Category Archives: News

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News, Public Notices

Join Us on Monday, November 18, at 7:30pm for the Final Meeting of the Current City Council and Swearing In of the New City Council

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Final Meeting of the Current City Council

The final meeting of the current City Council will take place on Monday, November 18, 7:30 PM.

Swearing In of the New City Council

At 8 PM, the newly elected Mayor and City Council will take the oath of office in the Community Center Auditorium (7500 Maple Ave).

Brief Meeting of the New City Council

The new City Council will hold a brief organizational meeting.

Dessert Reception in the Atrium Lobby

After the meeting, join the City Manager and staff for cake and light refreshments in the Atrium Lobby to welcome the new City Council and say farewell to departing City Councilmembers.

Parking Notice

Due to construction, there is limited parking available at the Community Center (7500 Maple Ave). Additional parking has been made available for tonight’s ceremony at Piney Branch Elementary School (7510 Maple Ave).

News, News Alert, Public Notices

Be Heard this Budget Season with the TKPK FY2026 Budget Community Survey

 

Takoma Park City Manager Rob DiSpirito, Mayor Searcy, and City Council, invite you, our residents, to offer us your ideas and suggestions regarding next year’s city budget, which is now under development. The Takoma Park Community Budget Survey is one way to share any ideas and innovations you think the city should consider as part of its upcoming fiscal year budget development.

Survey Details:

  • This survey should take about ten minutes to complete. Thank you for your input.
  • Complete the budget survey here: https://bit.ly/FY2026
  • The survey will be open until 12pm on December 2, 2024.

Please note that all survey information provided in connection with the survey will be included as part of the public record for the FY 2026 budget, ensuring complete transparency and your active involvement in the process.

News, Public Notices

Upcoming Virtual Landlord Roundtable: Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 7:00pm

City of Takoma Park Landlords, you’re invited to a virtual roundtable to hear information and provide feedback to City Staff on current policies and programs. The roundtable is planned for Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 7:00pm. We plan to cover a number of topics, including:

  • Upgrading the City’s Rental Licensing Platform to a new online platform beginning with this year’s rental license renewals in December (Landlords up for renewal will receive more information later this month).
  • Potential Funding Sources for Building Improvements
  • Information about the Fair Return Petition

Also, we’d like to reserve time to hear from you on potential policies and programs you would be interested in seeing the City pursue.

We encourage you to register for the roundtable here (link).

If you have any questions, please reach out to us. Looking forward to speaking with you all on the 20th !

News, Public Notices, Takoma Park Newsletter

Fall Leaf Collection Program to Start November 18

This year’s vacuum leaf collection program will take place between November 18 and December 20. Every household will receive a leaf collection notice in the mail and more information can be found on the City’s webpage. 

Loose leaves raked to the curb are collected via vacuum trucks. These leaves are taken to the Public Works yard, where they are ground into small pieces. This leaf mulch is then available for residents for pick-up or by delivery for a fee.

While the city does provide collection for leaves, we strongly encourage residents to consider alternatives including mulching or composting all or most of the leaves and keeping them in their yards. Information on the best ways to do this can be found on the Leaf Collection Webpage. Leaves can also be bagged in paper bags and collected throughout the year in Monday yard waste collection.

This year’s fall leaf collection, like previous years, will divide the city into five zones, with one leaf collection crew per zone. City streets will receive collection throughout the collection period as crews pass through their zones. The program will cover every street at least twice during the collection period and usually more often.

Collection Routes with Assigned Collection Dates

There are five streets that receive collection on scheduled dates due to heavy traffic:

  • Saturday, November 23 and Monday, December 16: Carroll Avenue (7000 to 7800 blocks), Ethan Allen Avenue, and Philadelphia Avenue
  •  Friday, November 15 and Saturday, December 14: Piney Branch Road and Flower Avenue (7900 to 8600 blocks)
Important Guidelines for Leaf Collection
  • Place leaves into a pile just behind the curb.
  • Do not rake leaves into the street as the leaves can create traffic hazards.
  • Do not include branches, brush, vines, rocks, or debris. These items can damage equipment and delay collection.
  • Do not pile leaves near storm drain inlets. Leaves can block the drains and cause fl ooding.
  • Do not park your car in front of a leaf pile during the work day.
Leaf Collection Hotline

The Leaf Collection Hotline, 301 891-7626, will be available for residents to report when their leaf pile is at the curb. It is not necessary to report when your leaves are ready, but it is an option.

This article appeared in the November Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.

News, Public Notices

Message From Code Enforcement: Too Much Noise!

 

Fall leaf season is upon us, and so are yard care contractors with their noisy gasoline-powered leaf blowers! Takoma Park has passed a law that bans the sale of gasoline-powered leaf blowers in the City. On July 1st of next year, the use of these blowers will be banned. Homeowners can request their lawn care contractors to use battery-powered or electric leaf blowers instead of gasoline. Why wait for July?

A lack of noise is offensive to no one, and in addition to the noise, the gasoline-powered blowers contribute to our air pollution issues. Please use your power as a consumer and help eliminate gasoline-powered leaf blowers in Takoma Park.

Learn more about Noise Control in the City of Takoma Park on the Code Enforcement webpage.

News, Public Notices

Sustainability Interns Take a Deep Dive into Recycling

 

On September 17th, the City Sustainability Office team joined forces with the Recreation Department to take a group of seniors for an insightful tour of the Prince George’s County Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). Our two interns, Joy Togo and Emma Spencer, offered their perspectives from the experience:

[EMMA] Our tour of the facility started with a brief presentation on the facility and the different recycling rules that apply. It was interesting to visit with such an inquisitive group, and we all learned a lot about what we are actually able to recycle. MRF is a single-stream facility, meaning that consumers don’t have to separate their recyclable materials. Instead, everything can just be placed in the same bin and there is technology at MRF that can separate paper from plastic from cardboard. In Takoma Park, our recycling gets sent to Prince George’s facility because it is a single stream. Thus, these recycling rules apply to Takoma Park residents whose recycling gets collected by the city.

Here are the top tips I took away from our trip:

  • Do not bag your recyclables in a plastic bag! MRF does not accept plastic #4, which is what most plastic bags are made of. If your recycling is in a trash bag and it gets picked up, it will be just thrown in the trash. Instead, you can use an unlined trash can or bin to hold your recyclables. On the topic of plastics, MRF also does not recycle plastic #6. MRF does accept plastics 1,2, 3, 5, and 7.
  • Don’t recycle anything smaller than a sticky note (3 inches by 3 inches). These small items jam up the machinery needed for sorting recyclables, so it’s better to reuse them when possible, upcycle them, or as a last resort, throw them out.
  • Lids are a particularly tricky small item. If your bottles and cans have different material lids, separate them! If the lid is smaller than a sticky note, toss it in the trash OR place it inside a container made of the same material. You can then crush the container so it will keep the lid inside it. That way, the lid can still be recycled and not cause issues for the machines. For bottles and cans that have the same material lids, you can leave those lids on.
  • Don’t recycle soiled materials or wet paper! However, as long as you rinse out plastic bottles and aluminum cans you can recycle them. Your recyclables should be rinsed and clean, but it’s okay they all aren’t super squeaky clean.

Touring the facility also allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the recycling process. We got to watch the process and see the machinery in action. After recyclables are collected through curbside pickup, they are brought to MRF. There, they are dumped onto what is called the ‘tipping floor’. The tipping floor is essentially a massive empty warehouse where the recycles are all piled. From there, they are placed in a large conveyor belt that brings them back to where they will be sorted. The sorting process is complex, with machines and workers working together. First, individuals pull out hazards like large objects and plastic bags. The rest of the materials travel down a conveyor to star screens which separate flat material (paper, cardboard) from other materials (cans, plastics). The containers are then sent to the combination screen which separates any paper that made it through the star screens from the containers.

Containers continue on their journey to a large magnet that picks out the metal containers and then a machine that breaks and removes any glass containers. What’s left is mostly aluminum cans and plastic containers. They are sent to a magnetic field that uses an eddy current to separate the aluminum from plastic. The last step for the remaining plastic containers is to pass through a high-tech machine that uses optical sorting to identify what is acceptable. After being sorted, each material gets baled. Those bales are then sent to manufacturers. There, your household materials are transformed into items like carpets, clothes, and even stuffed animals that can be made with the fibers that are produced from recycled materials.

[JOY] Seeing firsthand how single-stream recycling works—where paper, plastics, glass, and metals are collected together and later separated—was eye-opening. The tour showcased the intricate process, from conveyor belts and manual sorting to advanced machinery that identifies and categorizes items based on size, shape, and type. It gave me a deeper appreciation of the complex work involved in recycling.

A key takeaway was the importance of reducing contamination to improve recycling efficiency. Facility experts emphasized that small actions—like keeping non-recyclables, such as plastic bags, out of bins and rinsing out containers—can prevent disruptions and keep recyclables from being sent to landfills. The tour left me with a renewed sense of responsibility for managing recyclables at home, showing that recycling requires more than just tossing items in the right bin; it demands thoughtful choices to ensure the system functions effectively. For anyone interested in sustainability, I highly recommend visiting a facility like this—it provides valuable insight into the recycling process and inspires us to become more mindful recyclers.

Still have questions about recycling? Learn more on the City webpage.

If you are interested in scheduling your own tour, please reach out to the staff at the MRF at 301-324-4760.

News, News Alert, Public Notices

Extra Public Hearing on Proposed Housing Tax Credits – Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Public Hearing Details:

The City Council will hold a second public hearing on the proposed housing tax credits on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 7:30 pm. The public is encouraged to attend the public hearing and sign up to speak or register to comment via Zoom. To comment on Zoom, registration is required by 5 pm on the day of the meeting.

Written comments may be sent to the City Clerk (clerk@takomaparkmd.gov).

October 14 Update: The tax credit fiscal analysis has been posted to the agenda page.

 Helpful Links:

News, Takoma Park Newsletter

Behind the Badge- Sgt. Henok Atakilt : ”The biggest thing for us is communication.”

by Sean Gossard

For Sgt. Henok Atakilt, being a police officer was always his dream job.

“I’ve always wanted to be a police officer,” says Atakilt. “My biggest thing was coming from an Ethiopian background. There’s a lot of Ethiopians in the city and I thought that would be a great way to bridge the gap in the community.”

Atakilt, 29, is very much a product of the community he’s served for years. He went to Takoma Park Elementary School and Takoma Park Middle School before going to Montgomery Blair High School and later Montgomery County College. Before joining the force, Atakilt worked at the recreation desk in the community center, helping out with after-school activities.

Since joining the Takoma Park police department in 2017, Atakilt quickly rose through the ranks. He served as a patrol officer, responding to calls for service in the community; then detective, investigation crimes from homicides to robbery; and then was promoted to corporal.

Atakilt was named Takoma Park’s Offi cer of the Year for 2019 because of his dedication to duty and his significant accomplishments and contributions throughout the year.

In a message from then-City Manager Suzanne Ludlow, she wrote, “Pfc. Atakilt is quick with a smile and has an upbeat attitude with everyone he comes into contact with; he has been the subject of many compliments from residents for his assistance. On a personal note, I want to say how wonderful it is to see Henok win this honor. He is a hometown hero. He grew up in Takoma Park, worked for the Recreation Dept, then has succeeded in his dream to be a Takoma Park Police Officer.”

In March, he was promoted to sergeant and now leads a team of five officers who work in 12-hour shifts around the city. The test for being promoted to sergeant was a rigorous hundred-question exam covering state laws, criminal laws and general procedures among other inquiries. The second portion of the exam involved sergeants giving scenarios on how he would respond to several high-stress situations.

He says being in the police force gives him the opportunity to talk to many members of the community.

“As community as a whole we’re doing great,” he says. “The biggest thing for us is communication, not just between offi cers, but with the community. It’s nice having events like National Night Out and Coffee with a Cop.”

He says his team has a Spanish-speaking officer who helps bridge the gap with Takoma Park’s growing Hispanic population. “We have different beats we work in the city,” he says. “We want to have someone they can communicate with. It’s all about having the right officer in the right spot to help the community.”

Atakilt says one of the biggest challenges of policing in Takoma Park is the various jurisdictions that surround it.

“We’re surrounded by Prince George’s County; Washington, D.C.; and the greater Montgomery County area. We have a lot of different traffi c flow that goes through our city. It’s kind of important to stay active and be in those areas to keep the crime out. Even with our agency, we’re the only fullservice police department in Montgomery County. We all work together very well to
take care of the community.”

In the little personal time Atakilt has, he says he loves spending it with his wife and daughter.

If you have a frontline offi cer that you’dlike to nominate for a profile, please contact seang@takomaparkmd.com.

This article appeared in the October Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.

Arts & Humanities, News, News Alert

Free iMusical Improv Performance on Nov. 15

iMusical Improv Performance 

Friday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 pm 

Takoma Park Community Center 

7500 Maple Avenue 

Free Event – No Tickets Required

What’s going to happen when iMusical hits the stage? No one is sure yet, including the actors since they will be improvising a live musical on the spot based on audience suggestions.

The performance, which is part of the City of Takoma Park’s Takoma Park Arts series, is free and no tickets or reservations are required. Seating is first come first served.

Based at the Washington Improv Theater, iMusical has performed at the Kennedy Center, theater spaces across the D.C. area, and comedy festivals in Philadelphia and New York. Founding director Travis Ploeger created the improv group in 2006 after moving from New York City to D.C.

“I wanted to create an improvised musical not to satirize the genre but to celebrate it, having warmth and poignancy as well as comedy,” Ploeger said.

At the beginning of a performance, the group actors asks the audience a question and receives suggestions usually related to a theme for the show. Then they create a musical with improvised jokes, lyrics, and music.

“Since I’ve been doing this show since 2006, we’ve had hundreds of audience suggestions, and it all becomes a blur after a while,” Ploeger said. “The most memorable audience suggestion for me generally is from the last performance we did!”

The Takoma Park  Arts series includes free concerts, theater, art exhibitions, film screenings, and other events at the Takoma Park Community Center. You can learn more on the city website and sign up for our e-newsletter for info about all of our upcoming events.

News, Public Notices

Message From Code Enforcement: Fall Is Upon Us! So, What Can We Do with Leaves?

Shredding leaves with a mulching mower will save you time and money. Mulching is faster and easier on the back than raking. Studies have shown that mulching leaves can return nutrients and organic matter to the yard and have long-term positive effects.

4 Best Practices for Making Shredded Leaf Mulch

  • The turf must be mowed high.
  • The leaves should be dry, not wet, and matted down.
  • Leaf mulching should be done every week. If done too infrequently, the thickness of the leaf litter will be too much for the mulching effort to be effective. You will create a layer of smaller leaves.
  • Leaf mulching early in the fall, while the soil temperature is still warm, will lead to rapid litter decomposition. Waiting until the end of fall is counterproductive as the soil temps have cooled, and decomposition is slower.

In conclusion, fall lawn care doesn’t have to include the tedious job of raking or blowing leaves. Follow these simple steps for how to mulch leaves and your lawn and your back will thank you!