Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 26, 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 26, 2012, at 7:00 P.M. Mayor Utz; Council President Halstad; Council Members Whitson, Chiavacci, and Frazier; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf, City Treasurer 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 and Councilman Wack were excused from attending. MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of November 12, 2012 were approved. CONSENT CALENDAR: Mr. Frazier moved to approve the Consent Calendar, which consisted of October 2012 Departmental Operating Reports. Mr. Chiavacci seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR: Mayor Utz thanked City staff and those who were involved in the holiday events during the weekend. He also thanked Lori Graham and her volunteers, sharing that they were also publically thanked by him on Westminster Patch. REPORTS FROM THE STANDING COMMITTEES: Mr. Frazier thanked everyone for the parade and the holiday event. Mr. Chiavacci commented on the parade and complimented Ms. Graham on her efforts. He stated that the Santa’s Treat event was great. He felt the library was a nice place to have it. Mr. Chiavacci reported that he recently had lunch with the Comptroller of the State of Maryland, Peter Franchot, along with former Councilman Pecoraro and the owner of Harry’s Main Street Restaurant after an event that took place at Winters Mill High School. Mr. Chiavacci shared that Mr. Franchot spoke at a financial education class. Mr. Chiavacci commented that it was very interesting to hear what Mr. Franchot had to say. He explained that he has his own views in terms of where State of Maryland is headed, in particular on the financial side of things. Mr. Chiavacci felt that he seemed to be upbeat and positive about Westminster and is aware that the City has been managing its finances well. President Halstad commented to Ms. Graham that the parade was a great event. He complimented Mr. Chiavacci’s meeting with Comptroller Franchot. He commented that the Attorney General has been to the City as well as Howard County Executive Ken Ulman. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS: Ms. Wolf explained that the Historic District Commission asked her to bring forth Ordinance No. 836 for the Creation and Composition of Historic District Commission; Appointment and Term of members; Vacancies, to permit a certain number of members of the Historic District Commission to reside outside the City. She explained that the Historic District Commission has a problem with certain requirements one must have to be on the Historic District Commission other than just being resident of the City. She shared that the Commission has had difficulty filling one of their vacancies that has been vacant for a year now and the Commission is about to lose Dean Camlin because he has purchased a piece of property outside of the City. Ms. Wolf explained that Sherry Hosfeld, owner of Birdie’s Café, has shown interest in being on the Commission, but she resides outside the City. Both of these people have businesses so they are property owners in the City and have used tax credits for their businesses. The Commission has suggested that we should consider not requiring all members to be residents in the City. Ms. Wolf reminded Council that Dean Camlin’s business is located in one of the properties that is registered in the historic register. Ms. Wolf explained that she is bringing forth the Ordinance for the Council’s consideration. Mr. Chiavacci commented that the requirement that a member of the Commission needs to own a property in the City, is good enough in his opinion. He shared that the members have invested interest in terms of what this particular committee is interested in as a residential property owner. He feels that this would be fine; Dean Camlin would not be someone the committee would want to lose and Sherry Hosfeld would be a nice addition to fill the other vacancy. Mr. Chiavacci motioned to introduce Ordinance No. 836. Mr. Frazier seconded and the motion unanimously passed. Ms. Levan explained that Ordinance No. 837, amending Section 29-4 of Code to allow the removal or suspension of certain City officials, assists the City in operating more efficiently and brings City government in line with what is found in other municipalities. Ms. Levan added that when the Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer, then the Department Heads serve at either at the pleasure of the CEO or the governing body itself. She explained that it brings the Ordinance into conformance with the authority the Council believed it already possessed. President Halstad commented that for the longest time it was assumed that the department heads served at the pleasure of the Mayor and Council which technically had not been the case. Mr. Frazier motioned to introduce Ordinance No. 835. Mr. Chiavacci seconded and the motion unanimously passed. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Horn explained staff is recommending the approval of the Public Works Agreement No. A-1080 for the Susquehanna Bank. He shared that they will be constructing a 3600 sq. foot bank building at Route 140 and Englar Road. He explained that with the Council’s approval of the Public Works Agreement, Council will have the assurance that the building will be constructed in accord with the approved site development plan. Mayor Utz inquired if the construction of Susquehanna Bank had been approved by State Highway. Mr. Horn replied that the State Highway Administration had approved the site development plan. He also indicated that the City had previously addressed long-standing safety and access concerns to the site when multiple points of access on Englar Road were consolidated and/or closed during a redesign/redevelopment of the Westminster Shopping Center. Upon motion of Mr. Whitson, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci, the Council unanimously approved the Public Works Agreement A-1080 for Susquehanna Bank. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Mr. Beyard reported that the Rental Licensing Task Force Team has a meeting on December 4 to review their draft final report. He shared that they have met to discuss the various issues that came up when considering this matter on November 12. He commented that hopefully their recommendations will satisfy the Council’s concerns. Chief Spaulding reported that Holiday Crime Prevention Patrol Initiative will begin in early December. He explained that the Westminster Police Department will be partnering with the both the Sheriff’s office and the State Police this year, provide additional patrols in commercial areas on Main Street as well as the 140 business corridor. He shared that after shopping hours the same officers will begin doing DUI enforcement and aggressive driving enforcement. Chief Spaulding explained that the high visibility patrols hopefully will reduce crime in shopping areas during the Christmas holidays. Chief Spaulding then reported that Shop with a Cop holiday event is scheduled for Saturday, December 8. He shared that this event will begin at Walmart at 8 am to do shopping and then move to the Senior Center for a gift wrapping and a holiday party for all the families. Westminster Police Department has 21 deserving kids from the Westminster community. Mr. Horn reported that staff finished the field data collection on Colonial Avenue on November 14. He shared that he spoke to the traffic engineer at Wallace & Montgomery, engineering firm, on November 26. The engineer is crunching the numbers that the City has provided for them and will be comparing those to machine counts that the County has taken. The traffic engineer expects to have a report in the middle of December. Mr. Horn asked if the engineer would be available to come to a meeting in January to make a presentation, talk about some of the observations and the things to consider. He shared that over 70 % of the traffic seen is “pass through” traffic. Ms. Wolf reported that Mayor Utz will be attending the settlement on 18 Union Street on Friday, November 30. She explained that she met with the Community Development Block Grant representatives program and Habitat for Humanity to discuss the remaining five lots. Ms. Wolf shared that the City may not be able to obtain money coming from the Attorney General Office. She shared that there was $14,000,000 to be spread among all of the jurisdictions. She commented that there were approximately 50 letters of commitment that were received. Ms. Wolf feels that the City could get the Community Block Grant money in the Spring and is going to have Habitat for Humanity attend a January meeting to explain to Council how Habitat works and how this project would unfold if the City applies for it. Ms. Wolf shared that the City did get word that the Community Legacy Grant was approved for $50,000 for the City’s Façade renovation program. However the money will not be available to the City until March, which means that at least one business will not be able to receive the money because he is unable to wait that long to complete the work. She shared that the City applied for $150,000, but did not receive as much as they had hoped. The City did receive the funding from the Community Block Grant program for the handicap ramps, and the agreement will be received the week of November 26, which will be on the next Agenda for approval. She added that the City received $330,000. In Dr. Wack’s absence, Ms. Wolf shared that we have met with CTC for the Broadband project and have laid out a time table that’s starts with interviewing people next week. She explained that all of the share holders will be interviewed. She expects to do an analysis of data and to have a report prepared by March. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Ms. Lori Graham of 118 Pennsylvania Avenue reported that with the holidays coming, there are 1,036 families that have applied for help through her temporary job. She asked that everyone please keep the elderly and the less fortunate in mind during the holidays. Ms. Graham thanked the Council and the Mayor for the opportunity to do the parade. She also thanked Mayor Utz, while hearing negative feedback about staff during recent staff meetings, for standing by her. She appreciated his support. ADJOURN: President Halstad adjourned the meeting at 7:20 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Visocsky