Board of Town Commissioners

MINUTES BEL AIR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION MEETING May 14, 2024 The Board of Commissioners Town Hall Mee�ng was held on May 14, 2024, at 4:30 pm. PRESENT: Commissioner Paula S. Etting, Chair Commissioner Mary F. Chance Commissioner Steven T. Chizmar via telephone Commissioner James B. Rutledge, III Commissioner Jakob D. Taylor IN ATTENDANCE: David Anderson, Media & Public Relations Specialist Edward Hopkins, Town Administrator Stephen Kline, Director of Public Works Michael Krantz, Director of HR & Administration Lisa Moody, Director of Finance Charles Moore, Chief of Police Angela Robertson, Director of Economic Development Kevin Small, Director of Planning Jane Sudbrink, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER Chair E�ng called the mee�ng to order at 4:30 pm. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Taylor mo�oned to approve the agenda. Commissioner Chance seconded the mo�on. Commissioner Chizmar had not yet dialed in to the mee�ng. Mr. Krantz asked for a vote. Ayes: Commissioners Rutledge, Taylor, Chance, E�ng. Nays: None. Mo�on carried 4-0. III. PRESENTATION A. Introduc�on of Cris�ano Quijano from BGE, Sr. Community Rela�ons Specialist – GEA Mr. Hopkins said the presenter had not arrived. He said this was to be a presenta�on to discuss external affairs as per a previous discussion between Mr. Hopkins and Commissioner Rutledge. IV. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Mr. Hopkins said he had no informa�on to report. 1 V. TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR TOWN MEETING (Monday, May 20, 2024, at 7:00 pm,. Bel Air Town Hall) A. Presenta�on 1. Promo�on of Jessica Fiedler to Police Communica�ons Operator II Chief Moore said this will be a presenta�on and recep�on to recognize Ms. Fiedler’s promo�on. Her family members will be invited. 2. Historic Preserva�on Commission (HPC) Poster Contest Results Mr. Small said this will be a ceremony to present the results of the local elementary school poster contest. He said the HPC chooses the winners from submissions of artwork that depict historic town buildings. There will be a recep�on a�erwards. a. Proclama�on for Historic Preserva�on Month Mr. Small said Commissioner Rutledge will present this proclama�on to the HPC. He said this will precede the poster contest presenta�on. B. Public Hearing 1. Resolu�on 1228-24 Fiscal Year 2025 Tenta�ve Budget Ms. Moody said there will be a public hearing on the tenta�ve budget. She will present on the sewer fund, the parking fund, and the special revenue fund. She said she will not be presen�ng on the general fund, although the public hearing is open to discussion on any fund. Ms. Moody said the budget will include any amendments discussed this evening with the necessary mo�on(s). C. New Business 1. Resolu�on 1229-24 Fiscal Year 2025 Final Budget Ms. Moody had nothing further to discuss. 2. Acceptance of Fiscal Year 2023 Audit Ms. Moody provided background on the audit. She said the audit was completed at the end of April with posi�ve results and no deficiencies or internal control issues. Ms. Moody discussed the excess of revenues over expenditures in FY23, which was $1,384,000, largely due to receiving more revenues. Ms. Moody then listed and described several budget figures for the general fund, the stormwater management reserve, stabiliza�on reserve (emergency use only), leave payout reserve, and the capital reserve, which was of most importance for tonight’s discussion. The capital reserve totaled $4,485,000. Ms. Moody explained why there were excess revenues over expenditures for FY23. She said it was mostly due to a one-�me influx of income tax, which was higher than expected. She said the state police aid was also higher than expected, as well as the income received from selling several vehicles. Ms. 2 Moody said the investment income was also higher than budgeted. Ms. Moody explained how ARPA money is expended. For expenses, Ms. Moody said the actual expenditures were less than budgeted, at about $218,000, and she explained the factors that contributed to that number. She said the parking fund con�nued to show a net loss ($68,470) since the pandemic. Ms. Moody said the sewer fund also showed a net loss ($132,791), largely because the Harford County bulk rate was higher than expected, and this increase was not put on the consumers. She said the sewer fund remained healthy. The three fiduciary funds all showed posi�ve change in net posi�on, all due to investment gains. Ms. Moody said she would email the audit report to the commissioners and post it on the town website, and it will be on the agenda for Monday for acceptance. 3. Harford County – Town of Bel Air Sewer Service Addendum Ms. Moody said that at the end of December she received a proposed revision in the sewer user charge from the county. She said the sewer agreement goes back to 1988 and requires that a change in the sewer charge be adopted by an addendum. She assured commissioners that both she and the public works department thoroughly reviewed the addendum before presen�ng it to the commissioners. Ms. Moody said the only substan�ve change is a $0.41 increase in the sewer user charge. VI. STAFFING UPDATE A. Review Term Expira�on Dates of Boards, Commitees, and Commissions Mr. Krantz reviewed a spreadsheet with the commissioners that indicated term expira�ons un�l the end of 2024. Chair E�ng announced that she has a candidate who is interested in filling the vacancy on the Board of Ethics. Mr. Krantz said he is con�nuing to accept applica�ons for the police officer and police dispatch posi�ons. He said there is also an ac�ve posi�on for a computer network support specialist. Mr. Krantz said he may also be pos�ng a part-�me events staff posi�on to supplement the town’s events staff, which has seen an up�ck in rental work due to the closure of the Richlin Ballroom. He said this posi�on would not change the budget. VII. CALENDAR Chair E�ng asked Mr. Krantz that a staff member reach out to Bel Air Elementary regarding the Patriot Program visit in May. She said par�cipants in the program usually stop by town hall. She also reported that any legisla�ve needs should be reported to MML by the end of May. Mr. Hopkins said the Bike to Work proclama�on will be presented on May 17 and asked for commissioner par�cipa�on. Chair E�ng said she would atend. VIII. MISCELLANEOUS Chair E�ng atended the MML lunch-and-learn zoom series and shared that they are launching a digital resource library for staff and commissioners to use. 3  Mr. Small said the public mee�ng with SHA will now be on June 20 and 21. He said he would like to present the town’s bike/pedestrian plan later that a�ernoon. Ms. Robertson said the Cultural Arts Commission mee�ng will be rescheduled because it was scheduled on Juneteenth, a na�onal holiday. IX. COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS Commissioners did not report. X. FISCAL YEAR 2025 BUDGET DISCUSSION A. Presenta�on 1. Harford County Educa�on Founda�on Warren Hamilton, member of the board of directors, thanked the town for its for $2,500 dona�on last year and requested the same amount for FY25. He described the founda�on and said it is a resource center located behind the post office in town. He said that the resource center provides free school supplies for teachers, as well as educa�onal materials for households with children who are not yet school age. Mr. Hamilton said the founda�on also brings materials to schools and essen�ally supports teachers “however we can with what we can.” Mr. Hamilton invited the commissioners to visit the resource center. Commissioners Chance and Taylor thanked Mr. Hamilton for the founda�on’s work and its support of the community and teachers. 2. Boys and Girls Club Derek DeWit, Chief Execu�ve Officer, described the many ac�vi�es of the club, including its new Fountain Green charter loca�on. He par�cularly described the Bel Air club, which serves 75 to 80 children daily and 110 to 130 children during the 8-week summer camp. Mr. DeWit detailed the growth of the club outside of Harford County, which now includes charter clubs in Kent and Queen Anne’s Coun�es. Mr. DeWit said he is also working with Harford County Public Schools to enhance the club’s before and a�er school programs and provide the necessary transporta�on with these programs. He is also working with the school system on youth mental health programs. Commissioner Chance commended Mr. DeWit on the club’s phenomenal work with youth. B. Enterprise Fund 1. Ms. Moody’s Presenta�on Ms. Moody said this fund’s main source of income is the sewer service charges. The sewer rate increase will go from $7.00 to $7.29. She said other addi�onal revenues include finance charges on the bay restora�on fee and the u�lity locator fee. She explained the ra�onale behind the u�lity locator fee to Commissioner Taylor, sta�ng that only commercial units would pay this fee, not residents. Ms. Moody explained how connec�on fees and user benefit fees pass on to the county, thus they also show up equally on the expense side of the budget. 4  For the expenses, Ms. Moody explained the difficulty of accurately budge�ng for the Harford County charges. She also discussed processing fees and how the COLA increase is budgeted under “Miscellaneous.” She pointed out that enterprise funds will only see interest as an expense; principal is not listed as an expense. Ms. Moody also covered the debt services figures of the JC sewer main, sewer service capital improvement plan, and the inflow and infiltra�on. She noted when these debts will be paid off and their interest. Ms. Moody went into detail about the transfer to the general fund. She said it is not a transfer of cash, rather it just shows as expense and revenue in the general fund. This transfer includes the percentage of employee salaries atributable to opera�ng the sewer funds, as well as the building overhead. Ms. Moody then went into detail about the 1988 sewer agreement with the county, which dictates the sewer rate. She described how difficult it is to budget accurately, and her sugges�ons to the county about how to ease this burden went unheeded. Ms. Moody said the town does not get the rate from the county un�l at least six months into the fiscal year, and her requests for earlier no�ce or even preliminary numbers were unsuccessful. 2. Mr. Kline’s Presenta�on Mr. Kline said his proposed FY25 sanitary sewer opera�ng budget is $6,765,330. He said this number is higher this year because he budgeted $3,000,000 for sewer upgrades. Mr. Kline provided background on the town’s sewer system and listed the regular costs, which include such items as salaries and the u�li�es to run the pump sta�ons. Mr. Kline said he is reques�ng funding to replace the sanitary sewer truck. He predicts he will get back $4,000 at auc�on. He has budgeted $65,000 for the truck. Mr. Kline then provided a detailed visual presenta�on of the needed repairs to the pump sta�ons. He first described the Shamrock pump sta�on. The rehab project would include a new concrete top slab; new floor; new pads for the pumps; and all new non-clogging pumps, piping, check valves, and gate valves. Mr. Kline said new conduit, wiring, outlets, switches, and ligh�ng would be installed. He said the ships ladder would be replaced and all new controls and new telemetry with various alarms would be installed, along with installa�on of a bypass manhole, water line, and hydrant. Mr. Kline described the Gateway pumping sta�on and said that a poor rehab project had been done under Harford Mall’s ownership. Mr. Kline proposed installa�on of a new wet well with new pumps and guide rails. He proposed replacement of the exis�ng 3-inch force main with a 4-inch force main. All new controls would be installed as well as new telemetry with various alarms. He said a new flow meter would be installed, along with installa�on of a bypass manhole, bypass valve, water line, and hydrant. Mr. Kline explained to Chair E�ng how the alarm system will work, which will be visual and auditory. 3. Parking Fund Ms. Moody explained that the parking fund is composed of revenue from parking fines, leased fees, and meter collec�ons. She said that pre-pandemic, revenues from this fund were double what they are now. Commissioner Taylor appreciated the decrease in parking viola�ons, but Ms. Moody said these numbers reflect less parking and people coming to town. 5  She described the county’s payment of 67.2% or two-thirds of opera�ng expenses for the parking garage. She noted that the town is responsible for maintenance of the parking garage and must get the county’s sign-off for capital needs. Ms. Moody explained the transfer from retained earnings of $154,857 because the budget cannot be balanced with these revenues. Ms. Moody detailed the expenses for the parking fund, including the debt service on the parking enforcement vehicle. She described the expenses for lots and meters, par�cularly no�ng that the parking garage insurance rate reflects an increase of 7%. Ms. Moody discussed debt services, including the JCI ligh�ng upgrade and the sweeper, and again discussed the transfer to the general fund for payroll, benefits, and overhead. Ms. Moody explained how in these funds, in order to have a balanced budget, one must use retained earnings or equity to pay for expenses. Mr. Kline further explained the maintenance needs and costs of the lots and meters. In answer to Commissioner Chance’s concerns about the condi�on of the Hickory lot, he assured her he will find the funds to repave it. Mr. Kline discussed the maintenance needs and costs of the parking garage. He detailed how he has budgeted to repaint the Pennsylvania Ave stairwell once more before a future project will enclose it. C. Special Revenue Fund Ms. Moody described this fund as a governmental fund. She said it contains projects that do not lend themselves to the normal funding. These include revolving accounts and reserve accounts the evolve from year to year. Ms. Moody described some of the accounts, including seized property-Fed DOJ and grants, such as the community parks and playground grant. Ms. Moody said grants show as a revenue and expense in the budget. D. Discussion by Commissioners on Budget Issues 1. Nonprofit Contribu�ons and Outstanding List Commissioner Taylor asked about the town administrator’s recommenda�on to fund the Army Alliance rather than the Harford County Educa�on Founda�on. Mr. Hopkins said the founda�on receives support from several organiza�ons, and he opted to priori�ze the alliance to build up that rela�onship. Ms. Moody said this was a similar discussion last year. Chair E�ng preferred to put money toward organiza�ons that support the town, and the founda�on is county-wide. Commissioner Chance said the founda�on does have a broad range of support. Commissioner Taylor agreed, but asked if there would be a way to find $1,000 to con�nue to support the founda�on, so that the contribu�on does not go away en�rely. Ms. Moody added this request to the Outstanding List and then ran through the list. Mr. Small addressed item 3. He said he contacted the county for maintenance costs of rubberized playground materials. A�er comparing and reviewing costs for rubberized materials versus wood fiber materials, he said the costs are about the same, though perhaps slightly beter for the rubberized materials due to the sealant needed for the wood fiber materials. Mr. Small also noted that the issues the county is encountering in terms of maintenance would not be as impac�ul for the town because its playgrounds are not used as intensely. He explained for Commissioner Chizmar that rubberized materials for the two playgrounds at Plumtree would be $300,000. For wood fiber materials, the cost would be approximately $18,000 per year. 6  Ms. Moody discussed her spreadsheet on the non-profit contribu�ons. She par�cularly touched on how the town is also providing the Downtown Alliance $45,300 in in-kind contribu�ons. Ms. Moody discussed her telephone call with Bill Wynne from the fire company. She said that the fire company, unlike the other nonprofits, did not give a specific dollar amount in its request leter. Rather, the fire company asked for $300,000 over a �me period and assistance from the town. Ms. Moody was unable to ascertain how this would work in the budget. Commissioner Rutledge asked Ms. Moody where addi�onal money would come from to fund the fire company. She said there is $4,300 from the MML dues and addi�onal money from property taxes. Commissioner Rutledge used $6,000 as a star�ng point and said he would be willing to reduce his numbers on the Downtown Alliance. Chair E�ng said the alliance gets the lion’s share and she would prefer to put the extra monies to the fire company rather than the Army Alliance or the educa�on founda�on, which are not directly �ed to the town. Chair E�ng also pushed for suppor�ng Winter Wonderland. Commissioner Rutledge said he would support Commissioner Taylor’s sugges�on of $1,000 to the educa�on founda�on and remained in favor of $2,500 to the Army Alliance, admi�ng his bias for the base. He said he would be willing to pull back on his request for the Downtown Alliance in order to support Commissioner Taylor’s request. He said he would s�ll prefer to find a way to give the fire company $5,000 even though their request was vague. Ms. Moody said if they increase the fire company’s request by $5,000, the contribu�on would be $174,889, a 6.3% increase, which would make their percentage increase more in-line with the other nonprofits. Commissioner Chizmar said he was sa�sfied with the dona�on amount to the Downtown Alliance, and also agreed with the extra $5,000 to the fire company and the $1,000 to the educa�on founda�on. Commissioner Chizmar said there are a lot of children on assistance at Bel Air Elementary. Chair E�ng and Commissioner Chance also concurred, with Commissioner Chance lamen�ng these painful decisions. Ms. Moody went back to the Outstanding List. All commissioners agreed on the 3.5% COLA increase. They decided the newsleter needs more conversa�on and it is too soon to put it in the budget. She said Mr. Anderson emailed analy�cs on the town’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to the commissioners. She explained that she would like to use the majority of the $45,059 in real property taxes to fund the Wayfinding signage project and the dimmable lights for the armory rather than using the capital reserve. Commissioners agreed to this plan. Chief Moore said he may be able to find grant monies for a recruit academy. Ms. Moody then summarized the projects that will use funds from the capital reserve. She told Commissioner Taylor that she is working on a FY24 budget amendment and, thus, some of the money to fund these projects may not actually come from the capital reserve. She confirmed for him that the capital reserve remains healthy, and that the costs of these projects are a “mere dent.” Chair E�ng asked if they should address Winter Wonderland funding. Mr. Hopkins said he would like to work on finding other op�ons to offset costs, but for now the town will con�nue to cover in-kind costs. Commissioners discussed Winter Wonderland and its costs. Commissioner Taylor summed up by saying that he had confidence that town leaders will come up with a solu�on to make the process less burdensome for all. 7 2. ARPA Discussion Ms. Moody handed out spreadsheets that listed the costs for proposed and completed ARPA projects and recommenda�ons for which projects get ARPA funding. She noted the figure of $167,796 of excess money over ARPA earned in interest, assuming none of the projects go over budget. Ms. Moody again explained that some of these projects could be funded from the capital reserve, like the improvements to Homestead Park and the vehicle replacements. She said the town just put $1 million plus in the reserve to a total of $4.4 million. Commissioner Rutledge said he felt comfortable spending around $1 million of those funds with the reserve at that level. Ms. Moody said leaving $3 million is s�ll financially responsible. Commissioners were all in agreement that using the capital reserve to purchase the vehicles was a good choice. Commissioner Chizmar felt that it would be good to spend some of that money on projects “we can see” since money had been spent on infrastructure, which is not always outwardly visible. Commissioners were also in agreement to allow Ms. Moody to determine how to fund the playground equipment at Homestead Park, either in FY25 or an FY24 budget amendment. Ms. Moody said a decision needs to be made on the playground surfaces for the two parks and improvements to Burns Alley. She noted that these projects can be put in the budget to be funded from the capital reserve, the projects will be put out to bid, and then the commissioners can decide then whether or not to do the projects. She said such a process would not harm the budget and all these major projects will come back to the commissioners for a final decision. Ms. Moody also discussed the Thomas and George Streets project, no�ng that it would be beneficial to fund these projects now. She said she put in phases 1 and 3 in the ARPA funding and removed Phase 2 based on Mr. Small’s recommenda�ons. Commissioner Rutledge was in favor of moving forward with this project. Commissioners next discussed the Burns Alley project. They were in agreement for a “spruce-up” of the alley. Chair E�ng agreed with Ms. Moody that it would be best to have a work session on the subject rather than pu�ng an arbitrary number in the budget. Mr. Small said he would create design development drawings of possible spruce-ups to Burns Alley for the commissioners to review and make a decision a�er more informa�on has been gathered. Ms. Moody said the comfort sta�on at Williams Street trail head was budgeted in FY24 for ARPA. She said she could determine if that project could be funded through the capital reserve and it would then become an FY25 project. Commissioners discussed the playground resurfacing. Mr. Small said the advantage to paving Homestead Park over Plumtree Park is that the equipment is not in place, thus the contractor can install both at the same �me. Chair E�ng said she preferred to just do Homestead Park at this �me, and the other commissioners agreed. Ms. Moody summed up their decision—they would fund the $280,000 improvements from the capital reserve and remove Plumtree Park from the budget. Ms. Moody summed up all of the commissioners’ decisions. She said they were all in agreement to fully fund the sewer rehab and replacement projects. Phase 2 of the Thomas and George Streets project was removed; the remaining phases to be funded through ARPA. Sewer vehicle replacement would be funded through ARPA. Plumtree Park and Burns Alley were to be removed from the budget. 8 Commissioner Taylor totaled the projects to be funded via the capital reserve at just under $1.1 million. Ms. Moody confirmed that this is an acceptable number and she assured commissioners that, historically, the town has always put money in the capital reserve when revenues exceed expenditures. She also reported that the COLA increase will be spread amongst the departments and will be a budget amendment. XII. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Taylor mo�oned to adjourn the mee�ng. Commissioner Rutledge seconded the mo�on. All in favor. The mee�ng adjourned at 7:27 pm. APPROVED: June 3, 2024 Signature on file _____________ Paula S. E�ng, Chair Board of Town Commissioners Signature on file_____________ Michael L. Krantz, Town Clerk 9