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HomeMy WebLinkAbout920204 February 4, 1992 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, Gregory I. Snook, and John S. Shank. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by Commissioner Roulette, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by the full assemblage. SERVICE REDUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS - COUNTY COMMUTER Keith Godwin, Manager of the County Commuter, met with the Commissioners to review the recommendations for service reductions for the County Commuter which were presented at the public hearing held on January 7, l992, and three options proposed for their consideration. The Commissioners discussed the various options and the savings they represent, and the public hearing scheduled for the 30% fare increase. Commissioner Roulette stated that it is the consensus of the Commissioners that some level of evening service to Long Meadow Shopping Center and the Valley Mall be maintained. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to adopt Plan C as proposed by the County Commuter to cut certain services in Routes 2, 3, and 4 as heard at the public hearing held on January 7, l992, but to maintain the evening service Long Meadow/Valley Mall routes and to proceed with plans to initiate a 30% rate increase. Unanimously approved. OPTION - HOPEWELL ROAD PROJECT PHASE III Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to approve the option for acquisition of a right-of-way from Floyd R. Kline Investments, Inc., for l8,l73 sq. ft. in Fee Simple, 450 sq. ft. in Perpetual Easement and 5,362.4 sq. ft. in Revertible Easement for the Hopewell Road Phase III. Unanimously approved. LETTER OF INTENT - WATER/SEWER PLAN AMENDMENT Barry Teach, Administrator, informed the Commissioners of a letter received from the Maryland Environmental Service on their plans to extend a water line in the Halfway area because existing lines are inadequate to meet the fire flow requirements as established by the State Fire Marshall. The State is requesting that Washington County include this in their biennial update of the Water & Sewer Plan. Mr. Teach also indicated that the State is requesting that the County send a letter stating the intention to include this project in the updated plan so they may begin the process of hiring an engineering firm and obtaining necessary permits and easements. David Schindle, from the Hagerstown Water Department, spoke in support of the project. Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Snook, to send a letter of intent to the Maryland Environmental Service that Washington County plans to include the State's water line extension in the Halfway area in the biennial Water & Sewer Plan update. Unanimously approved. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS Commissioner Irvin-Craig reported on the Ad Hoc Committee studying Antietam Station and her meeting with the Criminal Justice Treatment Center Coalition; and Commissioner Bowers reported on the Planning Commission meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JANUARY 21, 1992 Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Shank, to approve the minutes of January 2l, l992, as submitted. Unanimously approved. LINE ITEM TRANSFER - PERMITS DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to approve the request to transfer $l,l73 from Other (0l-4-0000-320-039) to Printing - Code Books (0l-5-l23l-522-0l0) in the Permits Department budget to allow the purchase of additional Code Books. Unanimously approved. BID AWARD - EMERGENCY AIR UNIT VEHICLE Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Bowers, to approve the sale of the emergency air unit vehicle to George's Dive Shop, who submitted the only bid of $2,800. Unanimously approved. BLAIRS VALLEY ROAD - TRAFFIC CONDITIONS Terry McGee, County Engineer, appeared before the Commissioners to discuss the traffic problems on Blairs Valley Road since the opening of the Whitetail Ski Resort in Pennsylvania. Mr. McGee noted that Whitetail provided him with a traffic impact study but the volume of traffic has exceeded these projections. Mr. McGee stated that they are continuing to monitor the situation and are FEBRUARY 4, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. looking at long-term effects. He reported that he has contacted the State Highway Administration, and they have agreed to provide their expertise in handling traffic management problems and will readjust the timing on the signal located at the intersection of Routes 68 and 40 to help relieve the back up onto the exit ramp of Interstate 70. The Roads Department has made improvements at the intersection of Blairs Valley Road and Broadfording Road, and are looking at areas where spot improvements could be made. William Albowicz, Councilmember from the Town of Clear Spring, noted some of the economic advantages the County is receiving as a result of the resort and suggested getting the County's Economic Development Commission involved to help strengthen and further benefit the County. REQUEST FOR VEHICLE REPLACEMENT - SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT Sheriff Charles Mades appeared before the Commissioners to request authorization to replace 9-l0 vehicles in his department. He advised the Commissioners that these vehicles meet the policy for replacement and that the County may purchase these vehicles under the State's contract for the purchase price of $l2,083 per unit, which will not be invoiced until next fiscal year. The Commissioners took this matter under advisement at this time. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION James Mosher expressed concerns on the impact of the ski resort on the Indian Springs Wildlife Management area in Blairs Valley. Samuel Ausherman expressed concerns regarding the septic system problems in the Bower Avenue area. CONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to convene in Executive Session at ll:l5 a.m. in regard to personnel and property matters 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 Shank, seconded by Snook, to reconvene in Regular Session at l2:45 p.m. Unanimously approved. EMPLOY SALES REPRESENTATIVE - VISITORS & CONVENTION BUREAU Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to employ Joyce Stinnett as Sales Representative for the Visitors & Convention Bureau, conditioned upon approval by the Visitors & Convention Bureau Executive Board. Unanimously approved. APPOINTMENT - GOLF COURSE CORPORATION Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Shank, to appoint James Golden to the Golf Course Corporation for a three year term. Unanimously approved. TERM LIMITS FOR APPOINTED BOARDS & COMMISSIONS Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to adopt a policy setting term limits for appointed boards and commission members of 2 consecutive terms to become effective immediately. The policy will not be retroactive and appointments to fill unexpired terms will not be considered a full term. Unanimously approved. WAIVER - PERMITS DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Bowers, to approve the request of David Bielata to waive the requirement that his l99l taxes be paid before he is issued a plumbing and electrical permit. Unanimously approved. REZONING AMENDMENT - RZ-91-14 Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Bowers, and unanimously approved, to accept the definition of neighborhood and the following findings of fact presented by the County Attorney for RZ-9l-l4, together with the report and recommendation of the Planning Commission in accordance with Section 27.3 of the Zoning Ordinance: (a) The report and recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Washington County Planning Commission at a special meeting on November 18, 1991 recommended APPROVAL of the rezoning of property owned by David and Patricia Schooley to Agricultural with Historic Preservation Overlay. The Commission's decision was rendered upon due consideration of the testimony given at the public hearing on September 16, 1991, all correspondence received in lieu of public FEBRUARY 4, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. testimony during the ten day period following the public hearing, and staff reports dated August 20, 1991 and October 3, 1991. The Planning Commission, in accordance with Section 20.4 and 20.5 of the Zoning Ordinance, determined that the structure and associated parcel of land meet the criteria for the establishment of an "HP" Overlay Zone. (b) Population change in the area of the property change. In 1970, the population was approximately 5,126, and it increased to 5,532 in 1980, and it is expected to increase to 6,712 in 1990. The proposed overlay zone is in Election District 18 and it shows steady, progressive population growth. (c) Availability of public facilities in the area. According to the Washington County Water and Sewerage Plan, the subject property has service priority designations of W-7 and S-7 indicating that public water and sewerage facilities are not planned for the property. The Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Company and the Hagerstown Community Rescue Service provide emergency services to the site. The County Commuter has no routes with a close proximity to the site. The property is located in the Old Forge Elementary, Smithsburg Middle and High School districts. Application of the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in no way affects the number of students that may be generated from this site. Current enrollment in all three schools is below capacity. (d) Present and future transportation patterns in the area. The Schooley property has a total of 2700 feet of public road frontage with both Clopper and Old Forge Roads. The area subject to this case only contains 600 feet of frontage on Clopper Road. Both roads are classified by the Washington County Highway Plan as local. (e) Compatibility with existing and proposed development in the area including indication of neighboring sites identified by the Washington County Historic Sites Survey and subsequent revisions or updates. The Historic Preservation Overlay Zone is compatible with the surrounding properties. Adjacent zoning in the area of the Schooley property is Agricultural. The Historic Preservation Overlay Zone does appear directly to the south of the property for the stone arch bridge that carries Old Forge Road across the Antietam Creek. Existing land uses in this area are basically Agricultural in nature with a few inclusions of large lot, single- family residential development. (f) The relationship of the property change to the Adopted Plan for the County, Development Analysis Plan Map and Policies. The site is located in the area of Washington County identified by the Comprehensive Plan as Rural/Agricultural area. Since the requested Historic Preservation Zone is an overlay and does not change the underlying, traditional land use controlling zone, in this case Agricultural, the Historic Preservation Zone is not viewed as changing the status of the site and its relationship to the Plan designation. The application of the Historic Preservation Zone to this particular site meets the goals of the Comprehensive Plan by ensuring that the properties requesting this zone meet a minimum level of historic significance, that any future building permits for exterior construction activity are reviewed and approved according to a specific set of guidelines aimed at preserving the features making the site worthy of identification, and acts as an incentive for new construction attached to an eligible building or rehabilitation of an existing building. (g) Definition of the Neighborhood. The neighborhood for the tract subject to the requested Historic Preservation Overlay owned by David and Patricia Schooley is 1/2 mile in radius from the center of the parcel of land for which the "HP" Overlay designation is requested. (h) Criteria for establishment of "HP" Overlay Zone. Section 20.5 establishes criteria for establishment of an "HP" Overlay Zone. The Old Forge House which is the subject of this HP Overlay Zone is primarily significant for its architecture. With its surrounding property, the structure is important as part of an iron and milling operation, contributing to early commerce and industry on a regional scale. Since the iron operation owned by Hughes family, which originally owned this property, is known to have produced weapons for the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the site also has potential military significance. Daniel Hughes, one of the original owners of the farm, can be credited as being one of the original Washington County Commissioners. The Old Forge House represents an early 1800 Century stone dwelling, one of the oldest still standing in the County. The Schooley property, subject of RZ-91-14, was listed on a National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1979 as the Old Forge Farm. Because of the above, this site FEBRUARY 4, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. qualifies for the "HP" designation in accordance with Section 20.5 of the Zoning Ordinance of Washington County. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Bowers, that based upon the findings of fact, the report and recommendation of the Planning Commission, and the definition of neighborhood, there is a convincing demonstration that a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone should be established on the Schooley property as requested in RZ-9l-l4. Unanimously approved. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Irvin-Craig, based upon the previous Motions, to approve RZ-9l-l4 to establish a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone on the Schooley property. Unanimously approved. RECESS - LUNCH The Commissioners recessed at l2:50 p.m. for lunch. AFTERNOON SESSION The Afternoon Session was convened at l:30 p.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. CONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Shank, to convene in Executive Session at l:35 p.m. in regard to personnel and property matters 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. (Personnel evaluations were conducted from 2:40 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.) RECONVENE IN REGULAR SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to reconvene in Regular Session at 4:00 p.m. Unanimously approved. RECESS The Meeting was recessed at 4:l0 p.m. EVENING SESSION - TOWN OF BOONSBORO The Evening Session was convened at 7:00 p.m. by the President Richard E. Roulette with the following Commissioners present: Vice President Ronald L. Bowers, Linda C. Irvin-Craig, John S. Shank and Gregory I. Snook. Also in attendance were Charles "Skip" Kauffman, Mayor of Boonsboro, and Councilmembers Richard Gross, Kevin Chambers, Howard Long, Robert Shifler, and Richard Hawkins. Tax Differential Barry Teach, Administrator, stated that pursuant to Section 6-305 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 taxes program. He informed the Town officials that their actual payment for FY l99l-92 will be $35,578 and the estimated payment for Fiscal Year l992-93 based on the current budget is $37,704 but this will be adjusted subject to the County's audit. The Commissioners also discussed the Center Street project, revenue shortfalls, the possibility of assigning a deputy to the Town of Boonsboro, and the status of the Monroe Road and King Road bridges. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. County Attorney , Clerk