Council Committees Meet

The Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, its Public Safety Committee and its Education Committee will meet in a rare triple-joint meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, on the drug prevention, intervention and education programs of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

The joint committee meeting will take place in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be streamed through the County web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

MCPS representatives will provide information on training to teachers and staff on identifying students who may have a substance abuse problem and how they might be assisted. At an April 27 joint meeting of the Health and Human Services Committee and the Public Safety Committee, officers from the County Police Department reported that certain areas in the County have seen increased use of illegal drugs and an increase in abuse of prescription drugs. They reported that some users move on to heroin use.

 At 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee will receive a briefing on the 2012 update to the Park, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan prepared by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The plan serves as the planning policy for parks and recreation in the County for the next 10 years and beyond. Based on community-wide outreach efforts, it assesses park and recreation needs and offers ideas for delivering services to meet those needs.

 The 2012 PROS Plan (with the companion Vision 2030 Plan) won the National Capital Area Chapter Planning Association Award for an Outstanding Regional or Comprehensive Plan. Key points of the plan include:

• Urban Parks: provide new development guidelines for six new types of urban parks and new urban park facility types, including civic greens, community open space, urban wooded areas and urban forms of dog parks, skate parks and community gardens.
• Recreational Needs Analysis and Future Priorities: determine what types of facilities are in demand, and in which locations, to prioritize land acquisition, development and renovation.
• Natural Resources Stewardship: protect the County’s air, water, land, wildlife resources and natural beauty while managing growth.
• Cultural Resources Stewardship: continue to make historical, archaeological and landscape properties useful to residents and visitors, as well as consider selection of new cultural resources that become available.
• Agricultural Land Preservation: continue agricultural preservation programs by securing funding sources; preventing fragmentation of farmland to development; and allowing transfer of development rights from agricultural parcels to lands in designated growth areas.

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