2007 Report of Municipal Affairs

The Charter of the Town of Chestertown states “the Mayor, during the first quarter of each calendar year, shall report to the Council the condition of municipal affairs and make such recommendations as he (she) deems proper for the public good and welfare of the town.”  Herein is said report. 

FINANCIAL.  The audit for the Town of Chestertown for FY 2007 was presented and approved in November 2007.  For the 13th year in a row, the Town received an unqualified audit indicating financial excellence.  This year’s audit was completed by Mayer Hoffman McCann, P. C. of Easton, Maryland.  They were the lowest bidder in the advertised audit bid approved by the Mayor and Council in April of 2007. 

The audit showed the Town to be in excellent financial condition with total net assets of $13,956,870.  This represents an increase of $4,533,451, and is mostly due to the large capitol grant and loan projects nearly completed at the Chestertown Wastewater facility.

During this year the Town reduced the tax rate to $.37.  The Town also reduced the Homestead Property Tax Credit percentage from 10% to 5%.  This credit actually limits the increase in a homeowner’s  property tax bill to 5% in any given year, no matter how much their assessment has increased.

STAFFING.  The Town has 36 permanent employees in four departments.  These are Office (05), Street (09), Utilities (09) and Police (13).  All departments are staffed and operating well.

ELECTED OFFICIALS.  2007 was an election year for the Second and Fourth Wards, but prior to the November election Whaland Clark announced his retirement and a move to the west coast.  Both he and his wife Sue, who was an outstanding elementary school teacher at Garnett Elementary, are sorely missed by our community.

Gibson Anthony was appointed by the Council as an interim replacement for Whaland and was elected by the second ward voters in the fall. Gibson is employed at the Radcliffe Creek School and is well respected around Town for his fine leadership work with the Chestertown Tea Party.

Jim Johnson, who faithfully and ably represented the Fourth Ward for five years, lost a Fourth Ward reelection bid to Marty Stetson, who was sworn in this evening. 

Marty comes to the council with years of experience in the public sector as a retired State Police officer, a former Chief of Police, a County liquor inspector and a perennial Optimist.  We officially welcome Marty and congratulate Marty and Gibson for their election victories.

ACTIVITIES AND ACHEIVEMENTS IN 2007:

• The Chestertown Wastewater Treatment BNR/ENR (Biological Nutrient Removal and Enhanced Nutrient Removal) project was put out for bid and a contract was awarded to Allan A. Myers, LP on April 17, 2006.  The original contract was for $8,087,500.00, of which 55% is being paid by the Maryland Department of the Environment, $482,100 by the EPA and the rest by the Town through State low interest bonds.  During the construction process changeorders have amounted to slightly more than 1% of the original contract amount, due to the efforts of Utilities Director, Bob Sipes.  Because of his attention to detail, design or construction flaws have been discovered before they became serious problems at the new plant. 
  
  The Wastewater Treatment Plant is expected to start up early in 2008, a completion delay of several months attributable to the general contractor’s failure to correct such major items as leaking liners in the aeration basins.
  
  

• Just as the Town is completing its major sewer upgrade, about one year after completing another major water upgrade, the issue of annexation has consumed many hours of the Council’s time.
  
  

  In May of 2007, the Town received an annexation petition from multiple owners of property to the northeast of the Town for 183 acres of land with the potential for 464 housing units and over 50 acres of commercially zoned land.

  In September, the Town received a second annexation request from Kevin Kimble for 331 hundred acres of land with the potential for 725 homes.

  In November, the Town participated in a Charrette (with Kent County and the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy) which took up the subject of the 400+ acre Clark Farms located along Maryland Route 291 (from the former brickyard property to Morgnec Creek).  The Charrette was a community exercise that was open to everyone, and we await the final report from the consultant.

  The current Town sewer capacity is 900,000 gallons per day, and we average around 700,000 gallons per day at present.  We estimate that the infill of the vacant land inside of the Chestertown boundaries will use the remaining 200,000 gallon capacity with none to spare.  Therefore, before any annexation is made, answers to the questions of sewer and water capacities must be reached.

  A more difficult question must be answered and understood before any annexation is made—traffic capacity of Chestertown and State roads.  Chestertown will hopefully be working with the State Highway Administration in 2008 to undertake a road and traffic analysis.

• In 2007 the Town Council completed the legislative process of expanding the existing Historic District.  After all the new structures in the expanded District are rated and inventoried, each property owner will be notified of and educated about their new status as a resident in the Historic District.  At that point, they will become subject to permit review by the Historic District Commission for activities which require a permit

• In 2006 the Maryland National Guard and the State of Maryland began the process of releasing the John Newnam National Guard Armory as surplus property.  Three proposals have made it to the Maryland Department of State Planning Clearinghouse, with the first being sent by Washington College and the last two under requests made to Kent County government to act as a conduit. The State process allows other State agencies first refusal on surplus property, followed by County, Town, finally private requests in that order.
  

  Though the Town has passed on the ownership of the Armory, we have expressed our concerns about the preservation of the building (since it is on the National Register of Historic Places), the abatement of any environmental issues on the site, the saving of a 20 foot waterfront easement for a public walkway, and assurances that the potential owner produce surety bonds guaranteeing compliance with their promises.

  This issue is not decided by the State Clearinghouse.  They merely recommended proposals to the Maryland Board of Public Works, where the ultimate decisions are made.  We know that the Maryland Historical Trust will be placing an historic preservation easement on the structure for any final proposal approved by the Board of Public Works.  The Town has also recommended that the Armory have a public use element in its reuse.

• The Town fountain made a triumphant return to Chestertown this fall, after a complete restoration in Alabama done by Robinson Iron.  Hebe, the goddess at the top of the fountain, has probably never looked better and she looks several hundred years younger with her face and body lift.  Many thanks go out to all those persons involved in the restoration, with special thanks to the Garden Club and Darlene Housely, who traveled to Alabama to approve the final restoration.  Darlene spent countless hours researching how the fountain should be repaired prior to the actual work.

• The Visitors Center was open 361 days last year and had over 11,753 visitors.  This was a decrease over last year of several thousand and is believed to be related to a poor economy.  Many local public agencies utilize the Center for their meetings and it is the home of the Kent County Chamber of Commerce. 

• This year the Town received the posthumous gift from Ginny Gough of street tree funds for Cannon Street ($10,000) and for townwide tree planting ($25,000).  The Chestertown Tree Committee is working with the estate and their representative to come up with ways to utilize this wonderful gift.  One proposal that is being studied is to restore the wetland area on Horsey Lane, while planting indigenous tree species in creating a Remembrance Park.

• The Town and Washington College collaborated on an Urban Greening Grant proposal to the Chesapeake Bay Trust.  A $40,000 grant was awarded to the Town that will, among other things, use GIS location technology to establish the tree canopy of the entire town, so that we can monitor our progress over the future years.  The funds will also help us produce greener development ordinances for urban models.

• Chestertown became the first town on the Eastern Shore to sign the U. S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  We have partnered with Washington College and its Center for the Environment & Society to create an effective plan to reduce our carbon footprint.  This joint project came to the attention of the Town Creek Foundation who supplied a grant to Washington College to hire a full time facilitator to help us create and implement a workable energy plan.
  

• Marge Fallaw selected and administered another great year of Music in the Park concerts. Our continuing thanks go out to her for the donation of her time.

• The MVA mobile unit continues to be a success, parking in the downtown two days a month.
  

• Public information and open government remains a priority with Town meetings being televised on Channel 6.  The Chestertown Homepage continually evolves and includes all the Town Ordinances, the minutes of each month’s meetings, and the calendar for the coming month.  The Town had 2,738,128 hits on its homepage in 2007 and had 275,435 unique visitors.  The Planning Commission minutes were added this year, as well as a highly detailed, zoomable Ward Map.  In the coming year, an entirely new web site design will be unveiled. 

GOALS FOR 2008