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Month: May 2015 Page 1 of 4

North College Park Crime Map – May 24-30, 2015

Assault

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/29/15]ASLT321:1122:019600 Blk 50TH PL,

Breaking and Entering Residential

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/24/15]BREAKR20:4322:139600 Blk NARRAGANSETT PKY
[5/29/15]BREAK10:2112:059300 Blk ST ANDREWS PL,

Theft

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/24/15]THEFT09:0410:14HOLIDAY INN COLLEGE PARK
[5/30/15]THEFT14:1315:324700 Blk CHERRY HILL RD,

Theft from Auto

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/26/15]THEFTA15:0116:124800 Blk ERIE ST,
[5/29/15]THEFTA05:5806:449500 Blk BALTIMORE AVE
[5/29/15]THEFTA09:4010:559300 Blk CHERRY HILL RD,

County Council Voted to Raise Property Tax


Last Thursday, the Prince George’s County Council voted to raise property tax by 4%, generating $34 million for schools.

County Executive Mr. Rushern Baker first wanted to raise by 15.6%, however facing fierce opposition from residents, he asked about half of what he wanted.

The FY16 Budget includes the following highlights:
2% across-the-board cut in operating dollars to be placed in a contingency fund. This will slow County spending and reserve $15 million for hospital funding if Governor Hogan continues to break the state’s MOU to provide $15 million this year to the Prince George’s County Hospital.
Overall 67% reduction in the proposed 15.6% tax increase proposal to raise $34 million for the Board of Education’s PGCPS budget. This offsets the $30+ million (as of FY16) unfunded mandate of the state shifting teacher pension costs to the County and covers MOE.
$0.04 increase in the real property tax rate
$0.10 increase in the personal property tax rate
1% increase in the telecommunications tax
2% increase in the Hotel/Motel Tax to raise $3.1 million for the non-PGCPS portions of the budget (accepting the County Executive’s proposal).
Increase permit/license fee and street use permits to raise $7.16 million to assist in addressing the structural deficit and eliminate the proposed furloughs.
Address M-NCPPC shortfall with a $0.0150 increase (half of their request). This will still entail significant belt-tightening by the agency and stop some planned projects.

This Weekend at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market

Vol. 1 Issue 6
Expect another great day at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market! Temperatures expected to reach 90 degrees so remember to stay cool, and come get some fresh lemonade from El Taco Loco!

This week’s vendors include:
Pleitez Produce: Vegetables
Calvert Farm: Produce and fruits
Groff Content Farm: Meat, eggs and cheeses
Roy and RT’s Garden and Kitchen: Prepared Indonesian cuisine and vegetables
El Taco Loco: Prepared Mexican dishes
Alcoba Coffee: Guatemalan coffee by the pound and by the cup
Jesyka Padilla: Hand-crafted jewelry
Crest Hill Bakery: Bread and desserts
Designed Naturally: Natural bead jewelry
Tiffany’s Oven: Vegan baked goods
Inge’s Crochet Selections: Crochet made items
Kettle Korn Popcorn: Delicious Popcorn
Morning Glory Farm:

Market Updates:
– Morning Glory Farms will be joining us this weekend at the market, with a fresh bounty of spring produce!
– Many people have been asking about Phil’s Dills. Do not fret! They will return in the next few weeks after they complete their transition to a new facility. We are just as anxious for their delicious pickles!
– Heavenly Created Desserts will not be joining us this weekend at the market.
– Green Ice Snowballs will return to the market on June 13th! Make sure to come by to beat the summer heat!

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Copyright © 2015 *Hollywood Farmers Market, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
hollywoodmarketcp@gmail.com

15% Property Tax Hike Scaled Back

Is this a coincidence? At last night’s City Council meeting, we decided to send a letter asking our County Council members to vote against Mr. Baker’s proposed 15.6% property tax hike.

Mr. Baker is still asking about half of what he was asking in the beginning.

A Tribute to Hollywood Elementary Principal Barbara Caskey

Banner remembering Barbara Caskey at the City Hall Entrance

Banner remembering Barbara Caskey at the City Hall Entrance

Hollywood Elementary School principal came to City Council meeting last night to attend her retirement reception.

It was quite an important night for all of us, especially for residents living in District 1 where the school is located.

I first met Barbara several years ago even before I got to City council. I had the opportunity to work with her at the first College Park Day event, where we decided to do a poster competition. Because of her personal effort, we had quite a good participation from her school students.

After that, I had opportunities to interact with her on a number of occasions, such as the annual career day, or at various meetings to address traffic situations in the surrounding neighborhood.

I found Ms. Caskey more than a teacher . She was a community leader, always smiling and was like a family member making sure every student finds the school like a home.

Hollywood Elementary’s slogan is “Where every student is a star”. Someone told last night that some stars shine more than others. and Ms. Caskey was like a shining star. It will be difficult to find someone like Ms. Caskey after she leaves.

I wish her all the best and want to thank her for her awesome 22 years of service to our community

Sunnyside Community Cleanup, June 6

This summer, we plan to do a series of cleanup events in north College Park. Our first event will take place in the Sunnyside neighborhood on June 6, Saturday. We’ll meet at the Sunnyside Skate Park at 8.30 am. Free breakfast and coffee will be served. Please bring your families and friends and spread the word. Thank you!

June_06_2015-_Cleanup

Northern College Park Crime Map – May 17-23, 2015

Please see below last week’s crime map. The B&E on Lackawanna was to a residents home. The suspect kicked in the back door and stole electronics. And the other on Cherry Hill was to a vacant apartment. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Breaking and Entering

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/19/15]BREAK12:0014:444800 Blk LACKAWANNA ST,
[5/22/15]BREAK14:0014:379300 Blk CHERRY HILL RD

 

Theft from Auto

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/23/15]THEFT110:4011:3610200 Blk BALTIMORE AVE,

 

Robbery Commercial

Event

Type

From

To

Location

[5/18/15]ROBT/A11:1715:239900 Blk RHODE ISLAND AVE,

Council Set to Oppose County’s Proposed 15% Property Tax Hike

At next Tuesday’s Council meeting, the City Council will consider taking a position opposing 15% property tax increase in the proposed FY16 County budget. The City Council will send a letter to the Councty Council on this position. The letter will support County’s current initiative in improving our struggling school systems, but will express concerns about the 15% tax hike, which will affect many College Park residents and will work against inviting new residents to the City and the County. Here is the draft.
————————————-
Dear Chair Franklin:

The City of College Park supports the efforts by the County Executive and CEO of the Prince George’s County Public Schools to set forth a long-term plan to move the Prince George’s County Public School system from its current rank near the bottom of Maryland schools to the top ten. However, we are concerned that the County Executive’s current proposal to increase taxes by fifteen cents will further erode residents’ trust in our school system and have unintended negative impacts on homeownership and economic development in the County.

The County school system continues to struggle with providing high quality education, due to a myriad of reasons including antiquated buildings, uncompetitive salaries for staff and faculty, too few teachers in the classroom, and children who do not receive adequate nutrition at home. Our residents want the school system to improve. The city of College Park has invested more than $150,000 annually to support our school system. Many families with young children have left College Park and Prince George’s County because they want to provide a higher quality of education for their children without paying to send them to private school. The quality of schools is an important factor when prospective new residents are deciding where to live.

On the other hand, high tax rates also have a negative impact on our community. Many residents, even those with an income high enough to be ineligible for the low-income homeowner’s property tax credit, are still struggling from the aftermath of the recession and unable to pay the additional burden. If Prince George’s County increases its tax rate to $1.11 per $100 of assessed value, Prince George’s County will have a higher property tax than neighboring counties. This puts Prince George’s County at a competitive disadvantage with prospective homeowners seeking lower property taxes. We have heard from residents who have said they cannot afford to live in the city any more if this property tax increase passes. We also know of small business owners working in our city who have struggled to stay open in recent years, and this additional burden will make it more difficult for them to survive.

We encourage the County Council to work with the County Executive, the CEO of the Prince George’s County Public Schools, and the Board of Education to find a more appropriate balance between the need to improve the quality of our schools and the need to minimize the burden to Prince George’s County taxpayers. While we agree that our schools need to be adequately funded to be in a position to succeed, there are other steps that can be taken to make our schools function more effectively and efficiently – steps such as carrying out the recommendations of the financial management practices audit conducted by the Department of Legislative Services in 2014, conducting a performance audit to identify other potential cost-saving measures, and pursuing innovative means to improve our education system at a lower cost.

We acknowledge the difficult decision that you have before you in balancing these competing interests. Prince George’s County has the opportunity to be a leader in highly effective, low-cost education reform, and we are ready and willing to work with you to achieve that goal.

Sincerely,
Andrew Fellows, Mayor, City of College Park

Council to Ask Metro’s Help on Noise Barrier and Test Track

At next week’s meeting, the city Council will be sending a letter to WMATA, about the noise barrier and test track in north College Park. Please see the draft letter below.
——————————————————-

May 26, 2015

Jack Requa
Interim General Manager and Chief Executive Officer
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Dear Mr. Requa:

On Thursday, May 14, representatives of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) attended a meeting of the North College Park Citizens Association (NCPCA) to discuss the construction of the test track between College Park and Greenbelt Metro stations. We appreciate the opportunity that WMATA provided to discuss ongoing resident concerns regarding construction and planned operation of the test track.  There are a few concerns, however, that NCPCA residents raised, and we would like to ask that you look into them further.

First, residents ask that WMATA reconsider the location of the noise barrier currently being reconstructed, between Greenbelt Metro station and MD-193. We understand from the discussion on May 14 that the original barrier was constructed to mitigate the negative environmental consequences (i.e. noise pollution) upon construction of the Green Line in the 1990’s. The CSX tracks have a similar impact on our neighborhood; however, these tracks were built decades before the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was in place and, therefore, were not subject to the same requirements.  While we understand that the federal government directed WMATA to build the wall in its current location, we believe the neighborhood would be better served if a noise barrier were to be built between the CSX tracks and the neighborhood.  We ask that you work with CSX in whatever way possible to provide for construction of an adequate sound barrier that will protect the neighborhood from noise emanating from CSX and MARC trains as well as Metro trains.

Second, we respectfully request that WMATA refrain from utilizing the test track during hours when Metro is not in operation.  During the May 14 meeting, WMATA representatives informed the community that WMATA may be utilizing the track off-hours, which will allow the noise that our residents experience when Metro is operating to continue into the nighttime. We understand that one main purpose of the test track was to allow WMATA to test trains during operating hours, and we would hope that off-hour train testing would occur in areas underground, where residential neighborhoods are not impacted.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests. We look forward to continuing our work with you to enhance the benefit that WMATA provides to the College Park community.

Sincerely,
Andrew Fellows
Mayor
City of College Park

Join the Market at this Memorial Day Weekend!

Please see below tomorrow’s Hollywood Farmers Market newsletter.

Vol. 1 Issue 5
On behalf of the vendors, volunteers, and Board of Directors of the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, we want to thank all who came out and made our Grand Opening such a wonderful success! This Memorial Day weekend, we will have the Veterans of Foreign Wars selling their Buddy Poppies at the market as well as the talented and creative Abigail Tova Cohen, the 14-year-old creator of 9 Bow Boutique. Make sure to stop by her table and take a gander at her beautiful bows! They make a wonderful present for that special someone in your life!

This week’s vendors include:
Pleitez Produce: Vegetables
Calvert Farm: Produce and fruits
Groff Content Farm: Meat, eggs and cheeses
Roy and RT’s Garden and Kitchen: Prepared Indonesian cuisine and vegetables
El Taco Loco: Prepared Mexican dishes
Alcoba Coffee: Guatemalan coffee by the pound and by the cup
Jesyka Padilla: Hand-crafted jewelry
Crest Hill Bakery: Bread and desserts
Designed Naturally: Natural bead jewelry
Tiffany’s Oven: Vegan baked goods
Inge’s Crochet Selections: Crochet made items
Christiane’s Designs: Knits for baby and adults
Kettle Korn Popcorn: Delicious Popcorn

Market Updates:
– Many people have been asking about Phil’s Dills! Do not fret! They will return in the next few weeks after they complete their transition to a new facility. We are just as anxious for their delicious pickles!
– Heavenly Created Desserts will not be joining us this weekend at the market.
– Green Ice Snowballs will return to the market on June 13th! Make sure to come by to beat the summer heat!

Our Special Guest This Week: 9 Bow Boutique

Proprietor of 9 Bow Boutique, Abigail Tova Cohen, is a 14 year old member of the Peabody Children’s Chorus of John’s Hopkins University. 9 Bow Boutique started about a year ago, when Abigail auditioned for Peabody and was invited to join their prestigious group. They offered her the opportunity to perform with them on a tour in Germany and Austria this summer. She was inspired to start 9 Bow Boutique after her parents told her she needed a way to earn money for the trip.  Abigail brainstormed the idea with her parents and the boutique was born. The name came from her lucky number 9. Abigail’s favorite pastimes are singing, dancing and spending time with friends. She will complete the 8th grade at Thomas G. Pullen Creative and Performing Arts Academy next month and enter Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a Vocal Music student in the fall.
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Copyright © 2015 *Hollywood Farmers Market, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
hollywoodmarketcp@gmail.com

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