Town of Emmitsburg
300A S. Seton Ave Emmitsburg, Maryland
21727
301-600-6300

 

MINUTES

TOWN MEETING

July 21, 2014

Emmitsburg Town Office

 

Present:  Mayor Donald Briggs; Commissioners Clifford Sweeney, Jennifer Mellor, Glenn Blanchard and Tim O’Donnell, President.

Staff present was Vickie Felix; Sue Cipperly, Town Planner and Dave Haller, Town Manager.

Absent:  Commissioner Chris Staiger

_________________________________________________________________________

I.       Call to Order

Commissioner Tim O’Donnell, President of the Board of Commissioners, called the July 21, 2014 Town Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

 

Approval of Minutes

The Minutes of the June 16, 2014 and July 7, 2014 Town Meeting were approved as presented.

 

Commissioner O’Donnell introduced Mary Ann Wiles, Emmitsburg Elementary School Principal. She addressed the Board and shared her experiences with Frederick County Schools and stated she looks forward to serving in Emmitsburg.

 

Commissioner Comments

Commissioner(s) cited attendances, recognitions and announcements which included thanks  to everyone who made community day successful; condolences to the family of Richard Kelley who passed away, he was a member of the Emmitsburg Lions Club; congratulations to the Emmitsburg Baseball & Softball League who went to New York to play in the Cal Ripken Regional Tournament; community gardens is flourishing; thanks to town staff for tree work in the parks; explanation of termination of July 7, 2014 town meeting.

                            

Mayor’s Comments

Mayor Briggs also thanked everyone who made community day successful; congratulated the Emmitsburg Baseball & Softball League stating the team did a stellar performance; congratulated Jason Howard who went to the offensive/defensive camp at Towson University and was awarded the MVP; there are four properties in the community legacy grant funding cycle for the 50/50 grant and seven lined up, received two $50,000 grants and going to apply for another $150,000, goal is to have $500,000 worth of work done.

 

Administrative Business

·         Reappoint Larry Pavek to Board of Appeals –term expired. Motion made to approve reappointment; motion carried.

·         Appointment of Stephen Starliper for the alternate position on the Planning Commission. Motion made to approve appointment; motion carried.

·         Resolution approving the application and receipt of financing for Community Legacy Projects. Motion made to approve resolution as presented; motion carried.

·         Parks Committee - discussion of Sandy Umbel serving and cleaning up website of members who no longer serve – will come back as an agenda item.

·         Presentation to town staff of Parks Committee Minute book binder to be kept in town office

·         Email concerning residue on vehicle on Warthens Way after fireworks on Community Day

·         Emmitsburg Baseball League $1500 donation – Board directed staff to investigate refunding of discretionary funds which would require a budget transfer.

 

Consent Agenda- none

 

Reports:

Police Report - Deputy Rohrer reported on June 2014 police activity.   Detailed report at Exhibit A.

 

Town Manager Report - reported on the public works department monthly activities to include a water production and consumption analysis. Mr. Haller highlighted that that the town is still in a rainfall surplus of 11” for the last 6 months; wild water percentage improves because it is summer; staff has been trimming trees in the parks and started the installation of the security cameras in the parks. Town Planner’s Report – Ms. Cipperly highlighted that the major things she is working on relates to the community legacy grant program. She got several applications for the June 12th deadline and prepared the application for the 2015 state and local grant application; the Dollar General is still ongoing, they hope to get started on site this fall; attended the MDP Planning Directors’ Roundtable at Morgan State University, topic was IRR – infill, restoration, revitalization; the grease trap reports are all in except for two; the compliance for rear numbers on houses in alleys have been good. - Detailed report at Exhibit B.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Commissioner Blanchard reported on the June 2014 cash activity. Detailed report Exhibit C.

 

Planning Commission Report – No Meeting in the month of June 2014.

 

II.        Agenda Items

 

Flood plain ordinance revision

Ms. Cipperly reported the last time the flood plain ordinance had been worked on was between 1990 and 1993. About two to three years ago they met with FEMA who provide town with things that needed to be updated. Kevin Wagner took the ordinance template and inserted Emmitsburg and the Town had Attorney John Clapp put it into code format. Mr. Clapp recommends it be put in the zoning ordinance because of the revision which provided for variances and mentions the Board of Appeals. In order for that it has to be in the zoning ordinance. Any changes made to the zoning ordinance needs to go to the Planning Commission. Therefore she is asking the town council to forward this to the Planning Commission.

 

Motion:  Motion to refer the Flood Plain Ordinance Revision to the Planning Commission for review.

          Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney and second by Commissioner Mellor.

                                                Vote: 4-0 in favor.  

 

Cluster development update

Ms. Cipperly stated that back in May she gave a presentation on the concept of cluster development and would like to keep the council updated.  Since then she has met with Denis Superczynski, County Planner for this area and has talked about some approaches and a menu for development scenarios. She presented the Board with a map of the Emmitsburg Growth Boundary suggested land use designations & proposed new roads so they could see where the cluster ordinance would be involved. She pointed out existing in-town residential potential and potential annexations. She also gave them a copy of an article in the Baltimore Sun titled Redevelopment is Maryland’s Growth of the Future and went over IRR which is infill, redevelopment and revitalization. There was a brief discussion of the amount of taps available in the town stating there is some potential for development and that many of the Brookfield and Southgate residents would like to see their developments finished.

 

At this time Commissioner O’Donnell asked the town council to consider not having the August 4, 2014 town meeting. A brief discussion ensued and there was unanimous consent among the members.

 

Motion:  To cancel the August 4, 2014 town council meeting.

Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney and second by Commissioner Mellor.

                                      Vote 4-0 in favor.

 

Set Agenda Items for August 18, 2014 Town Meeting

1.    Flood plain ordinance  for consideration and adoption

2.    Trail work days – administrative business

3.    Appoint Sandy Umbel to Parks Committee and clean up parks committee list -administrative business

 

 III.     Public CommentsLinda Norris, 9227 Baltimore National Pike, Middletown – addressed the Board commenting that she is running for County Council at large and wanted to observe meeting and say hello.

 

IV.       SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDMENTS AND/OR RESOLUTIONS

 


V.        Adjournment

          With no further business, the July 21, 2014 Town Meeting was adjourned at 8:48p.m.