Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 11, 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 June 11, 2012, at 7:00 P.M. Mayor Utz; Council President Halstad; Council Members Chiavacci, Wack, and Whitson; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf, City Treasurer Ehlers; Chief of Police Spaulding, Director of Public Works Glass, Interim Director of Planning, Zoning, and Development Horn and Director of Recreation and Parks Schroers; and City Attorney Ruff were present. Council Member Frazier and City Treasurer Ehlers were excused from attending. Harvey Cohen, Project Manager of S.S. Papadopulos & Associates presented the Water Source Protection Plan. This project is being funded by MDE Chesapeake Water Supply Program, and the partnering contractor is Chesapeake Environmental Management for the Planning. Mr. Cohen explained that the goals are to assess potential issues with water quality and provide concrete recommendations to meet the City’s needs for Water Source Protection. Elements of the plan are to review and update source water assessment report from 2004 for land use, water quality and potential contaminant sources, and susceptibility. Possible recommendations for sources water protection are public education and outreach, public ordinances, land purchases/ easements, and financial instruments to support efforts. Mr. Cohen will present the draft report for this plan at a future meeting. Donna Davis presented the City of Westminster as a Tree City USA. Ms. Davis explained that the City of Westminster has an active Tree Board, a Tree Ordinance to make tree care activities a line item on the budget, and has an Arbor Day Proclamation and an event every year. Through these and other parameters, the City has received Growth Award status that also shows significant advancement in the growth of the program. Ms. Davis announced that the City of Westminster is the first city in the nation to receive the Sterling award, which is awarded by the National Arbor Day Foundation for cities that achieve growth award status for 10 years in a row. Ms. Davis congratulated the City for their 23 year achievement. Mayor Utz proclaimed July as Park and Recreation Month in the City of Westminster and presented a Mayoral Proclamation to Mr. Schroers. Finally, Mayor Utz presented a Mayoral Proclamation to the members of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ. He declared the weekend of June 23-24, 2012 as Diversity Awareness Weekend. MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Dr. Wack and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of May 14, 2012 were approved. CONSENT CALENDAR: Mr. Chiavacci moved to approve the Consent Calendar, which consisted of April 2012 Departmental Operating Reports and Approval of Ballistic Vest Partnership Grant. Dr. Wack seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR: Mayor Utz thanked City of Westminster staff, citizens, and Main Street businesses for their support to Stan Ruchlewicz’s family after his sudden passing. When visiting Stan’s family at the funeral home, his family expressed their appreciation for all of the comments that were made to the news media. His children will always cherish the wonderful things that were said. Mayor Utz added that knowing how much he represented and did for the City of Westminster and knowing that their father did a lot to make the community what it is today made them feel very important. Mayor Utz thanked the staff members from the City of Westminster who attended the funeral service and visited the funeral home, adding that it was much appreciated. Mayor Utz commented that the celebration for the Special Olympics on June 6th was very nice, including the meal at the Fire House. Mayor Utz shared that there was Baltimore News coverage on Channel 13 for the Memorial Day Parade. The coverage is available on the City’s website for those who would like to see it. Mayor Utz reported that the Main Street Blog is posted with a new logo; the theme is “We are here” and promotes downtown. The purpose of the theme is to create an understanding that the City of Westminster is here for different events, such as the First Thursday event has already begun. Mayor Utz shared that the City has been recently working closely with the Fallfest Committee, hoping to partner with them to provide additional resources for more potential music and new areas. He added that they have also discussed more events that could promote downtown. All of these events have been picked up by the Park and Recreations department and Missy Wilcox, Downtown Marketing Specialist. REPORT FROM THE STANDING COMMITTEES: Mr. Chiavacci remarked on what an asset Stan was and how much he will be missed. He added that he is a downtown business owner and Stan would occasionally come in to visit him. Mr. Chiavacci shared that while having lunch at Birdie’s Café recently, Stan was the topic of conversation. It was a great loss for the City. Mr. Chiavacci then commented that the Special Olympics was a wonderful event, adding that Chief Spaulding did a nice job. He stated that it was nice to bring that event into downtown and have the two academies come with all of their cadets, as well as other attendees, but most importantly the athletes. Mr. Chiavacci commented that it was an honor to host the event and knows that staff put forth the time and effort in making it happen. Finally, Mr. Chiavacci honored the presentation given to the upcoming Recreation and Parks month for July. He shared that there was a large lacrosse tournament during the weekend. There were 4,700 children participating in the tournament in or immediately around the City of Westminster on 28 fields and 8 complexes. The tournament drew approximately 12,000 to 15,000 people to town all day on Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Chiavacci had spoken to a couple of local business owners who commented that it was one of the busiest days that they have had in a while. Mr. Chiavacci added that this impacts the quality of life as well as economic impact. He recognized Mr. Schroers and his staff for their support of the event, as well the County Recreation and Parks Department. BIDS: Chief Spaulding reported that the City of Westminster Police Department has partnered with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and other municipal police agencies in the County to purchase a common police Records Management System (RMS). The new RMS, which is known as the ICIS System, was purchased from Public Safety System, Inc. (PSSI) and is a companion system to the PSSI Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system which is currently used in both the County 911 Center and the City’s Dispatch Center to capture information when processing police calls for service around the County. The Common Council approved the sole source procurement for the ICIS System in January of 2010, primarily due to the need for seamless integration and compatibility with the PSSI CAD system. Chief Spaulding explained that as an extension of the ICIS project, both budget monies and grant funds totaling $25,000 have been allocated to convert the data in the legacy Records Management System for importation into the new ICIS System. The legacy system is very old and there are significant concerns about the ongoing reliability of the system. Should the system go down, police reports going back more than10 years would be lost. Converting the data in the legacy system and importing it into the ICIS System would eliminate the need for the legacy system and greatly enhance the security of the data in that system. Additionally, all of the records in the legacy system would then be available for review by police agencies around the County within the ICIS System. Chief Spaulding consulted with Robert Miller, Manager of Technology Services for the City of Westminster, who agreed that it is logical and in the best interest of the City to award this contract to PSSI. He added that PSSI developed and produced the new ICIS System software, as well as the current CAD system, and they would be in the best position to develop the technical protocols necessary to convert the legacy data for importation into their ICIS RMS; PSSI has unique expertise in converting data for importation into their proprietary system as they have conducted similar work for many other agencies in the past. A third party vendor involved with the ICIS System and the related database, a proprietary system, would likely void the maintenance contract currently in place with PSSI. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if there would be any additional funds needed. Chief Spaulding explained that the price for the service from the vendor have remained consistent. As grant monies became available two years ago, the Police department applied the additional $13,000 needed for the project. Dr. Wack questioned if it is a fixed price or if it could change once the conversion begins should format problems be found. Chief Spaulding replied that it is a fixed rate contract, after having spoken to the vendor about the type and amount of data currently have in the system. The vendor had an extended conversation with Mr. Miller regarding the system and this is a fixed price that it has had for multiple years. Dr. Wack questioned that if the conversion does not go well is the vendor obligated to make the system work. Chief Spaulding replied yes. Mr. Chiavacci pointed out that there is liability clauses included in the contract, which supports the vendor’s obligation to their work. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Dr. Wack and unanimously passed, to award the bid of the contract for RMS Data Conversion. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: There is a significant need for decent, safe and sanitary housing in the City for elderly and disabled persons of low or limited incomes. Enterprise Homes, Inc, a Maryland, not-for-profit corporation, proposes to redevelop and operate a rental housing development comprised of approximately 99 units, known as Locust House, located at 30 Locust Street, Westminster, Maryland 21157. The Department, either directly or through the Administration, may provide some or all of the financing for the Project in order to assist in making it financially feasible. The applicable law, regulations and Departmental requirements necessitate approval of the Project and the Project financing by the City. The Project Financing will be approximately $2,000,000. Ms. Wolf explained that the Locust House Project does not require cash contribution from the City of Westminster. The renovation is a HUD project activity funded by the State. Due to the rules and regulations it is a requirement that the City pass a Resolution of support. Ms. Wolf shared that the Locust House has not been updated or upgraded since its construction, and supports low and moderate income seniors in the community. Ms. Wolf added that the City of Westminster will be able to support this project with the new ramps project. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if there will be any exterior renovations on the Locust House. Ms. Wolf replied that she has not seen any plans yet for this project, as it is still in the preliminary stages, but most of the work will be in the interior sections. No one will be displaced during this project, they will send the tenant out for the day, and when they return to their unit, it will be completed. Mr. Whitson questioned if there is any expansion or any new units being added. Ms. Wolf replied there will not be any new units added to the Locust House. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Whitson and unanimously passed, Resolution 12-01 Support of Locust House Renovations, was approved. NEW BUSINESS: Chief Spaulding explained that he did a survey to get a sense of how other cities handle allowing alcohol at events so that the City could create an alcohol use permit process. He explained that although each city handles it differently, almost all of the jurisdictions permit the consumption and/or sale of alcohol on public property. Some jurisdictions utilize a specific alcohol permitting process, while others approve the use/sale of alcohol as part of an existing permitting process, such as special event or park usage permits. Chief Spaulding explained that there was no single “best practice” identified in the survey; most of the jurisdictions charge a fee for the issuance of an alcohol permit. In some cases, the permit fee included the cost associated with the assignment of City staff to monitor the event. Some jurisdictions include a requirement that the applicant pay for police or private security coverage for their event as part of the permit fee if there will be alcohol present. Nearly all of the jurisdictions surveyed limited the use/sale of alcohol in some manner. Some jurisdictions allow alcohol only in their parks, while others allow it outside their parks as part of larger City-sanctioned events. Most jurisdictions are judicious in the issuance of alcohol permits and several limited permits to only non-profits and City-sanctioned events which bolstered economic development. Chief Spaulding recommended that the City authorize the use/sale of alcohol on public property consistent with a City policy which has been approved by the Mayor and Council. An Alcohol Use Permit would be issued by the City Clerk consistent with the guidance provided in the City policy and would be a separate permit issued in addition to other applicable event permits. A fee would be charged for the issuance of this permit to cover the administrative costs associated with its issuance. Alcohol Use Permits would be limited to (1) non-profit fundraising events and (2) City-sanctioned events which bolster economic development. City staff would not be utilized or involved in the sale or distribution of alcohol. All activities conducted pursuant to a City-issued Alcohol Use Permit would be conducted in a manner consistent with the rules and regulations of the Board of License Commissioners for Carroll County and any license issued by that Board. Alcohol Use Permit applications would be submitted to the Chief of Police and the Director of Recreation and Parks, if the event involved City parks or facilities, for the development of a suitable operation/security plan prior to final consideration of the application by the City Clerk. Alcohol Use Permits should provide clear and mandatory guidance to the licensee, which would include requiring that alcohol may only be consumed/dispensed within a defined area, such as a pavilion, within a fenced area, etc…, requiring the applicant to obtain and provide proof of the appropriate County liquor license as required by the rules and regulations of the Board of License Commissioners for Carroll County; permits may be specific as to the type, amount and manner in which alcohol may be dispensed – based upon the nature of the event (I.E. one drink per patron per trip to the bar, no more that “x” total drinks during the event, only those over 21 permitted in the event area etc…); requiring the applicant to provide on-site staff to check ID’s of all of those consuming alcohol. If the applicant is a vendor/caterer regularly engaged in the sale of alcohol, it may be required that staff engaged in this activity are TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures) certified; the City may prescribe site security requirements of the event – based upon the nature of the event. This could include a requirement for an on-site police or private security presence at the applicant’s expense; the City would require a security deposit if the event is taking place on City property – based upon the nature of the event. The City representatives have the right to withdraw the alcohol permit at any time for violations of the permit. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he would like to try to use this as a way to bring more activity downtown that would be economically beneficial, as well as socially beneficial, making the town more fun and thriving. Mr. Chiavacci was not sure of their policies, but they have managed to create an atmosphere that attracts a lot of folks. Obviously the City wants to mitigate the problems, but does not want to make it so onerous that no one can meet the bar in order to have the event. Mr. Chiavacci inquired about having the Common Council give the final decision if an applicant will receive a permit. Dr. Wack questioned Mr. Chiavacci’s concern. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he wants to make sure that if the Common Council is going to be responsible to make this new policy, then they would take the responsibility, not City staff. Dr. Wack questioned if Mr. Chiavacci would recommend establishing some criteria beforehand or on a case by case basis; Mr. Chiavacci replied beforehand, adding that they may be judicious on who receives the permits and then as time goes on, take a look at the outcome at that point in time. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if at this point in time to get bogged into line by line or have a work session, or form a committee. Dr. Wack questioned Chief Spaulding if during his research municipalities or jurisdictions made a distinction or had anything explicitly addressing state roads. Ms. Wolf as well as Chief Spaulding explained that there is a process in place for this and it has been utilized by the City for events such as the Torch Run. President Halstad stated that if the policy is drafted correctly there should not be a lot of discretion. He questioned if the event holder would be the one to introduce alcohol into that event and who would provide the alcohol. Chief Spaulding replied presumably a non-profit would come forward and say it would like to host an event involving alcohol. He explained the proceeds would be used for charitable, non-profit purposes. The local merchants have a standing license to serve alcohol at catered events, and they are commissioned to do that by simply notifying the liquor board on a monthly basis as to where their catering jobs are and they are permitted to serve on that premises. Chief Spaulding added if it is an outdoor event then they have to define for the liquor board the confines of their space and how that will be segregated so that people would not be able to wander in and out of the event. Dr. Wack questioned if it is their responsibility to not only define, but then defend the perimeter. Chief Spaulding explained that there needs to be reasonable precautions in place, and if people try to defeat those reasonable precautions, then it would probably become a public safety issue and the Police Department would assist with that. President Halstad questioned envisioning this policy as a means to convert existing City events into alcohol events or to create a whole new class of events. Mr. Chiavacci replied that he envisions for a whole new class of events as a way to get more events downtown and more people into downtown. Ms. Wolf announced that the Library will be holding an event the 3rd week of October for the opening of the library on Sundays. This would be a good event to have an alcohol permit so that it can be utilized for the first time and it will be a small event. Mr. Chiavacci suggested making it a goal to have a policy in place in time for this event. Ms. Wolf stated that staff will put together a policy and send it to the Council members. Mayor Utz suggested sending both larger and smaller scale permits so that Council members can see the difference. President Halstad suggested putting together something more concrete. Ms. Wolf agreed, adding that staff will present it in July. President Halstad thanked Chief Spaulding and Ms. Wolf for their work on the alcohol use permitting process. President Halstad requested a motion to cancel the June 25, 2012 meeting of the Mayor and Common Council since several of the City’s staff and officials will be attending the Maryland Municipal League Conference in Ocean City, Maryland that week. Upon motion of Mr. Whitson, seconded by Dr. Wack, the cancellation of the June 25, 2012 meeting of the Mayor and Common Council was approved. Dr. Wack motioned pursuant to Section 10-508-A-7 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland to conduct an executive session at the conclusion of the current meeting to consult counsel to obtain legal advice. Mr. Chiavacci seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. DEPARTMENT REPORT: Mr. Schroers reported on statistics received for Parks and Recreation. After reviewing through all the permits throughout the year and reviewing the events that took place within the parks, an estimated quarter of a million people visited the City’s park structures within the last year. Through computer check-ins at the Family Center, there were over 77,000 check-ins. This is 77,000 visits to downtown not including the amount of guests that come through to use the other amenities offered in the park. Chief Spaulding reported that in the past several weeks there has been an increase in thefts from auto and tampering cases around the City. There have been 21 cases to date since the middle of May in all parts of the City. Chief Spaulding stated that patrols have been increased in these areas as well as information sent out to the public as to how to safeguard their property. Ms. Wolf reported that the Council meeting was being video recorded and will be shown on the public cable channel. Depending upon how this goes, the City may be doing some live streaming so that our meeting will go out live over the cable channels. Ms. Wolf shared that on Thursday, June 21, 2012, the Concert in the Park will be a memorial concert for Stan. Ms. Wolf reported that the City is producing a Cable Channel monthly news magazine about the City, covering a variety of activities. The video will be covering other things such as the porch renovation on City Hall, Solar Bee at the Water Treatment Plant, as well as a whole series of monthly activities. Ms. Wolf referred back to Tree City award, explaining the Tree Commission will be meeting this week regarding the Legacy Tree Program, an activity that has recently begun. Another activity will be the Tree Workshop consisting of over 100 people that will be coming to the Community College. Bartlett Tree Experts will show those who are attending the event how to prune foliage and handle pest issues. This event will be held October 5, 2012 at Carroll Community College. Ms. Wolf reported that the Tree Commission, in conjunction with McDaniel College, developed a Wetlands project at King Park including clean up and stocking the wetland area with plants. The goal now is to get the community involved with maintaining the area. These and other activities are the type that goes onto the application for the Tree City Awards. Ms. Wolf reminded the Council members that the next Mayor and Common Council meeting is on July 9, 2012. ADJOURN: President Halstad adjourned the meeting at 8:25PM. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Visocsky