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HomeMy WebLinkAbout901023 October 23, l990 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, Ronald L. Bowers, with the following members present: Vice President Linda C. Irvin and Commissioners R. Lee Downey, Richard E. Roulette and John S. Shank. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by Commissioner Bowers, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by the full assemblage. SEPTEMBER YOUTH OF THE MONTH AWARD Commissioner Irvin presented a Certificate of Merit to Angela Mogensen recognizing her as Youth of the Month for September l990, as recommended by the Children's Council. Commissioner Irvin listed Angela's academic achievements and her participation in church and community activities. Angela thanked the Commissioners for this award. INTRODUCTION OF NEW EMPLOYEES Robert Davenport, Director of Landfills, introduced Donna Forsythe, who was recently hired as Secretary at the Landfill. Paul Prodonovich, Director of the Department of Permits & Inspections, introduced Maria Brugh, Clerk, and Gary Austin, Mechanical Engineer, who are new employees in the Permits & Inspections office. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS Commissioner Irvin reported on the Transportation Commission meeting; Commissioner Downey reported on the opening of the Blue Ridge Summit detox center; Commissioner Shank reported on the Early Childhood Intervention Committee meeting and the Parks Board meeting; Commissioner Bowers reported on a letter he received regarding the removal of the original stone mile marker for the Old National Road by the State Highway Administration, and he also read a letter received from Congresswoman Byron regarding their suggestion that a local citizens advisory council be appointed for the Antietam Battlefield. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - OCTOBER 9, l990 Motion made by Commissioner Irvin, seconded by Downey, to approve the minutes of October 9, l990, as corrected. Unanimously approved. TRAFFIC COUNTS - ANTIETAM DRIVE AND CONNECTOR ROAD Barry Teach, County Administrator, informed the Commissioners that traffic counts at the railroad crossing on Antietam Drive and on the connector road from Antietam Drive to Eastern Boulevard have been taken for four days. Mr. Teach stated that the heaviest traffic at the crossing was on Sunday with 5l8 northbound and 400 southbound, and the heaviest traffic days on the connector road were Sunday, eastbound - 257 and Friday, northbound - 340. The Commissioners requested that an agreement be negotiated with the railroad to amend the contract to allow the crossing to remain open and then to advertise their intention to close the connecting road to Eastern Boulevard and return the land purchased to the original owner for the purchase price. BID AWARD - HAGERSTOWN JUNIOR COLLEGE/ROBINWOOD DRIVE INTERSECTION Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Irvin, to award the base bid for improvements to the intersection of Hagerstown Junior College and Robinwood Drive to C. William Hetzer, Inc., who submitted the low and only bid in the amount of $l44,627, and to allow additional time to consider acceptance of the Alternate bid submitted, and to take the additional $76,627 over budget from the Capital Contingency Fund. Unanimously approved. (Alternate bid accepted later in the Session.) TRI-STATE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER - REQUEST FOR FUNDS Barry Teach, Administrator, informed the Commissioners that he received a letter from the Tri-State Community Health Center stating they had contacted Morgan and Fulton Counties regarding funding. Morgan County pledged $l,000 and the Center has raised $l0,565 in private donations, but Fulton County responded that they were not able to provide funding at this time. Motion made by Commissioner Roulette, seconded by Irvin, to provide $ll,565 to the Tri-State Community Health Center as the County's share toward purchase of a van with handicap lift in view of the fact that the adjoining counties were contacted in an attempt to obtain additional funding for this van. Unanimously approved. OCTOBER 23, 1990 MINUTES, CONT'D. EMPLOYEES COUNCIL - ANNUAL REPORT John Weller and Verna Brown, representing the Employees Council, appeared before the Commissioners to present their Annual Report for l990. Mr. Weller highlighted the Council's activities for the year, which included organization of a Christmas party and County picnic, coordination of a holiday food drive and a Casual Day to benefit United Cerebral Palsy, revising retirement statements, initiating the purchase of service pins, having a security camera installed in the District Court Building, and submitting several recommendations regarding policy to the Commissioners. The Commissioners thanked the Employees Council for the report and for their time and dedication. JOINT PUBLIC HEARING - WATER/SEWER PLAN AMENDMENTS A Joint Public Hearing was convened at l0:l5 a.m. by the Commissioners and the Washington County Planning Commission in order to hear testimony regarding four applications for Water & Sewer Plan Amendments. Members of the Planning Commission present were Vice-Chairman, Bertrand Iseminger, and members, Carol Johnson and Bernard Moser. Also present were James Brittain, Director of the Planning Department, and Timothy Lung, Associate Planner. WS-90-2 - Timothy Lung, Associate Planner, reviewed application WS-90-2, requested by Gerald Cump & Associates on behalf of Charles Milburn, to allow for construction of a new water and sewer treatment system and service area and priority designation of W-5, S-5 from W-7, S-7. The property consists of 203 acres and is part of a 345 acre parcel zoned Agricultural and is located along the east side of Seavolt Road. Mr. Lung explained that the developer is proposing an aerated sewage treatment plant to handle the sewerage generated by the development of a campground on this property. There was no one in attendance to testify regarding this application. WS-90-7 - Mr. Lung stated that Application WS-90-7 was received from the Washington County Sanitary Commission for the Highfield-Cascade area to expand the existing water and sewer service area and assign a priority designation of W-3, S-3. Mr. Lung explained that this expansion involves 25 parcels on approximately 80 acres, located on Ritchie Road. Lynn Palmer, Executive Director of the Sanitary District, informed the Commisisoners that a tour of the area was made with local and State Health Department officials due to the many failing septic systems evident along Ritchie Road, and this request for change in priority classification would allow these owners to hook onto the public water and sewer system. No one was in attendance to testify regarding the application. WS-90-8 - The application for amendment was requested by Mervin Lerch to create a water service area and priority designation of W-3 for 2.453 acres, known as Lot l, located between Maryland Rt. 67 and Weverton Road. Mr. Lung informed the Commissioners that the applicant is proposing to subdivide the 5.6 acre property into 2 lots for residential development. Lot l, which is the subject of the request, is zoned Conservation but is smaller than the 3-acre minimum lot size required in this classification, would become eligible to tap onto the line which runs by the property to the Town of Brunswick if the priority designation is amended. Mr. Cump, consultant for the applicant, noted that a letter was submitted by the Superintendent of Public Works for the Town of Brunswick, granting permission for one water tap for Mr. Lerch. The Commissioners requested that Mr. Lung contact the Town of Brunswick regarding their policy regarding existing homes who wish to tap onto the water line. No one was in attendance to speak regarding this application. WS-90-9 - Mr. Lung reviewed the application which was submitted by the Washington County Hospital Association to expand the existing service area and change the priority designation from W-7, S-7 to W-3, S-3, on a 5 acre parcel located on the south side of MD Route 68 which was recently annexed by the Town of Boonsboro. Mr. Lung stated that a site plan for development of this site with professional offices in 4 separate buildings is currently being reviewed by the Boonsboro Planning Commission. No one was present to speak for or against the application. Mr. Iseminger stated that the record will be held open for ten (l0) days in order to receive written testimony regarding these applications. The hearing was closed at ll:00 a.m. BENEFIT ANALYSIS - BGS&G Alan Davis introduced Ed Wuenschell and Robert Garner from BGS&G, who recently reviewed the County's health insurance program in light of the escalating costs of benefits and offered suggestions to help control costs. Mr. Wuenschell stated that BGS&G has noticed a high incidence of double coverage in the County's program and OCTOBER 23, 1990 MINUTES, CONT'D. recommended that the Commissioners look into the possibility of offering cafeteria or Section l25 benefits. He advised the Commissioners that this would allow employees to select options which would enhance or upgrade coverage for programs they use frequently or to choose a monetary incentive which could be used toward unpaid claims, to help alleviate costs for benefits they do not need or use. Mr. Wuenschell recommended a three phase study which would, in Phase I, identify objectives and attempt to find solutions to the established objectives. Phase II would draw specifications based on final solutions by the Commissioners, and Phase III would implement the solutions. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin, seconded by Downey, to proceed with a Phase I study of the County's health care benefits as outlined with BGS&G. Unanimously approved. STATUS REPORT - DRAINAGE - PARKVIEW MEADOWS Terry McGee, County Engineer, met with the Commissioners regarding the drainage situation at the Parkview Meadows subdivision. Mr. McGee informed the Commissioners that they discovered the berm height was deficient by one foot, but that this would only have delayed the flow of water by one-half hour. He also stated that he has spoken with the Water Resources Administration, Soil Conservation Service and the University of Maryland, who feel that the storm will probably be classified as a 25-year storm event, as opposed to a l0-year storm for which the pond was designed. Mr. McGee advised the Commissioners that, based on the small construction deficiency and the data collected so far, the development of this tract did not cause, but did contribute, to the damage. He also noted that the land stripped during development accounted for much of the water run-off. The Commissioners discussed ways to solve this problem in the future and agreed to place this project in the Capital Improvements Budget for funding to make improvements for drainage from the railroad in Halfway to the Ausherman tract. Mr. Teach informed the Commissioners that a meeting with the residents downstream of Parkview Meadows will be on Thursday, October 25. ALTERNATE BID - HJC/ROBINWOOD DRIVE INTERSECTION Motion made by Commissioner Irvin, seconded by Downey, to accept the recommendation of the County Engineer to accept the Alternate Bid for improvements to the Hagerstown Junior College/Robinwood drive intersection from C. William Hetzer, Inc. in the amount of $33,393.50. Unanimously approved. LINE TRANSFER - SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Downey, to approve the request made by the Sheriff's Department to transfer $4,030 from Maintenance Agreements (0l-5- 1221-543-000) to Machinery & Equipment (0l-5-1221-682-000) for the purpose of purchasing a two-wheel tractor for mowing and snow removal. Unanimously approved. TRANSFER OF FUNDS - PERMITS & INSPECTIONS Motion made by Commissioner Roulette, seconded by Shank, to transfer $7l0 from Other (0l-4-0000-320-093) in the General Fund Budget to Printing - Code Books (0l- 5-1231-522-010) in the Permits & Inspections Budget, as requested by the Permits & Inspections Department to order additional BOCA Code Books. Unanimously approved. CONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Irvin, seconded by Roulette, to convene in Executive Session at ll:57 a.m. in regard to personnel, property, and to confer with the County Attorney, 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 Roulette, seconded by Shank, to reconvene in Regular Session at l:22 p.m. Unanimously approved. EMPLOY WELDER - ROADS DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Roulette, seconded by Shank, to employ Roger Hill as a Welder at the Roads Department to fill an existing vacancy. Unanimously approved. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Irvin, to adjourn at l:23 p.m. Unanimously approved. , County Attorney , Clerk