Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., W. Whaland Clark, Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Joan Merryman, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the previous meeting and executive session of September 5, 2000. Mr. Kirby moved that the minutes be accepted as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held on Tuesday, September 5, 2000 at 8:15 p.m. pursuant to Sec. 10-508 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The entire Mayor and Council was present and voted unanimously to go into executive session. The meeting was called to discuss a legal matter. The action taken by the Mayor and Council was by a vote of 4 in favor, Mr. Kirby abstaining. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll said that Kent County High School has requested a permit for a Homecoming Parade on Saturday, September 30, 2000 at 10 a.m. The parade will start at Kent Street by the Church and go down to Park Row. He said the parade will involve some traffic control and police assistance at street crossings. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the permit be granted as requested, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said several people from Water Street were present. He said he had just distributed to the Council a report from the Police Department on speed enforcement from August 11 to September 17, 2000. The report includes time spent on enforcement, warnings issued, citations issued, and results of a speed enforcement test. He said the Town has asked other enforcement agencies to assist with this enforcement and it was an ongoing problem. Mayor Bailey said the amount of truck traffic at night going through the Town has increased dramatically. She said they seem to be through trucks which may be avoiding Rt. 301. She said she has asked that signs be posted at intersections along Washington Avenue and Maple Avenue.

Mary Jean Hudson said new 25 mph signs are up on the bridge and just before Queen Street, but that has not made an impact on the speeding traffic. She said the question was when was a policeman going to be put on Water Street to write tickets for the speeding trucks of all sizes. She said Ms. Wickes has offered the use of her driveway. She said between 10 a.m. and noon and 2 and 4 p.m. there was constant truck traffic.

Mr. Ingersoll said he had discussed with Ms. Hudson other towns, in Delaware, where speeding enforcement was intense. He said in Delaware all of that revenue goes to the towns where all here the revenues go to the State. He stated that Chestertown was a multi-faceted town where there are many other demands for police services other than speed control on the main street. Mayor Bailey said several years ago Harry Pisapia (Mayor of Galena) and she asked the State Highway Administration for an origin and destination study and the State felt they were all local trucks. She said we need to go to our delegates and put more pressure on the State to do an origin and destination study to determine where these trucks are going and why they are going through the residential areas on Rt. 213 from Galena through Chestertown.

Anne Vansant said there was an immediate problem with the speeding traffic and a long term problem with the increasing traffic. She said the problems on the bridge also affect the people on the Queen Anne's side of the bridge. She suggested that a task force be established with people from Chestertown, towns in Kent County, Kent County and Queen Anne's County to work on short and long term solutions. She said Centreville has appointed a task force to work on traffic solutions in their town and State Highway was very cooperative with them. She said the by-pass can be included in the planning for the Town and we can push to get it. Mayor Bailey said the by-pass was the key and the State had thrown it out. Mr. Ingersoll said the Town needs all the help it can get to get the by-pass back into the State Highway plan.

Tony Scott said that effective speed control has been done on upper High Street and on Rt. 291 and it can be done as well on Maple Avenue and Washington Avenue. He said giving tickets does make people pay attention and moving the check areas around also makes people more attentive.

Mayor Bailey asked that Mr. Ingersoll notify Chief Bradley to issue tickets and not warnings. She asked Mr. Kirby who could be contacted in Queen Anne's County to assist with speed enforcement on that side. Mr. Kirby said the Sheriff's Office. Mayor Bailey said she will contact them and also the State Police for further assistance. She asked that residents give Mr. Ingersoll their names and that a list be developed who would be willing to serve on a task force. She said she will set a meeting for late afternoon in a couple of weeks.

Mr. Scott said a study was done some years ago and a forecast was done with increasing amounts of traffic. He said a study should be done to determine whether the forecast was correct or whether the increase has been more than the State Highway Department anticipated. Mayor Bailey said the State Highway was very surprised when they did a recent study on the traffic on Rt. 213 to find it had increased much more than their projected figures. She said she will ask State Highway for an origin and destination study and a traffic count.

Mr. Clark said there was a small town in Pennsylvania that has signs posted that trucks are not allowed to use "jake brakes" in the town. He said an ordinance would be needed to make this legal but could be considered. Mayor Bailey said we will check on whether this can be done.

Mayor Bailey announced that the Town has cash on hand an in banks on September 18, 2000 of $385,747.89.

Mayor Bailey said there will be a hearing on a liquor license application for Luisa's Cafe at #14 Washington Square from the same people who operate Procolinos. The hearing will be October 3, 2000 at 10 a.m.

Mayor Bailey asked that the date be changed for the Mayor and Council meeting in November. She said she will be out of Town on Monday, November 6 and asked that the meeting be changed to Monday, November 13, 2000. The Council agreed and the date change will be advertised.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions or comments. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said trash at Calvert Heights was still a problem. She said as soon as the Town cleans it up, more trash appears and sits all weekend. Mr. Ingersoll said he will ask that they construct an enclosure for the trash for the project.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said the Lions Club group will take over the Christmas Basket project this year. She said they still need volunteers and people can contact Glen Michaels of Fairlee. She asked for donations of used computers for children in the Calvert Heights who can use them for school work.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said there was talk about discontinuing the Old Chestertown Neighborhood Association as the Board members feel it was not being utilized and attended. She said she would like to see that organization continue as it had done a lot of good work in Town including the Hot Spot grants. She thanked Patsy Hornaday and the beautification committee for all their efforts and hope they will continue. She also discussed the issues of safety for children and the use of helmets and pads when using bikes, skates or scooters. She said helmets are available for children who need them through the Health Department.

Mr. Kirby asked what the community meeting was to be about on Thursday. Mayor Bailey said at 7:30 p.m. on September 21, at the Board of Education, there will be information for the public on children in our community. The facts of the event at the shopping center last week will be presented and a discussion of what we can do as a community for the children. It will be moderated by Bob Waldman whose specialty was conflict resolution. Mr. Waldman worked Susanne Hayman when she was the State's Attorney.

Mr. Kirby said he did not consider it an event, he considered it an out of control mob that did not have civil behavior. He said it was an example of what goes on in the Third Ward pretty much on a daily basis on a smaller scale. He said his first concern was that there was only one police officer on duty in Town. He said the Town had increased the budget for overtime, has hired reserve officers and discussed scheduling extensively and he could not understand why there was only one officer on duty. He said his understanding was that there would be two officers on duty at all times. He said he was not suggesting that it was the Town police's fault that this occurred, but he was glad he was not the officer who had to respond that that melee without any help. He said Officer Standridge was to work 3 to 11 p.m. by herself. He said it was not safe for anyone to be on duty by themselves on Saturday night. He said he felt that having a police presence in the area at the carnival could have been somewhat of a deterrent. Mr. Ingersoll said he would discuss this with the Chief. Mr. Kirby said he had copies of the schedules and of 13 Saturday nights from June 1 to the end of August and 11 of those nights, there was one person working daytime, one person in the evening, and one working midnights. He said on some of those nights there may have been someone working DOT schedules on DWI patrol, but the schedule only showed one person on each of those shifts. He said in the scheduling if someone was to have a weekend off and then someone else was allowed to take vacation when they are scheduled, then you have a shortage. He said that was when you use reserve officers or pay overtime. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said when the permit request was discussed, she asked that police coverage should be increased.

Mayor Bailey said we will need a replacement officer for Mr. Alexander who left the force. She asked Mr. Ingersoll to look at the budget to see if it was feasible to hire an officer in addition to a replacement. Mr. Bristoll stated that a study should be made to determine how many officers the Town needs and then see how much money would be needed to satisfy that requirement. Mr. Ingersoll said that he had brought up at the last meeting the windfall revenue of $40,000 from the Highway User Funds and that could cover an officer. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the Council approve the hiring of an additional police officer and was seconded by Mr. Clark. Mr. Bristoll asked how many officers we have. Mr. Kirby said we have had nine and the Chief but are down one since Mr. Alexander resigned. Mr. Bristoll said he felt then maybe we should have a total of 11 to cover an officer in training, schools that must be attended and attrition. Mr. Kirby said you need as many as you can afford. Mayor Bailey asked if the Council wanted to advertise to replace Mr. Alexander and add an additional officer. Mr. Bristoll asked Mr. Ingersoll to analyze whether the Town can afford an officer in addition to those two and report to the Council at the next meeting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz clarified the motion to state that the Town will replace the officer who resigned and hire an additional officer immediately, and study the feasibility of hiring additional officers. Mr. Clark seconded the motion. The vote was 4 in favor, Mr. Kirby abstained.

Mr. Kirby discussed the resignation letter from Mr. Alexander. He said in the time he has been on the Council, the issue of retirement has not been discussed. He said the letter makes it appear that at some time the Council has denied discussing police retirement. Mr. Ingersoll said the Town has worked hard on the pension system and the deferred compensation program and major changes have been made to the pension plan. He said it has not been brought up by the police or anyone else. He said the employment in the Town has been very stable and the Town offers a good employee package. He said with police it was different as officers can go to bigger departments or another area and make a lot more salary.

Mr. Bristoll asked about the progress of the committee that was asked to study the use of Wilmer Park and the matter of placing a bandstand in Wilmer Park. He said we told the Rotary Club we would give them information in the early Fall and he had not seen a report. Mayor Bailey said they had been working on it. Mr. Ingersoll said the Rotary appointed Hunt Martin to represent them.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were further comments. Earl French said he did not feel that more enforcement was going to solve the community problems with juveniles. He suggested that the kids involved in the melee be brought in to the meeting to discuss what the problems are and air their differences. He said he felt that in reality there probably are not any real problems. He said adults can get together and agree there are problems, but it is most important to confront the kids and see what kind of answer they come up with. Mayor Bailey said she has discussed this with the principal of the High School and the Middle School and both are going to hold sessions with the kids to find out what their feelings and problems are in their lives and community. She said a lot of this thing carries over into the schools. She said she has offered assistance with these sessions. She said she would like to have the meeting result in setting a list of issues and then set the next meeting to address the issues one at a time and involve the adults, the kids and the schools.

There being no further business, Mayor Bailey asked the Council to approve the bills. Mr. Bristoll moved that the bills be paid as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:25 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman
Stenographer