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 previous meeting. Mr. Bristoll moved that the minutes of the meeting of January 12, 1999 be accepted as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey called on the Police Chief for his report. Chief Bradley gave the report for the month of January 1999, the Annual Report for 1998 and the 1998 Annual CDS report.

Mayor Bailey said that the Hot Spots committee was working on a program called Alternative to Violence, training people involved in the Hot Spots program on how to do this. She said this was a pilot program and ours will be the first one on the Eastern Shore. She said they have gotten a grant from the Governor's office to run the program. She said this should help with the juvenile crime problem. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked if anyone had attended the Saturday workshop last week. Mayor Bailey said Susie Hayman and Orgirina Graves went from the Hot Spots committee and they felt they learned a lot. She said one of the churches was mentoring one night a month and want to do it twice a month. She said two groups, Bethel and the Church of God are both doing programs. She said the Family Center is also mentoring young pregnant women with an older woman who will mentor them through the process. She said she will try to get someone from that seminar to attend the next meeting.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz mentioned a list of properties that were being invaded - the corner of Calvert and College Avenue; the Allen lot on Calvert Street; and the 100 College Avenue; one property on Poplar Street.

Mr. Kirby noted that the Part I offenses in Town were up 36% and asked what would be done to combat that. Chief Bradley said a lot of that was the result of activities reported and arrests made as a result of the Hot Spots initiatives with the extra patrols. Things that were observed by police officers were handled when previously people would not call to report illegal activities. He said arrests have come down since the extra patrols have ended in the area and the figures will probably go up again when Hot Spots patrols go back in. Mr. Kirby asked for a breakdown of the crime in each ward for 1998. Mr. Gross asked if the "average" referred to was for the last 8 years in Town or the national average. Chief Bradley said that was the average for the Town since 1991.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions and asked that anyone wishing to speak identify themselves. Kirk Williamson asked the Chief how Chestertown's figures compared to similar sized towns with similar police forces working similar hours. Chief Bradley said there was a UCR report for Counties and there will be a book with figures from every police department in the State of Maryland, but he did not have that yet. He said the UCR showed that Kent County had the highest increase in crime in the state. Mr. Kirby said Kent County had one or two more part I's for the whole year. Chief Bradley said we had 93 more crimes than last year and most were assaults and thefts. He said 61% of crimes were cleared this year over 59% last year but there were also more cases in 1998. He said when the statistics were reviewed last year and the averages figured, crime had actually gone up an average of 2%. He said he would like to reduce the crime.

Mayor Bailey said juvenile arrests had gone up. Chief Bradley agreed. Mr. Kirby said many of the juvenile arrests were tobacco charges, and though they are offenses, they are not serious crimes by juveniles. Mayor Bailey said possibly the school needs to address the issue of teaching kids to solve problems without violence or assault. She said we tried a mediation board several years ago and it may be time to start a mediation board in schools. She said in the Hot Spots program next year they would like to see a mental health component to work with kids on controlling violence.

Jody Taylor said she was told there were drug activities behind the Catholic Church nearly every night. She asked if that was a fair statement. Chief Bradley said when someone sees that activity they need to call the police and report it as they had not had those reports.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said from a positive side many of the problems have been worked on and we are still working on them. She said the number one thing was the children on the street all hours of the day and night, and if parents had them home the police department would not have so much to do. She said it was up to parents to know that children are home and be responsible for their children. She said she sees more and more children being lured into the "street corner program." Mayor Bailey said the Family Support Center wants to emphasize help for young parents.

Mr. Kirby said he noticed in the newspaper that Sgt. Wode was recognized for his work last year and he wanted to publicly commend Sgt. Wode for the work he has done. Chief Bradley said Sgt. Wode had consistently done that and he had received a Chief's Commendation for the year. He said that Tom Alexander had been promoted to Sgt. and Rob Edler has received the Officer of the Year award for his work on the Hot Spot grant. Mr. Bristoll said he did not like to hear we have more crime but the statistics show that we are handling crime more aggressively and have more active police force.

Mayor Bailey said the next item on the agenda was the discussion on the Riverfront Committee's recommendations. She said she wanted to address the report a section at a time and asked that the Council look at Sec. 4 on pedestrian and vehicular access first. She said she wanted the residents in the waterfront area to know that the Town was aware of their concerns and needs regarding traffic and parking. She said one suggestion from the committee was that S. block of Water Street be one-way from High St. to the Wilmer Park. Mark Mumford, from the Committee, said the recommendations were a compilation of suggestions from committee members, business people and residents of the area, and that each item had been voted on and the final suggestions were made by majority vote. He said there were 25 members of the committee, and half were voting members. However, the opinions of the non-voting members were considered on every issue that went to a vote. He said the rest of the proposal was that Water/Front Street be cut through to S. Queen Street and possibly that S. Queen Street be opened again to Rt. 289. He said they recommended enlarging the parking area at Wilmer Park, eliminating the green median strip, and creating residential parking in the interior of the block bounded by Water Street, Cannon Street and Queen Street. He said that the parking lots in the 200 bl. of Cannon Street are not used extensively on weekends and the committee also recommended signage in the waterfront area directing visitors to parking areas. He said pedestrian traffic will be able to follow the brick sidewalk from Cannon Street over to Wilmer Park. He said the Committee also recommended removing the farm gate and use pillars instead for a more pleasant entrance.

Mayor Bailey asked if the Committee had discussed designations for residential parking in some of those areas. Mr. Vinet said it was discussed but not voted on or included as a recommendation. He asked Mr. Ingersoll to discuss the right-of-way from S. Water Street through to S. Queen Street. Mr. Ingersoll said that he had suggested to the committee an interior one way alley across Front Street from the southern entrance of Kibler's Marina straight through the interior of Scott's Point to the established entry onto the 200 block of South Queen Street. He said if that were done, it could be continued across Queen Street through the next block of Scott's Point to connect to the Town parking lots and the one at Lundy's on Cross Street. He said that you have to insure that the residents continue to have some quality of life and give them a way to access their homes. He said he felt it was a good idea to connect Front Street to S. Queen Street (which was what used to be Railroad Avenue) but there would be money involved since that property was owned by Mr. Ramunno. He said that property, as well as the lot on Water Street which would make an entrance to a right-of-way, would have to have two appraisals and a purchase price determined by market value. He said there was also a graveyard located in that interior lot and it would have to be located and avoided. Mayor Bailey said if Scott's Point does have more residential development, homeowners will need parking space.

Carolyn Beachy, High Street, asked if the change to one-way traffic on S. Water Street were made, would that affect any change in the High Street traffic. Mayor Bailey said it would not. Mr. Mumford said if anything if would decrease traffic that normally would come back out Water Street and up High Street.

Mary Celeste Alexander, 100 N. Queen Street, said that with respect to opening S. Queen Street to Rt. 289, when that was closed some years ago, it was done to keep through traffic from using Queen Street to go out Quaker Neck. She said if S. Queen Street were cut though again she would suggest it go in the opposite direction from the 100 bl. of North Queen. She also stated that residential parking does not work unless there are parking stickers which are enforced.

Kirk Williamson stated that he has never had a problem parking anywhere he wants to in Chestertown. He said he thought the idea of improving the waterfront was to bring people there to walk and in that event they would park somewhere else.

Beth VanHouten, 105 S. Water Street, said she felt the discussion was going backwards. She said until the use of the waterfront was decided, she did not understand the discussion about parking. Mayor Bailey said the Town wanted to assure the residents that we are sensitive to the issue and their needs.

Carrie Schreiber, 105 High Street, said that you cannot completely regulate parking on the street. She said she has had tourists say they will not stay when they cannot find a place to park in High Street and she tells them to park in front of her house. She said as a resident if a space is not available at your house, you go someplace else and if you stopped trying to regulate it, it would work.

Mr. Mumford read the mission statement from the committee report which reiterated that the report contained recommendations and that the purpose was to make the waterfront a more attractive area for the residents who live there, local citizens who walk in the area and guests, but not to increase traffic. He said the work done so far has been a big improvement.

Mayor Bailey asked that one of the committee members discuss the rationale for putting a dock off the foot of Cannon Street as opposed to High Street. Andrew McCown, Director of the Echo Hill School, said the reasons for choosing Cannon Street were: 1) Cannon Street was the end of Town property; 2) it was adjacent to an existing marina and the place were the ships would be docked needed to be a working area not a show place; 3) considering the size of the boats and depth of the water, Cannon Street was more workable. He said Echo Hill would still move the boat to High Street and board people who use the boat from that point. Mr. Bristoll said that the foot of High Street was controlled by the County and this was a Town plan. Mr. Mumford said there had been resident opposition to having a dock at High Street. He said the Town had received cooperation from the College on the work being done and the Committee felt the College would be amenable to allowing the "dog leg" of the pier to cross in front of their garden property (their permission would be required by the Corps of Engineers).

Mr. Gross asked if the community had been polled about the plan. Mr. Vinet said there were community residents on the committee appointed by the Mayor and Council. He said their work was to present something to the Mayor and Council for further discussion and planning.

Mayor Bailey said the dock space was important for the riverfront development and to proceed with that the Town must start applying for funds. She said the grant format for that type of funding require that you get on the list a year and a half or two years ahead. She said the first decision to make was the location of the dock and she asked that the Council consider that in the next week or two. She the continuation of the sidewalk from Cannon Street over to Wilmer Park could be included in the Town budget for next year as that was doable in the Town budget. She said she would like to see the riverfront committee work on Radcliffe Creek and the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage group was an active group and would be good to work with. She said we losing the view of the water there because of the phragmites and the phragmites can be controlled.

Mr. Ingersoll was asked about the status of bulkhead repair at the foot of Cannon Street. He said that we currently have a grant to repair the bulkhead at Wilmer Park and we have applied for more funds for that. He said we need to dredge at the foot of Cannon Street and repair the bulkhead. He said the Department of Natural Resource grant applications have an 18 month lead time. He said they are location specific as we found out when requesting funds for the foot of High Street. Those funds could not be moved to Cannon Street. He said if the Town was looking for funding for a pier, then the bulkhead and dredging work should be requested simultaneously. He said he could find out if the funding for Wilmer Park could be diverted to Cannon Street. Mayor Bailey asked that Mr. Ingersoll check on the transferring of the funds to Cannon Street.

Mr. Gross said the waterfront committee was formed under the auspices of the Recreation Commission and he thought it was time to have it as a separate committee or under the Planning Commission. Mayor Bailey said she did not think it could legally be connected with the Planning Commission and felt it should remain as an ad hoc committee. Mr. Ingersoll said under Sec. 66B he did not think it could under the Planning Commission. He said he felt the first step on this waterfront committee report would be for the Mayor and Council to accept the study from the committee and then proceed to attempt to seek funds for the activities that the public was ready for. He said if the Council accepts the study it could be put in with the comprehensive plan. Mr. Bristoll said he felt they could accept the study as a report.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the Council accept the Chestertown Waterfront Committee Report Recommendations and was seconded by Mr. Bristoll. Mr Kirby said he wanted to emphasize that the Town was merely accepting the study at this time and not implementing it. There would be plenty of time for public input. The motion was carried unanimously. Ms. VanHouten asked when there would be public hearings on the projects to be undertaken. Mr. Bristoll said before we go to a public hearing more research, plan formulation and cost estimating would have to be done. He said the decision on the pier location would be one made by the Mayor and Council and comments from people concerned would be welcome through the process. Mayor Bailey said she would like to be ready to make a decision on the pier and its location by the March 1 meeting because of the time involved in applying for funding. Mr. Ingersoll said he could get some information on funding that may be available and a rough estimate from the people who put in the boardwalk of the cost of an 8' x 150' long pier by the March meeting.

Mr. Bristoll asked if they would be holding a public hearing on this or just discussing it during the meeting. Mayor Bailey said it could be a public hearing on the pier location at 7:00 p.m. prior to the regular meeting if the Council agreed. The Council agreed and the public hearing will be advertised.

Mr. Richard Norton said after discussing the Radcliffe Creek area when the report was given, he was contacted by four organizations volunteer to assist with funds, phragmites control, and bird count. He asked that the Council make Radcliffe Creek a self-standing study committee. Mayor Bailey asked if Mr. Norton would be willing to organize such a committee. Mr. Norton said the people he had talked to were in the County and did not feel it should be a Chestertown project because part of the property was in the County. Mayor Bailey said she will discuss this with the County Commissioners to see if they are interested in forming a joint committee with equal jurisdiction and will report back to the Council.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll said that Crossroads Community had sent a copy of their balance sheet following their request for funding which had been distributed. Mayor Bailey said it appeared that they had a lot of funding and following decisions on requests from similar organizations, she would not recommend a donation. The Council agreed.

Mr. Ingersoll said he wanted to follow up on a report in the Sunpaper that there would be no funding for the Chestertown bypass. He said he talked to the State Highway Administration and the funding had been totally pulled from the Consolidated Transportation Plan. He said there was a six year list and once you get on the list you wait for six years for funding. That decision was based almost solely on the Smart Growth legislation and that it was outside of the priority funding area for the Town. The Queen Anne's County Commissioners' decision to vote against it was part of their decision to recommend removing it to the Governor.

Mr. Ingersoll said he has received another change from Bell Atlantic for their tower. He said they are now considering a merger with Crown Castle International and all documents have been changed to reflect that this could be turned over to them in the future. He said he would like the Town Attorney to look at it to be sure it contains no other changes and then he will ask the Mayor to sign the agreement.

Mr. Ingersoll said a grant application has been submitted for a Historic District sub-grant for $5,000 to reprint the brochure on owing property in the Historic District and the Architectural Guide. He said using Joan's time and his time, the match by the Town would be $750.00. Mr. Gross moved that the Town submit the grant, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll asked the Council if they had reviewed the Annual Report for the Planning Commission and would approve it's forwarding to the Department of State Planning. Mr. Bristoll moved that the Annual Report be forwarded to the Department of State Planning, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously. He said the Planning Commission had held workshop meetings to discuss the comprehensive plan. He said the Council had budgeted for a consultant to draft a plan following the Commission's recommendations.

Mr. Ingersoll read a permit request from Charlene Perry for a parade to be held in conjunction with a non-smoking activities day at Wilmer Park. The parade would begin at Dixon Valve at 9:30 a.m. and proceed down to the Park. Mr. Gross moved that the parade be approved, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said the Tea Party Committee has asked for permission to use the upstairs at Town Hall to change costumes again this year. The Council had no objections to their using the building as has been done in the past.

Mr. Ingersoll said that we have a notice about advertisements that are required regarding the semi-annual tax payments. He said if the Town will collect our own taxes, we must run the ads, the first one to be published before March 1. If the Council decides to allow the County to collect the taxes next year, then we do not need to do separate ads. He said he would like to have Roger Williams come to the next meeting to discuss the advantages to us of them collecting the taxes and some of the things they are now doing free for us. The Council agreed.

Mr. Gross said that the February Utilities meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, February 16 because of the holiday. He said he would not be able to attend and asked that the date be changed. The Council decided to hold the meeting on Monday, the 15th at 7:30 and the change will be advertised.

Mr. Gross said at the foot of High Street there was an opening that would allow cars to go through. Mr. Ingersoll said he and Carter Stanton are working on bollards to be placed so that a wheelchair could get through but a car could not.

Mayor Bailey said Arlene Lee of the Local Management Board for Children's and Family Services of Kent County is asking for nominations for their Board. Anyone who is interested or knows someone who could serve should contact Arlene Lee.

Mayor Bailey said she should like to nominate Joy Levy for the Recreation Commission and a letter was circulated with information about her to the Council. A vote will be taken on this at the next meeting.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions or comments. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz gave a report on problems in her ward. She said she had given a list to Mr. Ingersoll. Mr. Ingersoll said he had been working on the list and that the street crew goes through every week to work on problems in her ward.

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.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:48 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman (Stenographer)

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey (Mayor)