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HomeMy WebLinkAbout970422 April 22, 1997 Hagerstown, Maryland The Regular Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County, Maryland, was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by the President, Gregory I. Snook, with the following members present: Vice President John S. Shank, and Commissioners R. Lee Downey and James R. Wade. BUDGET WORKSHOP Greg Murray, Director of the Water & Sewer Department, and Dawn Barnes, Assistant Director of Finance - Water & Sewer, met with the Commissioners to discuss the proposed budget for the Water & Sewer Department. The Commissioners discussed the rate increase proposed for residential users in FY 1998 for sewer service and asked that the financial staff calculate rates using a smaller percentage of increase and the effect this would have on the revenue projections.  COUNTY ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS Rodney Shoop, County Administrator, informed the Commissioners that the  Department of the Environment has responded to the Boards request that they notify adjoining property owners about sewage sludge application. He stated that MDE stated that it is not their policy to notify adjoining property owners, however, they do place a legal notice in local newspapers to inform the public. It was the consensus of the Commissioners to request informational meetings on all sewage sludge permit applications with the exception of the applications for transport of sludge. The Commissioners agreed not to request a public information meeting for the application to transport sewage sludge from the Boonsboro WTP to the landfill. Mr. Shoop reminded the Commissioners of the Closed Session scheduled for April 23 at 9:00 a.m. He stated that a joint meeting has been tentatively scheduled with Mayor Sager and the City Council for May 29. Mr. Shoop informed the Commissioners that the Western Maryland County Commissioners meeting has been scheduled for May 23. Commissioner Snook informed the Board that John Frye has resigned from the Historical Advisory Committee. STREET ACCEPTANCE - APPALACHIAN ORCHARD ESTATES Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Shank, to accept 1,220 linear feet of Appalachian Court, located in Appalachian Orchard Estates, and a one- year maintenance bond of $12,200. Unanimously approved. DISCUSSION OF CONCESSION AGREEMENTS - PINESBURG SOFTBALL COMPLEX AND MARTIN L. SNOOK PARK The Commissioners reviewed concession agreements for the 1997 park season with the Hub City Softball League and Pinesburg Softball League. After discussion, the Commissioners asked that the agreements be amended and reconsidered at a later date. BUDGET TRANSFER - VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Downey, to transfer $95,000 from Account 01-5-2600-598-020 with $50,000 being transferred to Account 01-5- 0140-524 to cover professional services - legal fees, $40,000 transferred to Account 01-5-0151-525-030 to cover safety consulting services for FY 1997, and $5,000 transferred to Account 01-5-1511-524-160 to cover service for ambulance transport. Unanimously approved. BUDGET TRANSFER - SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Downey, to transfer $50,000 from Account 40-5-1430-585-102 (Access Road & Bridge) to Account 40-5-0100- APRIL 22, 1997 PAGE TWO 580-010 for additional engineering/design work for the Lund tract. Unanimously approved. BUDGET TRANSFER - SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Downey, to transfer $29,600 from Account 40-5-2400-579-010 to a new line item to cover reconstruction costs on the storm water management pond at the Resh Sanitary Landfill. Unanimously approved. RECESS - LUNCH The Commissioners recessed at 12:01 p.m. for lunch. AFTERNOON SESSION The Afternoon Session was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by the President Gregory I. Snook, with the following members present: Vice President John S. Shank, and Commissioners Ronald L. Bowers, R. Lee Downey and James R. Wade. BUDGET REQUEST - COMMISSION ON AGING Dr. Fred Otto, Director of the Commission on Aging, presented the budget request for the Commission on Aging for FY 1997-98. He requested $388,954 in County funding. CONVENE IN CLOSED SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Wade, to convene in Closed Session at 1:40 p.m. to consult with the County Attorney to obtain legal advice and to consider personnel issues, in accordance with Section 10-508 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Unanimously approved. RECONVENE IN REGULAR SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Wade, to reconvene in Regular Session at 3:04 p.m. Unanimously approved. In Closed Session the Commissioners discussed two (2) leal matters and nine (9) personnel matters. OPERATOR TRAINEE - WATER & SEWER DEPARTMENT Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Shank, to employ Robert Brown as Operator Trainee at $9.13 per hour at the Water & Sewer Department to fill an existing vacancy. Unanimously approved. APPOINTMENTS - BUILDING CODES APPEALS BOARD Motion made by Commissioner Wade, seconded by Bowers, to appoint Rob Holmes and Wilford Seilheimer to the Building Codes Appeals Board for three-year terms. Unanimously approved. BUDGET WORKSHOP (CONTINUED) The Commissioners, along with Rodney Shoop, County Administrator; Debra Bastian, Director of Finance; and Kim Edlund, Assistant Director of Finance, continued the budget workshop session to review the Fiscal Year 1997-98 budget requests and make reductions to balance the budget. The Commissioners also reviewed various options for increasing revenues. RECESS The Commissioners recessed at 5:30 p.m. EVENING SESSION - LEITERSBURG FIRE HALL The Evening Session of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County, APRIL 22, 1997 PAGE THREE Maryland, was called to order at the Leitersburg Fire Hall at 7:00 p.m. by the President Gregory I. Snook with the following members present: Vice President, John S. Shank, and Commissioners Ronald L. Bowers, R. Lee Downey, and James R. Wade. 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. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - APRIL 8 AND 15, 1997 Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Bowers, to approve the minutes of April 8 and 15, 1997, as submitted. Unanimously approved. MONTEREY HOUSE PROJECT - REQUEST FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL Ralph Wachter, Chairman of the Monterey House Committee, Louis Close, Hancock Town Manager, and Jerry Busey, Director of Interfaith Housing of Western Maryland, met with the Commissioners to provide updated information on the Monterey House project. Mr. Busey stated that they have learned that the Town of Hancock is eligible to apply for Rural Housing 515 Program funding. He indicated that they wish to apply for $573,000 of 515 Program funding in order to leverage State Partnership Program monies of $1,650,000 which will allow them to proceed with this elderly housing project. Mr. Wachter informed the Commissioners that the Rural Housing monies also include rental assistance and would reimburse Washington County for funds it has invested in the program. Mr. Busey stated that they will file a pre-application for the funding. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Wade, to give preliminary approval to the Monterey House elderly housing project, based on securing funding from the Rural Housing Program 515 funds and State Partnership Funds. Unanimously approved. BID AWARD - BUILDING MATERIALS FOR A POLE BARN - AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION CENTER Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Wade, to award the contract for building materials for the pole barn at the Agricultural Education Center to G.A. Miller Lumber Company, Inc. which submitted the low total lump sum bid of $31,021.50, to be paid from Program Open Space funds. Unanimously approved. TRANSFER STATION HAULING - DISCUSSION OF CONTRACT RENEWAL Karen Luther, Purchasing Agent, met with the Commissioners regarding the transfer station hauling contract. Ms. Luther informed the Commissioners that Waste Management has asked for a 30% increase to renew its contract for the third year. After discussion, the Commissioners asked that the Solid Waste Advisory Committee review the request and make a recommendation to them by the April 29 meeting. COMMISSIONERS REPORTS AND COMMENTS Commissioner Downey reported on the Emergency Services Council meeting. Commissioner Wade reported on his letter asking the Greater Hagerstown Committee to provide a chair for chair a committee to consider the consolidation of City and County law enforcement agencies. Commissioner Snook reminded the Commissioners that, beginning May 1, a local telephone call you must dial requires the area code as well as the seven-digit telephone number. CITIZENS PARTICIPATION Joe Swope, representing the Sierra Club, expressed concerns on a variety of environmental issues and offered recommendations for County government. APRIL 22, 1997 PAGE FOUR Jeannine Humphreys asked the Commissioners about the status of improvements to the intersection at Leiter Street. Commissioner Wade stated that the State Highway Administration is planning to do a comprehensive review of the entire area in the next two years. LOCAL MANAGEMENT BOARD - UPDATE Kristin Grosh, Coordinator for the Office of Children and Youth, met with the Commissioners to provide an update on the activities of the Local Management Board (LMB). Ms. Grosh informed the Commissioners that they received grant approval in February for $40,000 to hire a consultant to perform a family preservation needs assessment for the Hagerstown area. She stated that, after the needs assessment is completed, the LMB will apply for funding to support the merger of programs and implementation of new programs. Ms. Grosh indicated that the LMB will receive $106,000 from the State to be distributed to designated agencies for FY 1998. In FY 1999, the money received by the LMB can be spent at its discretion. The Commissioners thanked Ms. Grosh for the update. REZONING MAP AMENDMENT RZ-96-010 Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Shank, to accept the definition of the neighborhood as presented by the County Attorney. Motion  carried with Commissioners Downey, Shank, Bowers, and Snook voting AYE and  Commissioner Wade ABSTAINING. Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Bowers, that based on the proposed findings of fact as presented, the recommendation of the Planning Commission, and the definition of the neighborhood, there has been a convincing demonstration that the proposed rezoning would be appropriate and logical for the subject property. After discussion regarding the intent of the motion, Commissioner Shank withdrew the motion. Motion made by Commissioner Shank, seconded by Downey, that there has been a substantial change in the character of the neighborhood. Motion carried with  Commissioners Shank, Bowers, Downey, and Snook voting AYE and Commissioner  Wade ABSTAINING. Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Bowers, based upon the recommendation of the Planning Commission, that HI-2 is not the appropriate and logical zoning classification for this tract of land. Motion carried with  Commissioners Downey, Bowers, and Snook voting AYE, Commissioner Shank  voting NO and Commissioner Wade ABSTAINING. Motion made by Commissioner Bowers, seconded by Shank, that the decision on Rezoning Case RZ-96-010 be tabled. Motion carried with Commissioners Bowers,  Shank, and Snook voting AYE, Commissioner Downey voting NO, and  Commissioner Wade ABSTAINING. REZONING TEXT AMENDMENT - RZ-96-012 It was the consensus of the Commissioners to defer any discussion on rezoning text amendment RZ-96-012 until they obtain additional information.  CITIZENS PARTICIPATION Don Renzer asked the Commissioners to consider have a bar stripe painted on the roadway at the intersection at Leiter Street to emphasize the four-way stop at this location. The Commissioners agreed to convey this suggestion the Roads Department for implementation. APRIL 22, 1997 PAGE FIVE ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Downey, seconded by Wade, to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. Unanimously approved. County Administrator County Attorney , Clerk