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HomeMy WebLinkAbout920421 April 21, 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. PROCLAMATION - SCHOOL BUS AWARENESS WEEK Ted Wolford, Roads Department Superintendent and Transportation Advisory Committee member, introduced the special committee formed by TAC to help educate and publicize school bus safety. Commissioner Roulette presented a proclamation naming the week of April 27 - May l, l992, as School Bus Awareness Week in Washington County, to Brian Tapley, who was struck by a vehicle while disembarking from a school bus. Brian said that he was happy to be able to be at the meeting to accept the proclamation and thanked the Commissioners. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - APRIL 7 & 14, 1992 Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Shank, to approve the minutes of April 7, l992, as submitted. Unanimously approved. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to approve the minutes of April l4, l992, as corrected. Unanimously approved. ELECTRIC STREET LIGHTING DISTRICTS - BILLING PROCEDURES Barry Teach, Administrator, informed the Commissioners that legislation was passed which would allow the billing procedures for electric lighting districts to be calculated either on a per tax account basis or on an ad valorem basis. The Commissioners discussed whether to change the current procedures. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to bill existing electric lighting districts per tax account. After discussion on the Motion, Commissioner Bowers withdrew his Motion, and Commissioner Snook agreed to withdraw his second of the Motion. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to calculate billings for all existing electric lighting districts on an ad valorem basis, which is the current procedure, unless petitioned otherwise, and to present both billing options to new districts when they are established. Unanimously approved. MARYLAND ROUTE 68 - MEETING ON SUGGESTED ROUTE CHANGE The Commissioners instructed Mr. Teach to inform the State Highway Administration that they do not wish to have the route number for Maryland Route 68 changed and feel proper signage will be sufficient to avoid confusion with Interstate 68. APPOINTMENT - HOUSING AUTHORITY Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to appoint Richard Burger to the Washington County Housing Authority to fill the unexpired term of David Miller, extending to August l, l992. Unanimously approved. GRANT ACCEPTANCE - HIGHWAY INTERCHANGE STUDY Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Snook, to accept and approve the contract with the State Planning Department and Appalachian Regional Commission for a $30,000 matching grant to allow the Planning Department to have a highway interchange study completed. Unanimously approved. FISCAL YEAR 1992 BUDGET REDUCTIONS James Young, Director of Finance, reviewed the three rounds of budget reductions previously made and recommended additional reductions due to recent State cuts to Washington County which total $975,000. The Commissioners discussed the recommendations and made revisions. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Snook, to approve the budget reductions as presented by the Director of Finance and revised, which total $975,000. Unanimously approved. Commissioner Snook asked that it be conveyed to Hagerstown Junior College that the Commissioners request they avoid employee lay-offs or furloughs. CHILD ABUSE STATISTICS Kristin Grosh, Children & Youth Coordinator, presented statistics on child abuse in Washington County. Ms. Grosh summarized the key points of the report and APRIL 21, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. stated that child abuse has doubled for each of the last 5 years. She also presented recommendations to help deal with this problem and noted that the statistics indicate that a large number of children abused are under 5 years of age and an effort should be made to help educate providers working with this age group. Ms. Grosh recognized those who worked on the report and thanked them for their assistance. MARYLAND THEATRE - CAPITAL REQUEST Paul Frank and Susan Elliott, representing the Maryland Theatre Association, appeared before the Commissioners to request a contribution of $40,000 to help meet the $l75,000 matching funds they need by June l, l993, to obtain State grant funds. They outlined the improvement projects which would be completed if the funding is obtained. Commissioner Roulette stated that they would include this as a formal request to the FY l993 budget as a one- time capital expense or may possibly split the funding over 2 fiscal years. BID OPENING - HOPEWELL ROAD - PHASE III Bids for the construction of the Phase III of the Hopewell Road project were publicly opened and read aloud. Firms participating in the bidding and their proposals were as follows: Fayetteville Contractors - $604,2l4; L. W. Wolfe Enterprises, Inc. - $675,52l.90; P & W Excavating, Inc. - $534,559.50; and C. William Hetzer, Inc. - $476,899.90. The bids will be reviewed by appropriate officials prior to a decision being rendered. (Decision rendered later in the Meeting.) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT APPLICATION Karen Hoff, Multi-Family Housing Specialist, and Neil Curran, Program Development Coordinator, asked the Commissioners to approve the Resolution for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant funds in the amount of $500,000. Ms. Hoff explained that $282,l40 would be appropriated to housing activities and $2l7,860 to the Cedar Lawn and Kemps Mill water project hook- ups. Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to approve the Resolution for submittal of an application for Community Development Block Grant funds as presented. Unanimously approved. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Donald Allensworth expressed his thoughts regarding the M.P. Moller Company's loan request and his opinion that the State should establish a lay-off plan. James Shifler and Rodney Cline provided an update regarding the citizens committee meetings with Atlantic Cellular regarding the location of their tower. SIX-MONTH REPORT - COMPUTER MAINTENANCE Ronald Whitt and Brian Ridenour of Computer Information Systems, met with the Commissioners to present a 6 month report on computer maintenance calls. Mr. Whitt stated that there have been 49 maintenance calls to Entre Computer for the first 8 months of the County's contract, and he estimates that parts would have cost $3,460 for these repairs. He indicated that the maintenance agreement cost the County $32,400 per year and that it would be more cost efficient to employ a full-time maintenance person to deal with these repairs. The Commissioners took this matter under advisement at this time. APPOINTMENT - AREA AGENCY ON AGING Motion made by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Bowers, to appoint George Kesler to the Area Agency on Aging to fill the unexpired term of Helen Kaetzel and a subsequent three year term extending to October l, l995. Unanimously approved. REAPPOINTMENTS - SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to reappoint James Mosher and John Clopper, Sr., to the Solid Waste Advisory Commission for 3 year terms. Unanimously approved. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS Commissioner Irvin-Craig reported on the Criminal Justice Treatment Coalition meeting, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Council meeting and the Transportation Commission meeting; and Commissioner Shank reported on the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting and the Parks Board meeting. RENEWAL OF MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Snook, to approve the following renewals of maintenance contracts: Pest Control - Tri-State Termite & Pest Control Co. - No increase, $2,778 total contract; Plumbing - J & W Mechanical APRIL 21, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. Services, Inc. - No increase, $3,534/labor rates, Regular hours - Plumber $22.50/hr., Helper $l7.50/hr., Evenings & Saturdays - Plumber $32.35/hr., Helper $24.75/hr., Sundays & Holidays - Plumber $43/hr., Helper - $33/hr.; Electrical -Kube Electric Co., Inc. - Labor rates, Regular Working Hours - Electrician $l5.75/hr., Apprentice $l0.75/hr., Evenings, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - Electrician $23.25/hr., Apprentice $l5.25/hr.; and Elevator - General Elevator Co. -$l,303/mo. Unanimously approved. RECESS - LUNCH The Meeting was recessed at l2:36 p.m. for lunch. AFTERNOON SESSION The Afternoon Session was convened at l:06 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. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE - HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATION Ralph France, County Attorney, reviewed a proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance regarding incineration of hazardous waste. The Commissioners discussed the proposed amendment and made revisions. After revisions were made, the Commissioners agreed to advertise to hold a public hearing regarding this amendment. Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Snook, to submit the amendment proposed to the Zoning Ordinance regarding the incineration of hazardous waste as revised. Unanimously approved. FOREST CONSERVATION ACT Gary Rohrer, Chief, Division of Planning & Codes Administration, and Stephen Goodrich, Senior Planner, presented an overview of the Forest Conservation Act which was mandated by State legislation this year. Mr. Goodrich stated that this is a complicated issue and a draft plan must be submitted to the State by April 30. He then reviewed the proposed procedure using a flow chart to show how the new regulations will be incorporated into the present operation and the additional steps required by the new requirements. Mr. Rohrer stated that it will probably be necessary to hire l additional person for inspection purposes in the Engineering Department and one additional person in the Planning Department for review. The Commissioners discussed the draft plan and agreed to its submittal to the State. BID AWARD - HOPEWELL ROAD PROJECT - PHASE III Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Bowers, to award the bid for the Hopewell Road Phase III project to C. William Hetzer, Inc., who submitted the low bid of $476,899.90. Unanimously approved. (Commissioner Snook was excused from the Meeting at 2:35 p.m.) CONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Bowers, to convene in Executive Session at 2:35 p.m. regarding 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. (Commissioner Snook returned at 3:09 p.m.) RECONVENE IN REGULAR SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seconded by Snook, to reconvene in Regular Session at 4:10 p.m. Unanimously approved. TRAFFIC SIGNAL STUDY - U.S. 40 & WESTERN MARYLAND PARKWAY Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Snook, to award the contract for traffic signal design at U.S. Route 40 and Western Maryland Parkway to Street Traffic Studies who submitted the low, responsive proposal of $4,950. Unanimously approved. RECESS The Meeting was recessed at 4:11 p.m. EVENING SESSION The Evening Session was convened at 6:00 p.m. by the President, Richard E. Roulette, with the following members present: Commissioners Linda C. Irvin- Craig and Gregory I. Snook. Commissioner Shank arrived at the Meeting at 7:00 p.m. APRIL 21, 1992 MINUTES, CONT'D. BUDGET PRESENTATIONS & REVIEW - FISCAL YEAR 1993 Sheriff's Department - Sheriff Charles Mades presented the Sheriff's Department Fiscal Year l993 budget request as follows: Judicial - $388,938, Patrol - $l,598,l2l, and Detention Center - $2,390,8l0; Health Department - Dr. John Neill, Health Officer, and Gene Jenkins, Administrator, presented the Washington County Health Department's FY l993 budget request for a total County share of $l,805,29l. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Irvin-Craig, to adjourn at 7:25 p.m. Unanimously approved. County Attorney , Clerk