Hollywood Farmers Market: June 1 - Oct 23, Sat. 8am-Noon

[ Council member Wojahn and I will send daily message in the next few days leading up to the launch of our Hollywood Farmers Market on June 1st, This is the first of 10 top reasons to be at the market]

Unlike other farmers markets in the area, the Hollywood Farmers Market is completely designed and run by neighbors like you. For the past several months, they have spent countless hours in doing everything to make the market to fit your needs. Some of them worked in contacting vendors and recruiting them to be part of the market, others worked on finding a convenient location close to your home and getting all the permissions and permits for it. Yet, many other worked on the marketing campaign, that includes designing and passing fliers, making signs, designing website, Facebook page, contacting and writing to the local media and reaching out to local businesses and community groups.

Now that your neighbors have put so much time in promoting a healthy living for your convenience, it’s time to appreciate their hard work. On June 1st and on every Saturday throughout the summer, please stop by at the market’s booth and say a big “Thank you” to these neighbors. They really deserve it.

College Park's New Website

Early last year, the City issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for website redesign and chose Revize Software Systems (“Revize”) of  Troy, Michigan to redevelop, redesign and reorganize the City’s website.

City staff worked with a community group to determine major elements to incorporate into the website redesign. The staff web team worked very hard with the consultant to create the clean, fresh, and balanced design /layout.

At tomorrow’s worksession, the Council will look into two website design components, which consists of two major components: the homepage design layout and the sitemap of the organization.

The page design /layout includes the “wireframes” elements on the page, where even if the content changes, the section still remains. “Latest News” section, Green emergency notifications box (appears only during an emergency), “Calendar” and “Current Events” section, “Welcome to College Park” area (content can be edited at any time), City Seal, Special programs rotating box (content always editable), Location and Hours, and Connect with us (social media) sections at the bottom of the page, and finally, the bottom menu (content always editable) and the weather widget.

The sitemap organization represents the layout of categories and subcategories in the Main Green Banner. Staff can refine the categories and subcategories over time, as needed.

In order to demonstrate the site map to Council, staff created an interactive home page mock-up which shows the draft sitemap built by the staff web team with other staff input. The mockup serves an illustrative purpose; thus, focus on the content instead of fonts, etc. In the sitemap you will notice that some links show under multiple categories. Staff organized the sitemap in this way to ease navigation throughout the site for different types of users.

You can review the mockup here: http://collegeparkmd.gov/temp/cocp1.html . Simply hover over the green banner at this link and the subcategories will appear.

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions about the new website and its sitemap.

Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to about 600 Bowie State University graduates at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center in College Park. Obama spoke of the importance of a good education and their responsibility after graduation for helping others achieve the same goal.

HollywoodMarket.org

The Hollywood Farmers Market has recently launched its website HollywoodMarket.org . The website currently has a page on the list of vendors and the direction to the market. Vendors can now submit their applications on the website. It plans to add more resources about the market in the coming days.

Members of the Hollywood Farmers Market committee are hard at work to prepare for the June 1 launch.

The market will be located at the REI / MoMs shopping Center, next to the REI store. Thanks to the Carrollton Enterprises who has recently sponsored a part of their parking lot to host the market.

If you need more information or want to help out this great project, please let me know.

Got junk?

Moving out? Doing some Spring Cleaning? Well donate your reusable, still-in-good-condition items! Residents of Old Town, Calvert Hills, and Crystal Springs are encouraged to contact the Department of Public Works to schedule a pickup of items that can be donated for reuse to American Rescue Workers.

Pickup dates are scheduled for Monday, May 20th and Friday, May 31st.

For more information on what is and is not acceptable, please call Public Works at 240-487-3590. If you are interested in participating, or have any questions, please contact Loree at 240-487-3593 or lohagan@collegeparkmd.gov.

The WMATA’s College Park station will be closed this weekend for a scheduled maintenance. Unfortunately, this falls on the same weekend, when University of Maryland will be having their annual commencement ceremony. Metro is saying the weekend closing was announced back in February, so there should not be a surprise. On the other hand, Metro should be aware of UMd’s commencement, which draws tens of thousands to College Park. Metro said it will however introduce 15 shuttle buses from the stations to help alleviate the problem. It’s remained to be seen if these additional buses will help or cause more traffic problems on a congested Route 1.

The Council discussed the issue at last Tuesday night’s Council meeting and decided to send a letter to WMATA expressing its own concerns.

Latest Cafritz site design

College Park City Council last night supported a motion to disapprove the preliminary plan application for rezoning of the Cafritz development. The Council vote went (5-2-1), Council member Catlin and Dennis opposed the motion. I abstained.

A motion by District 3 Council member Stephanie Stullich asked to disapprove the rezoning. Stullich’s motion includes several reasons for disapproval. The developer has not provided critical information in regards to the plan until the last minutes. For the same reason, The Historic Preservation Commission did not go through adequate review. UMd’s letter was also not strong enough to support the plan. Additionally, the financing plan to build the project was not detailed enough.

The Council however asked the planning board to support our planning staff’s recommended conditions, if the plan goes ahead.

Earlier, The University Park Town Council unanimously disapproved the plan last Monday. The Reiverdale Park Town Council, on the other hand voted to support it on a special meeting on Saturday.

The County’s Planning Board will take its position tomorrow on the rezoning application. The board’s staff have already recommended to approve the rezoning application.

Registration for the metropolitan Washington region’s annual Bike to Work Day 2013 on Friday, May 17 is now open at www.biketoworkmetrodc.org. This year’s Bike to Work Day will be bigger than ever with more than a dozen new pit stops added, for a total of 72 in the region — District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia – offering cyclists refreshments, entertainment and giveaways as part of the celebration. Bike to Work Day, organized by Commuter Connections and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), prompts thousands of area commuters to bicycle to work to highlight and promote this clean commute option.

“Bike to Work Day is a great way to promote bicycling as an alternative to driving alone to work. Ten percent of BTWD participants reported that they started cycling to work after participating in their first BTWD event,” said Nicholas Ramfos, Director of Commuter Connections. “And it encourages those who already bike, to do it more often. More than 20 percent of BTWD participants say cycling is now a regular part of their commutes.”

Last year there were 12,700 registrants, and coordinators expect registration will again break records as novice and experienced cyclists join together to celebrate bicycling as a fun, healthy and wallet-friendly commute alternative. The first 12,000 registrants will receive free Bike to Work Day t-shirts at the pit stop of their choice and become eligible to win great prizes such as Jamis bicycles. Registration and event details including pit stop locations, sponsor information and how to join a convoy are at www.biketoworkmetrodc.org.

There will be great events with “pit stops” in many places around the D.C. area. There will be one at College Park City Hall. The pit stops have free food, bike repairs, raffles, and other exciting activities.

Angel and Mr. Bojangles

The College Park Animal Welfare Committee has some wonderful cats that are available for adoption. They are shown through our local Petco. These cats have been there too long and REALLY need good homes. Mr. Bojangles and Angel were abandoned in a rental house. They are two of the friendliest, sweetest, most gentle cats.

Angel (on the left in the picture) is the smaller cat, spayed female, about a year old. Mr. Bojangles (on the right) is larger, fluffier, and a neutered male, about 2-3 years old. They have bonded, and we want to adopt them out together. They are fine around dogs and children, and would most likely be very playful.

Also, Marci Booth, a Hollywood resident has a beautiful dog that was found near Route 1. “Godiva” is a Chocolate Lab and Bull (not sure which type) mix that is in need of a home. She has been spayed and has all of her shots. This dog is a real sweetie that has had some training, (walking, sitting and retrieving on command)but now needs a loving home. Godiva gets along with cats and other dogs and seems to like children. Please call Marci at 301-345-6779 or Bill (ACO) at 240-375-3165 if you’re interested.

Godiva has been at the shelter for around a month now and we really need to find her a “forever home”.

NCPCA - It's Your Neighborhood Association

The meeting will start with a discussion on the new Hollywood Farmers Market that is expected to start from June 1st and run until the end of October. The members of the Hollywood Farmers Market will ,make a presentation on what they have done so far to make the market run.

We will also have discussion on 2013 Maryland Legislative Summary. Senator Jim Rosapepe and and Delegates Barbara Frush, Joseline Pena-Melnyk, and Ben Barnes of Maryland’s 21st Legislative District will provide a summary of recent activity in Annapolis. Please plan to attend, and bring your questions!

Finally there will be a presentation from P.G. County Parks Master Plan. Information will be presented about a possible new gymnasium at Hollywood Elementary School, as well as discussion of other projects in the County. Discussion is also expected regarding new ideas for maintenance and possibly different uses for parts of the Hollywood Neighborhood Park / Birch Field. Interested in a soccer field, or maybe something else? Please bring your ideas!

As always, the meeting will start at 7:30pm, at Davis Hall. See you all there.

Smarter closer Home

The City has finally started its marketing campaign to attract businesses, families and professional to the City.

After finalizing the logo and tagline, City’s Economic development group spent the past few months working with the consultant, idfive LLC, to design advertisements, brochures, and an online landing page, which serves as an information center for potential residents.

The media push is currently taking place and will run through the end of June, while the City can supplement the campaign in a variety of other ways over time.

In regards to the media portion, the City has put together a portfolio of the ad work for everyone to see. The portfolio shows the ads, their run dates, and the publication they appeared in.

Additionally, an ad appeared on last Tuesday’s edition of the Express, which is distributed at Metro stations and other high density spots around the region (please see below).

College Park Ad on Washington Post Express