MINUTES                                                  TOWN MEETING                                                    July 19, 2010                                            Emmitsburg Town Office                                   PRESENT: Mayor James Hoover; Commissioners Glenn Blanchard, Denise Etris, Tim O'Donnell and Clifford Sweeney, Vice President Staff present were Vickie Felix; Sue Cipperly, Town Planner and Dave Haller, Town Manager ABSENT: Commissioner Christopher Staiger with prior notice _________________________________________________________________________ I. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Clifford Sweeney, Vice President of the Board of Commissioners, called the July 19, 2010 Town Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was recited. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Minutes of the July 6, 2010 Town Meeting were approved as presented. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commendations were expressed to the group of people who worked so hard removing the fence on the ballfield, saving the Town a lot of money and it was announced that the field is about 99.9% done for the moment. Thanks were also expressed to those supporters of the "Sea to Shining Sea" ride that came through town and to the citizens that attended the most recent concert in the park. Commissioner Blanchard and Mayor Hoover attended the MML conference earlier this month. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Hoover spoke with Joanne Britt last week who is interested in establishing a youth program mostly for teenagers. It is in the planning stages right now. She has a big agenda that she would like to fill and will be looking for support. In the future she may come before this Council with her thoughts and ideas. A rock wall has been installed in Community Park, donated to the town from Playground Specialists. He reported that he had a brief discussion with Mayor Ron Harris of Carroll Valley who is planning some transportation improvements for Emmitsburg North. Mayor Hoover noted that he will be absent for the August 2, 1020 Town Meeting. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS Mayor Hoover commented that things have been good at the pool this year with no major issues. Many people are taking advantage of the twilight hours special. REPORTS: Town Manager Report - reported on the public works department monthly activities to include a water production and consumption analysis--Rainbow Lake is 4 inches below the spillway level. Other items included installation of seasonal speed bumps on Depaul Street and painting over graffiti on the picnic tables. Detailed report at Exhibit A Police Report - Deputy Bartlett reported on the June 2010 police report. Proactive patrol checks should be amended to 354. Detailed report at Exhibit B II. AGENDA ITEMS DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY UPDATE PRESENTATION Lori Stewart, Director of Development and Public Relations for Daughters of Charity: The Daughters of Charity currently are experiencing two significant changes. 4 of the 5 provinces are consolidating into one in July 2011, the "vision for mission". The other significant change is updating the Provincial House facilities and expanding services to seniors, the "Provincial House transformation". Both of these changes are completely separate, however, simultaneous. She invited everyone that might have more questions to an open house that will be hosted at the Provincial House during the week of August 9th. She provided some history of the Provincial House. Now the building is 45 years old and needs significant upgrades and renovations. About 150,000 square feet is unused and available for other purposes. They are seeking support from the town and residents for their plans to meet the needs of seniors in the area for affordable housing and long term care. The Sisters have been working with Homes for America to consider a need for affordable senior rental apartments for both lay and religious community residents over the age of 62. The Daughters of Charity do understand that this senior housing text amendment proposal raises a lot of questions and will impact the town services. The Daughters have pledged that the additional water required for these units will be offset by water savings from conservation at the Provincial House. A detailed engineering study has been completed and provided to the town. Mayor Hoover thanked Ms. Stewart for here presentation and stated that it gave an opportunity to hear Provincial House's perspective and opinions of what is going on and to clarify some interpretations from the news media. He stated that the Town is seriously considering the request, suggestions and recommendations but there is a lot to digest. DISCUSS PROPOSED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING SCHEDULE CHANGES Commissioner O'Donnell stated that Maryland Code has revised when planning commission meetings are required. A planning commission is now allowed to have quarterly meetings as opposed to mandatory monthly meetings. Also allowed is the option of not meeting if there are no agenda items. Patrick Joy, Secretary of Planning Commission, stated that currently the ordinance states that the planning commission "shall" meet every 4th Monday of the month. The planning commission approved a motion to remove the word "shall" so that it is no longer mandatory and give the option of allowing the chairman to cancel if there are no agenda items. The Board discussed several options to amend the ordinance if there are no agenda items. Mayor Hoover is not in support of the change and feels it should be left as is, his biggest concern being the lack of consistency in the meeting schedules. Public Comment: Patrick Joy, 4035 Carrick Ct. - suggest doing a draft ordinance. The Board directed staff to draft an ordinance to have quarterly meetings and consecutive meetings required when an agenda item is proposed. The draft ordinance will be brought back as a discussion item at the first meeting in September. COMMUNITY PARK TRAILS BID CONSIDERATION Mr. Haller stated that this is a continuation of bid review and contract award for the Community Park Trails project. As requested by President Staiger, the commissioners and the Mayor received a package on July 9, 2010 that included a plan view of the project as well as a blank of the bid package that included all the items that were to be bid. Staff recommended the base bid of $115,085.40 with option C-individual add-ons of $7,550.00, for a total of $122,635.40. The whole project, which is phase one, should be completed before the end of the calendar year. Public Comment: Patrick Joy, 4035 Carrick Court - commented that this will be great for our youth MOTION - To accept the staff recommended base bid for W.F. Delauter & Sons, Inc for $115,085.40 Motion by Commissioner O'Donnell, second by Commissioner Etris VOTE: 4-0 in favor COMMUNITY CALENDAR ON WEBSITE Commissioner Etris emailed the Citizens Advisory Committee to see if they had any comments or objections about what had been proposed and what was happening with the community calendar through the town's website. No comments or objections have been made at this point. No need to continue this as an agenda item. ORDINANCE 10-15 - PROPOSED CHANGES TO SALARY STRUCTURE Mayor Hoover stated there were a lot of things that were outdated in the ordinance and needed some house cleaning. He went over these amendments to Chapter 2.50.20-Employee Salary Chart as the Board followed along with their draft copy to make the changes. Commissioner Etris recommended changing the end of paragraph H to read "all comp-time hours must be first approved by the town manager and the mayor." MOTION - To approve the revised Ordinance 10-15 amending Title 2 Administration and Personnel of the Code of Emmitsburg Motion made by Commissioner Blanchard, second by Commissioner Etris. VOTE: 4-0 in favor III. PUBLIC COMMENTS - none IV. SET AGENDA ITEMS FOR AUGUST 2, 2010 MEETING 1. Presentation by Mayor Ron Harris of Carroll Valley on public transportation 2. Annual planning commission report Mayor Hoover will be absent at the August 2, 2010 town meeting, therefore, he requested an agenda item to bring back the ordinance for discharge of firearms at the August 16, 2010 town meeting. SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDENTS AND/OR RESOLUTIONS V. ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the July 19, 2010 Town Meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.