Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 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 November 12, 2012, at 7:00 P.M. Mayor Utz; Council President Halstad; Council Members Whitson, Chiavacci, Frazier, and Wack; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf, Finance Director Palmer, Chief of Police Spaulding, Director of Public Works Glass, Director of Planning, Zoning, and Development Beyard, Interim Director of Planning, Zoning, and Development Horn, and City Attorney Levan were present. Director of Recreation and Parks Schroers was excused from attending. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Utz proclaimed November 2012 as Home Care and Hospice Month in the City of Westminster and presented a Mayoral Proclamation to Leslie Gee and Jennifer Windesheim from Hospice. Ms. Gee and Ms. Windesheim thanked Mayor Utz for the proclamation. Mayor Utz then proclaimed Municipal Government Works Month. As part of the participation for the Municipal Government Works Month, Mayor Utz shared that the City flies the Municipal flag and visits 4th grade classrooms. MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of October 22, 2012 were approved. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR: Mayor Utz introduced Tammy Palmer as the Finance Director. He shared that Ms. Palmer came from the City of Hampstead. He also welcomed back Tom Beyard, thanking him for his service. REPORTS FROM THE STANDING COMMITTEES: Dr. Wack welcomed Tammy Palmer to the City of Westminster and Mr. Beyard back from his service in the military. Mr. Chiavacci also welcomed Ms. Palmer and Mr. Beyard back, thanking him for his service in the military. President Halstad welcomed Ms. Palmer to the City of Westminster. Mr. Whitson reported that the Festival of Wreaths runs from November 24 to December 1. He encourages everyone, on behalf of the Carroll Arts Council, to attend the Festival of Wreaths. BIDS: Mr. Glass explained that the FY12-13 Water Budget contains funds for Radon removal facilities at the Vo-Tech Well Number 8. This project is divided into phases where the first phase is to construct an access road and the second is construction of treatment facilities. He shared that the construction of the treatment facilities will be by separate bid, expected to begin at the completion of the access road phase. Bids were originally solicited in summer 2012 in conjunction with a County SHA Regional Storm Water project located in close proximity to the Vo-tech Well. Mr. Glass explained that the approach of working closely with the County was to take advantage of and benefit from the grading necessary for both projects. Basically, the County project will provide excess fill material that the City project will utilize resulting in a more economical approach for all involved. Mr. Glass explained that seven bids were received in late October that ranged from $90,906.80 to $154,586.00. The apparent lowest bid was from Kibler Construction Inc. in the amount of $90,906.80. Kibler was also the low bidder for the nearby County project. Mr. Glass recommends that the Mayor and Common Council accept the proposal of Kibler Construction Inc. in the amount of $90,906.80 to construct the access road to the Vo-tech Well as indicated in the scope of work and bid documents. Mr. Frazier questioned if the second lowest bid was anywhere close to the lowest bid. Mr. Glass replied it was around $120,000. Mr. Frazier suggested that when choosing a bid that the lowest bid is not always taken, that the quality of work is also considered. Mr. Glass explained that quality of work is also considered when looking at the bids. He added that the City has had Kibler do work for them before and that they have had good experiences with them. President Halstad commented that when the City has familiarity with a contractor, it helps give us confidence that the bid is legitimate. Upon motion of Dr. Wack, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci, the Council unanimously approved the bid of Kibler Construction. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS: Ms. Wolf explained that when introducing the Ordinance at the last Council meeting she needed to make a correction that the sale of 18 Union Street had not cost the City anything. She shared that there was a $60,000 grant from Maryland Affordable Housing Trust, which is a program for the very low income people and unfortunately they are the least likely people to have a credit score that would enable them to qualify for a house. On the last house, the City had to give back $20,000 that was received for that particular property to the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust so the City could have someone purchase the house. She explained that this cost the City $16,000. Ms. Wolf added that if someone at that income level would have purchased the house, it would have been a wash; it would have not cost the house the City anything. President Halstad explained that Ordinance No. 835 was introduced at the last meeting. Dr. Wack motioned to adopt the Sale of 18 Union Street Ordinance No. 835. Mr. Frazier seconded and the motion unanimously passed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: President Halstad explained that there was a Public Hearing on Monday, November 5, 2012, where a lot of good input was received regarding the Rental Licensing and Inspection Program. He began with Mr. Dan Hoff, chairman of the Task Force, explaining that Mr. Hoff would like to begin making comments on what he had heard on Monday and what he thinks the committee should do at this point. Mr. Hoff explained that, based on the comments received during the public hearing, he would like to get a clear sense of direction as to how the Council would like the Task Force to proceed. First, he shared a comment that was made during the Public Hearing about making the inspection element more complaint driven. Mr. Hoff explained that with regard to such inspections, if they were to take place, more attention would be paid to exterior issues as opposed to interior issues. Mr. Hoff added that there appears to be some openness to potentially having some sort of licensing, a fee related to that, especially if those fees are put towards better enforcement with regard to private properties. He added that some of the public comments involved a need to better enforce existing laws related to property maintenance and nuisances. He commented that this may also address some of the issues that were brought up regarding non-rental properties as well. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he and the Council agree that the complaint driven process is the direction that they would like to go - moving away from mandatory inspections. Mr. Frazier explained that he supports a complaint driven process, however, he also thinks there should be an inspection when a new tenant moves in. Mr. Chiavacci explained that (as a landlord) he does an inspection prior to a tenant moving out due to the security deposit. He is afraid that if it is required for an inspection to be done each time a place turns over, it would become more onerous than what is being proposed because some of the units will turn over frequently. President Halstad questioned each Councilman if they agreed on the complaint driven inspections. All Councilmen agreed. President Halstad then questioned mandatory registration. Mr. Chiavacci replied that he feels there is a need for mandatory registration. He explained that the City is going to need to put some mechanisms in place, including an administrator, to monitor the program. He added that the City will need to generate some revenue to help pay for the program. He feels that the landlords and tenants should be assessed a fee to help pay for the position. President Halstad explained that this would help the City begin to get a better handle on the number and condition of rental units in the City. He added that is not something he heard much opposition to during the hearing. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he heard some support from for mandatory licensing but opposition to mandatory inspections. Mr. Hoff questioned the fee that would be charged for licensing. Mr. Chiavacci replied that he feels that $20 is acceptable. Mr. Chiavacci explained that coming back a year later and realizing the program is not costing the City much money, we could consider lowering the fee. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he is not looking for it to be a positive cash flow situation and he would like to see it cover costs. Mr. Hoff explained that, theoretically, a mandatory licensing/complaint driven inspection program should not be near as labor intensive or burdensome to landlords because you do not have to periodically inspect all properties. President Halstad noted that some comments received were supportive of better enforcement of existing laws and regulations aimed at improved rental housing conditions. President Halstad estimated that 80% of the problems here are caused by 20% of the offenders. Mr. Hoff explained that some people feel that if we have a problem property and they are not doing what they are suppose to be doing in terms of maintenance and upkeep, the City should have the ability to go after them with stricter codes and enforcement measures. Mr. Hoff suggested Counsel should attend upcoming meetings to discuss local codes and potential changes. Mr. Chiavacci agreed that stronger local codes are something that should be considered and suggested that Mr. Beyard be a part of the process as we move forward due to his knowledge and experience. Mr. Hoff agreed that having Mr. Beyard share his knowledge and his input would be beneficial. President Halstad questioned Mr. Hoff about expanding the Task Force. Mr. Hoff replied that he would like to potentially do that, explaining that for certain aspects of the program he believed it would be beneficial. Mr. Hoff further explained that while time is of the essence, the Task Force doesn’t want to rush the process and propose a less than ideal solution. Dr. Wack commented that it sounds like the committee has a very short list of things that are still unresolved. He summarized that it sounds like consensus has been reached on the following: (1) there is a problem; (2) mandatory licensing is needed; and, (3) inspections should be complaint driven. He noted that the only open question may be the idea of better or stronger enforcement of existing laws. Dr. Wack commented that the reason we’re having this conversation is because existing fines and processes addressing bad behavior are not changing the behavior. He added it is not that the City is negligent in terms of existing enforcement efforts; rather, the City has problematic properties with long lists of violations and fines that seek to delay and avoid costly improvements and court imposed fines. He explained that if we’re going to give the Task Force a mandate to develop stronger regulations, it has to be something more aggressive than increased fines and threats of court action. President Halstad discussed actions the City may take for habitually non-compliant properties. He added that if there is a habitual drug house, the State’s Attorney can initiate a seizure proceeding. Chief Spaulding explained that it would require a significant seizure of drugs or manufacturing equipment to initiate the seizure of a property. Mr. Chiavacci suggested that one thing the City could do is hold the license and then fine for each day the license is withheld. He explained that this does two things: (1) it makes landlords register; and (2) it allows the City to say we are withholding the license until the problem is resolved. Ms. Levan explained that the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) is comprehensive in terms of what is required for compliance. She shared that there are things that can be done under existing code to strengthen enforcement. Ms. Levan explained that many offenses can be cited on a daily basis but she would not always recommend doing so because the courts tend to view that as over reaching. She added that when you have particular individuals who are repeat offenders, there is something to be said for treating every day as a separate offense which the City has the legal authority to do under the Code. Once you have a significant number of citations, you can place a lien on a property or send it to tax sale. Ms. Levan explained that any municipal fee, fine or charge can be collected. Dr. Wack questioned if there is a time limit on how long you have to wait to take it to tax sale. Ms. Wolf replied that the City does it once a year and noted that it is very effective in getting people to pay their fines. President Halstad explained that the intent is to encourage property maintenance, not to get them to pay their fines. Ms. Levan replied that if they are fined enough, they tend to start taking better care of their properties. Ms. Levan shared that Landlords have been appearing in court without Counsel. Under the law, Counsel is required to represent the owner (i.e., corporation) in Court. Having Counsel present in Court, which is now beginning to occur on a more frequent basis, becomes much more expensive for owners. President Halstad questioned if increased code enforcement efforts is the kind of thing we want the Task Force to pursue. Dr. Wack replied that we should not expand their role unnecessarily. His thought is to keep them focused on program enforcement and perhaps increased penalties for non-compliance. Mr. Chiavacci explained that he supports the Task Force coming up with a process for registration, defining what constitutes a complaint, and determining what triggers an inspection. President Halstad commented that he feels increased enforcement recommendations are worth pursuing; however, he noted that it may have implications on the timelessness of their response. Mr. Chiavacci supported relaxing the January 1 target date and proposed having the Task Force complete their work before budget time. Dr. Wack explained that he would rather not have to have the committee go through the existing code and try to sort out what is a good idea or a bad idea in terms of amendments. Mr. Hoff suggested reporting back to Council after a couple of meetings with a proposal based on tonight’s discussion. President Halstad commented that expanding the role of the Task Force may be problematic in that no legal representation is present on the group. As an alternative, President Halstad suggested having Ms. Levan start reviewing codes for possible changes while the Task Force remains focused on the licensing effort. Dr. Wack suggested a staff review of tax sale procedures and fines to see if we need to better target those things we want to discourage. Ms. Levan commented that increased fines have a significant impact on behavior. Mr. Frazier suggested removing the exterior inspection requirement and just looking at a requirement for an interior inspection. He commented that he likes what Dr. Wack said as to the need to increase fines on non-compliant landlords. Mayor Utz questioned Ms. Sharon Hooper about the process when Housing staff calls with a complaint about a HUD tenant. Ms. Hooper explained that the Section 8 inspector goes to the address and reviews the complaint. Ms. Hooper further explained that an annual inspection is done, a letter explaining what the tenant is responsible for and what the landlord is responsible for is sent, and the owner/tenant has 30 days to comply. Mr. Chiavacci explained that what brought the City to this point are not tenants coming to the Council to ask them to do anything; rather, this is coming from neighbors who are complaining about rental properties and problem behavior. Mayor Utz questioned Ms. Levan about attaching liens to properties for violations of City codes today. Ms. Levan replied that there are some offenses for which you can go in without a municipal infraction being issued and address the situation. Ms. Levan indicated that the City has options when dealing with an urgent case or health crisis. Ms. Levan explained that she has gone to Circuit Court in certain situations to obtain an order allowing the City to enter property. President Halstad commented that he agrees with Dr. Wack that we should concentrate on the proposed ordinance at hand and focus on the other statutes later. Ms. Wolf explained that several people have mentioned the idea about the City taking over property and putting it into a receivership. She questioned if there was any sentiment from the Council on finding out more about this alternative. Dr. Wack questioned whether or not this option is even available to the Council. Ms. Levan explained that there is a list of jurisdictions that are allowed to acquire properties for urban renewal purposes. She explained that she is not sure if Westminster is on that list. It requires special action by the State Legislature. Mr. Chiavacci suggested the need for a standing committee, once the program is in place, to monitor progress and to serve as advisory board to the Council on rental licensing matters. Ms. Josie O’Neel explained that the City is responsible for making sure that Landlord’s have an MDE license. She explained that this issue needs to be included in the licensing process. Mr. Stedding explained that would be incomplete registration and that the Task Force had addressed this issue specifically in their initial recommendations. Ms. O’Neel questioned where the Task Force stands in terms of a timeline. President Halstad replied that the budget process begins in February. Mr. Hoff explained that he doesn’t think that it would take an extensive amount of time to revise their program recommendations in accord with the Council’s direction. Dr. Wack replied that if the effort were concluded by February 1, the Council would have ample time to adopt and begin implementation prior to the beginning of the budget process. NEW BUSINESS: Ms. Wolf shared that it was discovered during Hurricane Sandy that the phone system was not set up for the hotline. She explained that during the hurricane, City staff needed to communicate by e-mail, telephone and Bob Miller updated the web page accordingly. Ms. Wolf suggested having City staff follow the rules of the County office buildings. She explained that when the County office building is closed they put it on the webpage, do a press release, and have an announcement on televisions. Dr. Wack inquired that if the County bases their decision based on the conditions somewhere else in the County or is it only based on what is happening on Center Street. Ms. Wolf shared that now there is an Emergency Operation Center, which Chief Spaulding attends. Chief Spaulding explained that there could be a circumstance that could just affect the City, not the County such as a fire at 56 West Main Street. He added that major storm systems usually affect everyone. Mr. Cumberland commented that if there is a major fire in downtown Westminster, such as the Fat Cat, then this would cause problems in the downtown area, but if something happens in the County, this would not affect the City. President Halstad questioned if the City could link to the County and then take it on a case by case bases. Chief Spaulding replied that closures in case of inclement weather could tie very close to the County and give guidance to the employees. He commented that we typically have some advance warning that it is going to occur. For those unprecedented unique events the City will do case by case basis. Mayor Utz explained that we will need to have a policy set up in the office to specifically address closures the City of Westminster. Council agreed that this sounded like a good idea. Dr. Wack motioned, pursuant to Section 10-508-A-1 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, to conduct an executive session at the conclusion of the current meeting. Mr. Frazier seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: President and C.E.O. of the Westminster Fire and Hose Company No. 1 Bob Cumberland reported that for the month of October, the department responded to 117 fire calls; 40 in the City, 61 in the County, and 16 Mutual Aids. He shared there is an average of 10 responders per call. He stated for the 2012, the department has 1,244 calls compared to 2011, when they had 1,252. He also reported that EMS ran 402 calls, averaging 13 calls a day. The department’s total for 2012 is 3,979 compared to 2011 at 4,038. He pointed out that the department is down 59 calls from last year. He stated that 170 calls were in the City, 190 calls were in the first due area, and 10 were mutual aid calls. He shared the total fire loss for 2012 was $1,315,000.00. He explained EMS transported 279 patients to Carroll Hospital Center, 3 patients to University of Maryland Shock Trauma, 1 patient to Sinai Hospital, 1 patient to Union Memorial Hospital and patients refused transport 25 times. Mr. Cumberland shared that the Ambulance is still being built. There was a delay due to it being constructed in New Jersey. Mr. Glass reported the City is continuing with their annual road construction. He shared the Diffendahl Lot was recently completed in conjunction with the pavement that the library did. He added that the City is continuing work in the Wakefield Valley area, specifically Fannie’s Meadow. He also shared that BGE is continuing with the roadway restoration from the gas lines on East Green Street. Mr. Beyard reported that he is happy to be back and thanked everyone for their kind words. Ms. Palmer reported that she is happy to be a member of the staff with the City of Westminster. Chief Spaulding reported that Chris Ilyes retired from the department due to a work related injury. He explained that this presented an opportunity for promotions within the agency for a new Lieutenant as well as a Sergeant. He shared that Sergeant Wayne Mann was promoted to the position of Lieutenant and Corporal Steve Launchi was promoted to Sergeant. Chief Spaulding shared that there will be a promotional ceremony in the near future. Mr. Horn reported that staff is still working on Colonial Avenue. On November 14 staff will be doing a field counts in the community. He shared that this will be used to supplement the County’s prior efforts. Mr. Horn commented that staff hopes to have a report for Council in December. Ms. Wolf reported that Darlene Childs has received an Acclaims Award from LGIT for providing a detailed descriptions of claim occurrences and properly providing documentation such as police reports, preliminary photographs, and repair estimates, which allows LGITs claim staff to promptly and efficiently resolve the City’s first party property damage claims. Ms. Wolf shared that Ms. Childs will receive this at their 25th annual meeting. Ms. Wolf also reported that on November 24 is Shop local day, which is a national day, sponsored by American Express. She shared that the Tree Lighting and Santa’s Treat will also be held on November 24. Ms. Wolf asked for everyone to please add this date to their calendar. CITIZEN COMMENTS: President Halstad welcomed Mr. Clingan to the Council meeting. He explained that Mr. Clingan was attending the meeting towards his Boy Scout badge called “Citizenship in the Community.” Glen Spiker property owner of 3787 Sells Mill Road commented on Mr. Frazier’s remark regarding the City accepting the low bid. He commented that he would worry about the low bidder, but he would be more concerned about what appears to be a 30% low bid spread. He added that it seems like contractors hate to leave money on the table and he feels that Kibler construction has left about $30,000 on the table and he would want to know why and if there was something that was missed on the bid. He also shared that the registration program in not voluntary, that it is mandatory. He explained that when Scott Gesnick was the Code Enforcement officer, he was taking landlords to court all of the time because they failed to register. ADJOURN: President Halstad adjourned the meeting at 8:22 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Visocsky