College Park City Council members are keeping a close eye on the installation of fire safety sprinklers at Santa Fe Café to ensure the project is “tracking toward a decision point,” Mayor Stephen Brayman said last night.
Santa Fe owner Mark Srour met with the College Park City Council for the second time in less than a month last night and told council members the installation is still in the discussion stages, despite being seven months past deadline.
The council signed a Property Use Agreement with Srour in March 2003 that stipulated Srour must install the sprinklers within three years in return for a more relaxed food-to-alcohol ratio – a measure put in place to make sure establishments don’t become alcohol-driven.
Srour told the council he had met with plumbers to discuss possible water lines that could feed into his establishment, but no decisions have been made due to “confusion” with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
WSSC has to consider proposals to tap into water lines, Srour told the council, but provides no assistance or on-site visits to help expedite the process. Srour added that WSSC has changed their procedure since he installed sprinklers at Cornerstone Grill and Loft in 1992, further complicating the process.
“WSSC doesn’t really do anything anymore but cause confusion,” Srour said at the meeting. “They tell you they can’t do anything for you until you have your document signed, sealed and delivered.”
The council remained silent throughout the update, with the exception of District 2 Councilman Jack Perry and District 3 Councilman Eric Olson, who grilled Srour on the timeliness of discussions.
“I’m tickled with your explanation, but I’m still dissatisfied with the time,” said Perry, who has been critical of Srour at past meetings. “We’ve waited three years.”
The cost of installing the sprinklers has been another issue Srour has had to grapple with, and he told the council he hopes to work with Strickland Fire Protection, a local contracting company that offered the best rate.
“They said they’ll start working on it in the beginning of November,” Srour told the council. “We’ll see what their guys come up with, and if they can’t come up with anything, then we’ll look into a building contractor.”
Council members scheduled two more meetings with Srour for next month.
Contact reporter Steven Overly at overlydbk@gmail.com.
