Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Mar 31 7 pm Town Hall Meeting by Councilman Dernoga
Prince George's County Council member Thomas Dernoga is holding a Town Hall meeting Monday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 4545 Ammendale Road, Beltsville (MAP)
The meeting will focus on next year's budget (*), but participants are free to bring up other issues, such as zoning, traffic or crime.
Representatives from the School Board, Department of Public Works and Transportation, and Department of Environmental Resources, will be on hand to answer questions, as will Major Dwayne Preston, the new county police commander for northern Prince George's County.
GS:
(*) Budgets are the way our values and priorities get implemented by our local government. Please come and help our community get those values and priorities right.
The meeting will focus on next year's budget (*), but participants are free to bring up other issues, such as zoning, traffic or crime.
Representatives from the School Board, Department of Public Works and Transportation, and Department of Environmental Resources, will be on hand to answer questions, as will Major Dwayne Preston, the new county police commander for northern Prince George's County.
GS:
(*) Budgets are the way our values and priorities get implemented by our local government. Please come and help our community get those values and priorities right.
Assessment Team Seeks Comments on PG Police
An assessment team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. invites public comment on Prince George's County Police. See press release.
New Police District 6 Confidential Tip Line
Prince George's County Police District VI (Beltsville/Laurel area) has set up a new confidential telephone Tip Line 301-931-3575.
This number does not take the place of established phone numbers for emergency ( 911 ) and non-emergency ( 301-352-1200 ) police response.
This tip line is a way for community residents to confidentially report criminal or suspicious activity within Police District VI (map). The caller does not have to provide their name and will not be called back unless requested. The phone messages will be monitored daily and all gathered information will be utilized appropriately.
Please share this new confidential Tip Line number with other residents in our community.
This number does not take the place of established phone numbers for emergency ( 911 ) and non-emergency ( 301-352-1200 ) police response.
This tip line is a way for community residents to confidentially report criminal or suspicious activity within Police District VI (map). The caller does not have to provide their name and will not be called back unless requested. The phone messages will be monitored daily and all gathered information will be utilized appropriately.
Please share this new confidential Tip Line number with other residents in our community.
WSSC, There They Go Again
Lightning does strike twice in the same place, and so does the WSSC. Sometime before 3:30 pm Tuesday afternoon May 8, the second time since January 4, a contract crew working for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission abandoned work in progress in the west-bound lane of the 9700-block of Murkirk Rd (near Montpelier Mansion), leaving a dangerous tank trap 6 feet long, 10 feet across, and 4 inches deep -- without any traffic control barriers, signs or cover plates. See pictures below
A cast-iron pipe stuck up 8 inches above street level -- but not for long. One of the first cars to fall into that hole clipped off the cast-iron pipe, which severely damaged the car's axle, according to the young driver who can't afford to get his car fixed because he can only afford the legally required liability insurance (to protect other drivers) not collision insurance to protect himself.
One resident spent 3 hours waving at cars coming at speed from the very nearby Rt. 197 intersection, to slow them down to avoid further vehicle damage or personal injury. He called WSSC and DPW&T but after over one hour no one had responded to the scene. Then he called County Councilman Dernoga's office. After Dernoga's office called WSSC, the WSSC finally sent out a work crew to assess the situation and then sent a second truck which covered the excavation with asphalt by 6 pm, before dark when the situation would surely have become even more dangerous (as it did on January 4) .
It is inconceivable that a work crew would abandon work in progress leaving such a dangerous situation -- not only once but twice at the same location. There is something seriously wrong with the standard operating procedures for WSSC's road work contractors.
If you were injured or your car damaged at that WSSC work site on May 8, most auto insurance policies will cover your damage or injury and subrogate payment by the WSSC so your deductible payment will be reimbursed to you. But if you need other compensation beyond your own insurance coverage, contact the WSSC's claims representative, Phil Sherman, 301 206-7094. If that doesn't work, contact the office of County Councilman Dernoga
A cast-iron pipe stuck up 8 inches above street level -- but not for long. One of the first cars to fall into that hole clipped off the cast-iron pipe, which severely damaged the car's axle, according to the young driver who can't afford to get his car fixed because he can only afford the legally required liability insurance (to protect other drivers) not collision insurance to protect himself.
One resident spent 3 hours waving at cars coming at speed from the very nearby Rt. 197 intersection, to slow them down to avoid further vehicle damage or personal injury. He called WSSC and DPW&T but after over one hour no one had responded to the scene. Then he called County Councilman Dernoga's office. After Dernoga's office called WSSC, the WSSC finally sent out a work crew to assess the situation and then sent a second truck which covered the excavation with asphalt by 6 pm, before dark when the situation would surely have become even more dangerous (as it did on January 4) .
It is inconceivable that a work crew would abandon work in progress leaving such a dangerous situation -- not only once but twice at the same location. There is something seriously wrong with the standard operating procedures for WSSC's road work contractors.
If you were injured or your car damaged at that WSSC work site on May 8, most auto insurance policies will cover your damage or injury and subrogate payment by the WSSC so your deductible payment will be reimbursed to you. But if you need other compensation beyond your own insurance coverage, contact the WSSC's claims representative, Phil Sherman, 301 206-7094. If that doesn't work, contact the office of County Councilman Dernoga
Citizens Mitigate Dangerous Excavation on Muirkirk
UPDATE Jan 16 8:30 am: Sure enough, the hole was back and two more hubcaps testified to a rough night for drivers. But by 10:30 am WSSC was repairing the valve and the excavation. At 12:30 pm they left the hole filled with more durable asphalt and no valve visible.
UPDATE Jan 15 5 pm: Sometime on the Monday holiday, the excavation was filled with loose aggregate, which by dark had been mostly knocked out by repeated traffic creating three large potholes which together were almost as large as the original excavation. All traffic cones and the DPW&T sign were removed and placed next to a tree on the adjacent verge. In the waning sunlight, some westbound drivers could still see the hole and were swerving left to avoid it, putting them into the on-coming westbound left-turn only lane. Sometime Monday night into Tuesday morning that hole will likely again become as dangerous as it was Saturday night.
====================================================
This is not a "pothole story". This is about someone who created and left a very dangerous situation in our community.Sometime Saturday, January 13, unidentified workers repairing the road at a fire hydrant's WSSC supply valve in the one and only westbound lane of Muirkirk Road near Rt. 197 left their work uncompleted with no traffic control barriers to prevent cars driving into the 2 foot by 3 foot by 8-inch deep excavation, shaped more like a tank trap than a pothole.
As evidenced by at least 6 hubcaps at the scene, sometime that rainy Saturday night into Sunday morning an untold number of cars hit that uncovered excavation, damaging vehicles (at a minimum wheel alignment), possibly injuring passengers, and risking head-on collision with opposing traffic (see below).
A father and son returning from their jolting experience Saturday night looking in vain for their lost hubcap, said that when they came through there was nothing to warn them about the excavation before they hit it. So the comically tiny traffic cone observed at 1030 Sunday morning January 14 most likely was left by another victim desperately trying to help others avoid the same fate in the dark of night. A passer-by contributed two large safety cones.
Even with citizen-provided warnings in place for the westbound traffic , the most danger was from westbound cars swerving suddenly and unexpectedly around the hazard (else risk being rear-ended by cars following close behind leaving the Rt 197 intersection) and so risk running into cars coming eastbound in the left-turn only lane -- so another two cones were added by a citizen on the yellow line to alert eastbound traffic (without changing their traffic pattern).
Police responded quickly to a citizen call at 1030 Sunday morning to the P.G. Public Safety number 301-352-1200 and assessed the situation. Public Safety called P.G. Department of Public Works and Transportation. DPW&T arrived apparently within an hour or so, putting a sign at the excavation and leaving the citizen-provided cones in place. Reference Public Safety service number: 07-014-0663 Jan 14, 2007Presumably DPW&T will contact those responsible for the road work (WSSC) to quickly and properly complete it with appropriate traffic safety measures on this and future work -- such as covering excavations with steel plates.
Tony's Liquor License Hearing Jan 23, 2007
No apparent opposition has arisen against this requested liquor license transfer for continued use at Tony's Liquors in the Crystal Plaza.
QUOTE:
BOARD OF LICENSE COMMISSIONERS
(LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD)
HEARING
JANUARY 23, 2007
A hearing on the [below] application [among others] will be held at the County Service Building, 5012 Rhode Island Avenue, Hearing Room 200, Hyattsville, 20781, 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at which time anyone wishing to testify either for or against the application may attend the hearing. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Board's Office at 301-699-2770.
Eyaya Arega, President/Secretary/Treasurer for a Class A, Beer, Wine and Liquor License for the use of HCH Liquors, Inc., t/a Tony's Liquors, 12637 Laurel Bowie Road, Laurel, 20708 transfer from Edric, Inc., t/a Tony's Liquors, 12637 Laurel Bowie Road, Laurel, 20708, Sung Joo Kim, President/Secretary/Treasurer, Bo Kan So, Vice President.
Atty: Simon Osnos, Esquire
Opposition: [none]
A Public Hearing is also scheduled for Regular Session/Administrative Voting Session on February 7, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. and Regular Session/Administrative Voting Session on February 14, 2007 at 7:00 p.m., Hearing Room 200, County Service Building, 5012 Rhode Island Avenue, Hyattsville, 20781. At the meeting the Board will consider the agenda as posted that day and any other matters taken under advisement from previous meetings.
END QUOTE:
New Passport Requirements in 2007
City of Laurel
Official Press Release
New Passport Requirements for Travelers in 2007
Mayor Craig A. Moe would like residents to know that, [according to changes in federal law] beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.
As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security.
Applications for passports are accepted at the Laurel Municipal Building, Passport Office on Mondays and Thursdays, from10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Tuesdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Applicants will need the following items to apply for a U.S. passport: proof of citizenship, proof of identity, and two passport photos. Please call the Passport Information Line at 301-725-5305 for more details and information.
END QUOTEAnyone can use the City of Laurel passport office -- not just Laurel residents.
Subregion I Living Areas Public Meeting Nov 18
Marylan Park & Planning Commission
Subregion I Living Areas
Summary Session and Open House
November 18, 2006 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission recently conducted three half-day workshops (October 19th, 21st, and 26th) focusing on the living areas within the Subregion I Master Plan Area. This is the final community meeting regarding the all Subregion I Living Areas. This open house will serve as a wrap-up and summary meeting for the October workshops.
Purpose:
· Present issues and concerns regarding living Areas within Subregion I
· Present preliminary recommendations
· Solicit community input on issues, concerns, and recommendations as they relate to the Subregion I Master Plan and SMA
When: Saturday, November 18, 2006
8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
4545 Ammendale Road, Beltsville, MD 20705
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can also visit our web page at http://www.mncppc.org/cpd/sub1background.htm
Kierre McCune
Senior Planner, Community Planning Division
Prince George's County Planning Department
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Voice: 301-952-3211
Fax: 301-952-4121
kierre.mccune@ppd.mncppc.org
Subregion I Living Areas
Summary Session and Open House
November 18, 2006 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission recently conducted three half-day workshops (October 19th, 21st, and 26th) focusing on the living areas within the Subregion I Master Plan Area. This is the final community meeting regarding the all Subregion I Living Areas. This open house will serve as a wrap-up and summary meeting for the October workshops.
Purpose:
· Present issues and concerns regarding living Areas within Subregion I
· Present preliminary recommendations
· Solicit community input on issues, concerns, and recommendations as they relate to the Subregion I Master Plan and SMA
When: Saturday, November 18, 2006
8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
4545 Ammendale Road, Beltsville, MD 20705
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can also visit our web page at http://www.mncppc.org/cpd/sub1background.htm
Kierre McCune
Senior Planner, Community Planning Division
Prince George's County Planning Department
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Voice: 301-952-3211
Fax: 301-952-4121
kierre.mccune@ppd.mncppc.org
Citizen Input Sought for County Master Plans
This is your opportunity to contribute your ideas to Prince George's County planning for the next 10 years and beyond for for public safety (police, fire, emergency medical), schools, parks, transportation, etc. Please take the enclosed survey.
In the next few weeks you will see press releases and articles in the newspapers about the Subregion I Master Plan study that is currently being conducted for our area of Prince George's county. A series of public Living Area Workshops will involve county residents directly in updating the county's master plans.
The "Living Areas Workshop" for our area (East of Route 1) is:
Thursday, Oct 19, 2006, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Corporate Offices of Hope Christian Church
6251 Ammendale Road
Beltsville, MD 20705
Please fill out this survey, and return it by email to
kierre.mccune@ppd.mncppc.org
In the next few weeks you will see press releases and articles in the newspapers about the Subregion I Master Plan study that is currently being conducted for our area of Prince George's county. A series of public Living Area Workshops will involve county residents directly in updating the county's master plans.
The "Living Areas Workshop" for our area (East of Route 1) is:
Thursday, Oct 19, 2006, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Corporate Offices of Hope Christian Church
6251 Ammendale Road
Beltsville, MD 20705
Please fill out this survey, and return it by email to
kierre.mccune@ppd.mncppc.org
New Emergency Warning System Coming to Laurel
Laurel City Press Release - Sep 25, 2006
Mayor Craig A. Moe is pleased to inform the residents of Laurel that the City has entered into a contract with Code RED to purchase a state of the art Emergency Warning System.
The Code RED Emergency Notification System is an extremely fast communication service available for mass Emergency Notifications. Code RED employs a one-of-a-kind Internet mapping capability for geographic targeting of calls, coupled with a high speed telephone calling system capable of delivering customized pre-recorded emergency messages directly to homes and businesses, live individuals and answering machines, at the rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour.
Mayor Craig Moe envisions using Code Red to notify residents and businesses during natural and man-made disasters, as well as warn residents and businesses in Laurel as to when flooding is possible.
Mayor Craig Moe is pleased that this new technology is now available to help keep the residents and businesses of Laurel informed and encourages everyone interested to visit www.coderedweb.com and check out their capabilities. If you have any questions, please call Emergency Operations Director, Marty Flemion, at 301-725-5300 ext. 203.
Meet Our Councilman Tom Dernoga July 2, 2006
Here's an informal opportunity to meet our District 1 County Councilman, Tom Dernoga hosted by Rosalind Johnson at Applewalk Condominiums.
Citizens Need to Fight Delay of Laurel-Beltsville School
Letter to Laurel Leader Editor from District 1 County Councilman, Tom Dernoga, Sep 15, 2005
The Prince George's County Public Schools staff just proposed deferring the proposed Laurel-Beltsville Elementary School in favor of other projects.
This recommendation is not in the CEO's Capital Improvement Program released for public discussion. Instead, the deferral was raised in a committee work session outside the general public view.
When is the public to be informed? After the hearing process is over?
I suggest that citizens concerned with school overcrowding in the Laurel-Beltsville area attend the Board of Education's next (and last) CIP hearing next Monday night [Sep 10, 2005] at 7 p.m. at the Sasccer Building in Upper Marlboro. You have to call in advance to sign up to speak (301-952 -6308).
Montpelier Elementary School Cross-walk Safety Beacon Failed on First Day of School
Today's sunny and otherwise pleasant start of a new school year at Montpelier Elementary was tainted by the chronically broken cross-walk safety beacon at Lanner Road just west of the school cross-walk across Muirkirk Raceway. That beacon is supposed to alert drivers that they are approaching a school cross-walk.
That broken beacon not only failed to protect our children crossing Muirkirk Raceway, it also failed to protect our crossing guard, Ms. Lou, who was struck by a car in the crosswalk and hospitalized last January - she has been able to return to work only after months of recovery and physical therapy. Laurel Gazette article
That beacon has required maintenance many times during each and every shool year since it was installed several years ago at the request of the Montpelier Hills Homeowners Association. Either it doesn't flash during the designated crossing-guard times or it doesn't flash at all. It was checked by a P.G. Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) crew at the end of last school year -- so it should have worked properly on this first day of school. It didn't.
The other safety beacon just east of the school has never had any problems since it was installed at the same time -- something is wrong with the west-end beacon. Either it is defective and should be replaced or its solar panels are not powering the batteries properly. The solar panels are blocked by adjacent trees and not oriented toward open sky due south for maximum exposure to the sun.
After our crossing guard was struck, the totally ineffective response agreed to between DPW&T's and the County School system was to add a few no parking and no U-turn signs in front of the school.
It is time to bring highway and cross-walk safety at Montpelier Elementary up to exactly the same safety standards as at nearby Deerfield Elementary school - before a child is killed -- not after.
As a Montpelier Hills resident, I will again raise these chronic safety problems with the school and the county -- residents and parents who wish to add their voices please add your comments to this posting and also contact me directly at
Gary Stone
Montpelier Hills
That broken beacon not only failed to protect our children crossing Muirkirk Raceway, it also failed to protect our crossing guard, Ms. Lou, who was struck by a car in the crosswalk and hospitalized last January - she has been able to return to work only after months of recovery and physical therapy. Laurel Gazette article
That beacon has required maintenance many times during each and every shool year since it was installed several years ago at the request of the Montpelier Hills Homeowners Association. Either it doesn't flash during the designated crossing-guard times or it doesn't flash at all. It was checked by a P.G. Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) crew at the end of last school year -- so it should have worked properly on this first day of school. It didn't.
The other safety beacon just east of the school has never had any problems since it was installed at the same time -- something is wrong with the west-end beacon. Either it is defective and should be replaced or its solar panels are not powering the batteries properly. The solar panels are blocked by adjacent trees and not oriented toward open sky due south for maximum exposure to the sun.
After our crossing guard was struck, the totally ineffective response agreed to between DPW&T's and the County School system was to add a few no parking and no U-turn signs in front of the school.
It is time to bring highway and cross-walk safety at Montpelier Elementary up to exactly the same safety standards as at nearby Deerfield Elementary school - before a child is killed -- not after.
- We need two new speed limit signs closer to both ends of the school zone with FINES DOUBLED (just like Deerfield ES).
- The speed limit near all P.G. County Schools should be 25 miles/hour (as it is in Montgomery County) (just like Deerfield ES is trying to do with their informal 25 mile signs)
- We need a cross-guard controlled red light to bring traffic to a definite stop when children are crossing Muirkirk with a crossing-guard (just like Deerfield ES).
As a Montpelier Hills resident, I will again raise these chronic safety problems with the school and the county -- residents and parents who wish to add their voices please add your comments to this posting and also contact me directly at
Gary Stone
Montpelier Hills
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
