City council updates from the December 2, 2024 meeting:
State Senator Malcolm Augustine told the city council, at their Dec. 2 meeting, that the Maryland is beginning the year with a deficit projected to be as high as $2.7 billion. Augustine stressed that he wants to know the city’s priorities. He also emphasized that if the council has any “legislative or capital asks,” it’s important that “we do those things as soon as possible.” He then offered to answer any questions the council might have. None were asked.
Traffic calming recommendations (Action item)
The council was initially set to vote, Dec. 2, on initiating traffic calming measures at the 6000 block of 43rd Street and the 4000 block of Nicholson Street. Hal Metzler, deputy director of Public Works, said a city study recommended that a yield street, rather than speed bumps, be used for traffic calming due to the “geometry of the street.” A yield street consists of a street where parking is allowed on both sides so that opposing vehicles have to slow down and yield to each other in order to pass, thus naturally slowing traffic. Metzler said that passing zones would be created throughout the street in order to make this act easier, and stressed that this would be a temporary test rather than a permanent solution. However, Councilmember Sam Denes (Ward 1) noted that the streets in question are already functioning as yield streets, and motioned to table the vote until residents and the council received more information from the Department of Public Works.
Earlier in the meeting, during the public comment period, Nicholson Street resident Sara Bendoraitis said her block had asked the city why speed bumps weren’t recommended, but hadn’t yet received a response. Director of Public Works Lesley Riddle agreed with Denes that it would be best to postpone the installment of the yield street until there was more communication with residents; the council voted to table the decision.
Fitness equipment for the new police headquarters (Consent item)
Dec. 2, the council voted to approve the purchase of $68,287 in fitness equipment for the new police headquarters at 3505 Hamilton Street. Earlier in the meeting, Councilmember Joanne Waszczak (Ward 1) said some community members had voiced displeasure about the cost of the station’s fitness center, and wanted to confirm that this was targeted towards the recruitment and retention of police officers.
City Administrator Tracey Douglas said that the fitness center would help officers who need to decompress, “especially if they’re working a double shift.” She added that the city had previously explored memberships to gyms like Planet Fitness for officers, but that problems occur with the storage of weapons at such public locations. Hyattsville police Chief Jarod Towers emphasized the mental and physical benefits of exercise for officers; he added that the average age of a police officer experiencing a heart attack is considerably lower than the average civilian experiencing one. Towers also noted that the gym inside the new police headquarters has already been built, and that the agenda item pertains to an order for the fitness equipment with which to fill that space.
A consent item for upfitting two electric Chevrolet Blazers — priced at $60,860 — for the police department was also unanimously approved by the council.
Teen center (Discussion)
An impromptu discussion was held early in the meeting about the pending teen center on Nicholson Street after resident Sara Bendoraitis noted during the public comments period that the project was still incomplete, despite a “Coming in 2022” sign out front. “I understand construction can take a lot of time, but I do think it’s ridiculous that this project is still sitting out there uncompleted, and there’s been no updates on it,” Bendoraitis said.
Deputy Director of Public Works Hal Metzler noted permitting delays, although the county had recently approved necessary permits, and said that the steel contractor is currently fabricating the new steel structure. “That’s just the work you can see,” Metzler said, noting that work has already taken place inside the building, including utilities, plumbing, electrical work and the interior wall installation. Once the steel structure is in place, according to Metzler, the roof will go up and the front wall will be finished. Metzler estimated completion in March 2025.
Driskell Park Redesign (Discussion item)
The largest portion of the meeting was devoted to a presentation about the extensive redesign of Driskell Park. The concept was first introduced in 2017 by then-Mayor Candace Hollingsworth, when she promoted a $25,000 study for a reworking of what was, at that time, named Magruder Park. As noted in Route 1 Finance, at that time, Councilmember Edouard Haba (Ward 4) voiced concern that the design would become obsolete before the city was able to act on it. In minutes from that same Feb. 1, 2017 council meeting, Mayor Robert Croslin, who was a councilmember at the time, asked Hollingsworth about her inspiration for the idea to redesign the park in the first place. Hollingsworth said the idea began with her own observations in the park and conversations with residents. She also said she thought there were areas in which the park “fell short” in comparison to other local parks and public spaces.
At the Dec. 2 council meeting, Director of Public Works Lesley Riddle and Bradley Site Design representatives presented on a possible redesign of the park, including the addition of a community center and pavilion, additional athletic fields, and more David Driskell art. Many of the current elements, such as the playground, BBQ pavilions and basketball court, would be rebuilt in new locations.
Presenters stressed the need to build a new parking lot on the west side of the park, which they said would address safety concerns about the current proximity of pedestrians and vehicles at the park, as voiced by residents in a community engagement survey. The presenters did not specify whether this survey work had taken place recently, or whether they were still using responses from the initial survey taken in 2018.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Melissa Schweisguth noted that the recent renovations of Robert J. King Memorial Park, which is a fraction of the size of Driskell Park, had cost nearly $1 million. She questioned the necessity and fiscal responsibility of renovating Driskell when the city already has budget problems. Resident Daniel Broder also noted the expense of renovating the park, particularly after the new police headquarters renovation, and suggested that the city negotiate with Werrlein Properties for the purchase of the lower parcel of Suffrage Point, adjacent to the park, since large amounts of money were at stake anyway. When Councilmember Kareem Redmond (Ward 3) asked Bradley Design for an estimated project time and cost, the design team said those would be questions for the general contractor, and that the park redesign isn’t at that stage yet.
Resident Greg Smith also noted during the public comments period that one of the attractions of Driskell Park is its open green space, and Councilmember Joseph Solomon (Ward 5) asked the design team if the park’s natural wooded area would be impacted. Riddle and Bradley Designs representatives stated that they were “tree huggers,” that preservation of the trees was a major priority for them, and that they were aware of the tree line and existing root zones, and would want to encroach on those as little as possible. “We’re very mindful of the existing trees [around the park] and we’ll be preserving as many of those as possible,” Sharon Bradley said.
