Route 1 Reporter (https://route1reporter.com/page/2/)
By Amelia Jarecke, contributing writer
Hyattsville is ramping up its efforts to get its residents counted on the 2020 Census. A key focus of the Hyattsville Complete Count Committee, formed earlier this month by the Hyattsville City Council, is to educate residents about the new electronic response option in the 2020 Census. Hyattsville is the latest Route 1 corridor city to launch a Complete Count committee. College Park and Mount Rainier have also taken similar steps.
A trio of major real-estate development projects – two in Hyattsville and one in Greenbelt – are making their way through Prince George’s County’s development review process. For starters, developers have submitted detailed site plans for approval by Prince George’s County planning authorities for a 350-unit multifamily building near the Greenbelt Metro and the intersection of Cherrywood Lane and Edmonston Road. Route 1 Reporter first wrote about this project back in July, when the developers were seeking approval of their preliminary plan of subdivision, a procedural step where property lines are redrawn or consolidated to accommodate new development.
A mixture of righteous anger, sorrow and radical activism permeated a vigil held last night to demand justice and accountability for Leonard Shand, the 49-year-old African American man killed by 10 police officers in Hyattsville last month.
Officials from Maryland’s State Highway Administration say construction on the “missing link” in the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail could be underway by next year, if all goes according to plan.
City officials had begun to investigate the leak of an apparently unredacted copy of a confidential 2018 investigative report examining allegations of sexual harassment in the city police department.
A new Hyattsville Middle School, as well as a new Adelphi Middle School, have gotten the green light to be included in a plan to build six new schools across Prince George’s County.
Braatz thanked city residents, and highlighted her administration’s economic development, tax, and infrastructure policies during her three-and-a-half year tenure with the city. She also said she will be announcing a new position of some sort.
Again without much discussion, College Park City Council took one last procedural vote clearing the way for the city to borrow $19 million to build a new City Hall (approximately $14 million of the cost) and to renovate and redesign Duvall Field (approximately $5 million).
VeoRide isn’t the only scooter game in College Park, it seems. Dockless escooter titan Bird has recently been seen in College Park hawking its “micro mobility” devices to newly-arrived students here for the fall semester.
Last week, an eagle-eyed reader spotted Bird representatives showcasing their scooters at an event in the parking lot of Vigilante Coffee on Baltimore Avenue.
Mount Rainier city officials appear to have publicly identified a former employee who filed sexual harassment complaints against the city.
College Park, anticipating the construction of a new city hall, met for the first time in Davis Hall in northern College Park.
A new filing with county planners has revealed more details about a planned Marriott Hotel near College Park’s Metro station.
Hyattsville will phase out its Nixle emergency alert system over the next several months in favor of a new emergency alert messaging company named CodeRED. Hyattsville has been using Nixle to distribute emergency alerts for more than seven years, according to message records. However, it lacked the ability to reach landlines or residents without cell phones or email access, Hyattsville City Police Department Chief of Police Amal Awad said during a recent community meeting. The new service will allow police to distribute emergency notifications and public safety alerts by text message, robocall and email. It also has teletype option for deaf subscribers.
Hyattsville City Council approved a measure to issue $13.8 million in debt for the renovation of the city’s Public Works Facility and the construction of a new police headquarters on Hamilton Street. As a result, it may be hard to borrow for other infrastructure projects in the city in the future. The vote happened at a special session of Hyattsville City Council held Aug. 28, 2019. The measure was unanimously approved, though Mayor Candace Hollingsworth and City Councilors Joseph Solomon and Carianna Suiter were absent.
$3.3 million will be allocated to the Public Works Facility.