Howard County News

Howard County Council met July 23.

Here is the minutes provided by the Council:

Members Present: Mary Kay Sigaty, Council Chairperson; Calvin Ball, Vice Chairperson; Greg Fox, Council Member; Jennifer Terrasa, Council Member; and Jon Weinstein, Council Member.

Staff Present: Jessica Feldmark, Administrator; Jennifer Sager, Administration; Theo Wimberly, Legislative Analyst; Craig Glendenning, County Auditor; Gary Kuc, County Solicitor; and Kel Habicht, Administrative Support.

I. Call to Order at 6:17 p.m.

II. Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Greg Fox.

III. Allow the reading of bills by short title.

Mary Kay Sigaty, Chairperson moved to approve to allow the reading of bills by short title, seconded by Calvin Ball, Vice Chairperson.

The motion carried as follows

Ayes: Mary Kay Sigaty, Council Chairperson; Calvin Ball, Council Vice Chairperson; Greg Fox, Council Member; Jen Terrasa, Council Member; and Jon Weinstein, Council Member

IV. Legislation - Public Hearing

A. Council Bill 56-2018 - Introduced by: Jon Weinstein and Cosponsored by Calvin Ball, Jennifer Terrasa, Greg Fox and Mary Kay Sigaty - An Act temporarily prohibiting issuance of certain permits and certain approvals of development plans and zoning changes for property that drains in whole or in part to the Tiber Branch Watershed in Howard County to study flooding events that threaten public health, safety, and welfare; requesting the Department of Planning and Zoning, the Department of Public Works, and other County agencies to study past, present, and future land uses, drainage infrastructure, storm water management, and flood mitigation, and all other factors related to flooding in the Tiber Branch Watershed, and report and make recommendations on changes to land uses, drainage infrastructure, stormwater management, and flood mitigation; defining certain terms; providing certain exemptions from the Act; providing that this Act shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect after a certain period; and generally relating to land use, storm water management, drainage and flood mitigation; and declaring this to be an emergency Act. (Expires 9/05/18; 10/05/18 if extended; or 11/04/18 if extended twice.)

1. Alison Burkowske - Ellicott City, MD

2. Russell Roder - Ellicott City, MD

3. Elizabeth Walsh - Ellicott City, MD

4. Gayle Killen - Ellicott City, MD

5. Susan Garber, Savage Community Association - Laurel, MD

6. Derek Smith

7. Richard Heiser

8. Dave Woessner

9. Clark Schoeffield - Ellicott City, MD

10. Paul Marzin - Ellicott City, MD

11. Shari Orszula - Ellicott City, MD

12. Lisa Soto - Ellicott City, MD

13. Corby Gould - Ellicott City, MD

14. Deb Jung - Columbia, MD

15. Katherine Zimmerman - Ellicott City, MD

16. Lisa Heimlicher - Dayton, MD

17. Susan Gray - Highland, MD

18. Mike McCann - Columbia, MD

19. Mary McClymonds - Ellicott City, MD

20. Buffy Illum - Ellicott City, MD

21. Anita Davis - Ellicott City

22. William Erskine

23. Brian Akers - Columbia, MD

24. Holly DeFrancis - Ellicott City

B. Council Resolution 119-2018 - Introduced by: Greg Fox – A Resolution approving an amendment to the Howard County Master Plan for Water and Sewerage. (No expiration date)

1. Bert Nixon, Director, Environmental Health, Howard County Health Department

2. Stu Kohn, President, Howard County Citizens Association - Laurel, MD

3. Susan Gray - Highland, MD

4. Rob Moxley, Saint James United Methodist Church - West Friendship, MD

C. Council Bill 58-2018 – Introduced by: Calvin Ball and Jennifer Terrasa - An Act amending the Howard County Code to amend the requirements for new developments on Scenic Roads; and generally relating to Scenic Roads. (Expires 9/05/18; 10/05/18 if extended; or 11/04/18 if extended twice.)

1. Rebecca Niburg - Laurel, MD

2. Stu Kohn, President, Howard County Citizens Association - Laurel, MD

3. Matthew Hoff

4. Paul Marzin - Ellicott City, MD

5. Susan Garber - Laurel, MD

6. Carleen Pena - Columbia, MD

7. Josh Greenfeld, Maryland Building Industry Association

8. William Erskine

9. Howie Feaga, President, Howard County Farm Bureau - Ellicott City, MD

10. Lisa Markovitz, President, The People’s Voice, LLC - Ellicott City, MD

11. Zack Brendel - Woodbine, MD

12. Ronald Coleman - Savage, MD

13. Joel Hurewitz - Columbia, MD

D. Council Bill 54-2018 - An Act pursuant to Section 612 of the Howard County Charter, approving a multi-year Project Agreement for the Design, Construction, Financing, Operation and Maintenance of the Howard County Circuit Courthouse between Howard County, Maryland and a special purpose entity formed by Edgemoor-Star America Judicial Partners for the design, construction, partial financing, operation and maintenance of a new Courthouse and related Parking Structure to be located on the Project Site located at 9250 Judicial Way (formerly known as 9240 and 9250 Bendix Road) in Ellicott City; authorizing the County Executive to enter into the Agreement and to make changes to the Agreement before executing it, under certain conditions; and generally relating to a multi-year agreement for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Howard County Circuit Courthouse. (Expires 9/05/18; 10/05/18 if extended; or 11/04/18 if extended twice.)

1. Carol Ann Smith, Past President, Waring-Mitchell Law Society of Howard County- Ellicott City, MD

2. Michael Fisher, Principal, Site Resources Inc.

3. Lenore Gelfman, Administrative Judge, Circuit Court of Howard County

4. Kevin Kelehan - Columbia, MD

5. Neveen Kurtom - Ellicott City, MD

6. Ellen Long - Savage, MD

7. Ronald Coleman - Savage, MD

8. Lawrence Kraemer, Glenwood, MD

9. Ellen Cascio

10. Saman Akhtar, Assistant Director, HopeWorks of Howard County

11. Marlena Jareaux - Simpsonville, MD

12. Zack Shariff

13. Bill McMahon, Sheriff, Howard County Sheriff’s Office

14. Gary Gardner, Police Chief, Howard County Police Department

15. Bennett Rhodes- Ellicott City, MD

16. Elizabeth Walsh - Ellicott City, MD

17. Susan Garber, Howard County Citizens Association - Laurel, MD

18. Joel Hurewitz - Columbia, MD

19. George Hermina, President Elect, Howard County Bar Association

20. Timothy Campbell - Clarksville, MD

21. Susan Gray - Highland, MD

22. David Marlowe - Ellicott City, MD

V. Tabled

A. Council Resolution 71-2018 - A Resolution confirming the appointment of David Drasin to the Multimodal Transportation Board. (tabled 7/2/18) (No expiration date)

B. Council Bill 39-2018 - Introduced by: Jon Weinstein - AN ACT requiring specified shelter and conditions for certain dogs at certain times; specifying how dogs may be tethered, authorizing the Animal Control Officer to issue certain animal safety alerts in a specified manner; requiring certain publicity of certain provisions of Title 17 Subtitle 3; providing for civil penalties for specified violations; and generally relating to animal control in Howard County. (tabled 7/2/18) (Expires 8/08/18; 9/07/18 if extended; or 10/07/18 if extended twice.)

C. Council Bill 44-2018 – Introduced by: The Chairperson - An Act modifying the Howard County Public Ethics Law by clarifying that “interest” does not include owning or holding an exchange-traded fund; specifying who must file financial disclosure statements; prohibiting certain lobbying by specified former officials related to legislation before the County Council for a specified period; altering certain disclosure requirements; requiring the Howard County Ethics Commission to redact certain home addresses from specified documents disclosed to the public; repealing the prohibition related to participating in County procurement if a certain contingency is met; and generally relating to the Howard County Public Ethics Law. (tabled 7/2/18) (Expires 8/08/18; 9/07/18 if extended; or 10/07/18 if extended twice.)

D. Council Bill 45-2018 – Introduced by: The Chairperson - An Act prohibiting participation in specified County bidding by persons who have participated in specified activities related to assisting the County in developing the purchasing specifications, invitations, or requests for proposals; and generally relating to the Howard County Purchasing Law. (tabled 7/2/18) (Expires 8/08/18; 9/07/18 if extended; or 10/07/18 if extended twice.)

E. Council Resolution 82-2018 - A Resolution adopting the Housing Unit Allocation Chart for Fiscal Year 2019 pursuant to the Adequate Public Facilities Act of Howard County. (tabled 7/2/18) (No expiration date)

F. Council Resolution 83-2018 - A Resolution adopting the School Capacity Chart, pursuant to the Adequate Public Facilities Act of Howard County, to designate the school regions, elementary schools, and middle schools constrained for new residential development during each of the following years as based on the definition of program capacity as defined by Howard County Public School System policy. (tabled 7/2/18) (No expiration date)

G. Council Resolution 112-2017 - A Resolution amending the green neighborhood standards that are used to qualify for Green Neighborhood Allocations and amending a total number of possible points on the Green Neighborhood Site portion of the Green Neighborhood Checklist. (tabled 7/26/17) (No expiration date.)

H. Council Resolution 1-2017 – Introduced by the Chairperson at the request of Windsor Forest Fox Chasing HOA Inc. and Gaither Hunt Homeowners Association Inc.; A Resolution to close all of Winter Thicket Road, as shown in Exhibits A and B, in accordance with Section 18.204 of the Howard County Code. (tabled 2/6/17) (No expiration date.)

I. Council Resolution 179-2016 – Introduced by Calvin Ball and Jennifer Terrasa; A Resolution calling on the Maryland State Department of Education to contract for a performance audit of the Howard County Public School System and specifying the issues requested to be studied. (tabled 12/05/16) (No expiration date.)

J. Council Resolution 104-2016 – A Resolution pursuant to Section 4.201 of the Howard County Code, authorizing the County Executive’s sale of certain real property known as the “Flier Building” owned by Howard County, Maryland, containing approximately 2.159 acres, and located at 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway, Maryland; waiving the advertising and bidding requirements of Section 4.201 of the Howard County Code; and providing that the County Executive is not bound to sell the property if he finds that it may have a further public use. (tabled 7/29/16) (No expiration date.)

VI. Adjourned: 10:11 p.m.

https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/olis/PriorHearings.aspx#