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HomeMy WebLinkAbout940215 February 15, 1994 Hagerstown, Maryland 21740 The Regular Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by the President, Richard E. Roulette, with the following members present: Vice President Ronald L. Bowers, and Commissioners Linda C. Irvin-Craig, John S. Shank, and Gregory I. Snook. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by Commissioner Snook, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by the full assemblage. HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY - RESOLUTION Commissioner Irvin-Craig presented a Resolution to Jan Russell, Robert O'Connor, and Fred Cialli in recognition and appreciation of the establishment of a chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Washington County. Commissioner Roulette presented them with an official hammer to help with their program. PROCUREMENT OF TEXTBOOK AND SUPPLIES - BOARD OF EDUCATION Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Irvin-Craig to authorize the Board of Education to proceed with procurement of textbooks and instructional materials for the next school term and to guarantee the current level of funding in the amount of $1,389,950 for Fiscal Year 1994-95. Unanimously approved. CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION - HANCOCK VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY Commissioner Irvin-Craig presented the Commissioners with the Certificate of Appreciation which the Hancock Volunteer Fire Company presented to them at its banquet last week. PROPOSED TEXT AMENDMENT - SECTION 14.5 Barry Teach, County Administrator, reviewed a proposed amendment to Section 14.5 of the Zoning Ordinance which would amend setbacks in Industrial General "IG" districts. The Commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment. CONTRACT RENEWAL - TRASH REMOVAL SERVICES FOR COUNTY FACILITIES Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to accept the Purchasing Agent's recommendation to renew the contract for trash removal services at County facilities with Eastern Waste Industries, Inc. for the amount of $19,306.44 annually. Unanimously approved. BID AWARD - ELEVATOR RENOVATIONS & UPGRADE AT COUNTY FACILITIES Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Bowers, to accept the Purchasing Agent's recommendation to award the bid for elevator renovation and upgrade at County facilities to Otis Elevator Company who submitted the low bid of $22,700. Unanimously approved. SOLID WASTE BILL - SENATE BILL 240 Mr. Teach informed the Commissioners of a bill introduced in the State Senate which would impose additional tipping fees from the State level on local landfills and give the State, through the Department of the Environment, the right to impose added requirements on local landfill facilities. The Commissioners agreed to send a letter in opposition to S.B. 240 to the Washington County Delegation to the General Assembly. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - FEBRUARY 1 AND 8, 1994 Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to approve the minutes of February 1, 1994, as submitted. Unanimously approved. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Shank, to approve the minutes of February 8, 1994, as corrected. Unanimously approved. APPOINTMENT - CHILDREN'S COUNCIL Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to appoint Stacey Jenkins to the Children's Council for a three year term as the representative from the Recreation & Parks Department. Unanimously approved. FEBRUARY 15, 1994 MINUTES, CONT'D. SIX MONTH FINANCIAL REPORT - FISCAL YEAR 1993-94 James Young, Director of Finance, met with the Commissioners to provide a status report on the General Fund budget for the first half of Fiscal Year 1993-94. Mr. Young stated that in the Revenue Budget, $54,001,546 of the budgeted $79,909,727 has been collected or 67.6% of the total Revenue Budget. He also reviewed the investment budget, debt and expenditures for the total budget and individual departments for the first six months. EXTENSION OF LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR SOFTWARE Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Shank, to extend the licensing agreement with the Allinson-Ross Corporation for the System 80 processor software on a month-to-month basis for $18,050 per month. Unanimously approved. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING - WESTERN MARYLAND PARKWAY Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Irvin-Craig to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the State Highway Administration for the State to increase the grant to the County by $350,000, with the County to transfer ownership of Western Maryland Parkway to the State and the State to transfer ownership of MD Rt. 144 between this project and the city limits of Hagerstown and MD Route 56 between I-70 and U.S. 40 to the County. Unanimously approved. MATCHING GRANT - CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Bowers, to approve a matching grant of $4,000 from the State Department of Economic & Employment Development with the Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau for development of a Comprehensive County Events Agenda for 1994. Unanimously approved. HIRT TEAM 1993 ANNUAL REPORT Greg Socks, Coordinator of the Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT), appeared before the Commissioners to present the 1993 Annual Report. Mr. Socks reported that the HIRT Team responded to 58 incidents in 1993 compared to 3 incidents when they began in 1987. Mr. Socks also reviewed types of incidents, training received, the annual fiscal operating budget, and future goals of the Team. RECYCLING PLAN UPDATE - PUBLIC HEARING The Commissioners convened the public hearing to hear comments on the update to the County's Recycling Plan. William Stachoviak, Associate Planner, and Harvey Hoch, Recycling Coordinator, presented a brief overview of the Recycling Plan updates and stated that 4 public meetings were held throughout the County regarding this plan. There was no one present to speak in favor of or in opposition to the proposed Recycling Plan. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to approve the Washington County Recycling Plan as presented and proposed. Unanimously approved. CONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Shank, to convene in Executive Session at 10:40 a.m. with regard to personnel and property matters, to confer with the County Attorney to obtain legal advice, and to consider businesses relocating in Washington County, in accordance with Section l0.508 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Unanimously approved. RECONVENE IN REGULAR SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Shank, to reconvene in Regular Session at 11:00 a.m. Unanimously approved. In Closed Session, the Commissioners discussed four personnel matters, two matters involving litigation, and consulted with counsel regarding the management structure for the proposed Agricultural Center. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Willie Conyers and Ruth Monroe made a request to the Commissioners to place a plaque in the hallway of the Martin L. King, Jr. Center in honor of the late Reverend L. W. Curlin. The Commissioners endorsed the concept and asked them to make recommendations for other ways to commemorate Reverend Curlin's contributions to the community. Angie Harsh asked the Commissioners to support the Board of Education's position to the Delegation to the General Assembly that Section 5-303, Education Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, "Renovation of Existing School Buildings" be amended so that it will include reimbursements for air- conditioning costs to school construction and renovation. The Commissioners agreed to discuss this with the Board of Education at their meeting with them today. RECESS The Commissioners recessed at 11:30 a.m. in order to travel to Smithsburg High School to meet with the Board of Education. MEETING WITH BOARD OF EDUCATION - SMITHSBURG HIGH SCHOOL The Commissioners met at 12:00 p.m. with Board of Education members Janice Cirincione, Kenneth Grove, and Thomas Berry at Smithsburg High School. Dr. Wayne Gersen, Superintendent of Schools; Wayne Stouffer, Director of Finance; Sandy Sheppard, Public Relations Director; and James Lemmert, Director of Pupil Services, were also present at the meeting. Wayne Stouffer reviewed the revised Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Budget for Fiscal Year 1994 which totals $19,041,823. Mr. Stouffer also reviewed a preliminary budget for FY 1995-2000 for maintenance and capital projects for the Board of Education and answered questions from the Commissioners on the budget. Mr. Lemmert informed the Commissioners of some of the geographical problems they will face in redistricting in elementary schools and suggested the possible use of relocatable classrooms. Also discussed were problems with design of the stormwater management pond for Paramount Elementary School and the request made by Angie Harsh for the Commissioners to support amending legislation to allow reimbursement for air-conditioning costs during renovations. Mr. Lemmert reviewed the proposed plan for implementation of school health services. He stated that the plan calls for an initial year commitment from the County of $300,000, $575,000 in FY l996-97, and $850,000 in FY 1996-97 for full implementation. Mr. Lemmert stated that the program will be administered jointly by the Board of Education and Health Department and will utilize registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and health aides to serve a cluster of schools. The Commissioners discussed the proposed plan and also suggested that Mr. Lemmert contact agencies which provide nursing services to determine the price of contracting for these services. Commissioner Roulette stated that he feels it is a workable plan and asked the Board to look at ways to keep costs down. The Commissioners recessed at 2:00 p.m. EVENING SESSION - TOWN OF WILLIAMSPORT Commissioners Richard Roulette, Linda Irvin-Craig, John Shank, and Gregory Snook met at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor John Slayman, Assistant Mayor Jimmy Black and Councilman Walter Tracy, Jr., at the Williamsport Town Hall. Councilman Tracy discussed the construction of a future road at Church Street to connect with the existing Byron Park. Vance Ishler, Town Manager, presented a concept plan which the Commissioners reviewed. Commissioner Roulette suggested that the Town get in contact with the County Engineer for further design and to be included in the CIP budget. Mr. Black discussed the pilot recycling program and the Town's Recycling Agreement with the County. He requested that the agreement be re-negotiated for a 4 year period which would cost the County an additional $8,500. The Commissioners took this under consideration. Also discussed were the possibility of medical services in the Town of Williamsport. Mayor Slayman stated that he had been in contact with Antietam Health Services but they estimated it would be 1995-1997 before they could provide services in Williamsport. Commissioner Roulette suggested that the Town have interested citizens sign a letter to present showing the amount of interest in Williamsport for medical services. Barry Teach, County Administrator, stated that pursuant to Section 6-305 of the Tax-Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, the Commissioners are required to meet with each municipality annually to discuss the tax differential or payment-in-lieu of services program. He stated that the Town of Williamsport will receive $11,412 and is estimated to receive $14,597 for FY 1994, in addition to approximately $25,000 which is credited toward the cost of a full-time deputy for the Town. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to adjourn at 6:50 p.m. Unanimously approved. County Attorney Clerk