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Home My WebLink About931108 and 931109November 8 , 1993 Hagerstown, Maryland 21740 JOINT PUBLI C BEARING -REZONI NG CASES RZ-93-12 AND RZ-93-14 A Joint Public Hearing of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County and the Was h ington Cou nty Planning Commi ssion was convened i n Court Room No. l at 7:00 p .m. to hear testimony regarding proposed rezoning amendments RZ-93-12 and RZ-93-14 . Pr:esiding at the h earing were Co unty Comrniss ioners ' President Richard E. Roulette and Planning Commission Chairman , Bertrand Iseminger . Also present at the hearing were County Commissioners Ronald L. Bow ers , Vice President, Linda C. Irvin-Craig, Johns. Shank and Gregory I . Snook , along with Planning Commission memb ers Robert Ernst, Carol Johnson, Bernard Mos er , and Andrew Bowen. Staff Reports were presented by Lisa Kelly Pie tro, Associate Planner, and after all presentations and testimony for the cases were heard, it was announced that the record will remain open for ten ( 10 ) days to al.low additional testimony to be s ubmitted in wri.ting . The hearing was adjourned at 9:00 p .m. to~ ii~ County Attorney Nov ember 9, 1993 Hag erstown, Maryland 21740 The Regular Meeting of the Board of County Commi ssioners of Was hington County wa s called to order at 9:00 a.m . by the President, Richard E. Roulette , with the following members present: V:i.ce Pres :i.dent Ronald L. Bowers , and Conuniss ioners Linda C. Irvin-Craig, Gregory I. Snook, and John S. Shank. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by Commissioner Snook, followed by t he Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by the full assemblag e. PROPOSAL TO APPOI NT COMM ITTEE TO STUDY SALARY The Commissioners discussed the proposal made by the Delegation to the General Assembly to appoint a committee to study the issue of salary for the 1994-1998 elected Board of Co unty Commissioners. The Cornmiss ioners agreed to appoint a committee of 7-9 persons r epresenting a cross-section of citizens to study the salary i ssue a nd to have recommendations for appointment to this committee for next week 's meeting. SHARPSBURG/KEEDYSVILLE WATER & SEWER RATES Barry Teach, Administrator, advised the Commissioners that the Sanitary Commission has provided information on the Sharpsburg/Keedysville water and sewer rates . Mr . Teach stated that they have estimated that if the County were to provide $75,000 for repair of the intake for the water system as a capital improvement there would be a savings of $1.00 per month to the users , and if $25,000 in County funds were used for replacement equipme nt for the sewer system, the affect would be to lower the monthly costs by $2.04 per month, for a total reduction for water and sewer of $3.04 per month. Mayor Yeager, r e presenting the Town of Sharpsburg, expressed concerns that the Sanitary District has not reduced its admi nis trat i ve fees . Commission er Reulet t e stated that various propos a.ls are being reviewed to try t o reduce costs at the treatment plant and also possible subsidy by the Town of Sharpsburg. Mayor Yeager stated that the Town Council will be meeting wi th the Sanitary Commission again this week. LONG-RANGE CAPITAL JJIP.B.IOVE!!IBllffS -BAGE.RSTONR JUNIOR COLLEGE Dr. Norman Shea , President of Hag erstown Junior College (HJC ), along with Jack Burrey, architect, John Frey, and memb ers of the HJC Board of Trustees , appeared before the Commissioners to address the long-range Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for the College. Dr . Shea stated that they feel they have some innovative way s to unify the campus and mak e it more user friendly but that it wo uld impact the County's CIP. Mr. Burrey out lined the plans which include construction of a large , centrally located building to house a library and telecommunications c e nter providing connections to other buildings o n campus a nd making the campus mor e accessibl e to the disabled. Mr. Burrey stated that he feels this project would qualify for fu nding under the State formula and would require a one-third local match of approximately $3.5 million toward the $10.5 million total project. Dr . Elliott indicated that this project would impact the County 's CIP budget one time, and that they would be wi thdrawing the other projects currently in the CIP budg et. He stated that this could possibly save the County $2 million in the CIP budget in Fiscal Yea~s 1994-99 . NOVEMBER 9, 1993 MINUTES, CONT 'D. 1994 WEED CONTROL PROGRAM Dr . Charles Puf'f inbergiar, Assistant Secretary £or Plant I ndustr.i es and Pest Manag ement for the State Departme nt of Ag r.iculture; J osse Crook, Supervisor of t he Weed Control Program; and La ne Heimer , Coordinator of the . Weed Control Prograrn for Wes tern Ma r.yland , met with the Commissioners to discuss the procedure for administering the weed conti::-ol program for 1994. Commissioner Roulette stated that the County would like to have this p~ogram set up for next year but expressed concerns wi t h authority of the County i n f und ing and hiring procedures . After discussion of the concerns and problems experienced during last year's progcam, several options wera considered . Commissioner Roulette asked that the State get back to the County with wh at they would like t h e County to do with bookk eeping if t he State ware to administer the program a nd the County will mak e con tac t wi th them regarding wh at mod i fications t hey would like to see in the selection process Eor hiring procedures . CI TI ZEN PARTXCI PATION Donald Allensworth spoke to the Commis sione s regardi ng rezo n i ng issues . HEALTH I NSURANCE OPOATE Alan Davis , Director of Pe rsonnel , and Fr an Smith , Benefits Coordinator, along Vli t h Ed Wuenschell of BGS&G , me t with the Con11ni ss ioners regarding the Cou nty's health insurance program. Mr . Davis stated that t he program ls in good shape , but he wanted to advise the Commissioners of pote n tial problem areas which have been identi fied and possible recon11n endat ions fo r Eu ture modificati o ns. Mr.. Dav is suggested that the County institute the following 3 changes at this time: 1) to i ncorporate manda tory hospital pre-certification for in-patients; 2) to abolish the major medical reimburseme nt of prescripti on dr ug co-pay; a nd 3 ) to increase employee payme nt for prescription drugs to $5 for generic and $1 0 for brand nam e drugs . Motion mad e by Commissioner Snook, seconded by Bowers , to institute the fol l owing cha nges to the County's health insurance policy : 1 ) to incocporate ma ndatory hospital pre-certification for in-patients; 2) to abolish t he ma jor medical reimbu rsement of prescription drug co-pay; and 3 ) t o i ncrease employee payment Eor prescription drugs to $5 for generic and $10 for brand nam e drugs , to become effective January 1, 1994. Una n i mously approved. APPROVAL OF MI NUTES -NOVEMBER 2 , 1 993 Mot ion made by Commissioner Irvin-Craig, seco nded by Snook , to approve the rninutes of NoveT11ber 2 , 1993 , as s ubm itted . Unanimously approved . APPROVAL OF NAMES -RECLAMATI ON LANDFILL AND PARK Th e Commissioners agreed to name the new County park o n Kemp s Mill Road, the Conocoche ague Park , a nd to name the new reclamation f ill, the Wa s hington Co unty Reclamation Landfil l. CHANGES -LICENSI NG FEES FOR ELECTRI CI ANS Barry Teach , Administrator , informed the Commi ssioners t hat t he new State l a w is now in effect regard i ng lice nse fees and regulations on e l ectricians . He stated that the fees went from $30/year to $150/2 years and changed regulations to requi re t hat electricians o n a n inactive status wh o reactivate their ticensias mu s t take and pass another written test . The Commissioners agreed to try to have the license fee l owered to $100/2 years a nd asked Mr . Teach to me et with the Electrical Board Eor its recomm endation. GRANT ACCEPTANCE -PRICE'S BRI DGE Motion mad e by Commissioner Snook , seconded by Shank, to acc ept a grant from the Bowman Foundation in the a mo unt of $7 ,012 to be used for restoration of Price's Bridge . Unanimously approved . RECESS -GROONDBREAK.ING AND DEDI CATI ON The Commissioners recessed at 12:44 p .m. i n order to attend t he groundbreaking of t h e third phase oE Ea stern Boulevard and t he dedication of the Winebrenner Wastewater Treatment Plant by the Sanitary Comm ission. Commissioner Bowers was excused from the Meeti ng. AFTE RNOON SESSION The Afternoon Session was conv ened at 3:11 p.m. by the Preside nt , Richard E. Reu l et te , with the following memb ers present: Comrniss ioners Linda C. Irv in- Craig , Johns. Shank , and Gregory I. Snook. L L NOVEMBER 9, 1993 MINUTES , CONT 'D. ✓ /' SECRETARY I POSITION -HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT The Commissioners agreed to advertise for a Secretary I position for the Housing & Commun ity Deve l opment Of fice as requested rather than t he current Clerk Typist position. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORT Commi ssioner Shank reported o n t he Recreation & Parks Board meeting. ADJOURNMENT Moti on mad e by Commissioner Irvin-Craig , second ed by Shank , to adjourn at 3:38 p .m. Unanimously approved . count.Attorney Clerk