Evening star., 1953-04-26
9 Bills Drafted
'ForCounci| in
Montgomery
Corrective Measures
Will Be Acted On
At May Session
By Gene Goodwin

At Muy Session
By Gene Goodwin
Nine bills have been drafted
for consideration by the Mont.
gomery County Council in its
annual May legislative session
opening Friday.
They include a proposal to
extend the county's building and
road construction code to gov
ernmental agencies, now ex-
empted from all County Council
ordinances.
Seeks Full Time Judge.
Another proposed ordinance
would put the county Juvenile
Court judge on a full-time basis
indefinitely. The Council ordin-
ance of last year providing for q
full-time rather than part-time
Juvenile Judge expires July /.
Most of the other bills drafted
so far are technical or corrective
in nature.
With the exception of the
Juvenile Judge bill, which was
requested by the Juvenile Court
Committee. the proposed legis-
lation has originated from coun-
Gil member or county depart
ments.
Individuals and organizat tions
in the county may propose bills
for the council to consider dur
ing its month-long legislative ses-
sions. Council members have
urged that these proposed bills
be brought before the council az
soon as possible to avoid a last
minute jam. The council can
pass legislation only during tho
month of May. under the county
charter.
SUuAu DC1CGC ITUVlSIUHs
County Attorney David Mac
donald who drafted the nine
bills on instructions from the
council. said extension of the
building and road codes to cover
governmental agencies would DO
accomplished by deleting from a
local law. passed by the council
two years ago, a provision ex-
empting such agencies from all
council ordinances.
Passage of the bill, he said,
would not affect the two BIZ
county State agencies operating
in Montgomery-the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission
and the Maryland National Cap
ital Park and Planning Commits
sion.
The principal effect of the bill,
according to CouncilWoman
Stella B. Werner, would be to put
all new school construction under
county building regulations. She
added, however, that the coun-
Gil knows OF no specific cases
where school construction has
violated county building stand
ards.
Bills Described.
The other bills drafted for
the Councils consideration in
clude:
l. A bill to impose a $50 filing
fee on applications for aban-
donment of roads or right-of-
way. This would not apply to
government agencies.
2. A bill to ratify all land
purchases by libraries or fire de-
partments prior to last January
l. This bill is necessary, Mr..
Macdonald said, because some
question has arisen as to
whether Council approval re-
quired by law has been formally
given to all such land pur-
chases in the county in the past
20 years.
Among other things, this bill
would ratify and thereby legalize
purchase by the Conduit Road
Fire Board of its controversial
site on Massachusetts, avenue
extended.
3. A bill providing specifically
that the annual supplement to
the county code Of laws carry
the same legal weight as the
code itself.
4. A bill to move the deadline
for petitioning for a referendum
on a charter amendment from
September 20 to the fourth Mon
day in July Of the general elec-
ton year. This is proposed to
make the local law conform with
recent State law. setting the
Fourth Monday of July as the
desdline for petitioning for any
Statewide referendums.
5. A bill to clarity the law on
payment of penalties for unpaid
taxes. The present law requires
that local real estate taxes be
paid by october | or interest
penalties are imposed: The bill
would amend that law to provide
that interest penalties be inn
posed if taxes are not paid within
three months after the date Of
the levy. The amendment would
have the same effect as the
present law as far as ordinary
full-year tax bills are concerned.
but would allow three-month
period for payment of taxes on
new property levied on a half
or three-quarter year basis.
6. A bill to transfer from the
Council to the County Board Of
Appeals the authority to decide
appeals on riding stable licenses.
7. An amendment to the
Suburban District Act to exclude
the city of Rockville. Rockville
as it is now constituted is not
in the suburban district. does
not pay the special 15-cent SUBJ
urban tax and does not receive
any of the special suburban dis
trict services. However. bill
approved by the 1858 Maryland
General Assembly, but not yet