Board of Town Commissioners

MINUTES BUDGET LISTENING SESSION Wednesday, January 24, 2024 A Budget Listening Session was held on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at the Bel Air Town Hall. IN ATTENDANCE: Commissioner Paula S. Etting, Chair Commissioner Mary F. Chance Commissioner Steven T. Chizmar Commissioner James B. Rutledge III Edward Hopkins, Town Administrator Stephen Kline, Director of Public Works Michael Krantz, Director of HR & Administration/Town Clerk Lisa Moody, Director of Finance Angela Robertson, Director of Economic Development Kevin Small, Director of Planning Jane Sudbrink, Recording Secretary ABSENT: Commissioner Jakob D. Taylor I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Etting called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Chizmar motioned to approve the agenda. Commissioner Chance seconded the motion. III. EMPLOYEE BUDGET LISTENING SESSION A. Current/Active Town of Bel Air Employees Invited to Attend 1. Review and Discuss Upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 Budget 2. Listen to Employee Comments and/or Suggestions 3. Identify Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Budget Concerns 4. Answer Employee Questions No employees were present at the meeting. IV. MISCELLANEOUS None. V. COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS Chair Etting and all the Commissioners thanked the Department of Public Works for its snow removal efforts during last week’s storms. Commissioners and department heads discussed the dilemma 1 of sidewalks that are not shoveled and the possibility of a penalty or warnings. We also discussed that we had used our social media platforms to conduct sidewalk snow removal messaging. Chair Etting said she would be attending Harford County Night in Annapolis. Ms. Robertson said she would also attend with Stephanie Zahn. Commissioner Chizmar asked about county municipality meetings that ended in 2021. Mr. Hopkins said they were held quarterly with a different municipality hosting each time. Mr. Kline and Mr. Small agreed that the meetings ended over a disagreement with water and sewer authority. Commissioner Chizmar thought the meetings should be re-initiated. Chair Etting said the Cecil Harford Maryland Municipal League will be hosted by Bel Air in October 2024. Chair Etting and Commissioner Chance discussed venues, agreeing that the armory was too big and Rockfield Manor would be more suitable, particularly because it has hosted such meetings in the past. Chair Etting said she would forward all meeting dates to Ms. Robertson so as not to conflict with the annual awards meeting. Mr. Hopkins agreed to reach out to Kellee at Rockfield Manor. Commissioner Chizmar said he spoke to County Executive Bob Cassilly regarding his concerns that town revenue will decrease when the state office building is vacated. They further discussed the plethora of county buildings and property in town. Mr. Cassilly was willing to have a meeting to consider this issue. Mr. Hopkins added that, he too, had discussed this issue with Mr. Cassilly and with Director of Administration Rob McCord. Commissioners agreed to plan for a meeting that would also include the Planning Department. Commissioner Chance emphasized that this is a very important issue for the town. She stressed that the town cannot tax the county for its properties, nor can it tax churches or nonprofits. She is concerned about the ramifications when the state office building is vacated. She expressed frustration that the parking lot behind Sean Bolan’s is now reserved for the county along with numerous other lots, even though the county said it would not use any more town property. Mr. Kline added that Mr. Cassilly will have first right of refusal for the state property. Mr. Chizmar said that will only occur if the state surpluses it, which has not yet been determined. Mr. Cassilly had suggested he could move all county offices into one building. Mr. Small said that could affect the landlords of these vacated properties. Commissioner Chance said it is still a good idea because it would get those offices off of Main St and open the property to retail. Ms. Moody noted for the group that vacated land that is sold to the county is “off the rolls” for the town. She added that nonprofit entities like the hospital are also not on our rolls, yet the town police are often called for services there. For- profit entities are taxable, like the retail places in the town’s marketplace. Chair Etting also discussed the tipping fee that the town must pay the county for commercial haulers. She said she had also talked to Mr. Cassilly about the tipping fee. Chair Etting said that due to a long-ago arrangement, the town does not pay a fee for our trucks to go to the landfill. In turn, she felt that the town should also not have to pay the tipping fee for the commercial haulers that haul the town’s trash. Mr. Kline added that these commercial haulers do twice weekly deliveries and the fee is incurred because the county argues that there is no guarantee that it is only town trash in those trucks. He said that he had previously researched buying three commercial trucks and dumpsters at a cost of one million dollars. Ms. Moody said this option might be worth reconsidering if the tipping fee is not negated. She said this would be a good expenditure for the capital reserve as it would be an initial investment and would not come out of operations. Mr. Kline added that the tipping fee went up 45 2 percent in June 2023. He noted that if the tipping fee were removed, the need to invest in commercial trucks and dumpsters would not be necessary. Chair Etting provided background on the agreement between the county and the town for use of the landfill. It was arranged after the town provided land for the county to build the detention center. She said that the county had sued unsuccessfully to get out of this agreement and will probably not pursue litigation again. VI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:02 pm. APPROVED: February 5, 2024 Signature on file _____________ Paula S. Etting, Chair Board of Town Commissioners Signature on file____________ Michael L. Krantz, Town Clerk 3