July 28, 2009 Testimony to County Council

Montgomery County Council Meeting, July 28, 2009
Testimony on Webb Tract Funding Proposal
CIP Project #470907
Don O’Neill, Montgomery Village Resident
(301) 990-0377, ONeillDon@aol.com

I am Don O’Neill, a resident of Montgomery Village. Citizens are opposed to the relocation of County facilities to the Webb Tract. Inspired by these aroused citizens, HOA boards across Montgomery Village have voted unanimously in opposition to the Webb Tract in its entirety. The attention of the community is now riveted on your decision.

The County Executive has too eagerly traded away the quality of life of its citizens for easily promised yet uncertain economic development. Well times are bad, and the Smart Growth Initiative is not looking very smart and is even described as “lacking elements of perfection” by the Planning Board Chairman . Grandiose visions and political legacies must be set aside. You must reject this “buy now, pay later” credit card thinking which has destroyed our economy.

I urge you not to be an enabler for this imperfect project and not to approve the funding request for the purchase of the Webb Tract. In the business climate we find ourselves in, companies are pleased when they find ways to drop pennies to the bottom line. Yet we find ourselves in a County where the County Executive’s vision would drop hundreds of millions of dollars to the deficit line for a Science City seen by one Planning Commissioner as a “Science blob”.

The Webb Tract has been divided into two acquisitions, a Phase I purchase no later than September 30 and a Phase II subject to approval of the relocation of the PSTA .
1. I urge you to postpone the Phase I purchase option until the design and planning of the Multi-Agency Service Park are further along so that there is an in-depth and conclusive basis for decision-making. This should begin with an objective site selection evaluation study for each facility.
2. The tilt towards Rapid Bus away from Light Rail for the CCT reduces the basis and impetus for relocating the PSTA to the Webb Tract . So I urge you to set aside any consideration of the Phase II purchase involving the PSTA until the macro issues weighing on the Gaithersburg West decision are fully unraveled and sorted out.

We are depending on you to put an end to this shell game. Relieve both the political pressure you are feeling and the anxiety Montgomery Village residents are feeling. Reject the funding request for the Webb Tract purchase, both Phase I and Phase II.