WEEKLY BULLETIN | January 28, 2022

The City of College Park is proud to announce the appointment of Raven Rodriguez as the City’s new Racial Equity Officer. Ms. Rodriguez comes to the City with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in intersectional anti-oppression, race, racism, and racial history. The City is excited to welcome Ms. Rodriguez to the College Park team. She will begin working for the City on January 31, 2022. For the full Press Release, visit: https://www.collegeparkmd.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=329.

The RJC will have specific areas of focus as described in Resolution 21-R-25. The Commission will meet monthly and may form subcommittees that may meet more often. To apply for a position on the RJC, please complete an application (click here) and submit it to Janeen S. Miller at jsmiller@collegeparkmd.gov by February 14, 2022.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Miller at jsmiller@collegeparkmd.gov or call 240-487-3501. For more information, visit: www.collegeparkmd.gov/boards.

Thanks to M-NCPPC, Express Healthcare will be able to expand its services to provide additional rapid and PCR testing in the community at:

Wells Ice Rink, 5211 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20740.

Testing will operate Monday through Friday 8:00 am-6:00 pm and Saturday & Sunday from 9:00 -7:00 pm. No appointment needed. Drive-Up Only. The opening of this site will assist in reducing traffic congestion on Baltimore Avenue and in the Lakeland community and provide additional testing in the community.

County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced that the Prince George’s County Health Department and the Office of Emergency Management will begin handing out 25,000 at-home rapid COVID-19 test kits at designated locations each week, in partnership with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).

For more information about the distribution schedule, COVID-19 testing, or to use the County’s testing site locator, visit health.mypgc.us/COVIDTesting.

The City has established two programs to assist businesses, non-profits, and residents address negative financial impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Program Act (ARPA) has provided funds that the City is using for these and many other projects. The goal of these programs is to help our residents, businesses and non-profits get back on their feet and better prepared to be financially successful in the future. For program information, including requirements and applications, please visit www.collegeparkmd.gov/arpa.

Have questions? Email arpa@collegeparkmd.gov with questions for any of the City's ARPA programs.

FY 2023 Budget Listening Session – February 1: On Tuesday, February 1, County Executive Alsobrooks will host the FY 2023 Budget Listening Session, to give Prince Georgians an opportunity to provide their input for the FY 2023 budget. Please help us share this information far and wide so residents can participate and tune in. Residents must sign up by 5:00 PM on Monday, January 31 if they wish to speak live during the listening session. Residents can also submit written comments via email to OMB@co.pg.md.us by Friday, February 4 at 5:00 p.m. Residents can sign up to speak at the following link: https://bit.ly/FY23pgcbudgetsession.

The County is in the process of updating the 2009 Countywide Master Plan of Transportation. The new plan will be called the Countywide Master Plan of Transportation 2035. Its purpose is to provide an overall vision or guideline for prioritization and implementation of future transportation projects. It will not list specific projects. County staff has prepared an online transportation needs survey. The online survey link is https://bit.ly/MPOT2035. This link is open from January 25-February 25. There is also a link for office hours to discuss the project: www.mncppcapps.org/Planning/MPOT2. A community meeting was held on January 27 and more are scheduled for the future.  

If you are interested in volunteering on the LAC, please send an expression of interest as a letter or email to HistoricPreservation@ppd.mncppc.org. The deadline for submittals is Friday, January 28, 2022. For more details, visit: https://www.mncppc.org/496/Whats-New.

The State announced the $248 million Maryland Homeowner Assistance Fund. It will be administered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to support mortgage relief, home repairs, housing counseling, and legal services. For program details, visit: http://homeownerassistance.maryland.gov.

For more information, visit: https://governor.maryland.gov/2022/01/05/governor-hogan-announces-opening-of-maryland-homeowner-assistance-fund/.

For more details, visit: mwcog.org/cbpcpaper.

https://habitatmm.org/how-to-apply/home-repair-services-for-homeowners/prince-georges-county-homeownership-preservation-program-pg-hopp.html.

Want to see where our crews are plowing? Check out our new City snowplow status link here: https://citizeninsights.geotab.com/#/collegeparkmd.   

Public Works is staffed around the clock during snow events, if you have a question or concern, call 240-487-3590 or email publicworks@collegeparkmd.gov. For more information related to snow removal operations visit our website https://www.collegeparkmd.gov/snow.

The Department of Public Works plows and treats City maintained streets and City parking lots to clear snow and ice during winter storms. Public Works crews are staffed around the clock during snow emergencies to clear the 51 road miles of City streets. 

Updates will be posted on the City’s website, all City social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and emailed (sign up here).  

For monthly Prince George's County Police public safety maps and statistical data for the City of College Park, visit www.collegeparkmd.gov/publicsafety.

Public Safety Committee Meetings

Please join City Elected Officials, Police, Department of Public Services staff, and your neighbors from all around the City, for an informative monthly community meeting. This meeting takes place every second Monday of the month via zoom. Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/96168994626.

This month, Prince George's County Police Detective Flax will discuss the latest auto theft trends and prevention tips.

This community meeting will discuss City-wide crime statistics, recent incidents of public interest, neighborhood watch tips, and special public safety related topics.

To facilitate City-wide participation, these will be virtual meetings that you may join in from your home. Please invite your neighbors so that this useful information may be shared throughout the City.

Office of the City Manager | 240.487.3501 | cpcommunications@collegeparkmd.gov | collegeparkmd.gov