Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 25, 2013 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 25, 2013, at 7:00 P.M. Mayor Utz; Council President Wack; Council Members Albert, Chiavacci, Frazier and Whitson; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf, Chief of Police Spaulding, Director of Recreation and Parks Gruber, Director of Public Works Glass, City Treasurer Palmer, Director of Community Planning and Development Horn, and City Attorney Levan were present. MINUTES Upon motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of November 11, 2013, were approved with recommended amendments. PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Utz conducted a public hearing on Ordinance No. 848 – Restricted Industrial (IR) Zoning District. Mr. Horn informed the Mayor and Common Council that on October 28, 2013, Ordinance No. 848 was introduced during the Council meeting. He summarized that the Planning Commission and City Staff found that the allowance of professional and business offices in the Restricted Industrial (IR) zone is consistent with, and supportive of, the primary uses currently allowed to locate within that zone. Approval of Ordinance No. 848 will allow professional and business offices to locate on property zoned Restricted Industrial without having to go through the expensive and time consuming special exception process conducted before the Board of Zoning Appeals. With no additional comments or questions from the Common Council and the public, Mayor Utz closed the public hearing. CONSENT CALENDAR Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci and seconded by Mr. Frazier, the Consent Calendar consisting of the October Departmental Operating Reports was approved unanimously. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Utz reported that on November 22 he attended the Carroll Biz Challenge. He informed Council that he and Ms. Wolf are attempting to contact participants so that they can set up a meeting to discuss their ideas to benefit Main Street businesses. Mayor Utz shared that City Staff is working to make the holiday season special this year with the events that will be taking place for City of Westminster and the downtown businesses. Mayor Utz also reported that he presented a service award to Lieutenant Bassler celebrating his 30 years of service with Westminster Police Department and that Lieutenant Bassler will be retiring from the Police Department. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION Mr. Whitson commented that East Middle school did a wonderful job on the Veteran’s Day Ceremony that he attended on November 11. Mr. Chiavacci commented on the job well done on Christmas decorations that were in the Council Chambers. Finally, President Wack reported that the City had received the audit reports and congratulated Ms. Palmer, Ms. Wolf, current City staff and former City staff on an error free audit. BIDS Mr. Glass summarized that the current contract for the purchase of uniforms had expired and the Public Works Department had opted not to renew the existing contract and to further investigate the service providers that were available. Of the five companies that were interviewed, Aramark Uniform Services provided the most economical overall pricing for all Public Works sub-departments. The proposal offered benefits of an existing contract that had been recently secured with the Maryland State Police. As a result of the summarized weekly base pricing of Aramark $396.86, Mr. Glass recommended that Council approve the contract with Aramark Uniform Services. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if Lord Baltimore was a local company. Mr. Glass replied that all companies that were listed were local to Baltimore. Mr. Whitson questioned the amount of uniforms that were needed. Mr. Glass replied approximately sixty-five. Mr. Chiavacci inquired if the amount that was provided was monthly. Mr. Glass replied that it was a weekly base price for all departments. Upon motion of Ms. Albert, seconded by Mr. Frazier, the contract with Aramark Uniform Services was approved unanimously. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS President Wack summarized and requested a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 848 – Restricted Industrial (IR) Zoning District. Upon motion of Mr. Frazier, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci, adoption of Ordinance No. 848- Restricted Industrial (IR) Zoning District was approved unanimously. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Horn summarized that ARC of Carroll County proposes to construct a parking lot and culvert that will access the new Meadow Branch Road. The property upon which the parking lot is to be constructed is owned by Carroll County. The parking lot will be roughly 28,560 square feet in size and will provide overflow parking for the bus traffic serving ARC patrons. The parking lot surface will be crush and run. The driveway apron, fronting on Meadow Branch Road, will be paved. Site distances along Meadow Branch Road were reviewed and approved as adequate for bus traffic. Mr. Horn recommended to Mayor and Council approval of PWA A-1083- ARC of Carroll County- Parking Lot and Culvert. Mr. Frazier inquired if crush and run for purposes of the rain tax was considered a hard surface. Mr. Horn replied that crush and run is defined as an impervious surface. Mr. Glass confirmed this to be the case. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if the City maintains the culvert. Mr. Glass replied that the culvert already exists and that the City will continue to maintain it. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier, approval of PWA No. A-1083: ARC of Carroll County – Parking Lot and Culvert was approved unanimously. Ms. Wolf summarized a memo from Mr. Miller that the revised Proposal to Perform Fiber Infrastructure Engineering, Construction Oversight, and Quality Assurance including Fairway Drive area near Carroll Lutheran Village and a fiber loop in the Airport area to provide a failover path. Ms. Wolf recommended approval of the amendment to the contract to add $40,000, totaling $132,000 of the proposal and additional appropriation of $92,000.00 for engineering to be funded with Benefit Assessment Funds. Dr. Wack added that the benefit of the City moving forward with this project is have stimulated a lot of thought in other areas and the County is beginning to move on with some of their ideas. Dr. Wack, Ms. Wolf and Mr. Miller have spoken to CTC about the variety of service providers who are ready to be a part of this project. Upon motion of Ms. Albert, seconded by Mr. Chiavacci, Revised Proposal to Perform Fiber Infrastructure Engineering, Construction Oversight, and Quality Assurance from CTC was approved unanimously. Ms. Wolf informed Mayor and Council that on September 23, the contract for the replacement of the Skate Park was approved during the meeting. The final contract included additional mobilization and shipping costs for a total of $327,983. After visiting the site and working with the advisory group, the company is offering to complete the skate park in one installation for $295,000. Staff recommends that Council approve an amendment to the Skate Park Contract specifying a one year completion at a cost of $295,000 and to approve the transfer of $200,000 CIP Reserve funds into the general fund expenditure budget. Council unanimously approved the change to the Skate Park Ramp Project and the CIP Budget Adjustment. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS Mr. Glass reported that the City is continuing to work on the roadway paving contract on Long Valley Road. Work also continues on the window and roof work at the Armory, but weather conditions have delayed completing these projects. Ms. Gruber reported that on November 16, City held a memorial dedication for Terri Burke at the Wakefield Valley Community Trail and thanked President Wack for handing out medals to the Fun Run participants. She also reported that on November 18, Family Fitness Center went live with Active Net. Finally, Ms. Gruber shared that City Staff efforts are underway on the Miracle on Main and Holiday Electric parade preparations. She also shared that the City has added some activities for the Starlight Shopping event. Ms. Palmer reported that the Finance team has been working on making changes to the account system for the cashiering implementation and expect to make most of the changes to the system over the Thanksgiving holiday. Ms. Palmer shared that first week in December the Finance department will have the implementation manager on site to make final changes. Ms. Palmer also reported that the Finance Department will have preliminary budget numbers by end of January and will start meeting with staff to work on the budget. Chief Spaulding reported that he had received a voicemail message from Mr. Ross McLauren who is the managing partner of HLI Logistics that is responsible for moving the transformer. It is to be redirected to Adamstown by railroad. Mr. Horn reported that Chris Ilyes was the chosen candidate for City’s Code Inspector, replacing Trevor Hess. Ms. Levan added that Mr. Hess has continued to come back for cases that he had been working on. She also commented that after meeting with Mr. Ilyes, that she feels he is a good addition to staff. Ms. Wolf reported that the water will be shut off November 29 at 56 West Main Street due to a water leak. Ms. Wolf also shared that Baltimore City is considering expanding fiber to various locations as well according to an article that she read in the Baltimore Sun. Ms. Wolf reminded Mayor and Council that the next Council meeting on December 9 will be held at John Street Quarters where the meeting will be televised and charity checks from Fallfest and parade awards will be given out. Ms. Wolf inquired if Mayor and Council would like to hold a Council meeting on December 23. Council unanimously agreed to not have a meeting on December 23. CITIZEN COMMENTS Ken Mercer, 382 Choice Court, inquired if Mayor and Council could share the names of providers who have expressed interest in the fiber infrastructure project and if the providers will be bidding on Carroll Lutheran and Airpark as one entity or two separate entities. President Wack replied that at this time he is unable to share who the providers are. The next step will be a formal RFP process. ADJOURNMENT President Wack adjourned the meeting at 7:43 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Visocsky