January 4th,2005 - 7 p.m. North Frederick Elementary School

Members Present: Gail Bradley, Claudia Winkelman
City Officials Present: Mayor Dougherty, Sara McGill, Bob Wilkinson, and David Violette
Citizens Present: Louise Albaugh, Jack Mehl, Katherine w/ The Gazzette, and Jim, Photographer.
Police Representative: Officer Renee Armstrong
Guest Speaker: Marlene (Marty) Tarr, Principal of Gov. Thomas Johnson High School

The meeting was called to order by Gail Bradley and introductions were made of all present.

Gail spoke first about the trash problem and the smoking off school property in front of, on or near resident’s homes by students and adult employees. Locations specifically mentioned as trouble areas for smoking and loitering were Neidig and 14th St and 16th and Market St. Gail thought we could all brainstorm about the garbage problems.

Marty Tarr spoke about several issues:
1. The school has trash cans and the custodians have been instructed to empty the cans. They also have student clubs adopt a street, clean up days once in the Fall and the Spring. Gail said that the FCC custodians ride a “gator” every morning and perhaps the custodians could do the same. Ms. Tarr said the custodian staff also helps with supervision of the students and there is staff that walks Rose Lane, Neidig and the campus. Once students enter the campus, they are not suppose to leave until the end of their school day. They have to mix up the supervision or the students will just move to another area.

2. The Mayor asked if the NAC could come up with a project to make Neidig and 14th an undesirable place for the students to hang out. Ms. Tarr said if you chase the kids from one place, they will find another.

3. Ms. Tarr said she was not aware of staff members standing in the neighbor’s yard and have the citizens contact her directly. Marty said they really do want to be good neighbors. If students are smoking off school property, citizens might want to call the Police as they have no jurisdiction for students off campus. A citizen present thought that an officer at one of the meetings mentioned additional funding such as a smoking cessation grant and asked if the police auxiliary could help.

4. The Mayor asked if the PTA gets involved in health issues. Marty Tarr said that they do have awareness programs. Ms. Tarr also pointed out that the kids that smoke have an addiction.

5. Gail would like to have clean-up day at TJ High.

6. The Mayor said we should e-mail our concerns to our elected County Board of Education.

7. Ms. Tarr said that they have tried to be receptive. There are 2,000 students, 175 staff . Spectators do contribute to the trash problem and when it comes to trash, you have to understand that it is a teenager’s nature to be self centered. Ms Tarr also spoke about TJ becoming a magnet school next year for Arts & Communication.

8. Marty Tarr passed out her business card and encourage citizens to contact her directly at her e-mail address marty.tarr@fcps.org. Ms. Tarr also passed out Sunshine cards for free admission to all Frederick school sponsored events and free admission cards to TJ sponsored events.

Mayor Dougherty announced the MDE meeting at TJ High School regarding wells #3 and #7 will be January 25th at 6:30 p.m..

Officer Renee Armstrong introduced herself . She said that there were no new trends in our area. Speeding on the 900 block has been an issue and possibly increased traffic on 7th St. due to speed humps on the side streets from 12th to 14th Streets. One citizen said they are having an increase on 9th Street and numerous mirror collisions (3 in the last week).

David Violette, Inspector with the Dept. of Code Enforcements, spoke and said the purpose of the codes was for the health and safety of the citizens. The city encompasses 22 sq. miles and they have 2 full time inspectors, a manager, and a secretary. David Violette passed out the “Notice of Violation” form which lists violations and spoke about the following:

1. Snow Removal - sidewalks are to be cleared 6 hours after snowfall ends. If not, a citation is issued, 4 or 5 days later another notice is issued and within 2 hours the city will bring in an outside contractor which is costly due to the cost of cleanup as well as a $100 fine. Each person on the deed is fined. Snow removal is and isn’t complaint driven. They start with businesses and then individual complaints.

2. Building Permits - Need permits for sheds. Concrete work such as patios does not require a permit. Any doubts, contact the building dept. desk. Even “car tents” need permits.

3. Third Wednesday of the month, they will canvass areas. They also have above-ground photos of areas which means they know when you bought a home and whether it did or did not have a deck, etc.

Bob Wilkinson passed out water conservation rulers and presented maps for snow removal showing snow emergency and collector routes.

Sarah brought a copy of the Neighborhood Survey which would identify elderly or special needs residents. Sarah asked that NAC Members pass the survey out to their neighbors. Sarah announced Frederick 101 will be January 8th. There will be a trip to the Weinberg Center with Michael Stup. Sara also announced that Karen Stone Miller was featured in the January issue of The Frederick Magazine.

The meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m. The next meeting will be held February 1st, 2005 at North Frederick Elementary 7 p.m.

Sincerely,

Claudia J. Winkelman, Secretary