Council Approves Contract for Repair of the Indoor Pool Deck
At its January 27 regular meeting, the Greenbelt City Council approved contracts to repair the indoor pool, modified and deferred proposed ethics legislation until the next meeting, agreed to support a coalition seeking to improve emergency services and took positions on several pieces of proposed state legislation. Indoor Pool Council approved legislation to transfer $1.7 […]
Will Greenbelt Police Assist In Immigration Enforcement?
At its January 27 regular meeting the Greenbelt City Council discussed several aspects of the impact of the Trump administration’s increased deportation efforts, recognized Black History Month and International Holocaust Remembrance Day and heard an update on the status of the city’s animal control services. Immigration Former councilmember Judith Davis raised the immigration issue during […]
Top Stories of 2024
The News Review presents highlights from last year’s news stories. The reviews were prepared by Cathie Meetre, Erica Johns, Diane Oberg, Deanna Dawson, Pat Scully and Anna Bedford-Dillow. Greenbelt Loses Career Firefighters On June 30, Prince George’s County Fire Department (PGFD) removed career fire and rescue personnel from Greenbelt, Berwyn Heights, Bowie and Bunker Hill […]
Council Confronting Lingering Questions in Final Budget Review
After its final budget worksession on Wednesday, May 15, it appears that the Greenbelt City Council has two main questions to answer before it can adopt a budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 2025), which begins July 1. These are: Should they increase the Greenbelt Cinema’s annual stipend, and should they change how funds are […]
Budget Proposal Holds Line On Public Works Spending
City Manager Josué Salmerón’s budget proposal calls for a 2.7 percent increase in the Public Works budget, with expenditures increasing from $4.586 million in the adopted budget for this fiscal year to $4.711 million in FY25, which begins on July 1. A breakout of expenditures by major budget category is shown in the table on […]
City Budget Stays in Bounds; Though in FY26, Maybe Not
In presenting his budget proposal to the Greenbelt City Council on March 25, City Manager Josué Salmerón had good news. Despite earlier projections of a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 which begins July 1, the budget deficit has been closed without increasing the city tax rate. Council began its review of […]
Staffing Issue Gets Council Meeting Off to a Hot Start
The March 25 meeting of the Greenbelt City Council got off to a hot start with former city human resources director Mary Johnson accusing the city manager of violating city code. In addition, council approved several contracts, received an update on planned renovations to the Municipal Building and sent a letter to county officials regarding […]
Council Urged to Take a Step Back in Planning City Hall
At its February 5 worksession, the Greenbelt City Council heard a presentation from architect David Whaples, based on work Isabelle Gournay and he did, urging council to take a broader view on replacing the Municipal Building. Gournay is an architect and a member of the Advisory Planning Board (APB). They first presented this concept to […]
Recycling Centers Drowning In Rampant Illegal Dumping
The city’s three recycling centers are being inundated with large volumes of illegal dumping ranging from nonresidential volumes of oil, hazardous materials (including hydrochloric acid), furniture, construction debris and more. This is costing the city a lot of money in both staff time and disposal costs. Council has scheduled a March 13 worksession to begin […]
Council Hears Request from PSAC To Review Officer-Involved Shootings
On Monday, December 4, the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) met with the Greenbelt City Council for a periodic review. After a brief discussion of the group’s activities since their last meeting with council two years ago, Mayor Emmett Jordan set the tone for the rest of the meeting, noting increasing crime, especially juvenile crime, […]