Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 12, 2012 QUORUM: A meeting of the Mayor and Common Council was held in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1838 Emerald Hill Lane, Westminster, Maryland, on the evening of March 12, 2012, at 7:00 P.M. Council President Halstad; Council Members Chiavacci, Frazier, Wack and Whitson; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf; City Treasurer Ehlers; Deputy Chief of Police Stevens; Interim Director of Planning, Zoning, and Development Horn; Director of Recreation and Parks Schroers; and City Attorney Levan were present. Mayor Utz and Director of Public Works Glass were excused from attending. MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Whitson, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of February 27, 2012 were approved. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES: Mr. Frazier updated the Council on organic weed control chemical prices. He stated that the price difference in the initial quote was approximately 15 times more than the cost of traditional chemicals. Mr. Halstad asked how much of a price difference there was between household organic products and traditional chemicals. Mr. Frazier answered that the cost is approximately three to four times more expensive. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Ehlers discussed the renewal of the lease for 56 West Main Street. He said that the City met with the property management company to create an agreement with a three year term and the possibility to extend it to five or more years. Over those initial three years, the City will save approximately $17,000 compared to the current lease. Mr. Ehlers explained that the current lease expired in February, and there is funding available in FY2012 to pay for the lease from April through June and FY2013 will contain funds for August 2012 through July 2013 due to making lease payments in advance. Mr. Chiavacci complimented Mr. Ehlers and Mr. Horn on negotiating the overall terms, including the flexibility for a longer lease. Mr. Frazier asked if the operating expenses for which the landlord would pay included general wear and tear on the building. Mr. Ehlers responded yes. Dr. Wack asked if the projected expense numbers included were rounded. Mr. Ehlers responded yes due to the program used. Mr. Whitson asked if the terms of the new lease included any additional costs to the City that were not contained in the current lease. Mr. Ehlers responded that the same costs are included in the new lease. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci and seconded by Mr. Frazier, the motion to approve the Lease for 56 West Main Street was approved unanimously. Chief Spaulding explained that the Red Light Camera contract currently in place since 2009 was up for renewal until 2013 with LaserCraft and includes equipment and processing costs. Mr. Chiavacci asked about the financials involved regarding revenue generated. Chief Spaulding replied that the projected net revenue for FY2012 was approximately $94,000. The second annual review of the program will take place in the near future, and he will provide an update to the Common Council as soon as it is available. Mr. Chiavacci asked about the effectiveness of the system in reducing the number of accidents. Chief Spaulding replied that in the first year there has been a 19% reduction at the Route 140 and Malcolm Drive intersection and a 60% reduction at the Nursery Road and Route 97 intersection. Since the program’s inception, over 6,000 tickets have been issued. Dr. Wack pointed out that there will always be a minimum number of citations issued to drivers who are visiting and are not as familiar with the intersections as local residents. Mr. Halstad asked Chief Spaulding if signage was posted indicating the camera presence. Chief Spaulding answered yes. Mr. Frazier asked if an officer reviews each citation before it is issued to the driver and if that cost was included in the net revenue generated. Chief Spaulding answered that the projected $94,000 did not include time spent by staff reviewing the citations, and that there is a finite time to do the review before the citations are issued. Mr. Frazier questioned the true effectiveness on young drivers if the penalty was just a fine and no points were issued or insurance cost increase. Chief Spaulding answered that the decline in the number of collisions shows that the program has an overall positive effect on the community. Mr. Chiavacci added that most citations would not be issued if an officer was stationed at those intersections because one person cannot cite as many violations as an automated camera. Mr. Halstad asked why the lease was only renewing for one year. Chief Spaulding replied that the terms of the lease are decided upon by LaserCraft, the company that bought American Traffic Solutions and that company will only do a one year agreement. Dr. Wack motioned to approve the renewal agreement and Mr. Chiavacci seconded. Mr. Whitson and Mr. Frazier opposed the approval. Mr. Halstad voted in favor of the agreement and the motion passed with a 3-2 vote. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: President and C.E.O. of the Westminster Fire and Hose Company No. Bob Cumberland thanked the Common Council for approving the Red Light Cameral renewal because it has reduced the number of EMS calls to those intersections. He reported the loss of a house on Sycamore Street during a two-alarm fire. He also reported on a Hazmat situation at the Westminster Post Office which was found to be harmless. Finally, Mr. Cumberland reported that there were 96 fire calls for February, with 45 in the City and 39 in the County. There were 268 total calls year-to-date in 2011 and 202 calls so far in 2012, with a dollar loss of $10,000 not including the house on Sycamore Street. Dr. Wack asked if Mr. Cumberland had any news on the mail carrier that was struck while crossing the road in a pedestrian crosswalk. Mr. Cumberland responded that the Fire Department does not receive follow-up information once a patient is transported to the hospital. Dr. Wack asked Chief Spaulding if the driver in that incident had been charged. Chief Spaulding responded that the driver was charged. Ron Schroers reminded the Common Council about the 4 th Annual Corbit’s Charge Ball on March 31st and the Annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 7th. He thanked WestminsterPatch.com for the reader poll contest on the best local gym, and also thanked anyone who voted for the Westminster Family Center. Mr. Ehlers reported that the FY2013 Budget is ready to go before the Finance Committee. He also announced that the City’s new VoIP phone system will go into service on March 13th and the delay has been due to Verizon’s reluctance to cooperate with the City in the phone line transfers. Chief Spaulding reported that the uniformed officer presence on Main Street has not resulted in any significant arrests, but the police department is working with Main Street bars at closing time to check IDs during the upcoming holiday weekend. He stated that there will be an increase in police presence on Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when the bars close. Mr. Horn reported that the Planning and Zoning Commission met and reviewed upcoming projects, such as the redevelopment of the McDaniel College stadium. Mr. Chiavacci asked which company won the construction bid for the project. Mr. Horn answered that he did not have that information on hand. Ms. Wolf reported that she, Mayor Utz and Mr. Frazier attended the most recent Maryland Municipal League (MML) Carroll County chapter meeting, at which the City submitted its Banner City application for the third year. She also announced that the chapter will be selling Longaberger Basket raffle tickets to sponsor the 2012 MML Scholarship Program. She stated that Westminster has a portion of those tickets to sell during March for the drawings in April and they will be available for purchase from the Mayor and Council members, and at 56 West Main Street, City Hall, the Family Center and the Westminster Police Department. Ms. Wolf also reported on the recent Downtown Business Roundtable meeting at the John Street Quarters. She stated that the City is developing a new branding design and has sent it out for review. The upcoming year’s list of activities was also discussed and approved by everyone attending. The upcoming activities include a Downtown Westminster Restaurant Week from April 21st – April 28th; activities scheduled the first Thursday of each month, during which Downtown businesses will be open to visitors attending events happening Downtown; and an Art Business Walk on Main Street. Finally, Ms. Wolf announced that the City is recruiting homes for the 2012 Holiday House Tour, which will include the original City limits at the Historic East End as created by William Winchester. Mr. Halstad reported that he met with Ms. Levan regarding the new loitering law. He stated that Chapter 106 of the current City Code covers a lot, but the language is antiquated and that could be problematic. He said that the effort will be to clean up the current code and not rewrite it entirely. He asked Ms. Levan when the new law was expected to be completed. Ms. Levan answered that the goal was to have the complete wording to bring before the Common Council by the end of March. Mr. Chiavacci asked if the Common Council members could view the new law prior to March 23rd. Ms. Levan stated that she would send it to the Mayor and Council members as soon as possible. CITIZEN COMMENTS: George Clift, 146 Pennsylvania Avenue, expressed his concerns regarding his neighbor’s property at 148 Pennsylvania Avenue. He stated that there are parties every weekend where college students trespass, litter and publically urinate on his property, and he also believes that underage drinking takes place at the parties. He requested the Westminster Police Department respond and take permanent action against the issue. He added that he counted at least seven City Code violations by the people inside the home during the parties. Mr. Chiavacci asked if Mr. Clift saw the McDaniel College Department of Campus Safety (DoCS) also respond to the complaints. Mr. Clift stated that DoCS sometimes responds and will also contact Westminster Police or vice versa. He also stated that the issue was brought up with the Westminster Police and McDaniel College about 18 months ago, but has been ongoing with no resolution. Mr. Chiavacci responded that he thought that the issue was settled during that meeting, as he has not heard any complaints since. Mr. Clift added that he has also met with the owner of that property, but has not had any resolution. Tina McAulay, 9 Monroe Street, voiced her concerns regarding 148 Pennsylvania Avenue and also 2 and 4 Hersh Avenue. She stated that there are multiple City Code violations and she has to constantly call Westminster Police Department to respond to complaints. Ms. McAulay is concerned for her young daughter and the children of the neighborhood who are affected by the actions of the college students. She asked that officers be consistent when responding to the area and patrol Winters Street behind Dutterer’s Park as well. Kathy Gesell, 9 Monroe Street, spoke on behalf of herself and her elderly neighbor at 7 Monroe Street. She showed photos to the Common Council that showed the litter left by the college students on her and her neighbor’s properties, which included glass beer bottles. She stated that her neighbor put cinder blocks at the edge of her yard to keep the party-goers from driving on her property due to the lack of space behind the houses. Ms. Gesell also witnessed young male trespassers hiding in between the houses when the Westminster Police Department came to the problem houses. She expressed concern for herself and her neighbor who might look out the window and see people standing outside the window. Ms. Gesell explained that when too many cars are parked in the alley, it blocks the way for residents and emergency vehicles that may need access to that alley. Dr. Wack asked Chief Spaulding if when a Westminster police officer responds, a DoCS officer also responds; he added the question of whether DoCS officers could respond to locations off campus. Chief Spaulding responded that DoCS invokes their own rules and sometimes respond on their own after hearing the radio traffic in order to help identify the students who may not have identification on them. Other times, DoCS officers are already at the location and call for Westminster police to respond. He stated that there was a meeting two months ago regarding 4 Hersh Avenue, during which several college administrators were present to explain the consequences of their actions to the students involved. Chief Spaulding explained that typically these meetings have a calming effect and stop the problems for some time. Dr. Wack asked if inviting the local residents to the meetings might help as well. Mr. Chiavacci worried about retaliation toward specific residents and advised against inviting local residents. Ms. Gesell suggested issuing fines for having to respond to a specific location more than once. Mr. Halstad answered that the students do have something to lose if they are disciplined academically. Chief Spaulding clarified that the responding officers take action based on what they see at the time that they respond to the property. The locations of 2 and 4 Hersh Avenue are works in progress toward permanent resolution. Mr. Whitson asked Chief Spaulding at what time could a person be taken to jail for their actions. Chief Spaulding responded that certain major offenses would warrant confinement, but not public intoxication. Mr. Halstad stated that the Common Council and Westminster Police Department will take the issue seriously and work toward a resolution just as they are with the issue of vagrancy on Main Street. He sees it as a good opportunity for the City to step up further and the College has a lot to bring to the conversation as well because of the students’ academic and athletic careers. Lee Barnes, 140 Pennsylvania Avenue, commented on a recent article in the Washington Post in which college city communities are reaching out to the colleges for help in dealing with problems with students. He suggested that Westminster get resources from McDaniel to resolve the issues with the problematic students. He suggested being proactive in a resolution and not waiting for a problem. Mr. Chiavacci stated again that he thought the issue had been resolved 18 months ago during the meeting with the College. He said that clearly the City and the College have work to do. Mr. Halstad added that although the problem seems to fluctuate in severity, the City will take the problem seriously and work toward a resolution. Mr. Cumberland commented that he also sees problems with traffic in those areas, and that landlords need to be involved so that they know what is going on at their properties. Mr. Clift added that the Code violations have been ongoing and there are livability and sanitary issues at those properties. Mr. Halstad requested Ms. Wolf involve the Code Enforcement Officer in responding specifically to those complaints. Mr. Chiavacci asked Mr. Cumberland if the State fire marshal could do inspections of properties for fire code violations. Mr. Cumberland responded that the local Code enforcement officer has to report issues to the fire marshal for an inspection. Mr. Chiavacci asked Mr. Cumberland to contact the State fire marshal to get involved in resolving these issues. Lori Graham, 118 Pennsylvania Avenue, also voiced concern regarding Winters Street and the problems there near Dutterer’s Park. She then reminded the Common Council about the Rock Ball on March 24th to benefit the children of Greater Westminster, an event sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Westminster. ADJOURN: President Halstad adjourned the meeting at 8:28 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Samantha H. Parthree