Riverdale Park Council: Madison Hill Parking Woes, Water Main Replacements, Jey's Auto, Cafritz Bridge

It was a full house Monday night at Riverdale Park's mayor and council work session, where residents came out to discuss a number of controversial topics.

Here are some of the briefs from the meeting, look for full stories later in the week:

• Crystal Wheaden, Associate Project Manager from WSSC, discussed how they are planning to replace 2.2 miles of water main and water-house service connections starting in the winter 2014. Wheaden hopes the project does not affect residents too much, but water may be turned off for up to 8 hours.
• Seven Madison Hill residents came out last night to discuss the new parking enforcement in their community. Of the seven, two were in favor of the parking restrictions which capped how many cars can be parked on the street. However, more of the residents who spoke out against the restrictions stated that they had more than two cars in their household and were concerned they or their families members would receive tickets. One resident asked for the council to reconsider the law, but Councilman Chris Henry (Ward 4), who's a Madison Hill resident, said the residents should take their concerns to the homeowners' association.
• Resident Bruce Wernek asked the council to fix the "gaping" hole in front of Jemal's building.
• A representative from the Riverdale Park Lion's Club asked to host their annual carnival on May 2-12.
• Several residents spoke out against the acquisition of Jey's Auto on Baltimore Avenue. Wernek, who spoke as the president of the Riverdale Park Business Association, said using eminent domain to acquire a business in Riverdale Park may scare away other businesses from town. Jey Edward, the owner of the property, was at the meeting along with his children and a new legal advisor. Edward's lawyer warned council about the cost of eminent domain cases and also asked them to reconsider their proposal. The property has been vacant for at least eight years. The acquisition will be voted on at the April legislative meeting.
• Council also heard from a bond agent about how the town could potential create a special taxing district or use tax increment financing to fund the Cafritz bridge planning. Although council said t, several residents were concerned that the council would use taxpayer dollars to build the bridge. Mayor and council reassured the residents that they are not promising to pay any money with the TIF and that the legislation set to be voted on in April is only changing the law so the council could move forward with the TIF if necessary.