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Text Box: TOWN TO GO AHEAD ON EMERGENCY STREET REPAIRS By Dave Chitwood Mayor Beers expressed her concern about poor conditions on some town streets at the Aug. 13 town council meeting. She mentioned the expanding hole at the intersection of upper Cornell Ave. and Wellesley Circle, as well as holes on Yale Avenue. Other areas targeted for emergency street repair include the town hall parking lot and Oxford Ave., she said. She pointed out that something had to be decided soon because cold winter temperatures will make repair difficult. The repairs are not part of the planned massive street rehabilitation for the town but are needed to respond to critical conditions. Town ordinances allow bypassing typical bid solicitation protocols in the event of emergency. Councilmember Robin Kogelnik moved that the town go ahead with these emergency repairs. Councilmember Steve Matney seconded, adding that the language in the motion should be rephrased to accommodate language in the town ordinances pertaining to emergency conditions. He added that the proposal would require street closures for 24 hours. Because some of the repairs will be along Oxford Road, E.E. Lyons, the contractor, will be asked to coordinate these closures with the park

Text Box: TOWN USING OFF-DUTY POLICE TO FINE STOP SIGN VIOLATORS By Carlotta Anderson The town has spent nearly $3,000 this year paying off-duty county policemen to enforce observation of the stop sign at the intersection of Oxford Rd. and University Ave. This was deemed necessary by the town council because of the large number of violators, almost entirely visitors to events at Glen Echo Park. The fine for running a stop sign is $90. The officers are hired for a three-hour minimum at $35/hr, and write from 10-18 tickets per shift. The town does not get the revenue from the fines. In the first round of tickets in June all but one waited until the last minute to pay and one decided to go to trial, police said. Since that person lost in court, it appears the tickets are holding up in court, Mayor Beers said. The clerk-treasurer schedules one to three shifts per weekend, and occasionally weekdays during the park’s camp drop off and pick up times. These are timed to coincide with activities at the park and are usually weekend evenings. A shift is three to four hours. The[police come in a police car, in uniform. They are available for hire when off-duty. Police got one complaining letter from a citizen asking them not to enforce the law, according to Norman Hudson-Taylor, the town’s representative on the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Bethesda District of the Montgomery County police for the past five years. The police