MINUTES
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
September 3, 2002

Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Harrison J. Bristoll, Mabel Mumford-Pautz, J. Brian Kirby, Whaland Clark, William S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Jennifer Stead, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the previous meeting of August 19, 2002 and the executive session of the same date. Mr. Clark moved to approve the minutes of the meeting and executive session as presented was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held following the Mayor and Council meeting of August 19, 2002 under section 10.508 of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland. The entire Mayor and Council was present and decided unanimously to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters. No motions were made or passed. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Captain Robert Edler was present in Chief Coryell's absence to give the police report for August. He stated that the Chestertown Police Department made thirty-one (31) adult arrests involving sixty-three (63) separate charges. The most prominent charges were for theft, drugs, sex offenses, and bad checks. There were five (5) juveniles arrested on six (6) separate charges. The charges were for assault, disorderly conduct, drugs, and failure to obey a police officer.

Captain Edler stated that there were eight (8) civil citations issued, four (4) for noise, two (2) for skateboarding, and two (2) for open containers. There were six hundred sixteen (616) calls for service, two hundred ninety-nine (299) traffic stops, forty-six (46) citations, seven (7) traffic arrests, two (2) DWI arrests, and one hundred fifty-three (153) parking citations.

Mayor Bailey stated that the Town of Chestertown would be having a memorial service at 12:00 p.m. on September 11th in Fountain Park to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 2001. There would be a color guard and ministers from various churches would speak. The Kent County Government was having a memorial service at 9:00 a.m. on the front lawn of the Government Center at 400 High Street. Several area churches were holding a joint service at The First United Methodist Church at 7:00 p.m.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he wanted to have Ordinance 5-02, Amendment to Chapter 145 Streets and Sidewalks, repealing parts of the old section of the article concerning sidewalk maintenance, and adding responsibility of owners to the median. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to approve Ordinance 5-02 Amendment to Chapter 145 as presented, was seconded by Mr. Clark and unanimously carried.

Dr. George Young, was present representing Emmanuel Church with a request for their Sunday school to use the Senior Center as a temporary location on Sunday mornings from September 15, 2002 to February 1, 2003. Ms. Rosemarie Curlett, of the Senior Center, had given permission to the church to use the Senior Center with several conditions, which Mr. Ingersoll read into the record.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that if the activity was allowed the Council should state the reasons since church and State are usually separate. The apparent reasons were that the church was close to Town Hall, was being torn apart by construction, had looked into all other avenues, and was asking for the use strictly on an emergency basis. Mr. Ingersoll also stated that the Town building would have to be named on their insurance as a named entity for liability. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to approve the request based on Mr. Ingersoll's finding of fact, and that the Town building was named on the liability insurance, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Kirby stated that somebody would have to be responsible for securing the building while the children were in it and to lock it up when they leave. Mayor Bailey stated that the remainder of the building would be locked on Friday night.

Mr. Ingersoll stated there was a request from Susan Newton-Rhodes of the Chester River Association to close High Street from Water Street to the Chester River, on the afternoon of Saturday, October 19th for the celebration of the Chester Pumpkin Party. Mr. Ingersoll stated that this party was held last year and was success. Mr. Bristoll moved to approve the request as submitted, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that the County Commissioner's withdrew their offer today to assist with the Radcliffe Loop of the Rail-to-Trail system. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he obtained, copied, and distributed the one piece of correspondence that had been received by the Commission with reference to the trail. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would look into alternatives that could be used in Town, where the people who had concerns were not affected. Mr. Clark stated that the Foxley Manor residents were against the trail. Mr. Bristoll stated that he did not want to spend any more time on the trail until there was some approval for it.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz stated that she would like to hear from the public what they thought about the trail. Mayor Bailey stated that she would also like to hear specific complaints about the trail. She said since this meeting was not televised it would be mentioned at the September 16th meeting and comments could be heard from the public at the October 7th meeting.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would like to continue to gather facts about the trail, and maybe do something less ambitious that everyone would want. Mr. Kirby stated that he would like to know a dollar figure that the Town would have to commit.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that Mr. Secrest, along with many others, had done a lot of work and congratulated them on taking the chance on the trail. He said the idea of the trail was to take something that local people already did, like biking and jogging, and make it safer.

Mr. Bristoll moved for an executive session under 10.508 of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland directly following the meeting for personnel, legal, and real estate matters, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and unanimously carried.

Mayor Bailey stated that Kent County was in a level 2 drought. She asked that the public to be mindful of the water restrictions.

Mr. Bristoll moved to approve Mr. Gil Watson to the Planning Commission, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and unanimously carried.

Mayor Bailey stated that a number of children wrote a letter asking about a skateboard park. She said if parents wanted to become involved to look at fundraising, the Mayor and Council would help to find a place to put the park. She also said that this effort would require a lot of volunteers even after the park was built, because there had to be volunteers to work at the park.

Mr. Kirby made a motion to pay the bills, was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

There being no further business, Mr. Clark moved to close the meeting at 8:00 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:

Jennifer Stead
Stenographer

Approved by:

Margo G. Bailey
Mayor