MINUTES
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
JULY 6, 1999

Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Thomas A. Gross, Sr., 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 Meeting, Public Hearing and Executive Session of June 21, 1999. Mr. Bristoll moved that the minutes be approved as submitted, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated an executive session was held on June 21, 1999 at 6:30 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 discussed personnel matters and a contractual matter. The action taken by the Mayor and Council on one personnel matter was by unanimous. One of the personnel matters involved the hiring of a meter monitor/crossing guard and the action taken was by unanimous vote. The third personnel matter was the hiring of a police officer and the action taken was 4 in favor and one opposed. The contractuat matter involved a contract for the renovation of the fountain in the park. The Mayor and Council voted unanimously to award the restoration contract in the amount of $8710. The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. and minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Mayor Bailey read from the six months fire report for the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company and stated it was on file in the Town Office for anyone who would like to read it. She congratulated the Fire Company on their awards at the Convention Parade in Ocean City.

Mayor Bailey called on Chief Bradley for his report. Chief Bradley gave the report for the month of June 1999, a copy of which was attached to these minutes. He reported that we have hired someone for the position of meter monitor and crossing guard. He said they applied for the third year of the grant for that position and it will go into effect on the 1st of July for a total grant amount of $14,265.00.

Chief Bradley reported that for the first half of 1999 crime had decreased by 38.6% over the first half of 1998. He said that during the entire year of 1998 there had been a 36% increase in crime. He said there was a 68.6% solution rate in the first half of 1999 compared to a 58.4% solution rate for the same period in 1998. He said there was a 16.2% decrease in property taken in the first half of 1999 compared to the first half of 1998. He also stated that the recovery rate for the first half of 1999 was 90.3% compared to a 57.9% recovery rate for the same period in 1998.

Chief Bradley said he had some complaints about the traffic following the fireworks on the 4th of July. He said in past years with the fireworks out of town, an officer handled the traffic at Cross and High Street and at Maple and Cross Street. He said the same intersections were covered by Town officers. However, a problem was caused by an accident on the bridge at 10:15 p.m. He said the car and emergency equipment was on the bridge and it stopped the traffic. He said they did manage to get one lane on the bridge open so that traffic could go southbound on the bridge and the other traffic was diverted to Rt. 291. He said that took an hour.

Mayor Bailey called on Gene MaGary from Falcon TV. Mr. MaGary stated that he had been filling in for Ron Chandler who had been the Regional Manager for Falcon here. He stated that Falcon was being purchased by Charter Communications, owned by Paul Allen. He said the new owner will take over the rebuild of Chestertown's system. He said the proposal calls for 87% of the Falcon franchises to sign resolutions to agree to the sale. He said there would be no changes in the franchise agreement that the Town has had with Falcon.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz arrived at the meeting 7:45 p.m.

Mayor Bailey asked if this was different than the Resolution signed a couple of weeks ago. Mr. Ingersoll said what they are asking for now was similar to the agreements in the past that allowed someone to buy the franchise company. He said it does not change the franchise agreement. Mr. MaGary said he agreed that Chestertown's system did need a rebuild and that would be done by Charter Communications. Mr. Ingersoll said the only reason that the Council would not sign the Resolution agreeing to the sale would be if they had knowledge that the new company would be bad. Mr. MaGary said the reason that the document was coming to the Town was Chestertown had an old franchise that still requires this sort of approval from the Town before changes in ownership of the cable company can occur. Mr. Ingersoll recommended that the resolution be signed.

Mayor Bailey asked for a motion. Mr. Bristoll moved that Mayor Bailey be authorized to sign the Resolution to allow the purchase of Falcon by Charter Communications, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey introduced Tressa Ball of the Hot Spot Supervisory Team to present a proposal for the Hot Spot Community. Ms. Ball introduced the Hot Spot Team, representatives from all the agencies that work together on the Hot Spot program on crime prevention. She explained how all these agencies have worked together to prevent and control crime. She said they are in the process of acquiring a community site or resource center where the team can come together to work and meet with the community where members of the community will feel comfortable. She said the community needs to be actively involved and the only way to combat crime is to get the community involved.

Ms. Ball said the Cabell Corporation was planning to renovate the Calvert Heights apartments and part of the renovation will include an on-site management facility with a community room which would be a permanent location for their resource center. She read letters of support from various agencies for the project. She said she has an agreement from Larry Porter of Cabell Corporation to allow them to use a unit in Calvert Heights for a six month period. She said their request to the Mayor and Council was for funding for the utilities, electric and heat for a six month period. She said the estimate for that was $400. She said Parole and Probation was paying for the telephone line and for the computer system.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked how it would be staffed and at what hours. Ms. Ball said they will set up a regular schedule with days and times that fit the community's needs and be available for specific appointments. She said it will be a satellite office and would also be available randomly as a sub-station for police officers. Mr. Kirby asked if the Hot Spot had been funded since the fiscal year started and was there some reason why this item had not been put into that budget. Chief Bradley said he was told that the Hot Spot would be funded for the same amount as last year but nothing has come in writing. Mr. Kirby asked how much the Hot Spot budget was? Chief Bradley said the total was $80,000 and that money was appropriated through all the agencies. He said they originally requested $200,000 plus and they got $80,000 and none of the agencies wanted to give up their funds.

Mayor Bailey said the budget was very tight. She said it would make the services more efficient to have this facility in the Hot Spot area and it was only on a temporary basis. She said the same thing would occur as has happened in the past when services were run out of the Town Hall and the citizens are reluctant to come in. A representative of Human Resources was coming to Town Hall and the people who needed their services would not come to Town Hall. She said she felt $400 was a minor amount for a program that could have a huge impact on the community. Mr. Bristoll asked what category in our budget would the funds come from. Mr. Ingersoll said it could come from public relations. He asked where the unit would be in Calvert Heights, i.e., High Street, Lynchburg or Calvert. Ms. Ball said it would be whatever unit was available at this time, and that in the future when the project was renovated, a permanent community room would be created in a separate building and would be available for these services.

Mr. Gross asked Ms. Ball when they would be able to start. She said Mr. Porter of Cabell Corporation was getting in touch with HUD for final approval and they were hoping to start by September 1.

Mr. Ingersoll said he might be able to shift the money from the Hot Spot Environmental Design category if the Council felt they did not want to fund this. Ms. Susanne Hayman said the Town would have to have approval of the Governor's office for that transfer and it may not fall within the grant program. Mr. Ingersoll said there were probably a couple of categories in the Town budget that would cover this cost. Mr. Bristoll said on that basis he felt it was worth a $400 payment to experiment and see if this works. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked if any of the people who would work in this office would duplicate the services that will be in the SOS Family Center. Mayor Bailey said there would not be a duplication as all of the people and issues handled in this facility would involved law enforcement, criminal cases, parole and probation, etc. Mr. Bristoll moved that the Town provide the $400 for utilities for the facility for a 6 month period and the motion was seconded by Mr. Gross. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she was amazed at the apparent duplication of services. The vote was 3 in favor, Mr. Kirby and Mrs. Mumford-Pautz opposed.

Mayor Bailey called on Mrs. Haske. Mrs. Haske said she had discussed the problems with handicapped access at various places in Town. She said she tried out the new Rt. 213 sidewalk and when she got up to Washington Square she could not get off the sidewalk. She said she realized that the Town was not finished with the work on handicapped ramps on those new walks but suggested that a sign marked for no wheelchairs be put up in the interim. Mr. Ingersoll apologized for the inconvenience and stated that the portion of walk installed was paid for by the State and that the remaining work was on private property. The small portion on private property was not State reimbursable and would now be accomplished with Town sidewalk funds.

Mayor Bailey introduced Dot Morlock who had asked to speak to the Council about the Upper Shore Mental Health Facility. Ms. Morlock said she was a volunteer and concerned citizen. She read a statement which stated that basically the Upper Shore facility would be reconfigured to be a co-occurring facility for patients with psychiatric and substance abuse problems. She said patients from this area with only a psychiatric diagnosis would be transferred to Cambridge. She said she was asking for support by the Mayor and Council to urge the State to keep the patients with mental illness in the area and not require them to go to Cambridge for treatment for their sakes and the sake of the families that support them. She said there will be another meeting at First United Methodist Church on Thursday, July 15, 1999 at 6 p.m. She asked that anyone interested in supporting the effort to keep the hospital services here attend and make comments.

Mayor Bailey said it appeared to her that this was a move backwards in treating the mentally ill patients. She asked the Council if they were in support of writing a letter to Dr. Oscar Morgan and the local delegates urging that the facility not be reconfigured. The Council agreed that the letter of support should be sent.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll said that the paving at Washington Park and Foxley Manor had been completed. He said he was dealing with the cost overrun by LaFarge on the leveling as it was far more extensive that what was discussed in the pre-construction meeting.

Mr. Ingersoll said we will open bids for the demolition of 104 Cannon Street on Friday, July 16, 1999 at noon. He said the house was a hazard and the Town would have to front the money and place it as a lien on the property. He said he will notify the apparent owners or their attorneys that the house was being removed. Mr. Ingersoll said he had attended a Y2K session at the convention. He said that the State passed a law that if cities comply with a schedule for assessing their Y2K possible and addressing them by October 31, they will be immune from prosecution or lawsuits. He said we have done most of the things that needed to be done except print the results of our assessment and remediation.

Mr. Ingersoll said he thought the fireworks were the best he had seen in a long time. He said Richard Proctor and Joe Nasatka donated a tremendous amount of funds and work, and Mr. Proctor's father donated the large shell. He asked whether anyone had videotaped the fireworks and if so please contact the Town Office as we would like to get a copy.

Mr. Ingersoll said he had a request for an executive session following the meeting to discuss the final real estate appraisals for the park property. Mr. Bristoll moved that an executive session be held pursuant to Sec. 10-508 of the Annotated Code of Maryland to discuss a contractual matter, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked whether people would wait until Wednesday night for the trash pickup that was not done Sunday. Mayor Bailey said that 4th of July was a holiday and that route was skipped and will be picked up on the next regular day.

Mayor Bailey said that the permit request has been submitted for the hydro-plane races again this year on September 4 and 5, 1999. She said the street superintendent Mr. Sterling said last year that group had been the cleanest group holding an event in Town. She said the biggest question was access to the river by private boats during those two days. Dennis Hogans said he had discussed this with Leigh Reilly of the marina and he was satisfied. He said there was one time last year on Saturday when the river was actually closed for an hour and a half. He said said have made changes to the schedules for the races to make provision for private boaters using the river. Mr. Bristoll asked that a printed schedule showing the times for the races be submitted to the Town and be made available to the public. Mr. Hogans said he could print up a schedule, however, the Coast Guard was actually in control of opening the river for use by other boaters. Mayor Bailey said the vote on the permit would be taken at the next meeting if the schedule was submitted.

Mayor Bailey said at a previous meeting the location of a waterfront pier was discussed. She said Mr. Ingersoll asked the engineers at the Department of Natural Resources to give us their opinion on the best location for the pier. Mr. Ingersoll met with Jordan Loran to assess the different locations mentioned. Mr. Loran looked at High Street, Cannon Street and Wilmer Park. He ruled out the Wilmer Park and did not see a big difference (except for probably the political part) between High Street and Cannon Street. Mr. Loran did not endorse either location but said they were more suitable due to their proximity to the channel than the Wilmer Park location. He thought the water was better at the High Street location but understood there were political problems and that the Council had said no to a pier there. Mr. Loran was also the person who did the hydrographic soundings for the dredging projects so he knew how much water there was at all three locations. He said the water would be shallower now than it was four years ago as the river continues to silt in. He said there was a mud flat in front of Wilmer Park and a boat would run aground in front without a tremendous amount of dredging.

Mayor Bailey said she would like the Council to go ahead with a motion to designate a site for the pier. Mr. Bristoll said Cannon Street was the only place since the County controls the foot of High Street for the Sultana and Echo Hill. He said the Town was talking about a pier for the use of the Sultana and Echo Hill and we should certainly require some financial participation from those two organizations before we build a pier anywhere. Mayor Bailey said the waterway improvement funding was a 50/50 match. She said she could envision if the grant comes through in the name of the Town of Chestertown that the matching dollars for that grant do come from the Sultana and/or Echo Hill as would be the maintenance for their use. Mr. Bristoll said he did not mean necessarily capital funding but possibly a use fee or some other kind of financial participation. He said another point raised was the shape of the pier and the availability of the pier for use by the public. He said the provision of a dinghy dock and temporary use by private boats other than the Sultana and Echo Hill should also be addressed. Mayor Bailey said a decision has to be made on the location first and then work out the details as the shape, design, space, interference with marina business, etc. will depend on the location.

Mr. Bristoll made a motion that the pier be located at the foot of Cannon Street and was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz. Mr. Gross said it appeared that Cannon Street was the only location. Mr. Kirby said after the location was set, he felt that the problems cited by the residents, parking, traffic, etc. would not be addressed. He said he was not convinced that Cannon Street was the only location, that if Wilmer Park needs to be dredged more it does not mean it was not suitable just more costly to dredge. He said Mr. Reilly had stated he had no problem with adding to his existing structures and then a month or so later we get a letter saying he does not see being able to do that. Mr. Ingersoll said it really is not decided until an application for a grant is filed. If the Council does not approve, a grant application will not get funded. He said when you apply for POS funds you not only have to have location, but the design and a provision that the boating public gets to use it. The use will have a lot to do with how much dredging has to be done. He agreed that at 150' long it would be more offensive the go up river rather than out into the river. He said if you dredged along it there should be room closer to the shore for other, smaller boat users. The Sultana would be at the end and the Echo Hill boats would need deeper water at the end. The Council has to sign a grant application and if they don't agree with all the details in that application, it would not be signed and filed.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said parking was an issue at the waterfront and at other areas in Town. She said people will have to realize they have to pay to use some of the facilities and that the Town would not be giving away free slips on the pier. She said we have to make money to maintain it and we cannot compete with the marinas. Mr. Ingersoll said it would not get funded unless there was access for public boaters as it was waterway improvement money which comes from boaters fees paid for licenses. He parking access in the lots farther up Cannon Street would be easier for people than finding parking near High Street.

Mayor Bailey called for a vote on the motion. The motion carried with a vote of 4 in favor, Mr. Kirby opposed.

Mayor Bailey stated that the 4% mortgage money program ended June 30, however, the State has $1.8 million from all municipalities that was not used. These funds are available until December 31, 1999 on a first come first serve basis in a statewide pool. She urged anyone who wishes to apply to get an application in as soon as possible.

Mayor Bailey called on Joyce Smith. Ms. Smith thanked the Council for their action on the pier location and said it was very important for the Sultana project that there would be a permanent location and that the Town was supportive of the project.

Mayor Bailey gave a report on the MML Convention. She said the MML provides seminars and courses to help elected officials make government work better. She discussed the various information meetings attended this year and new products and services that are available. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said two local residents received scholarships and they were KC Clark and Eric Johnson.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz discussed the furniture and household goods that get dumped in the streets and asked if there was some educational program that could be done regarding recycling and trash pickups. Mr. Ingersoll said he has asked Marty Holden at County Recycling to do a public service program for our channel 3 to specify how the recycling program works. He said we are developing new ways to get rid of steel; Bennett & Cohey will take it free. He said we are still trying to educate people on a daily basis about putting trash out.

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 9:12 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman
Stenographer

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey
Mayor