Doc Drop: Council Agenda - Feb. 6, 2012

During tonight's meeting the City Council will vote to schedule two festive events.

Handmade on Hamilton

First up is Handmade on Hamilton, the reborn , which fizzled out over the last two years. The event was not held in 2011, prompting Councilor Carlos Lizanne to his ward.

The resolution, introduced by Mayor Marc Tartaro, officially schedules the event for Nov. 3, 2012. The event will take place on Hamilton street between Queens Chapel and Ager roads.

In a January 17 presentation before City Council, acting Parks and Recreation Department head Abby Sandel said that international festivals had become a victim of their own success, too numerous to stand out from what had become a crowded regional street festival scene.

Thus was born Handmade on Hamilton.

The new festival will focus on handmade arts and crafts, with a push to draw in artisans from miles away to Hamilton Street to ply their wares.
The projected total bill for the event runs approximately $36,200.

Hyattsville Birthday Bash

The second set of festive votes concerns Hyattsville's Annual Anniversary Carnival in Magruder Park. You may of it from last week. For those with short memories or lazy clicking fingers, the event celebrates the city's 126th birday and will feature fireworks for the first time in an as-yet-unspecified number of years.

Also, the event will be stretched out an extra day, with a new preview day added on to the front end. The entire event now runs four days, from April 12 to April 15, 2012. Fireworks will come on Saturday night.

The total cost for the event, fireworks and all is $15,000. However it should be noted that the fireworks are funded by a $5,000 recreation programming grant from the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. The city will front $10,000 to pay or the carnival services of Annapolis-based Taylor and Sons, Inc. amusement rides. The city also stands to reap a small revenue from the carnival operations as well, cutting down the final cost of the event.

Pyromaniacs out there might be interested to check out the contract between Hyattsville and Bay Fireworks, which will be providing the explosive Saturday night displays. The contract goes into metric detail on the ordinance which will dazzle the crowds. In all, the display will feature 60 five-inch shells, 115 four-inch shells, 280 two-and-a-half inch shells and 510 "special effect barrages."

Discussion

Under discussion items, the City Council will continue its which will be used to guide the upcoming fiscal year's budgeting process.

Mayor Marc Tartaro is also slated to provide another update on the Arcade Building renovations.

Meeting features two closed sessions

Tonight's meeting also features two closed sessions. There's one right at the start of the meeting, after the approval of the agenda, to discuss property acquisition. There is a second closed session slated at the end of the meeting to discuss personnel issues and "possible contract negotiatons."

Look for more on this issue from Hyattsville Patch later in the week.

Tonight's meeting begins at 8 p.m. in the council chambers of the on Gallatin Street.