Hruby responded that the city intends to use the Greenbelt News Review to communicate generally about the project and will send individual letters to residents directly affected by the construction. 

Overdurff asked about Pepco outages and power failures. Mayor Pro Tem Jordan and Mayor Davis have scheduled a work session with Pepco to discuss the measures to improve reliability, such as upgrading feeder lines. Jordan explained that Pepco is placing great faith in “Smart Meter” technology allowing them to more accurately pinpoint outage locations.

City manager McLaughlin mentioned that during 100-degree heat days, the city facilities, such as the library and the community center, are open for residents needing air conditioned spaces, as well as venues like shopping centers and movie theaters. He and the mayor both noted that the issue is informing all residents of these resources.

WSSC

Overdurff explained that WSSC has informed GHI that they intend to move individual meters from the GHI houses to the street-facing curbs. If they do this, Overdurff worried, responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the additional lines of pipe will transfer to the cooperative and to the individual members.

Boswell and GHI Board member Bill Jones added that because of the layout of the residential courts and parking lots, GHI members would be responsible for lengths of pipe at distances far in excess of any single-family homeowner’s lawn.

Overdurff informed the group that GHI, and their legal counsel, counter that WSSC is unilaterally trying to amend the 1958 negotiated agreement with the City of Greenbelt, GHI, and WSSC -- that established the current system. Overdurff added that WSSC’s representatives have brought up using eminent domain to bring about a decision.

She further noted that for the past year, GHI has been trying to get a decision-making representative from WSSC to sit down for discussions. Mayor Davis said that the City Council would add to their upcoming agenda consideration of whether to write a letter to urge WSSC to come in for a discussion with all three parties to the 1958 agreement, before the process goes any further.

Emergency Snow Clearings and GHI individual Tax Assessments

Mayor Davis raised the question of who is responsible for clearing the snow in GHI’s inner walkways. Since both GHI and the city have maps marking the inner walkways, the mayor suggested that GHI and the city agree to get together and compare maps.

Council member Leta Mach asked about GHI’s plans to inform the State of Maryland about errors in the individual assessments and advised informing the state soon before the assessments get set in stone.

Boswell responded that GHI sent letters reminding individual members to file for the Maryland Homestead Tax Credit, which the state can revoke for failure to complete the paperwork. He also said GHI staff has compared the cooperative’s old assessment apportioning with the state’s new individual assessments.

Boswell further noted that GHI plans a series of attorney-led workshops where members negatively affected by the new assessments can learn about the appeals process. GHI Board member William Jones said he has voluntarily been inspecting each house on a list of the 270 houses most affected by the changes.  In some cases, Jones added, the square footage of houses has been grossly overstated in the assessment documentation.

Challenges GHI Faces.

Boswell concluded by saying that GHI faced challenges and changes in the coming years with the individual tax assessments, the pilot program and upgrade, and the transition to a new general manager after Gretchen’s retirement. He added that to better inform cooperative members of changes that affect them, GHI has modernized its communication tools for member outreach and information, most notably the revamped GHI website and the “GHI News in Review” page that appears every two weeks in the Greenbelt News Review.

In attendance at Monday's meeting were Mayor Judith Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Emmett Jordan, City Council members Konrad Herling, Leta Mach, Silke Pope, Ed Putens and Rodney Roberts, city manager Michael McLaughlin, assistant director of planning Terri Hruby, city clerk Cindy Murray and officer Carl Schinner. Representing GHI were Board of Directors president Tokey Boswell, vice president Laura Moore, secretary Ed James, and board members William Jones, David Morse, Irwin Wartell, as well as general manager Gretchen Overdurff and assistant general manager Eldon Ralph.