[RP TownTalk] Little Workers of the Sacred Heart Nursery Changes

Tue Sep 4 23:47:47 UTC 2012

Just to put this out there. I have been verbal and made my stance known
that I was oppose to this. I was sent a letter from Park and Planning 2
months ago and I respond back to them in letter form which is what they ask
me to do. I was not informed from the council  after seeing them in person
before the meeting that I could speak at the work session meeting last
week. I thought the council talked with each other and discussed what they
were hearing from the neighbors and how they felt about this.
I was not told at the July 2nd meeting that I could speak, I went in to say
I was opposed before the meeting to my council representative and I was
told it would be tabled. No mention by anyone that I could speak that
night. I know it still needs to go to the county and I will continue (if
informed) to let people know that I am opposed. I do not think its fair as
I reached out several times to my council members to meet and discuss. Yes
we are all busy but in the time period I found out about this I  have an
ailing father in law who I had to move to New York and have been having to
go and be by his side several times in the past 2 months.I would like it
known as soon as I was informed of this I spoke up.I just wanted to stand
up and say I don't think it is fair to point out that I was not trying to
follow through with this.I have responded as quickly as I could as I am not
as well versed in this process.I thought I would have been given
information but I have to ask the questions and then they give me
information but again I don't always know what questions to ask. I'm
learning and much more aware people that know you are opposed to a position
don't always keep you informed or don't necessarily want to give all
information.I always will respect my friends and neighbors opinion's even
if we disagree on an issue .I only hope my friends and neighbors grant me
the same.

On Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 11:44 PM, Alan K. Thompson <
akthompson at riverdaleparkmd.gov> wrote:

> *Last week, on August 27th, at the Town Council's work session, the
> council chambers were filled by more than 30 people who came to speak on
> the issue of expanding the Little Workers of the Sacred Heart Nursery.  A
> petition supporting the expansion, with more than 200 signatures, was
> delivered to the Council.  In addition, eight people spoke at the
> microphone, discussing the decades-long history of the nuns and the nursery
> school in our town, the high quality of education at the school, the
> compassion of the nuns for both children and parents, the fact that the
> low-cost and high quality care provided by the nuns was essential to them
> keeping their jobs and paying rent, and, above all, about the fact that the
> demand for spaces in the school far exceeded the spaces available.  My
> younger son turned 10 this year, so it's been a few years since I needed a
> nursery school, but I remember well that even the expensive schools had
> long waiting lists.
>
> To provide some history on the project to date, we on the council first
> heard about the plans last winter, when a request for two curb cuts to
> allow the circular driveway was brought before the council.  Our Chief of
> Police and members of his department reviewed the current traffic situation
> at the school, evaluated the sketched-out design, and told us that it would
> significantly improve both public safety and traffic flow at the site.
>  Knowing that we would have further input on the design, we approved the
> curb cuts so the Nursery could finalize the design (they wanted to know
> that they wouldn't be wasting resources on a design that had no chance of
> approval).
>
> In early June, legally-required letters were sent to all adjacent
> residents notifying them of "pre-filing" for the modification of the
> current zoning exception to increase the number of allowed students from 25
> to 30 (State licensing requirements currently limit them to 20 students
> because of space limitations - the plans included increasing the size of
> the building and improving the current architectural presentation of the
> building).  At the Council's work session on June 18, representatives of
> the Nursery asked the Town Council to provide a letter of support for the
> project.  Having received no response to the letters from neighbors, and
> believing that the Nursery had an excellent relationship with their
> neighbors (and having heard from a representative of the Nursery that he
> had discussed it with all neighbors and had not heard any opposition), I
> prepared a letter and brought it to the Town Council's July 2 Legislative
> meeting.  Ten minutes before the meeting was to start, a neighbor to the
> Nursery approached me and expressed her strong opposition to the project.
>
> I knew then that even though this was simply a letter of support, that it
> was important for me to directly determine the neighbors’ support for the
> project.  I told the opposed neighbor that I would remove it from the
> agenda for the July meeting and that I needed to discuss her objections
> with her.  When I made the motion to amend the agenda as presented, I told
> my fellow members of the Town Council that I had heard of opposition to the
> project, and needed to talk to the neighbors before bringing it up to a
> vote.  The opposed neighbor was in the audience at that time, though she
> did not stay at the meeting long enough to publicly speak about her
> opposition, as she had told me she would just before the meeting.
>
> Since that meeting I have met with or left a letter (requesting feedback)
> for all of the neighbors I think will be affected by the changes, and found
> that a large majority are in support of the project.  I met most recently,
> just last Friday, with the neighbor who approached me at the July 2 meeting
> and her husband. (In addition to the letter I hand-delivered to her house,
> I had been actively trying to arrange a meeting with her for over two
> weeks, and had told her at least a few days in advance of the August 27
> work session that we would be discussing it on that evening; neither she
> nor her husband were able to attend. We are busy people, and were not able
> to arrange a mutually agreeable meeting time until August 31st. She did
> provide me, around August 24, a letter she had written to the County
> Planning Board describing her objections to the project in great detail.
> Her husband registered his feelings on the TownTalk listserve after our
> conversation on August 31st.)
>
> So now we are nearing this month's Legislative Meeting, and a decision on
> whether to send a letter of support is again on the agenda for tomorrow
> night's meeting.
>
> The Town Council is a representative body, and I feel that especially in
> cases like this we should provide an opinion that reflects the opinions of
> our residents.  As I stated earlier, the immediate neighbors support it by
> a large majority, though a few do oppose it.  All feedback from the rest of
> the community - including those who have contacted me in response to recent
> postings on this list - have been in favor of it.  I plan to introduce a
> letter of support at tomorrow night's meeting, but include in that letter
> the concerns of the opposed neighbors in hopes that they can be at least
> partially addressed as the plans move through the formal County/MNCPPC
> process.  Because the plans are subject to change during that process, I
> have reserved the right of the Council to alter that support if the plans
> do change, or our concerns are not addressed.
>
> I am more than happy to receive feedback.  Please call me, send e-mail, or
> attend Tuesday evening's meeting (8 pm, Riverdale Park Town Hall, 5008
> Queensbury) if you have thoughts.
>
> Alan Thompson
> Ward 2 Town Council Representative, Town of Riverdale Park
>
>
> *
>
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-- 
*I’ve a Chesapeake Heart
And a Caribbean Soul…*
**
 *There are two primary choices in life:*
*To accept conditions as they exist, *
*Or accept the responsibility for changing them.
Denis Waitly
*
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