Council Committees Meet on Feb. 24, Libraries on Agenda

Council President Craig Rice and Council VP George Leventhal both serve on the Health and Human Services Committee.

The Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 24 to review the Fiscal Years 2015-20 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requests of Montgomery County Public Libraries, the Public Arts Trust and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The HHS Committee, which is chaired by George Leventhal and includes Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Craig Rice, 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.

For FY15-20, County Executive Isiah Leggett has recommended a total of $87.8 million for the Department of Public Libraries, a decrease of $15.3 million—or 14.9 percent—from the amended FY13-18 program. The Executive states in his recommended budget that the decrease “results primarily from the completion of Gaithersburg and Olney renovations and the substantial completion of the Silver Spring Library.” The Executive adds that “the decreases are partially offset by costs associated with scope changes for the Wheaton Library and Recreation Center project and a strategic change in how library renovations will be managed.”

The future Clarksburg and Silver Spring libraries will be discussed at Monday’s meeting. The Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center project is scheduled to be discussed in a joint meeting of the HHS and Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) committees on Feb. 27.

A look inside the newly renovated Gaithersburg Library.

For FY15-20, the Executive has recommended a total of $44.3 million, which is a $15.7 million (or 26.1 percent) decrease from the Amended FY13-18 program. The Executive states that the decrease results from the completion of individual projects in the school-based Health and Linkages to Learning Center and High School Wellness Center projects, as well as partial completion of the Dennis Avenue Health Center, the Children’s Resource Center and Progress Place Relocation and Personal Living Quarters project.

The Executive has recommended six ongoing projects and one new project. Four of these projects involve the public school system and will be reviewed jointly by the HHS and Education committees on Feb. 27.

The Executive has recommended a total six-year expenditure of $840,000 to fund the Public Arts Trust for the FY15-20 CIP. He recommended $140,000 be appropriated for the FY15 and FY16 capital budgets.

Another committee is also meeting on Feb. 24 at the same time the HHS committee meets.

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 continue its review of long-term transportation projects. Monday’s worksession will include a review of the pedestrian facilities and bikeways—including two supplemental appropriation requests—and road projects.

The T and E Committee also will hold a worksession on Bill 32-13 that would prohibit parking of a non-plug-in vehicle in an off-street parking space reserved for electric powered plug-in vehicles that is open to the public. Plug-in vehicle parking spaces with a recharging station are becoming more popular as plug-in electric vehicles become more available. There is currently no prohibition on parking a non plug-in vehicle in a parking space reserved for a plug-in electric vehicle.

Later in the day, 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 Leventhal and Marc Elrich, will begin its review of the Executive’s recommendation for the FY15-20 CIP for the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (with the exception of the Affordable Housing Acquisition and Preservation project that will be reviewed on March 6). Among the projects to be reviewed is the Burtonsville Revitalization Program.

Also at 2 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room, the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Navarro and includes Councilmembers Riemer and Cherri Branson, will review several planned long-term general government projects. The projects to be reviewed Monday include facilities directly under the supervision of the Department of General Services, such as the Red Brick Courthouse in Rockville and the Executive Office Building.

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