Mayor & Common Council Meetings

CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 27, 2014 QUORUM: A meeting of the Mayor and Common Council was held in John Street Quarters at 28 John Street, Westminster, Maryland on the evening of January 27, 2014, at 7:00 P.M. Mayor Utz; Council President Pro Tempore Albert; Council Members Chiavacci, Frazier and Whitson; City Administrator and Acting City Clerk Wolf, Chief of Police Spaulding, Director of Public Works Glass, Director of Recreation and Parks Gruber, City Treasurer Palmer, and City Attorney Levan were present. Director of Community Planning and Development Horn and Council President Wack were excused from attending the meeting. MINUTES: Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier and unanimously passed, the minutes of the Council meeting of January 13, 2014, were approved with recommended amendments. CONSENT CALENDAR Upon motion of Mr. Frazier and seconded by Mr. Chiavacci, the Consent Calendar, consisting of the December 2013 Departmental Operating Reports and Deed of Easement with Carroll County Ag Center, was approved unanimously. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Utz reported that he attended the Downtown Retailers and Restaurants meeting on January 24. He shared that there was discussion on the fall and winter events as well as what to expect for the events in the City in the coming months. Mayor Utz felt this was a great meeting with a lot of interaction between the businesses. Mayor Utz also reported that he attended a Board of Directors meeting with MML. He shared that there was discussion regarding giving Highway User Funds back to municipalities as well as a onetime grant of additional funds. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION Mr. Frazier commented that he received the fiber report from Dr. Wack. He expressed his support for the project and its potential for positive economic impacts. Mr. Chiavacci agreed with Mr. Frazier. He added that the Carroll County Economic Development Office will provide local funds toward a fiber project there because they feel it will result in increased business investments. Mr. Chiavacci also thanked Mayor Utz for representing the City at the Commissioners meeting in November. He complimented Mayor Utz for a job well done. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Glass summarized that Public Works Department would like to purchase additional leak detection equipment in an effort to minimize the current unaccounted for water problem. The wireless equipment will work in conjunction with the department’s current system. The purchase amount is $25,924.00 from L/B Water Service. Mr. Glass commented that the City’s unaccounted for water is high and that purchasing this equipment is an effort to improve system efficiency. Mr. Frazier questioned the percentage of unaccounted water. Mr. Glass replied that the water loss is twenty-four percent (24%). Mr. Chiavacci questioned if the system to be purchased includes robots. Mr. Glass replied that the purchase includes pods. He explained that the pods will retain information, collect data and will to move to different locations as often as necessary. Mr. Whitson questioned how many pods the City will be purchasing and how many the City currently has. Mr. Glass replied that 20 pods will be purchased. He noted that the City currently has manual listening devices. Mr. Frazier questioned if it was normal to lose the amount of water that has been lost. Mr. Glass replied that ten percent (10%) is acceptable but twenty-four percent (24%) is higher than it should be. Ms. Wolf added that the City has been experiencing unusually high levels of system-wide water loss for many years. Mr. Chiavacci questioned if the new purchase will also help with the sewer system. Mr. Glass replied that this purchase is part of a separate project called inflow infiltration that will benefit the water system exclusively, unless there happened to be a connection between a water leak and a sewer line. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Whitson, approval of Purchase of Water Loss Equipment was approved unanimously. Ms. Wolf read a memo from Mr. Horn stating that Habitat for Humanity Carroll County requested a waiver of benefit assessment fees pursuant to their effort to construct affordable townhomes on Union Street. The five new townhomes that will be constructed will be sold to income-qualified applicants. Approval of the requested waiver will result in a total reduction in cost for the project of $72,900.00, thereby allowing the townhomes to be more affordably priced. Ms. Wolf reminded the Mayor and Council that an Ordinance was previously passed by Carroll County and the City Council supporting the waiver of benefit assessment fees for the purpose of making the units more affordable. Mr. Frazier inquired that since benefit assessment fees are used for the water system, who would be responsible for the waived portion of the fees? Ms. Wolf replied that the CDBG funds were used for the infrastructure. Mr. Glass noted that benefit assessment goes for the benefit of the system. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier, the Union Crossing Waiver of Benefit Assessment Fees – Habitat for Humanity was unanimously approved. Finally, Ms. Wolf summarized that Greenvale Mews, Inc., and the City have entered into Public Works Agreement A-1084 to address the proper planning and construction of water and sanitary sewerage facilities necessary to serve the condominiums. Mr. Chiavacci inquired as to the purpose of the agreement since the project is not physically located within the corporate limits of the City. Mr. Glass replied that the agreement is needed to address water and sewer lines, which the City will own and maintain. He added that all required infrastructure improvements will be included in the agreement in accord with standard City procedures. Upon motion of Mr. Chiavacci, seconded by Mr. Frazier, approval of Greenvale Mews (Phase II) Public Works Agreement A-1084 was approved unanimously. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS Ms. Gruber reported that on January 17 she attended an MML Recreation Board meeting where she was asked to serve as Secretary. She shared that she was updated on many topics that are being proposed by MML, and she thanked the Council for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Ms. Gruber then reported that the Downtown Retailers and Restaurants group agreed to meet quarterly. Ms. Gruber also reminded Mayor and Council that the Celtic Canter is on March 15. She shared that there are 200 participants registered as of January 27, and that she expects to exceed 300 by March 15. Ms. Gruber reported that her department has sent out vendor applications for Flower and Jazz festival and that 20 applications have been received thus far. Finally, Ms. Gruber noted the following: (1) staff has updated newspaper advertisements for upcoming events; (2) staff is working on staff evaluations and the 2015 budget; and, (3) phase three of Active Net implementation is to be installed so they may start selling pool passes which will be available in February. Mr. Glass reported that the next Mayor and Common Council meeting will be in City Hall in the Council Chambers. The window restoration is almost completed. Ms. Palmer reported that the Finance Department is in the process of an internal audit of the water system due to the ongoing water loss issue. She shared that GIS will begin to map where water meters are located so that her department may detect if there is a property currently being served that does not have a water meter. Ms. Palmer also reported that the Finance Department will conduct an audit of the payroll system to improve efficiency. Finally she reported that the Finance Department is now working on the budget for FY2015. Chief Spaulding reported that, in light of the recent Mall shooting in Columbia, the Westminster Police Department is working with Mike Fisher, a former ranking official in the State Police and the new Town Mall security officer, in providing training for their staff and tenants. Chief Spaulding shared that the Westminster Police Department has increased their presence in and around the Town Mall. He then reported that the Westminster Police Department will undergo second segment training. Chief Spaulding explains that the discussion for this training began at the Carroll County Chief’s meeting in July. All agencies are learning same set of tactics. The first segment was held in November. This will be the same training that State Police provides to all of their staff. Ms. Wolf thanked Council for their approval of additional funding for a full time contractual position in GIS. She remarked what a wonderful job Frank Middleton is doing. Ms. Wolf reported that she distributed the Municipal Band budget. She also reported that she and staff saw a preview of the new website on January 24 and are working on updating the content toward a launch date in April. Ms Wolf noted that the City will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of its founding this year. She shared that a committee will be set up to assist the City in getting a variety of celebratory activities accomplished. She noted the welcome assistance of the Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society who are celebrating their own landmark anniversaries of 90 years and 75 years, respectively. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mike Cassell, 3067 Crown Circle, Manchester, Maryland, discussed the leaked Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. He shared that President Obama is addressing this issue on January 28. ADJOURNMENT President Pro Tempore Albert adjourned the meeting at 7:43 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Shannon Visocsky