City Council OKs Money to Study Playground Relocation
Council authorized transferring $20,000 from a contingency fund to begin studying what would be needed to relocate the playground near Annapolis Elementary School.
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Annapolis City Council unanimously voted Monday night to spend $20,000 on a study associated with the proposal to build a parking garage along Compromise Street.
The move came near the end of the council meeting as a budget transfer. The shuffling of funds was unanimously approved. Alderman Ross Arnett was absent.
City Manager Michael Mallinoff said the money would be moved from a contingency fund.
He said the money is intended to pay for a study of the playground near Annapolis Elementary School and what would need to be done if it would be relocated to make way for a parking garage there.
The money will not be used to begin planning an actual project. The county Board of Education is planning a renovation project of the aged school building, which will require relocating the students to Annapolis Middle School.
City officials have been working with the school district to take advantage of the time when students are out of the building to construct a garage near there.
The issue of moving the playground and even building the parking garage has been met with opposition from parents and even prompted a petition against the project. The school's parent-teacher organization is against losing what little open space the school has and they also have expressed concerns over the various problems that could arise if a garage is built that close to the school.
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City of Annapolis
160 Duke of Gloucester St, Annapolis, MD -
Annapolis Elementary School
180 Green St, Annapolis, MD -
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Annapolis Middle School
1399 Forest Dr, Annapolis, MD
Chris Stelzig
9:11 am on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
This is wrong in just so many ways. The city has been seeking an MOU with the Board of Education which they have not yet received. The only public testimony to the BOE has been in opposition to this plan. There are nearly 1,900 people who have signed the petition in opposition to this plan. If the BOE does not sign an MOU, in the words of the mayor, "the deal is dead." If the city actually spends this money BEFORE the board agrees to work with them, then I have voted for Josh Cohen and DIck Israel for the last time.
Jay Kiely
3:27 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Chrsi,
I agree with you completely. No one has addressed the elephant in the room, namely, the revenue the PTA will lose from the parking fees it gets on weekends from tourists. I suggest it is not chump-change.
Lou Colletti
9:17 am on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Save your money. Put the playground on the top floor of the garage. Everybody wins. What other problems you need solved? Oh, the shortfall of funds. Stop spending so damn much that's what we do in the real world!
Janet Norman
3:23 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Mayor and Council - are you trying to flush our taxpayer money down the toilet with this expenditure? You said you would not proceed with out PTA/parent support - we met with you and consultants, looked at the plans, and said this is utterly ridiculous to proceed with, plans to make kindergartens cross Compromise Street is no-brainer stupid. AES Principal said she won't do it.. No support from AACPS either. Guess what, $20,000 is a heck of a lot of money. Stop now, you are bleeding this town with this bad idea. NO ONE except the developer supports this, did they win the election?
Heather Macintosh
10:09 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
Mayor and Council - I thought we explained to you in our two meetings last week that to move the playground is to decimate the minimal outdoor play area that Annapolis Elementary School children have access to. To relocate the playground anywhere is going to be taking it away from the school kids. You invited a group of parents to see the plans for this garage/retail/office development and we were stunned at how destructive the proposal would be to the school. Are you going to completely ignore the input that you were given by the school community at that meeting and at the Annapolis Education Commission meeting that followed?
Why not spend money on studying whether there is a real or just perceived parking problem in downtown Annapolis. And before people begin shouting at me - just know that the Hillman garage is due for renovation in the next couple of years and money spend studying anything could be spent on exploring adding space to an existing garage rather than building an entirely new one on top of a school playground.
Spend your money on studying the issue of parking downtown. Not on relocating the playground! You're going at this completely backward.