Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Thomas A. Gross, Sr., Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, Police Chief Wayne Bradley, 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 meetings of April 6 and 20, 1998 and the Executive Sessions of April 6 and 20, 1998. Mr. Gross moved that all minutes be accepted as presented, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held on April 20, 1998 at 9:15 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 held to discuss a property acquisition matter and the action of the Mayor and Council was unanimous. Minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Mayor Bailey called on Chief Bradley for the police report, a copy of which was attached to these minutes. Chief Bradley also reported on the extra patrols in the Hot Spots Area which started on April 17, 1998. He said those patrols are done by the Kent County Sheriff's Department, the Maryland State Police and the Chestertown Police Department.

Mayor Bailey asked Chief Bradley if money had been allocated in the Hot Spots grant for supervisory work at the playground. Chief Bradley said that there was an advertisement for someone to supervise the playground on weekends through Parks and Recreation. He said his department has agreed to provide them with a radio for communication.

Chief Bradley said on June 12, 1998 there will be an open meeting of the Hot Spots Committee at the Gospel Church of God on Calvert Street at 7 P.M. Rev. Fisher will provide the tables and refreshments and the public is invited to attend and give their input. Mayor Bailey said it would help to have a flyer made up for individual households because we are trying to get greater participation form the community. Lt. Edler said the meeting was in the last Hot Spots Gazette and will be in this month's. Chief Bradley said they will be starting their house to house surveys of the Hot Spot area again in June and this was announced at the OCNA meeting.

Mayor Bailey introduced John Mark McDonald from the State's Attorney's Office. Mr. McDonald stated that he had prepared a curfew ordinance proposal after discussions with Chestertown citizens and law enforcement personnel. He distributed a copy of the Town's current curfew ordinance and a revised version. He outlined the changes to the ordinance. He said the major change to this law would be that a section has been added which imposes a curfew on minors who are 16 and 17 years old, with an hour later time limit than for those under 16. He said the days for the later hours has also been changed to Friday and Saturday rather than Saturdays and Sundays because Sunday was a school night. He said the section dealing with parental responsibility has been changed to remove the word "knowingly" as he felt this would give parents an opportunity to say they did not know what their children were doing which sends the wrong message. He said the onus was on the parents to take responsibility and know where their children are and what they are doing. Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the changes to the ordinance and consider introducing the new curfew ordinance. Mr. Kirby said he thought it was a good idea. He discussed the procedure used in Kent County and other towns for dealing with the children, (1) take them home, and (2) send a letter to the parents and give them the law. He said this has worked well. Chief Bradley said the Town has the same procedure. Mr. Kirby asked if any other jurisdictions have these provisions for 16 and 17 year olds. Mr. McDonald said he was not aware of any. He said he felt it had been assumed that the older kids were more inclined the take responsibility for their actions, but that does not seem to be the case. Mayor Bailey said we also need to make the kids in Queen Anne's County who come to Chestertown aware of the law.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll stated that the first item was the award of the Mayor's Scholarship to Washington College. He said the committee had met and reviewed the one application received by the April 15, 1998 deadline. The committee unanimously approved the application of Avery Michelle Coleman. Ms. Coleman was accepted to Washington College and met all the requirements for the scholarship. He recommended that the Mayor and Council award the scholarship. Mayor Bailey asked for a motion. Mr. Bristoll moved that the Mayor's Scholarship be awarded to Avery Michelle Coleman, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said he had distributed the preliminary general budget for fiscal year 1998-99. He said this was a draft reflecting a balanced budget that was 3% higher in taxes and revenues from last year. The total general government revenues expected are $2,248,066 with expenditures of $2,248,066 based on a $.90 tax rate. He said the Utilities Commission budget showed operating revenues of $862,500; expenses of $605,243; operating income before depreciation $257,000; depreciation $230,000; net income $27,257. He said the debt service was $137,000 leaving an amount to be funded by depreciation of $102,243. He said essentially that means that unless the water and sewer rates are raised, the Utilities Commission will be running a little in the red. He said he would recommend that a water rate study committee work this year and also a study of why the revenues from water service has dropped below what was budgeted. He said we have tracked this for the past five years since we got the new software for the water billing system. He said the Town had decided to consider a small raise in the rates every two or three years rather than a larger raise every ten years. He pointed out that by having the depreciation we have funds on hand. He said it was very hard to predict the water and sewer tap fees for an upcoming year.

Mr. Ingersoll continued with the other enterprise funds, the first was Satterfield Court. He said the total revenues were $55,000, with $16,000 coming from a transfer from the Mayor and Council. He said part of their budget was from depreciation and that fund was technically running in the red.

He said the last account was the Cannon Street Apartments with revenues of $15,245 and expenditures of the same amount. He said there was $10,000 of depreciation in that account and it was running that amount in the black.

Mr. Ingersoll said the budget workshop would be held on Monday, May 18, 1998 and the full budget will be available to the Council between now and then. He said the budget contained no contingency funds in any department and a 4% salary increase. He said he felt that the $.90 tax rate could be retained, but that it could not be reduced. He recommended that the budget be introduced as Ordinance No. 1-98.

Mayor Bailey asked if the Council had any questions. There were no questions and Mr. Bristoll moved that the budget for FY 1998-99 be introduced as Ordinance #1-98, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said he had two permit requests from Pastor Fisher. The first was for the annual march to be held on June 27, 1998 beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Gospel Church and continuing to the Fountain Park. The theme of the march will be "Boys To Men," getting 200 men to get involved in young mens' lives in the community to provide mentoring and guidance. Mr. Ingersoll said their march has been successful every year. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the permit be approved, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

The second permit for Pastor Fisher was to hold a prayer vigil in the Fountain Park with local clergy and citizens on Saturday, June 6, 1998 at 11 a.m. Pastor Fisher said it would be a prayer vigil just asking for help and recognizing there was a higher power. Mr. Ingersoll said this activity will be on the other side of the Farmer's Market in the park. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the permit be approved, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz thanked Rev. Fisher and his congregation for their help last week and she hopes that will continue.

Mr. Ingersoll said the next permit was from Dennis Hogans for the hydro-plane races and car show at Wilmer Park on September 5 and 6, 1998 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mr. Hogans and Wheeler Baker were present. Mr. Hogans said the boat races will be operated from the other side of the river, the car show will be in Wilmer Park, they have allocated money for bussing people from satellite parking areas, for bathrooms and have liability insurance. He said they are negotiating with local organizations to get the manpower to direct the parking and to clean up. Mr. Bristoll asked that the liability insurance coverage include all locations in Town for liability in connection with all activities held related to the boat races. Mr. Hogans said the insurance was being provided by the American Power Boat Association and it would be no problem to have the Town listed as an additional insured on the policy.

Wheeler Baker said he was part of the club on Kent Island and he was sure there would be no problem with the insurance. He said the Kent Island Club will be helping the local club put on the races. He said the business people will be happy about the event because it does bring business to Town. Mr. Gross moved that the permit be granted provided the Town was adequately covered on the liability insurance, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said the next permit was from Bill Hildebrand for the carnival at Kent Plaza. He said this was the same carnival that has been in the plaza for about five years and will be sponsored by the Fire Company. The dates are May 13, 14, 15 and 16, 1998 and the carnival will end at 10 p.m. each evening. Mr. Bristoll moved that the permit be granted, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said the next agenda item was decision by the Mayor and Council whether we would permit Kent County to collect the Town taxes for the coming year. He discussed the advantages and disadvantages to this procedure for the Town and for the taxpayers. He said it will save on accounting time and allow taxpayers to pay taxes with one check at one place. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she was not in favor of this. Mr. Gross moved that the Town continue to collect our own taxes, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that the Town of Galena has requested permission to rent out street sweeper and operator on a one time basis. He said it would take about half a day to sweep their streets. He said in the past we had done the lots for Delmarva Power and they have paid for the service. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that we rent the sweeper and operator to Galena as discussed, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said a letter from Infinity Recycling had been distributed to the Council that was self-explanatory. He said that we still have free composting containers available to the public and we recycle the yard waste and grind it for mulch. The Council did not feel the Town should subsidize Infinity's operation since they still had free composting containers to give away. Mr. Ingersoll said that a video on recycling will be shot on May 20 by Mr. French and we will show it on Channel 3 with one of our meetings.

Mr. Ingersoll reported that Arena & Co. has almost finished the roof on Town Hall. He reported that the Cannon Street parking lots are paved with the base coat, but the lots are in use. He said we may do light planting, but wait to do the major landscaping in the fall since it had gotten late for planting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked if the parking meter person was back on the job and meters being enforced. Mr. Ingersoll said yes she was.

Mayor Bailey said she had a request from the Chestertown Recreation Commission asking that the Town fund $3,000 for the Chester Bridge Foundation's summer program. She said the Town funded $2500 last year and the additional $500 was for a five day course in the wilds of Western Maryland for 10 to 15 of the most active children in the program. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the Town fund $3000 of the recreation budget for the Chester Bridge Foundation summer fest program and was seconded by Mr. Gross. Mr. Gross asked about the dates for the Western Maryland trip. Mr. Kastendike said it would probably be the last activity of the year, but their calendar was still being worked on. The vote was 4 in favor, Mr. Kirby abstained as he coaches with Leonard Smith, their coordinator who gets paid for this work.

Mayor Bailey read an announcement of a home ownership workshop by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service. The workshop will be held on May 28, 1998 at the Kent County Public Library at 6:30 p.m. The workshop will be open to the public, realtors, builders and developers. She said anyone interested in attending should register and the notice was published in the lobby.

Mayor Bailey read and signed a Proclamation for the MS 150 Chestertown Classic Bike Tour to be held on May 30 - 31, 1998.

Mayor Bailey said the Music in the Park series will begin on May 30, 1998 in the Town Park at 7 p.m. with the Chesapeake Silver Cornet Brass Band, and the concert will be every other week through the summer.

Mayor Bailey announced that an evening forum for Heritage Partnerships will be held on May 6, 1998 at 7 p.m. at the Casey Academic Center, sponsored by Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Caroline Counties. She said this will be an organizational meeting and was open to the public.

Mayor Bailey said that Jack Canan has requested that the Town support the County's block grant application for funds to rehabilitate owner occupied substandard homes. She said there are over 100 people on a waiting list in the County for this type of assistance. The Council agreed to support the County's grant application.

Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the bills. Mr. Bristoll moved that the bills be paid as presented, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

Rev. Fisher said that his Church would like to sponsor another community cleanup effort. He said he knew the OCNA did a cleanup in March but they would like to do another one in the Hots Spots area. He asked that the Town allow them to do this Wednesday, May 20, 1998 between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., that the Town provide some trash bags and that the Town trash truck pick up the bags of trash the next day. He asked that some publicity be done in the paper and on the radio. Jody Taylor said it will be done. The Mayor and Council agreed to help Rev. Fisher with this project.

Noreen Downs said that she represented the Chester Bridge Foundation and thanked the Town for their donation to the summer program. She said the foundation had agreed to hire a summer intern which would be a high school student paid about $450 for the summer work. She asked that the Mayor and Council consider funding the $450 for the intern. She said she will submit the request to the Recreation Commission.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Bristoll, seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:

Joan Merryman

Stenographer

Approved by:

Margo G. Bailey

Mayor

RETURN to 1998 Minutes