Rockville Mayor and Council Meeting – February 3, 2025
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Rockville Mayor and Council Meeting – February 3, 2025
The Mayor and Council of Rockville met on February 3, 2025, in both a morning recognition session and an evening regular meeting. The morning session featured proclamations and recognitions for student athletes, American Heart Month, Rare Diseases Day, and Black History Month. The evening session included a city manager's report, community forum, a special presentation on Vision Zero progress, and approval of a consent agenda item.
Consent Calendar
- Item 9A – Resolution to authorize execution of employee separation and release agreements: Adopted unanimously (motion by Councilmember Shaw, second by Councilmember Valeri).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mark Prushela (former councilmember, 816 Fordham Street) expressed opposition to the Town Center Master Plan’s support for a third MARC rail track through Rockville, arguing it lies outside the planning area and conflicts with redevelopment projects. He requested the mention of a third rail be removed.
- Jeffrey Gance (Montrose neighborhood resident) voiced opposition to the proposed rezoning in Planning Area 10, alleging inconsistent rationale from staff. He proposed eight traffic-calming solutions for the Montrose neighborhood, including additional stop signs, pedestrian islands, speed cameras, and making Congressional Lane one-way.
- John Becker (148 Monroe Street) expressed support for Vision Zero goals but observed that marked crosswalks with blinking lights are often ignored, and red-light running is common. He urged the city to push the state for speed cameras on Rockville Pike, Veirs Mill Road, and East Jefferson Street, noting a 90-day response deadline had passed.
City Manager’s Report
- King Farm Farmstead Master Plan: Progress reported with upcoming community engagement, including a survey and public meetings.
- Summer Camps: Camp guide available online; registration opens February 12.
- State Legislation: Staff reviewed several bills, including HB 80 (transit-oriented development), HB 348 (speed cameras), HB 628 (sidewalk/bike path funding), HB 709 (good cause eviction), SB 609 (algorithmic rent-setting), HB 801 (financial empowerment centers), and HB 489 (single staircase buildings). Council’s priorities align well with most bills.
Discussion Items
- Vision Zero Update (Special Presentation): Brian Barnett Woods, Vision Zero Coordinator, presented progress on the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, Pedestrian Master Plan, and Bikeway Master Plan. Key highlights:
- In 2024, there were 15 serious injury crashes and 1 fatal crash (pedestrian) in Rockville; 9 of those occurred on state roads.
- Sidewalk projects: Group 1 sidewalks (e.g., Monroe Street) completed; Group 2 moving to design; Group 3 feasibility studies starting this year. Twinbrook area: 7 gaps studied, 5 moving forward.
- Intersection safety audits: First round completed; second round ongoing. Federal grant (Safe Streets and Roads for All) will study 30 intersections (10 city, 20 state).
- New crosswalk guidelines adopted; several crosswalks being installed.
- Bike lane projects on Martin’s Lane, Manakee Street, and others. Bike share stations planned for Twinbrook.
- Traffic calming projects on Manakee Street, Smallwood Road, and resident-requested locations (Twinbrook Parkway & Metal Hall Drive; Edmondston Drive & Crawford Drive).
- Speed limit reduced on MD 28 (Baltimore Road to Veirs Mill) and Veirs Mill Road after state approval.
- Pedestrian/bicycle bridge over rail tracks in Twinbrook under study via federal grant.
- Councilmember Valeri noted inconsistencies in Q&A responses and suggested hosting Q&A on the Vision Zero webpage.
Key Outcomes
- Proclamations approved unanimously: American Heart Month (February 2025), Rare Diseases Day (February 28, 2025), and Black History Month (February 2025) were proclaimed by unanimous votes.
- Board appointments approved unanimously:
- Alan Frankel reappointed to the Board of Appeals (term to September 1, 2027).
- Peter Fosselman reappointed to the Historic District Commission (term to February 1, 2028).
- Kathleen Kleinman reappointed to the Transportation and Mobility Commission (term to February 1, 2028).
- Consent agenda item 9A adopted unanimously.
- Next steps: Vision Zero Q&A to be posted on city website; further community engagement on King Farm and transportation projects; staff to follow up on state legislation.
Meeting Transcript
Rockfell, today is February 3rd, 2025, and we'll begin meeting number four-25. We'll start with our Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic. For which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So I will note today is our proclamations and recognition's day, and we're so excited that we are overflowed with folks in our chamber as well as out in the conference rooms. We're going to be acknowledging some student athletes who've been doing amazing work. And we will also be acknowledging several of our proclamations. So I'm gonna ask my colleagues to please join us. Bear with us. There are a lot of people doing great things, and we're so excited to see so many rockets and others across the city doing well. So it's it's definitely black and gold here in the chamber. Join me down below. Um so we've got a couple of uh team championships we're gonna celebrate today. First, we are here to celebrate the 2024 Maryland Girls Volleyball State Championships, the Richard Montgomery team. Now I can tell you all, I um went to a number of matches, including the quarterfinal match, and I can tell you it was interesting. On that particular day, there was actually your match, the quarterfinals match, and there was a Wooten football game. You guys dispatched that game so quickly that I was still able to make it to the first half of the Wooten game. That's how incredible they were. And for those of you who don't know, not only were they just incredible in winning the state championships, they did not lose a single match the entire season. So that alone deserves applause because that that achievement is fantastic. In addition to which there was numerous accolades individually, both on a regional and state notation. I know Corrine did fantastic making regional regional second team, and Emma making not only the regional first team, but also the recently the Gatorade state player of the um year. So fantastic. The accolades, tremendous. And uh, for those of you who may uh probably everyone in this room knows this is actually the back-to-back championship. You guys were all here last year as well. So fantastic accolades, and our coach, you've done an amazing job with this team. So fantastic job with your record with the state championship. Why do you guys come on? Because we're gonna recognize my colleagues, everybody here. We've been talking about it throughout your season. So we're all gonna take part in the presentation. So why do you guys come up? And so we can make sure that every one of you gets your recognition. Start us back now. And yeah, I think they're not there. Yeah, I think so. We've got a lot of proc uh recognition uh certificates. We're gonna name everybody individual, going and presenting it one by one. It's gonna be a little tough, but everyone's gonna take part in reading it. We're gonna start with the coaches and then go to the players. So, first we have um uh the person who needs no additional recognition, but Coach Gretchen Barber Struck. And then we have assistant coach, Jacob Achen. Oh, the only coach recommends, okay. And is Daniel also the uh um away? Is Daniel's not here, but Miss Deanny is here. Oh, okay. You can you can take for all the coaches, and we'll recognize them just uh uh notation. Jacob Achin, Wes Carver, Rebecca Gerengies, and Daniel Whitlow the second.
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