Minutes
Town Meeting
June 15, 2009
Emmitsburg Town Office

Present:  Mayor James Hoover; Commissioners Clifford Sweeney, Glenn Blanchard, Joyce Rosensteel, Denise Etris and Christopher Staiger, President.

Also present were Donna Despres; Sue Cipperly, Town Planner and Dave Haller, Town Manager.

Call to Order  Commissioner Christopher Staiger, President of the Board of Commissioners, called the June 15, 2009 Public Hearing to order at 7:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

The Minutes of the June 1, 2009 Town Meeting were approved as presented.

Commissioner Comments                                             

Commissioner Blanchard: won’t be able to attend July 6 meeting, attended Flag Day ceremonies Commissioner Rosensteel:  attended Flag Day and Catoctin graduation

Commissioner Sweeney:  circus response was positive, informed audience that school is out so be mindful of children while driving

Commissioner Etris: relayed info on concerts in the park and community day activities

Mayor’s Comments:  will not attend next meeting because of annual MML convention; looked into local enforced ticketing-money goes back to state, state legislative allows a town to write a local ordinance but the fines go to the state; announced that the pool and farmers’ market open this week

Administrative Business

The Town Planner informed the Board that she hosted the Frederick County municipal planners meeting here this quarter to include a NETC tour.  Commissioner Blanchard asked about the pool repairs.  Commissioner Sweeney questioned if the restrooms will be open for community day.  In response to Commissioner Staiger’s inquiry, the Mayor updated all on the Emmitsburg senior center operation hours:  The Emmitsburg center will be closed Mondays but the coordinator will take the seniors to Thurmont, and the driver will keep the center open on Fridays while the coordinator goes to the Thurmont center.  Commissioner Staiger and Manager Dave Haller discussed a resident concern that a once-weekly pickup is an inconvenience for those in condos:  suggested that they contact management to build a “holding area”.  With the new Frederick County recycling program, it is hoped that once weekly will suffice.  Staff informed the Board that Emmitsburg was one of the last municipalities in Frederick County to have pickup twice weekly.  In response to a resident request that all property owners be contacted re comp plan changes, it was stated that there will be a public hearing before adoption wherein residents can comment.

Reports:

Town Manager’s Report – replaced pump in well 2, May precipitation: 6.4 average is 4.9 which puts the town a just a .6 deficit overall and that the sewage capacity was exceeded on 7 days.

Police Report - Deputy McQuain. May 2009 detailed report at Exhibit B.  The proposed reversal of the post office traffic was mentioned.

Agenda Items

Lincoln Avenue Water Line Bond Update

Bond consulting staff, Joe Mason of Davenport and Company, spoke to the process of the general obligation bond issue for financing the rehab of the Lincoln Avenue water line.  From 6 quality proposal responses, they recommended Columbia Bank of Frederick who offered up to the amount of the project--a little over $800,000--for 20 years at 3.65%, 5 year fixed interest, then 65% prime rate + .2 percent (20 base points).  Also, they allowed prepay with no penalty, the Town can also opt for an alternate fixed rate for the latter 15 years.  He distributed a debt service schedule to staff and council.  When queried about the town’s comparison bond rate, Bond Attorney Pat Arey replied that the town does not have a “city rating” but its proposal received more competitive bids than other towns recently have.  He added that the town’s 2.1% debt ratio is affordable and manageable. 

Comp Plan Review Continuation

Sue Cipperly presented section 4 of the comp plan which is the recommendations section. The target date for completion and submission of the plan to the state is October 1. She described the recommended land use categories. These categories in themselves are not zoning districts, but land use designations.  Sue Cipperly presented areas of difference between the May 2009 draft Frederick County Plan and the 2009 Emmitsburg Plan relative to the growth boundary for Emmitsburg. She went over the different recommendations for zoning, economic development, housing, transportation plan, local street improvement, transit, bike and pedestrian recommendations and downtown circulation recommendations. At this time, a conservative approach needs to be taken with regard to zoning, given the tight budget the town is faced with in regard to water supply capacity, in particular. There was discussion on an institutional zone. Ms. Cipperly stated that when the draft of this plan comes out there will be a public comment period. Town and County both recommended a collector road for MD 140 for South Seton traffic relief. Regarding the Transit aspect of the plan it was expressed to undertake inter-jurisdictional effort between Emmitsburg, Frederick County, and Adams County, PA to find high-speed bus service to regional employment centers. During the discussion for bike and pedestrian recommendations Commissioner Staiger commented that they need to be sensitive to the fact that things don’t happen unless sometimes there is a little bit of “vision”. Mr. Haller stated that from his experience “visions” are used best when they’re not too specifically defined- - to maybe reserve a portion of commercial development for some type of pedestrian/bike route. At the next meeting Ms. Cipperly will go over the sensitive area element, water resources element and municipal growth. It was stressed by Commissioner Staiger and Ms. Cipperly that even though some things were changed, the basic intent and philosophy of the planning commission has been maintained, many of the changes resulted in taking their recommendation and applying the water resources plan which was not available to the Commission.

Set Agenda Items for July 6, 2009 Meeting

•  None - MML convention week, three Board members will be out.

For the August 3, 2009 Town Meeting –proposed standardized policy related to maintenance of grinder pumps.

At this time Mr. Haller announced a public notice that Tuesday night after 8:30 pm the State will be doing their mosquito spraying program for the year.  

Public Comments - none 

Adjournment  With no further business, the June 15, 2009 Town Meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m.                                                                                                            

Date Approved: July 6, 2009