The meeting began at 6 pm with all Commissioners present. The Mayor led a presentation to all the summer interns. They received a certificate and had a picture taken with the Mayor and Commissioner S. Cephas.
A note was read about Brandon Hesson, the Deputy City manager holding an “Ironman Welcoming Event” on September 15th from 4 to 7 at Cannery Way.
Two ordinances, 1226 and 1227 were read for the first time. Both deal with the rezoning of the existing YMCA property. In a confusing moment, there was talk of a third ordinance to be combined with the first two and all three will be read at the October Council meeting which will allow for public comment.
The hot topic of the night was Ordinance 1221 which deals with extending the youth curfew for 12 months. To put the discussion simply, both Cephas Commissioners wanted the old curfew with dollar and jail penalties for the parents to remain in the curfew. The Mayor, who was a Juvenile Court judge, wanted to eliminate the penalties and substituent social services intervention, instead. After some testy exchanges, the ordinance pasted 3 to 2 for the old curfew with the penalties. The Mayor vetoed the measure and will write up the reasons for his veto. The Council will vote to over-ride the veto at the August 28th meeting. The Council will need 4 votes to over-ride.
Four more Ordinances concerning the purchase of property in the Pine St. area passed without much discussion.
The Council made appointments to the Ward Realignment Committee as follows
:
Jim Sicks, Gregg Meekins, Lou Hyman, Carlos Estin, and Barbara Knepp. Nominees from Wards 2 and 4 are not yet finalized.
Club Dujour in the Pine St. area is scheduled to be torn down but the Council held up the demolition to see if it could be used for other purposes. Two proposals were received and will be reviewed at a special session on August 28th from 5 to 6 at the Council Chamber on Gay St.
The City submitted grant applications to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Legacy projects. The City prioritized the old City Hall building on Gay Street, 444-448 Race Street, and the Shared Use Kitchen at the Packing house. In a separate but related action the City funded the Beasley St. Market.
During the Public Comment section, Dr. Theresa Stafford asked the City to get more involved in the Bradford House complex on Race St. The situation there is terrible and although the complex is not City run, the people who live there are citizens of Cambridge and deserve better treatment. Jermaine Anderson made a plea to update the Comprehensive plan for the City and then to follow it. A third citizen asked the City to clean up an alley that was full of trash.
The meeting ended around 8 pm and then went into close session to discuss pending litigation.
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