Subject
title
Seven Locks Justice Complex Update from Montgomery County Government
end
Department
City Manager's Office (CMO)
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Mayor & Council receive the update presentation from Montgomery County staff and ask them any pertinent questions about this project.
Mayor and Council History
The last update to the body was delivered by Montgomery County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard on October 2, 2023. We anticipate that this update will be delivered by Mr. Stoddard, and he may be joined by representatives from the County’s Dept. of General Services and Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Since the last update, the project was renamed from the “Diversion Center” to the “Justice Complex.”
The County was informed that possible topics of interest to the body are:
1. The reasons behind the renaming of the project
2. Any updates to the plans
3. Some confusion and concerns they are hearing from residents (which are perhaps unfounded misunderstandings of the project)
4. Follow up/status on a few items/commitments that were discussed with the previous Mayor & Council:
a. Hold another community meeting that would convey completed and anticipated project adjustments, clarifications, and improvements based on residents’ feedback, including but not limited to site design, security and visibility from the surrounding neighborhood, the transportation issue, etc.
b. Continue to meet with the stakeholder engagement group, which included mental health professionals/associations, residents in the community and County staff
Public Notification and Engagement
In addition to the normal meeting notifications to the public, staff created a specific announcement about this update on the project and sent it by email to the HOAs of the neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity (postcards were sent to the neighborhood that does not have an association), as well as the 7 Locks Alliance group.
Next Steps
Based on what the city learns from the Montgomery County staff at the presentation about the progress and status of the project, the body may determine if there are any required or recommended next steps beyond continued engagement, coordination, and monitoring. The body may request a successive update from County staff in another reasonable period of time.