[RP TownTalk] University Park, Hyattsville Reach Understanding on Wells Run Tributary

Wed Nov 17 12:23:25 UTC 2010

Regarding the creek that runs through Wards 1 & 2 and on to the
eastern branch of the Anacostia, from the Riverdale Park Patch.

I'm glad to see that University Park & Riverdale Park are working
together on this important issue. And I'm also glad to see that
Hyattsville is taking the environmental impact of development in the
Anacostia watershed seriously.

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From: (http://riverdalepark.patch.com/articles/university-park-hyattsville-reach-understanding-on-wells-run-tributary)

University Park, Hyattsville Reach Understanding on Wells Run Tributary

University Park’s City Council sets disagreements with Hyattsville
aside and ratifies Hyattsville’s memorandum of understanding on
preserving the Wells Run tributary.

By Rick Docksai | November 16, 2010

Hyattsville's memorandum on protecting the Wells Run tributary got
University Park's endorsement at a Nov. 15 meeting of the University
Park Town Council. The University Park town council voted to approve
the Wells Run memorandum of understanding (MOU) that Hyattsville's
City Council had passed Sept. 7 after Riverdale Park and University
Park had separately passed their own memoranda.

The MOU establishes an Inter-Municipal Collaborative Committee on
Wells Run comprising representatives from Hyattsville, Riverdale Park,
and University Park. The committee's members will jointly address
storm water management, pollution, and other issues surrounding the
Wells Run tributary, which begins in Hyattsville and passes through
University Park before emptying into the northeast branch of the
Anacostia River in Riverdale Park.

All three communities' membership on the committee is voluntary, per
Hyattsville's version. Any one of the three can cease participation if
it so chooses.  University Park council member Margaret Mullino, Ward
1, was pleased with this stipulation since it could free University
Park to take actions on the tributary even if Hyattsville opposed
them.

"They (Hyattsville) don't have to agree with us. We can do what we
think is right. If the Hyattsville Council doesn't like it, they don't
accept it," she said.

The Wells Run issue has brought many tensions among the three
communities out into the open.  Hyattsville's Sept. 7 enactment took
place despite the opposition of three sitting council members: Marc
Tartaro, Ward 1; and Ward 2 council members David Hiles and William
Tierney. In open council sessions, the three had denounced what they
saw as knee-jerk hostility in the other two communities to
Hyattsville's future growth and warned that the basis for honest
collaboration was just not there.

Hyattsville's vote followed Riverdale Park's enactment of a memorandum
in August. During an Aug. 2 city council meeting, Riverdale Park
council member Alan Thompson (Ward 2) had stated that Riverdale Park
and University Park would move forward with or without Hyattsville.

The University Park Town Council meeting on Nov. 15 likewise heard
many skeptical words regarding Hyattsville and its commitment to the
tributary's well-being. Frank Lucas, Ward 2 council member, accused
Hyattsville's leadership of being too beholden to local business
interests.

"We're going to have trouble with Hyattsville regardless. Hyattsville
is going to back away from it. Hyattsville is going to say 'we don't
have anything to do with it.' This could go on forever," he said.

Lucas urged his colleagues to rely on the Clean Water Act. It would be
the only way to get Hyattsville to take the tributary seriously.

"You should fire your gun. And your gun is the Clean Water Act," he
said. "Prince George's Plaza and the other business interests in
Hyattsville are the guilty parties. Let's go after them and get this
settled."

But Lucas and all other council members present finally gave the
memorandum their approval after Mayor John Tabori argued that the
memorandum would solidify University Park's partnership with Riverdale
Park.

"I'm going to set Hyattsville aside," Tabori said. "We have a very
strong relationship with Riverdale Park and we've helped each other on
it. It's important to sign this agreement for those reasons and
continue that work."

Hyattsville's memorandum, which Hyattsville approved after conferences
with Riverdale Park and University Park, makes the following five
revisions:

   1. the committee will act to ensure the tributary's long-term health
   2. the committee will help the communities plan low-impact
recreational development, devise short-term and long-term tributary
restoration strategies, evaluate storm water management plans and how
they might impact Wells Run, and gather and distribute environmental
data to support all three initiatives
   3. the committee will include three members from each community,
with at least one of them being an elected city council member.
   4. the committee cannot represent the communities unless it has the
explicit approval of all three to do so
   5. the communities may amend the committee and its directives after
a sunset date of five years

Hyattsville's revised memorandum also directs all three communities to
share scientific and technical data and analyses regarding Wells Run;
work together to build support in their respective communities; and
seek the assistance of the county, state, and federal government as
needed.
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-- 
Sarah Wayland
sarah.wayland at gmail.com