City Council Agenda: Deer Management, Senior Center Name

Deer management, a discussion of a name for the Rockville Senior Center and a hearing on an annexation request, are highlights of the agenda for Monday’s meeting of the Rockville City Council.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at . The meeting will be carried live on Rockville 11.

The council is scheduled to vote on recommendations by the city’s White-Tailed Deer Task Force of non-lethal means of managing the deer population.

The recommendations are:

• Adopt the revised White-Tailed Deer Management Plan.
• Develop a database to track incidents of deer struck by vehicles.
• Count the city’s deer population each winter through flyovers using infrared technology. The estimated cost is $7,500 per year.
• Research traffic control devices related to deer crossings and use fencing or other methods to control crossings at roads with high traffic and high speeds.
• Start a public information campaign to better inform the public about deer, their benefits and their impacts on urban areas.

The city has spent two years considering , an effort that .

In December, the City Council instructed city staff to remove all mention of using lethal means to control the deer population in the city’s deer management plan and in the task force’s recommendations.

Click on the PDF below the photo above this article to read the management plan.

The council also asked staff to “provide biological data specific to the forest and fauna within Rockville and a cost estimate for conducting a biological assessment,” according to the staff report for Monday’s meeting.

City budget staff is considering how to fund a biological study in the city’s fiscal 2013 operating budget.

The council also will discuss naming the Rockville Senior Center in honor of

RSI and the Senior Citizens Commission, at meetings in January, each rejected naming for Hanna.

“After much discussion, it was noted that several people were instrumental in opening the senior center and responsible for its continued success. And in choosing one person to name the senior center after might create bad feelings,” senior commission Chairwoman Kathy Neale told the council on Jan. 23, The Gazette reported.

City staff is recommending that RSI and the senior commission form a joint subcommittee to establish a process for proposing a name change. Proposals would be based on input from RSI and the senior commission and from center users.

The center is in the midst of an expansion project to create a 6,000-square-foot fitness wing and to renovate 4,000 square feet of administrative space.

Click here to view a Rockville 11 report on the project, which is expected to be completed later this winter.

Former Mayor Steven VanGrack and former City Clerk Helen Heneghan sent letters in December asking Rockville Seniors Inc. to consider naming the center for Hanna.

In her letter, Heneghan said Hanna “was the driving force that created the Center and during his tenure set the course that brought it where it is today.”

The city staff report notes that, “It was also suggested during Citizen's Forum on January 23 that there may be other opportunities to recognize former Mayor Hanna that the Mayor and Council could consider.”

The council also is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a request to annex a 46,960-square-foot property at 9608 Veirs Drive, which is part of Glen Hills Club Estates. The owners want to connect to the city’s water and sewer systems.

The city’s Planning Commission on Nov. 30 recommended adopting the annexation plan.

The applicants, Arnold and Arcadia Anderson, would be responsible for the costs associated with connecting to the city’s water and sewer systems, according to the staff report.

The public record on the annexation would be held open until 5 p.m. on Feb. 20.