MINUTES
TOWN
MEETING
November
3, 2014
Emmitsburg
Town
Office
Present:
Mayor Donald Briggs; Commissioners Clifford
Sweeney, Joseph Ritz III, Jennifer Mellor, Glenn Blanchard
and Tim O’Donnell, President.
Staff present were Vickie Felix, Sue Cipperly, Town Planner and
Dave Haller, Town Manager.
_________________________________________________________________________I.
Call to
Order
Commissioner Tim O’Donnell, President of the Board of
Commissioners, called the November 3, 2014 Town Meeting to
order at
7:30 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of the
November 3, 2014
Town Meeting were approved as presented.
Commissioner O’Donnell welcomed David Dunn
liaison for the Frederick County Board of Commissioners.
Commissioner Comments
Commissioner Ritz:
·
Dinner with Dr. Powell; discussed walking path
from Mount Saint Mary’s and the Town.
Commissioner Mellor:
·
Walking paths in the parks – thanked town staff
looks fantastic
·
Issue in Silo Hill – thanked town staff for
attentiveness to issue. Mr. Haller stated extra signage
will be put in place
Commissioner Sweeney:
·
Halloween event – thanked everyone involved for
helping
·
Thanked everyone for sympathy cards in regards to
his mother’s passing
·
Positive feedback on finishing walking paths
·
Thanked staff for repairs on North Seton Ave.
Commissioner Blanchard:
·
Thanked everyone who participated in Halloween
event; would like to see town keep up with activities for
the youth
·
Attended “Back from the Dead” at the Seton
Shrine
·
General Dollar
Commissioner O’Donnell:
·
Main street – changes made very evident
·
Positive feedback on Halloween event
·
Bridge on 140 will have sidewalks on both sides
·
Trail day event – 8 volunteers
·
Received positive feedback in relations to trails
from new Director of Bike Maryland
Mayor’s Comments
·
Halloween event was
spectacular; had fun giving out awards
·
Condolences to
Commissioner Sweeney for his mothers passing
·
Turkey Trot
on Thanksgiving Day – donations go to Seton
Center
·
Presentation to the 4th
graders at the elementary school
·
Christmas Tree lighting
on December 1, 2014
·
ADA compliance for
playgrounds
·
Walking path from Mount
Saint Mary’s to Town
·
Dollar General update
– property has been transferred
·
Ebola – asked
Frederick County Health Department if there is anything
town should be doing
·
Commitment from
Frederick County Health Department to offer more services
here in Emmitsburg
·
Received award from
State; Emmitsburg is considered a Smart Energy Community
Administrative
Business - none
Consent Agenda - none
Reports:
Treasurer’s Report – Commissioner Blanchard reported on September
2014 cash activities. Detailed report at Exhibit A.
Planning Commission Report - Commissioner Sweeney reported that the planning commission met on
October 27, 2014
. They approved the Annual Report for the reporting year
2013 unanimously. This report was included in packet and
the Board made a motion to except as presented. Detailed
report at Exhibit B.
Motion - to accept the Planning Board Annual Report to
the state as presented.
Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney and second by
Commissioner Mellor.
Vote 5-0 in
favor
II.
Agenda Items
Presentation
on Cluster Development Ordinance
Ms. Cipperly stated she has done several power point presentations
earlier this year in regards to this. She gave the Board a
copy of the handout from the presentation in May just to
remind them what clustering is about. Basically instead of
having the conventional subdivision with lots over the
entire property they are consolidated to take up less
space which allows for more open space. The next step is
to put all this down on paper. Ms. Cipperly referred to a
number of different municipalities ordinance’s, she was
trying to make the Towns broad enough to reach the
potential range of situations i.e. annexations, and to
remedy issues that were identified in the past. This needs
to go to the planning commission because there is a change
in the zoning ordinance. If the Board chooses they can
send it to their November 24, 2014 meeting and then come
back to the Board with their responses in December.
Mr. Haller stated that the Planning Commission just
gives suggestions. The final crafting is from the Board.
This will need to be advertised in the paper before it is
formerly adopted. It will also be sent to the town
attorney.
Motion:
to send the Cluster Development Ordinance to the Planning
Commission for their review and suggestions.
Motion made by Commissioner Blanchard and second by Commissioner
Sweeney.
Vote 5-0 in favor
Code
of Conduct Policy
Mr. Haller stated that this has been before the board several
months ago. A number of towns and municipalities have
adopted it. In reading the document you will see that it
does not give anyone greater capacity to mandate anyone to
behave then is already in the code.
It is more of a recommendation, becoming more of a
popular item where it sets guidelines for behavior not
only for elected officials but staff as well. Commissioner
Ritz approves 100%.
Commissioner O’Donnell briefly read what was in
the code. Mr. Haller injected that the enforcement is
probably the issue they should look at because the policy
does not affect that, so they still have the same powers
of enforcement. Commissioner Blanchard does not want to
see things get to be “hang cuffing”; he still would
like to see members be able to speak freely. Mr. Haller
stated consistent theme throughout the Code of Conduct is
respect. Commissioner
O’Donnell as president of the Board was concerned about
some of the language in the policy; puts limiters in
place. Mayor
Briggs encourages policy for the protection of others.
Mayor Briggs recommends Board to review policy and
email staff with suggested changes to be brought back to
the Board.
Motion: - To table
Code of Conduct Policy until November 17, 2014 Town
meeting.
Motion made by Commissioner Blanchard second by Commissioner Ritz.
Vote: 5-0 in
favor
Signing
of Ordinances Related to Subsequent Funding WWTP
Mr. Haller stated there are two ordinances, they are both related
to the same subject; additional or modified funding for
the WWTP. This project has been going on for over seven
years. During the process town was told there was no way
town would get more than 60% in grant funding, town
actually ended of getting 72%. After the project was
started and about 50% complete MDE decided to take part of
the funding back. Staff then went to USDA and actually
made a very good arrangement with them. Town needed about
$2,000,000.00 that had been taken away from the funding by
MDE. USDA gave town basically half of that in a grant and
arranged to give the remainder in a loan at a rate of 2.5%
for 40 years. These two documents are both related to the
borrowing. Ordinance 2014-11 is a bond anticipation note.
This states that USDA will take Town out of bridge loan.
Ordinance 2014-12 is a General Obligation Bond. This
basically states that the Town guarantees it will pay the
funds back.
Motion: - To approve Ordinance
2014-11 Town of Emmitsburg General Obligation Bond
Anticipation Notes.
Motion made
by Commissioner Sweeney second by Commissioner Blanchard.
Vote 5-0 in favor
Motion:
- To
approve Ordinance 2014-12 Town of Emmitsburg General
Obligation Bond.
Motion made
by Commissioner Sweeney second by Commissioner Ritz.
Vote: 5-0 in
favor
Review
of USDA loan documents
Mr. Haller passed out loan documents for the Board to review which
relates to the bond issuance. These have already been
through the process of the town staff; the bond attorney;
the town attorney and USDA. He would like them to review
and call staff with any questions. This will be brought
back at the next town meeting to be voted on.
At this time for the record Commissioner Blanchard left the dais
for a moment.
Signing
of Solar Ordinance
Mr. Haller reported this is a document for Boards review and
signature if they so choose. It is the ordinance that
sanctifies and guarantees the lease which Town signed.
There is no state law requirement for this but the town
attorney stated there are situations of case law where a
judge said if you do a lease or any agreement over twenty
years an ordinance should be done along with it. This was
done on phase I of the solar project as well.
Motion:
-
To accept Ordinance 2014-13 an ordinance to approve,
confirm and ratify the lease of property owned by the Town
of Emmitsburg.
Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney second by
Commissioner Ritz.
Vote: 4-1 in
favor
Commissioner
Blanchard abstained, was out of room.
Seton
Village
Public
Meeting – requirements of CDBG grant money
Mr. Haller stated that Daughters of Charity has been developing
Seton Village which is a housing project for aged and
income restricted. The Town was a host for the CBDG grant
that they applied for. One of the requirements for
fulfilling the obligations for the grant money was to have
a public meeting. Mr. Nicolas Beard, Development
Coordinator for Homes for America gave a presentation
updating on the Seton Village Project. The construction
began in January of 2014 it will provide 43 one and two
bedroom apartments for seniors. It will use the A wing of
the Provincial House. Construction is 98% complete and
they received the use and occupancy permit. Project has
been delivered on time and with the original budget set
forth by the contractors. At this time they are working on
inspecting each unit. Over the past 18 months they have
gathered a list of over 200 interested parties. Mr. Beard
thanked the commissioner’s and staff for all their help
through this 5 year process.
Set
Agenda Items for November 17, 2014 Town Meeting
1.
Human Resource
presentation – salary assessment
2.
USDA loan agreement and certification
3.
Ordinance 2014-09 vehicles and traffic related to maintenance
4.
Ordinance 2014-10 Health and Safety related to property appearance
5.
Holiday
season - Meter holiday
6.
Code of Conduct
III.
Public Comments
- none
IV.
SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDMENTS AND/OR RESOLUTIONS
