Leggett Still Wants to Tear Down Entire School for School Bus Depot

Montgomery County officials are considering more than two sites for relocating hundreds of school buses from the Shady Grove bus depot but they’re only publically acknowledging two of them by name.

Department of General Services Director David Dise said there “may be interim sites” established for the buses but the County Council has asked staff to not select any sites until they decide on a permanent location for the buses, none of which will be named until they’re presented to the County Executive between late July and early September.

According to DGS Deputy Director Greg Ossont, he and other County staffers “need to do our due diligence” while considering sites under the new criteria established by the County Council.

 “We are looking at other sites right now,” said Dise, adding DGS officials have to look at the net buildable area for different sites as well as their environmental impact.

Dise and Ossont said Monday the Blair G. Ewing Center on Avery Road in Rockville and the former Oaks Landfill in Laytonsville are still both potential sites for moving up to 250 buses from the Jeremiah Park location.

“There is no one single site to accommodate all 450 buses,” said DGS Director David Dise.

He said County officials have so far considered more than 200 sites for relocating the buses but have ruled out most of them.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton said the lack of disclosure about other sites under consideration “speaks to the greater problem of transparency and lack thereof.”...

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/3836-county-considers-dividing-bus-depot-into-two

Board of Education Members Refuse to Meet with Community on Bus Depot Issue

From the Save Blair Ewing community group:

We represent several communities. Our issues involves millions of dollars, serious environmental impacts, traffic and safety issues, student needs and widespread school overcrowding. We have been demanding more openness and transparency, and better decision-making.

We have been instrumental in pushing for a delay in the declaration of "no further need" for the CSP East/Jeremiah Park property, where MCPS currently parks over 400 school buses... because MCPS clearly still needs that depot on Crabbs Branch Way.

And we have been asking to meet with the Board of Education members to discuss these issues. Their response? See below:

"Dear Mr. Smilowitz,

You recently contacted the Board office requesting meetings with individual Board members to discuss issues with the use of the English Manor property and overcrowding. I regret to inform you that Board members’ tight schedules currently make it a huge challenge to arrange face-to-face meetings. I suggest that you send the Board your thoughts via email correspondence. If you send it to boe@mcpsmd.org, they will all receive your correspondence.
Again, I am sorry we cannot accommodate your request at this time.

Ikhide Roland Ikheloa
Chief of Staff-Ombudsman
Montgomery County Board of Education
301-279-3617"

Montgomery council delays decision on bus depot land disposition until after December 31st

...Some council members said Monday that they wanted more concrete plans in place before voting to say the land is no longer needed.
Councilwoman Nancy Navarro wasn’t convinced the county should give up the land without knowing the next steps for the depot’s move. She said she understood there is a larger redevelopment plan at work.
“Nonetheless, I’m also very concerned about the fact we’re trying to pursue one particular goal while compromising another very important issue that also is a policy goal of ours, which is what we do with all these buses,” she said.
A possible short-term solution involves relocating buses to multiple properties. The school system would park buses at some high school lots, the district’s Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville and the county’s Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center.
Staff also are exploring an idea to park about 130 buses on leased property. Greg Ossont, deputy director of the county’s Department of General Services, said Monday that recommendations for such sites are expected soon.
James Song, director of the school system’s Department of Facilities Management, said the district has narrowed its list of high schools that could be used for parking from 10 to nine, taking Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School out of consideration.
On Monday, Councilman Sidney Katz cautioned that figuring out only an interim plan and not a permanent plan “is not going to work.”
A few possible permanent solutions are under consideration, though council staff have said these sites need to be studied to determine if they could work.
The list includes a Montgomery Village-area site on Woodfield Road that the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission owns, the county-owned Oaks Landfill in Laytonsville, the site of the county’s old animal shelter, and the school system’s Blair G. Ewing Center...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150401/NEWS/150409853/1261/montgomery-council-delays-decision-on-bus-depot-land-disposition&template=gazette