Council Committees Meet on Feb. 10

The Montgomery County Council’s Education Committee will begin its review of the Fiscal Years 2015-20 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requests of Montgomery County Public Schools at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 10.

The worksession will include an overview of the Board of Education’s requests and the recommendations of County Executive Isiah Leggett. It also will include a presentation on school enrollment, demographics and long-term MCPS needs.

The Education Committee, which is chaired by Craig Rice and includes Councilmembers Phil Andrews and Cherri Branson, will meet in the Third Floor Conference 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/council/ondemand/index.html .

MCPS enrollment is expected to climb across elementary, middle and high school throughout the six-year period of the CIP, with the greatest increases at the middle and high school levels. Birth rates have remained at historically high levels over the past 10 years (13,064 in 2012) and are a major reason for the sustained increases in elementary school enrollment and the expected large jumps in middle and high school enrollment over the next six years.

Overall enrollment is expected to increase to 162,255 (nearly 10,600 more students) through FY20.

The continued growth in enrollment is causing significant projected space needs throughout the County over the next six years. Specific capacity issues and MCPS’ requested projects to address these issues will be discussed at a later committee worksession.

At 9:30 a.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (T and E) Committee, which is chaired by Roger Berliner and includes Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Hans Riemer, will begin its review of requests regarding transportation priorities.

The worksession will include an overview of the transportation capital program, and a review of bridge, highway maintenance, mass transit and traffic engineering projects. Worksessions also are scheduled for Feb. 24 (for pedestrian facilities, bikeways and roads) and, if necessary, March 3.

The meeting of the T and E Committee will not be televised live, but can be seen on demand via the Council’s web site.

At 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, will begin its review of the CIP requests for Parks and Recreation.

The committee will look at the request for $250,000 to convert an unused outdoor roller hockey rink on the grounds of the Potomac Community Recreation Center into the Potomac Adaptive Sports Court. In a partnership with Friends of the Potomac Community Recreation Center, the Department of Recreation would convert the rink into a multipurpose adaptive sports court that would provide a range of therapeutic recreation activities for individuals with disabilities.

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