City Council

TOWN OF NEW WINDSOR NEAL ROOP, MAYOR 209 High Street - P. O. Box 609 PH. 410-635-6575 NRoop@NewWindsorMD.org New Windsor, Maryland 21776 FAX 410-635-2995 info@NewWindsorMD.org May 6, 2020 Present: Because of the COVID-19 situation the May 2020 Town Council meeting was a virtual meeting. Mayor Roop, Council Members, Terry Green, David Hoffman, Ed Palsgrove, Ed Smith and Kimberlee Schultz joined the meeting via ZOOM Also Town Attorney Ostrander, Town Manager Gary P. Dye, Jr, Town Clerk Alban, Director of Public Works, Wayne Myers took part in the meeting via ZOOM. There were 7 others in the ZOOM meeting. Call to Order: The Town Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Roop at 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance: Mayor Roop led the Pledge of Allegiance. Recording and Agenda Policies: Mayor Roop stated that the Town Meeting is recorded by electronical means and that the meeting will follow an Agenda. Anyone who wished to have a matter placed on the Agenda needed to submit the topic to the Mayor in writing by the last Wednesday of the month, by the close of the business day, which is 3:00 p.m. These items will be reviewed for approval. Previous Meeting Minutes: A Motion by Councilmember Palsgrove to approve the April 1, 2020 minutes. It was 2nd by Councilmember Green. Motion was approved 5-0. Mayor’s Report: Happy Nurses Appreciation Week Thank you to all front-line workers & Town staff April 1 Town Council Zoom Meeting April 15 Mayor’s Zoom Meeting April 20 Town Zoom Work Session Shared Commissioner Bouchat’s Food Assistance Information Recommended T-180 Compaction Testing at the Lagoon Area April 22 Mayor’s Zoom Meeting April 29 Mayor’s Zoom Meeting May 5 Chamber Breakfast on Zoom with County Commissioner Wantz and regular email updates from Commissioner Wantz Checkups with local businesses – All seem to be doing well during these challenging times – Please continue supporting our local businesses. Communications with Town staff Regular COVID-19 Municipal Conference Call Reviewing 201 Main Street Park options and looking for donations of labor and services. Coordinating with Planning Commission Chairman Mark Schultz on a Zoom Planning Commission Meeting. Organizing our 2020 Memorial Day Service . Council Reports – Public Works: Councilmember Hoffman – • 3-yard waste pickups have been completed filling 3 dumpsters. Yard waste will continue the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. You are encouraged to use the paper bags specified for yard waste; if using a container; it cannot be heavier than 40 lbs. If you can’t pick it up, we can’t either. • Public works has completed several grading projects and general Town clean up. • The new bush hog is in for repairs (under warranty). • PC did not meet in April Water & Sewer: Councilmember Palsgrove – • Public Works is looking into repairs at Main St and High St after a leak detection company came in and pinpointed where the leak is. They were also able to detect a significant leak at 7-11 location which is on the private side. • The Town is facing sludge tank repairs and estimates are being obtained • Hillside pump #2 is back on line after repairs • The disposable wipes are still an issue at the Atlee Ridge Pump Station • There is dirt being hauled by railway from a stormwater project that Carroll County Bureau of Resource Management is doing in the City of Westminster. The dirt is filling in the area that was previously the lagoon. Mayor Roop states this will complete the filling in of the lagoon area to make ready for a new park area for the Town. Councilmember Palsgrove visited the City of Westminster project and will show video of it later in the meeting. He also has pictures of the process removing the dirt from the railcars once it arrives in New Windsor to share. Public Safety: Councilmember Smith – • He will defer to Deputy Colussy for his report • Public Safety is up to speed during the COVID-19 situation • Wildlife complaints have increased Economic Development: Councilmember Schultz – • Please remember to support the Town of New Windsor local businesses. • Season of Magnolia business has shut down completely and had a case of vandalism there this week • Councilmember Schultz said she has had inquiries regarding food donations for the St. Paul Community Food bank and where to take them. Mayor Roop states to email him at nroop@newwindsormd.org if you have a donation and he will get in touch with the Food bank coordinator. Community Enhancement: Councilmember Green – • The new banners are still on hold • Governor Hogan held a press conference today regarding the COVID-19 pandemic at 3:00 announcing that outdoor recreation will open as of 7:00 a.m. tomorrow  • Please remember to continue practicing all safety measures during the COVID-19 situation Community Deputy Colussy - The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office between the dates of April 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020, responded to 47 calls for service within the town limits. Out of those calls for service only 2 required reports, which were the following: • On April 5, 2020, Deputies responded to the 100 block of Main St in reference to a domestic. A verbal argument turned physical, victim did file charges through District Court Commissioners Office, case remains open pending service of paperwork. • On April 30, 2020 Deputies responded to the 100 block of Church St in reference to a theft. Investigation revealed that known party had stolen cash and medications from the residence prior to leaving. Case remains open. West Carroll Recreation: Representative not in attendance Fire Chief Report: Chief Byron Welker – • 14 Fire calls in April – YTD 98 • 48 EMS calls in April – YTD 199 • A Thank You to David Coe for managing not only the EMS response from the New Windsor Fire Dept. but at the County level as the Chairperson of the County EMS Operations Committee. Dave has been in constant contact with the State keeping up to date on the latest procedures for handling COVID-19 patients, to personal protective equipment, to disinfecting procedures and relaying this information to the County Fire Departments. This is all in addition to maintaining his fulltime job as an EMS Officer with the Frederick County Dept. of Fire and Rescue Services. Town Manager’s Report: Town Hall & Public Works Staff Scheduling The Town of New Windsor should continue to follow Governor Hogan’s directives and do our part to help control the spread of COVID-19. Assuming this is the direction of the Mayor and Council and Town Hall/Public Works will remain closed to the public beyond the March 31st reevaluation date, beginning April 6, 2020 Town staff work schedules will be as follows: Town Clerk/Treasurer will be Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 7:30 – 4:00 as necessary. Secretary/Receptionist will be Monday & Wednesday 9:00 – 3:00. Two Public Works staff will both work Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 7:30 -4:00. The Director of Public Works will be off on Friday’s and the Maintenance position will be off on Monday’s. Town Manager will work in the office Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 – 4:00 and from home on Monday and Friday from 7:30 – 4:00. Calls to Town Hall on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s will be forwarded to the Secretary/Receptionist from 9:00 – 3:00. The Clerk/Treasurer will answer calls on Friday’s from 9:00 – 3:00. Messages for Town staff will be forwarded to the appropriate person during regular business hours of 9:00 – 3:00 and after hours as soon as possible. FPS (Fluid Pinpointing Services): FPS, Inc. performs leak detection services for towns in our area. The owners, Greg Klimovsky has 32 years of experience with water line detection surveys and utility locating. Director of Public Works, Wayne Myers contacted him and arranged to have his company do leak detection for the Town on Tuesday. Mr. Klimovsky spent 8 hours checking the Town’s entire water system. There were only 2 leaks detected, one on Main St near the intersection with High St and the other is on the private lateral side for 7-11. The 7-11 meter is located inside the building and this is a good opportunity to move the meter to an outside vault location, which is preferred. The Public Works department will work with 7-11 and provide the vault, piping and new meter. 7- 11’s plumbing contractor will do the work. MML Summer Conference: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, MML is holding a virtual MML Summer Conference. The dates are June 29th and June 30th. The schedule is expected to be available soon. Town Clerk Alban sent Council, the Mayor and Town Attorney this morning with details for you to contact MML directly if you will or will not attend. Please copy the Clerk can keep track of attendees or cancellations. Old Business: New Business: FY 2021 Budget Discussion/ Introduction. Since beginning the FY-21 budget process and preparation at the end of January/early February I have run upwards of 15 different versions of the Town’s budget. At the April 20th Work Session meeting, at the direction of the Council and in response to potential impacts to revenue’s and budget planning in general related to the COVID-19 Crisis, I presented 2 more conservative options, 3A and 3A-1. There was apprehension and uncertainty, rightfully so, with introducing either option by Council. Both versions included hiring a new full time Public Works Maintenance Worker and promoting Alan Tobery to Supervisor. Option 3A-1 had raises for rest of the staff and Option 3A did not. At the direction of Council, I was asked to run a comparison of the key budget line items in the General and Enterprise Fund sections of the budget that impact the Capital Project Budget line items when various options are applied. This was done and is shown in a spreadsheet that was sent to Mayor and Council last Wednesday for review. Hopefully you have had time to review. The Conservative Budget Option Comparison spreadsheet looks at 4 budget options, 3A-1, 3A, 3A-2 COLA and 4. Description of the 4 options are as follows: Option 3A-1 – New Public Works Position. A.T. to Supervisor. Original proposed raises for other staff. Option 3A - New Public Works Position. A.T. to Supervisor. No raises for other staff. Option 3A-2 COLA – No Public Works Position. A.T. remains Maintenance Worker. Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) raises for all staff. Option 4 - No Public Works Position. A.T. remains Maintenance Worker. No raises for any staff. The key line items for General Fund include: Executive Salaries, Public Works Salaries, Keeping NW Fire Co. at $20,000, Health Care Benefit and Retirement Plan. The key line items for Enterprise Fund include: Executive Salaries, Public Works Salaries, Health Care Benefit and Retirement Plan. Mayor Roop has copies of the 4 options for FY-21 budget we are discussing tonight. All budget options are balanced and do not include a tax increase. Collectively you all have to be comfortable with what option we use for the FY-21 budget and agree on a budget to introduce. Town Manager will need direction tonight from the Council as to what option to move forward with so we can meet our budget schedule. Once we introduce a budget, hopefully tonight, then we have to advertise in newspaper for 2 weeks prior to budget hearing. We can hold the hearing and adopt the budget at the same meeting, which will be the June 3rd. Council meeting. Remember, we can always make amendments before adoption or after. A Motion by Councilmember Hoffman to introduce the FY21 budget (Option 3A-1). It was 2nd by Councilmember Schultz It was approved by a 3-2 vote with Councilmember’s Smith and Green voting nay. June Town Council/Work Session meeting dates - With the usually scheduled NW Carnival the week of June 1st. we moved the Council meeting to June 10th and combined it with the Work Session meeting. Now that the Carnival has been cancelled, do we want to go back to the normally scheduled dates of June 3rd for Council and June 15th for Work Session? Yes, Town Council meeting will be June 3rd and the Work Session will be June 15th. • High School Graduation/Senior Recognition: Mayor Roop stated that since the announcement that school’s will not reopen for the remainder of the year, it would be nice for the Town to recognize the seniors. He mentioned banners similar to the military banners that the Town displays. Town Clerk Alban suggested perhaps to large banners similar to the one’s the Town uses at the Music on the Main event. After a discussion, Council agreed that the 2 large banners would be a great idea. Town Clerk stated that the Mayor could get contact information from the Town Secretary for the vendor the Town uses for the Music on the Main event. • Sidewalk Coloring Contest: Mayor Roop stated that since the Carroll County Mayors have been doing a virtual meeting, the Town of Mount Airy presented this idea. They have already done this on 2 occasions with great success. Council liked the idea but before proceeding needed more information. Mayor Roop will present more information at the May Work Session. Treasurer’s Report: Each of the following balances given as of April 30, 2020 General Fund the balance is -$401,557.49 General Fund Capital Budget the balance is - $221,664.40 Enterprise Fund the balance is - $480,741.20 Enterprise Capital Reserve and 3 R’s Fund the balance is– $148,699.35 Developer fees the balance is -$658,894.80 Money Market Fund the balance is -$27,821.45 Real Property Report There are 12 properties For Sale There are 1 property in a Foreclosure process Water/Sewer The quarterly billing was mailed out on 4/3/2020. Due to the COVID-19 situation the Town Council discussed a possibility of a bill adjustment for financial difficulty to pay. At the request of the Town Council, the Town Clerk was asked to monitor the number of requests from residents for special payment arrangements for a 30 days period. As of 5/5/2020, 3 special requests have been initiated by residents. Those 3 residents have worked out payment arrangements. The Town Clerk will continue to monitor during the remaining 60 days of this quarterly bill payment and will report back to the Town Council at the June and July 2020 Town Council meetings. Residents’ Concerns: None Announcements: There was a Motion to adjourn the regular meeting by Councilmember Smith at 8:51 p.m., 2nd by Councilmember Green and approved. Respectfully submitted, Donna Alban, Clerk/Treasurer