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Record of Proceedings

Rockville City Council Meeting - September 2, 2026

Meeting Portal — Wednesday, September 2, 2026
BodyRockville, Maryland
SessionMeeting Portal
DateWednesday, September 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 28:16

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:01

Morning, everybody.

Speaker 2

0:02

Good

Speaker 3

0:02

morning.

Unassigned speaker

0:05

Kind

Speaker 4

0:05

of reminds me of the Waltons a little bit, or am I dating myself sometimes?

Speaker 2

0:09

A little bit, but I got

Unassigned speaker

0:11

you.

Unassigned speaker

0:20

I don't

Speaker 4

0:20

know if you heard Barack, but if you could throw up the agenda, that would be great.

Speaker 1

0:24

It's

Speaker 4

0:25

it's or somebody.

Speaker 1

0:26

Uh it's uh, but

Speaker 4

0:29

all right.

0:30

There is the agenda for tonight's meeting.

0:35

It starts with a closed session at 5 30.

0:40

Just a quick reminder.

0:41

We go into the conference room or the council chamber, announce a closed session.

0:46

You guys make some quick findings and then we convene into the closed session and then come back out.

0:54

All right, and then for the regular agenda, which starts at 6 30.

1:00

We don't have any board and commission appointments.

1:04

We have one consent agenda, and that's for a leaf collection truck.

1:08

Very important, very expensive.

Speaker 1

1:11

Oh,

Speaker 4

1:11

I'm in the wrong business, and then we have a work session tonight on ready.

1:17

Any questions for tonight's meeting?

1:22

All right, let's look at the next meeting.

1:25

That meeting isn't until February 23rd.

Unassigned speaker

1:31

That

Speaker 4

1:31

meeting starts at 6 30.

1:33

We do have some board and commission appointments and reappointments.

Unassigned speaker

1:38

Then

Speaker 4

1:38

we have a nice beefy work session on landlord tenant code.

1:42

I saw the preview, it's gonna be good.

1:45

Need lots of feedback from council.

1:46

Lots of questions we want to make sure we get right as we begin to draft the code.

1:52

Any questions about that agenda?

1:55

Councilmember Valeri.

Speaker 2

1:58

Hi, um, in looking at um the the following meeting to the 23rd, is there um any way because it's slated for 15 minutes, and I believe that that's an accurate um

Unassigned speaker

2:13

uh

Speaker 2

2:13

estimate.

2:14

Is there any way that we can move the ordinance for the property located at 301 Frederick Avenue to the 23rd?

2:23

I believe that um that situation has uh been been waiting for some time.

2:29

So it would be nice to wrap that one

Unassigned speaker

2:31

up.

Unassigned speaker

2:33

Are

Speaker 4

2:33

you talking about the you are you ahead of us on six months and moving something around?

Speaker 2

2:38

I'm asking for the item from March 2nd.

2:42

Um that would give us more time too for both vision zero and Jedi.

2:45

So the item from March 2nd, moving it to the 23rd.

Speaker 4

2:48

Yeah, let me let me get to that in just a second, Councilmember.

2:51

Thank you.

2:51

Anyone have anything on the 23rd before I whip up the sixth month?

Unassigned speaker

2:57

I

Speaker 2

2:57

mean, technically what I raised was about the 23rd, but I hear you

Speaker 4

3:01

okay.

3:01

I just need to see it, that's all.

3:03

Thank you, council member.

3:04

All right, let's put six months up.

3:12

Awesome.

3:13

So on March 2nd, we have uh Vision Zero special presentation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Legislative Review███████████████████████████████████35%
Procedural███████████████████████████████31%
Public Safety████████████████16%
Transportation Safety██████████10%
Election Procedures████████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Rockville City Council Meeting - September 2, 2026

The Rockville City Council met on September 2, 2026, beginning with a closed session at 5:30 p.m. followed by the regular agenda at 6:30 p.m. The meeting focused on adjusting future meeting agendas and reviewing a slate of state legislative items for the 2026 session, with council members expressing positions on several bills and discussing priorities for upcoming work sessions.

Discussion Items

  • Future Meeting Agenda Adjustments: Councilmember Valeri proposed moving the ordinance for 301 Frederick Avenue from the March 2 meeting to the February 23 meeting, citing a lengthy multi-year wait. Mayor Ashton supported urgency, noting the land had been returned to a resident after many years. Council agreed to move the item if staff confirmed readiness. Valeri also requested adding a presentation on Bus Rapid Transit projects (355 and 486) and a legislative wrap-up to the pending items list, and expressed serious concern that the election code update was not scheduled on the six-month outlook, calling for a public hearing. Mayor Ashton and Councilmember Jackson agreed on the importance of moving the election code quickly.
  • Legislative Review - Support Decisions: The council reviewed several bills and voted (via thumbs-up) to support or monitor them:
    • HB 691: Streamline permitting for housing development. Council supported and agreed to provide testimony.
    • SB 281: Withhold 35% of budget for suburban transit district grants. Council supported in writing.
    • SB 388 (Decade Act): Overhaul Maryland economic development framework. Council decided to monitor, pending MML position.
    • SB 537: Youth delinquency prevention fund. Council supported with testimony; Councilmember Valeri volunteered to testify, noting Rockville’s historical youth service bureau.
    • HB 916: Establish regional transportation authority. Council supported with testimony; details to be confirmed when committee dates are set.
    • Safe Routes to School bill (House/Senate): Require school boards to identify safe routes and counties to build sidewalks. Council supported; Mayor Ashton noted the city should also commit to sidewalk improvements.
    • Traffic calming bill (State Highway Administration): Study consistent signage policy for traffic calming devices. Council supported.
    • HB 601: Authorize stop sign monitoring systems in school zones for Rockville and Gaithersburg. Council supported with testimony; Mayor Ashton and Councilmember Valeri offered to testify.
    • HB 676: Establish statewide network of financial empowerment centers. Council supported with testimony; Mayor Ashton and Councilmember Valeri both offered, and staff noted two hearing opportunities.
  • Mayor Ashton requested tracking of immigration-related bills and bills on environmental quality and the Maryland bottle bill. Staff will add to the spreadsheet.
  • County CIP testimony and G17 delegation meeting: Council discussed timing for the county’s Capital Improvement Program testimony and the upcoming G17 delegation meeting, with staff noting February 19 as the likely date (the earlier date of February 10 was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts).

Key Outcomes

  • Agreed to move the 301 Frederick Avenue ordinance to the February 23 meeting, pending staff confirmation.
  • Directed staff to add several items to the pending list, including BRT updates, legislative wrap-up, and election code scheduling with a public hearing.
  • Voted to support HB 691, SB 281, SB 537, HB 916, Safe Routes to School bill, traffic calming bill, HB 601, and HB 676; to monitor SB 388; and to add additional bills for tracking.
  • Councilmembers volunteered to testify on multiple bills; staff will coordinate logistics.
  • Will finalize the county CIP testimony and letter to the Board of Education, and follow up on the G17 delegation meeting date (likely February 19).

Meeting Transcript

Morning, everybody. Good morning. Kind of reminds me of the Waltons a little bit, or am I dating myself sometimes? A little bit, but I got you. I don't know if you heard Barack, but if you could throw up the agenda, that would be great. It's it's or somebody. Uh it's uh, but all right. There is the agenda for tonight's meeting. It starts with a closed session at 5 30. Just a quick reminder. We go into the conference room or the council chamber, announce a closed session. You guys make some quick findings and then we convene into the closed session and then come back out. All right, and then for the regular agenda, which starts at 6 30. We don't have any board and commission appointments. We have one consent agenda, and that's for a leaf collection truck. Very important, very expensive. Oh, I'm in the wrong business, and then we have a work session tonight on ready. Any questions for tonight's meeting? All right, let's look at the next meeting. That meeting isn't until February 23rd. That meeting starts at 6 30. We do have some board and commission appointments and reappointments. Then we have a nice beefy work session on landlord tenant code. I saw the preview, it's gonna be good. Need lots of feedback from council. Lots of questions we want to make sure we get right as we begin to draft the code. Any questions about that agenda? Councilmember Valeri. Hi, um, in looking at um the the following meeting to the 23rd, is there um any way because it's slated for 15 minutes, and I believe that that's an accurate um uh estimate. Is there any way that we can move the ordinance for the property located at 301 Frederick Avenue to the 23rd? I believe that um that situation has uh been been waiting for some time. So it would be nice to wrap that one up. Are you talking about the you are you ahead of us on six months and moving something around? I'm asking for the item from March 2nd. Um that would give us more time too for both vision zero and Jedi. So the item from March 2nd, moving it to the 23rd. Yeah, let me let me get to that in just a second, Councilmember.

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