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Montgomery County has maintained its AAA bond rating, the highest rating available, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) announced Tuesday.

A bond rating is an indicator of the security of the county's financial debt, such as bonds. A rating agency examines the county's standing annually.

Leggett, Council President Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg, Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda and several county staff members traveled to New York on Oct. 9 to help ensure the county maintained the AAA bond rating, which saves millions of dollars annually in financing capital projects.

The bond rating decision is made by three of the country's major bond rating agencies: Moody's Investor Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Rating.

College finalizing separation agreement with Johnson

Montgomery College's board of trustees is finalizing its separation agreement with former president Brian K. Johnson, Michael C. Lin, chairman of the board of trustees, told County Council members Tuesday.

Other details could not be released because of confidentiality, Lin said.

The board voted in September to remove Johnson.

During a Tuesday lunch meeting with the board of trustees and college leadership, council members thanked interim President Hercules Pinkney for the smooth transition.

"We needed to get everyone back on the same page," Pinkney said.

Pinkney will serve as interim president for 18 months; a board search for the college's new president is under way.

Pinkney said he is hoping to hire an internal auditor soon who will report to the board of trustees.

Council takes informal vote

on growth policy

The Montgomery County Council reached an informal compromise Tuesday on its growth policy.

Council members are in favor of keeping the majority of the existing growth policy in place with the understanding that they will make needed improvements in the future, said Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown.

The growth policy is used to govern the management of land use, development and growth.

The council is expected to formally adopt a policy Nov. 10. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) is expected to present an alternative growth policy by March 31.

The majority of council members voted Tuesday in an informal straw poll to maintain the current measure for school construction mitigation — 105 percent school capacity on average for a cluster of five schools. The county's Planning Department originally proposed increasing that threshold to 110 percent.

Council members also informally agreed to maintain the current policy of requiring traffic speeds to dip below 40 percent of free-flow speed before the developer is required to pay to fix the problem.

Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said the policy and tests are useless without the council's commitment to making transportation and transit a priority and funding it appropriately.

Berliner hosts forum

on senior health

Montgomery County Council Vice President Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac and the Montgomery County Commission on Aging will host a forum on senior health and wellness Nov. 13.

The forum will include a number of speakers, including U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington.

The free forum will be from 1 to 4 p.m. at Sunrise at Fox Hill, 8300 Burdette Road, Bethesda. A resource fair will be held 1-2 p.m., and the formal program begins at 2 p.m.

For details or directions, call 301-968-1800.

Leggett launches pedestrian safety campaign

County Executive Leggett has launched a new pedestrian safety campaign to raise awareness about pedestrian safety in parking lots, especially for senior citizens.

The "Parking Lots are Danger Zones!" campaign will highlight that 22 percent of county pedestrian collisions occur in parking lots.

Over the past three and a half years, there have been 1,496 pedestrian collisions in the county — of which 324, or 22 percent, have occurred in parking lots.

For details, go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/walk.