Recommendation
Hear the presentation in anticipation of a future request that Rockville become a signatory jurisdiction.

Discussion
The purpose of this Agenda item is to hear a presentation from the David Robertson, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), on the document (Attachment A) entitled "Region Forward, Greater Washington 2050: COG's Vision for the National Capital Region in the Twenty-First Century", and provide the Mayor and Council an opportunity to interact with COG on the vision from that document. An on-line color version of the document can be found at http://www.greaterwashington2050.org/. The attached document was the one available at the time that this agenda item was completed. A revised draft is scheduled to be released on January 6, 2010. Mr. Robertson has told City staff that Rockville will receive copies when the document is released. Staff will distribute the updated version to the Mayor and Council prior to the presentation.

The origin of the document was an initiative launched in 2008 by the COG Board of Directors, in which it formed the Greater Washington 2050 Coalition. Coalition members are listed on the final page of the document. Rockville is not represented in the Coalition. Representatives from Montgomery County have been:
- William Bronrott, Maryland General Assembly
- Nancy Floreen, Montgomery County Council
- George Leventhal, Montgomery County Council

The purpose given to the Coalition by the COG Board was, instead of launching a new multi-year visioning process for the region, "to tie together earlier work in a comprehensive way" (P.2). The COG Board gave the Coalition 18 months to complete its task. The attached draft document is the result of the Coalition's work. It was released for comments from October 14, 2009 to November 30, 2009. Due to both COG's schedule and Rockville's election, there was no opportunity to schedule a COG presentation to the Mayor and Council during this period. As a result, Rockville did not submit comments during the comment period. The Coalition did receive comments from other jurisdictions and has been working with COG staff to make revisions that will be reflected in the soon-to-be-released draft.

Nonetheless, Mr. Robertson indicated to City staff that COG is willing to receive comments on the draft and the broader effort up until the Board's approval of the document, and that those comments could very well lead to edits. Those comments may be made orally at the time of the presentation, or in written form that would be submitted immediately afterward.

The schedule leaves very little time, in case the Mayor and Council is interested in commenting. The COG Board's current schedule is to review the revised draft for potential approval on January 13, 2010. An advantage that Rockville may have is the ability to review and make comments on the revised document, including hearing a presentation that takes into account the revisions.

The document establishes goals for the region in the following areas:
- Land Use
- Transportation
- Environment
- Climate and Energy
- Economy
- Housing
- Health
- Education
- Public Safety

Appendix A of the draft document provides a summary of this material, in what is called a Targets/Goals Table. Appendix B of the COG draft provides a summary of the regional vision, in what is called the "Greater Washington 2050 Compact."

Once the document has been approved by the COG Board, they will be approaching jurisdictions within the region to become signatories to the Greater Washington 2050 Compact.

Mayor and Council History
This is the first time this item has been brought before the Mayor and Council.

Next Steps
Once the document has been approved by the COG Board, COG staff will be approaching jurisdictions within the region to become signatories to the Greater Washington 2050 Compact. Upon direction from the Mayor and Council, staff will bring back the Compact for decision on whether Rockville would be a signatory jurisdiction.

Attachments

Department Head:



Susan Swift, Director of Community Planning and Development Services
Approved on: 12/28/2009

City Manager:

Scott Ullery, City Manager
Approved on: 01/04/2010