[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6671569,"mediaKeyId","2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d","parentId",2157817,"title","Council adopts consent agenda, authorizes letter supporting Maryland agricultural land preservation recertification","audioSeconds",568,"startMs",707000,"endMs",1275000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d&start=707&end=1275","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d/thumbnail_707000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6671569/Prince-Georges-County/Maryland/Council-adopts-consent-agenda-authorizes-letter-supporting-Maryland-agricultural-land-preservation-recertification","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671569-d8e4c1ce4f14c1c31602556d090502c0/orig.mp4?Expires=1771182419&Signature=QLsR34lKxBLzegizq0cMxZr5Ctw6Uoqxq8YqDUUFzJ2A5uUpZI-4tNxJbz04WCtlsTYdcKv1ynJ6efFSL2rAl3qQ22fBEL4qJZz08Oi5lK6FcvUMz87kTi9-wFuB3AW2OeX-fmeMKPgxJOyFD5kqzd9Xy4a-7fSsD4wQheMHTGuLGX7W0boBu~yg~ksWpc5Qm5CWQuD-n0A1Jo6sn-NM3TGHVSleNMUdXr64uhMxqm8C4fqfzqic-Zs861QLk0c3-AuTO6QuY565IzKd0D-EkDV8FdvH03-IqkHw8mSKGu0qCpc5VOPWn0N6zRzwhYqljV2jh2vogX1aCIrbOpvkfw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Prince George","date","2025-01-28T00:00:00Z","article","At its Jan. 28, 2025 meeting, the Prince George's County Council adopted the consent agenda by voice and roll-call votes and separately authorized the chair’s signature on a letter supporting the county’s application for recertification under the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program.

Council member Wenneca Fisher moved to adopt the consent agenda and council member Ingrid Watson seconded; the clerk recorded a roll-call vote with nine ayes and no nays. The transcript records the roll call in the following order: Chair Ivy (aye), Miss Leggain (aye), Vice Chair Burrows (aye), Mr. De Nogue (aye), Miss Fisher (aye), Mister Hawkins (aye), Mister Olson (aye), Miss Orietta (aye) and Miss Watson (aye). The clerk announced “Motion carries 9-0.”

Items listed on the consent agenda included approval of county council minutes dated Jan. 21, 2025 and the presentation/introduction of several council bills and resolutions. The introduced bills and referrals announced on Jan. 28 were:

- CB 003-2025: An act concerning the Office of Permitting Ombudsman; purpose: establish an Office of Permitting Ombudsman in the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement to address barriers for small business owners and other stakeholders. Presentation by Council member Olson; referral to TIE (Transportation, Infrastructure & Environment Committee). Details not specified in the transcript.

- CB 004-2025: An act concerning utility trailer parking restrictions; purpose: define utility trailers, establish parking restrictions requiring owner identification display, set penalties and limited exemptions. Presentation by Council member Olson; referral to TIE. Details not specified in the transcript.

- CB 005-2025: An act concerning minimum-wage indexing; purpose: index Prince George's County minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index and address impacts on direct-support professionals. Presented by council members (transcript names provided); referral to GOFP (Government Operations & Fiscal Policy Committee). Details not specified in the transcript.

- CB 006-2025: An act concerning permanent rent stabilization for senior housing; purpose: establish rent-stabilization protection for age-restricted senior rental units. Presented by council members (transcript names provided); referral to PHED (Planning, Housing & Economic Development Committee). Details not specified in the transcript.

- CB 007-2025: An act concerning county employee access to in vitro fertilization and egg-freezing coverage; purpose: require insurers contracting with the county to include IVF and egg-freezing coverage as an offered plan feature for county employees. Presented by Council member Fisher; referral to HHSPS (Health, Human Services & Public Safety Committee). Details not specified in the transcript.

Introduced resolutions included:

- CR 003-2025: A resolution concerning alcoholic-beverage licenses for retail grocery establishments requesting local legislation to allow the Board of License Commissioners to issue Class A beer and wine licenses to qualifying establishments. Introduced by Council members Fisher and Blige; referral to GOFP. Additional sponsors added during the meeting.

- CR 005-2025: A resolution concerning the local impact grant fund multiyear plan; proposed by the chair at the request of the county executive and referred to the committee of the whole; additional sponsors were added during the meeting.

After the consent agenda vote, the council considered proposed correspondence: a draft letter to Rebecca L. Flora, Secretary of Planning, Maryland Department of Planning, supporting Prince George’s County’s application for recertification in the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program. Rayna Hightower (planning department staff) summarized that recertification would allow the county to retain an additional percentage of the county’s agricultural transfer tax to protect agricultural land, open space and other natural resources. Council member Dronoga moved to authorize the chair’s signature on the letter; Council member Watson seconded. The clerk again recorded nine ayes and no nays; the clerk announced “Motion carries 9-0.”

The meeting transcript does not record substantive debate on the introduced bills or the agricultural-land letter beyond the staff overview and the roll-call votes; where the transcript did not provide additional details, the article states that those details were not specified.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Prince George - County Council - **Revised - CR-005-2025 Added** - Jan 28, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Prince George's County Council unanimously adopted the Jan. 28 consent agenda, including introductions of several council bills, and authorized the chair to sign a letter supporting the county's Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program recertification; both motions passed 9-0.","taxTitle","Prince George's County, Maryland","taxId",3378,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6671575,"Resident urges council to set performance metrics, procurement and reimbursement for snow removal",636,478000,1114000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d&start=478&end=1114","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d/thumbnail_478000.jpg","/articles/6671575/Prince-Georges-County/Maryland/Resident-urges-council-to-set-performance-metrics-procurement-and-reimbursement-for-snow-removal","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671575-99317f19ef4de6e046a56acbea558c82/orig.mp4?Expires=1771182419&Signature=mhP0oqycEs8dkq4y7ESjI3Q7mFVvgPpge0JRR7U48Djod3YqBQWCEuMPZ5Eph41qhAv6GfVG7wFj988b~SABaUh19S6~15osjIYYQGYOoMgrXGluU7rKBuFCQ67~FSxP98PIrohQpgBsyEYwwjICN8ueoM6hLj1Yq6LnwbaABM~fEHT8qdXe~DnmQvQ9F8rW01LzsbjUhYYrji4g3PmUOhFnE3TIDCq2j54RIUDf7GpSNz6lHVnym3rdq14Vx2WLtNlpxljXDqhYzJwnOfuyJMPnMNHySJTHiDqyKVGAvVh18dEX3BtnU~gfzY3jXUuETgqE0-W0r64DH3~N7SdPiA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Tolleson Banner, a member of the public, used the Jan. 28 Prince George's County Council meeting’s public-comment slot to press the council on snow-removal weaknesses following recent storms.

Banner asked what actions the council and county agencies will take to fix identified problems, particularly poor interagency and resident communication, and whether the council will require performance-based metrics for the Department of Public Works & Transportation (DPW&T). He asked when procurement of needed equipment would occur, and when the county would acquire reliable software after staff said its system had failed to provide real-time data during the last storm. Banner also said the chemicals used to treat roads underperformed in subfreezing temperatures and asked whether future chemical choices would be tied to real-time weather monitoring.

“Finally, will the council consider legislation that reimburses county residents who hire private snow removal companies to clear their streets? It could be known as the taxpayer plowback,” Banner said.

Chair Ivy and other council members indicated they expected DPW&T to produce materials and responses from the snow briefing. A county official who identified themselves as DCA Holt told the council they had spoken with Director Michael Johnson and that Johnson was preparing the requested responses and materials; Holt said the chair and vice chair should receive the information by the end of the week and that the materials would be posted to the county website.

The council recorded no vote or formal directive on the snow-removal comments at the Jan. 28 session. Council staff said they would make the DPW&T responses available to the public when complete.","At the Jan. 28 meeting, Tolleson Banner urged Prince George's County Council to adopt performance metrics for DPW&T, improve communications and consider reimbursing residents who hire private contractors; staff said DPW&T is preparing a report and answers requested at a snow briefing.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6671580,"County council reviews final School Pedestrian Safety work group report with 18 recommendations",263,1187000,1450000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d&start=1187&end=1450","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2157817-5c9951f9996822458ea46e79a4ed607d/thumbnail_1187000.jpg","/articles/6671580/Prince-Georges-County/Maryland/County-council-reviews-final-School-Pedestrian-Safety-work-group-report-with-18-recommendations","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6671580-de9781526a119ca17beaec3a3bee88d9/orig.mp4?Expires=1771182419&Signature=C6mlcu-OPdE7sxvnKdd5KRHyClr0LUsknTIX1AWqb30KDxBUD96NT3tG5ing7JsucEqlDK4g2USR1OGrB9B48ks6C5ejuq3DATU6JN8U8uZIssx8irXJU3S~1kQ3rG1mGGEDJg5O2rjuBQ7GK6ob6SldIJQeUijL3GDkd5D44YwvsPpHgKCKX4SQ9JcDrkFCOLpJUmspL3wedZXdp91sPEOL1GVhGa3gdGSulPurhZerv5JmgkheGtwy5meFb-tniqhHC8R1lQnM~ZPOerR77hrXFXg6ufQQ-TVveCbkS-KtqY8viki~d6cEtfMduC8B7pDKKyPMHBEgagGuq6WTsA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Prince George's County Council on Jan. 28, 2025 received a briefing on the School Pedestrian Safety work group’s final report and recommendations, developed after five meetings and completed in December 2024.

The report, assembled under resolution CR 9 (2024) and extended by CR 78 to a December 2024 deadline, proposes 18 recommendations intended to reduce pedestrian risk around county schools. Arianne Aubert, director of the Education and Workforce Development Committee staff, told the council the work group formed after the November 2023 deaths of two Riverdale Elementary School students and that Prince George's County remains among the deadliest jurisdictions for pedestrians in the Baltimore–Washington region.

The recommendations cover infrastructure, evaluation and education: require pedestrian-safety infrastructure at the time of school construction; launch a countywide accessibility evaluation for PGCPS (Prince George’s County Public Schools) campuses; create a unified walk-audit template; set up proactive interagency coordination; establish safe-passage coordinators; create an objective pedestrian safety risk measure for schools; set PGCPS internal goals and timelines for audits; and engage school communities and boards on safety work. The report also calls for lowering speed limits around schools, traffic-calming measures and temporary street restrictions during drop-off and pickup, expanded education campaigns, walking school buses, an annual youth transportation safety summit beginning April 2025, and bilingual (Spanish/English) pedestrian-safety materials for high-risk areas.

Other items in the report include incentivizing municipal police departments to provide crossing-guard subcontracting support to increase coverage, partnering with the Prince George’s County Arts & Humanities Council on street-art crosswalk projects, and recognizing Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day (Nov. 14) as a county/PGCPS event.

“A unified metric system will let us rank schools by objective need so resources can be prioritized,” council member Wenneca Fisher, who co-led the work group, said during the briefing. Eric Olson, the group’s other co-lead, thanked community participants and urged the council to fund recommendations. “I do hope we can follow the recommendations and that this body will put money into the things that need to be done to increase the safety and walkability for our school children,” Olson said.

Council member Mary Lehgett (spelling as spoken in transcript) asked whether the work group conducted a systematic study of where pedestrian crossings are most dangerous; staff said the county police provided crossing-guard locations but the work group did not perform a new, countywide statistical study and instead recommended a risk-measure and walk-audit template to produce a merit-based priority list.

Council members and staff cited sample resources and contributors to the work group, including Strong Towns, Coalition for Smarter Growth, the U.S. Department of Education, Washington Area Bicyclists Association, the Prince George’s County Arts & Humanities Council, the county police department and Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T).

Fisher urged colleagues to treat at least one item—crossing-guard coverage—as a budget priority in the next budget cycle so municipal police and crossing-guard arrangements can be funded. Council member Ingrid Watson publicly thanked Chief Aziz of the police department for providing crossing-guard support this past year.

No formal council vote on the work group recommendations was recorded at the Jan. 28 briefing; the session was a presentation and questions period. Council members indicated some recommendations could be implemented administratively while others might require legislation or budget allocations.

The work group’s final report (December 2024) lists each recommendation with the suggested implementing body, a general timeframe and a brief justification. The report notes the first work-group meeting occurred in July 2024, and the final document includes a nonexhaustive list of tools and community resources for local implementation.","The Prince George's County Council received a briefing on a work group report that proposes 18 recommendations to improve pedestrian safety near schools, including walk audits, traffic calming, crossing guard strategies and bilingual education; council members urged budgeting for crossing guards in the next fiscal cycle.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Council adopts consent agenda, authorizes letter supporting Maryland agricultural land preservation recertification

Resident urges council to set performance metrics, procurement and reimbursement for snow removal

County council reviews final School Pedestrian Safety work group report with 18 recommendations