May 15, 2025 | Town Council Meeting Minutes

Town Council Meeting Minutes

Woodsboro, Maryland
May 15, 2025

The Woodsboro Town Council met today at 7:00 PM at the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Department with the following members present:

Burgess Barnes, Commissioners Cutshall, Case, Rittelmeyer, and Eckenrode.

There were five guests and forty-six residents in attendance.

Burgess Barnes called the meeting to order and led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

After review of the April 2025 minutes, a motion to accept them as presented passed 4 – 0.

After review of the April 2025 financials, a motion to accept them as presented passed 4 – 0.

Burgess Barnes reported that the claim filed with the insurance company for the hydrant incident was completed and all the town will pay is the $500 co-pay.

The first line of business was the approval of the FY26 Budget. There were no changes in the general fund and one change in the water/sewer fund. Water and sewer rates were increased by 5%, which will generate an additional $33,652 in funds. This additional amount will be used in Sewer Maintenance, bringing that amount to $74,256. A motion to approve the FY26 budget passed 4 – 0.

Burgess Barnes began by speaking at length on the elections that were held on May 10^th.  He summarized and gave highlights of correspondence between himself, Mr. David Williams, who ran in the election and Mr. Mike Hillman, editor of the Woodsboro/Walkersville News Journal. He also informed those in attendance that the Living In Woodsboro Facebook page is not a town run page. He also reported there has been no money pulled from the loan on the town hall to date because he has secured $593,000 in grant money and expects to receive more. Burgess Barnes also spoke about the questioning of his integrity and asked residents to channel their energy used to complain on volunteering.

Under Comments from the Commissioners, Commissioner Case asked if all speeches from the Council could wait until the end of the meeting. He also recommended that Mr. Williams and Mr. Hillman be given more than three minutes for comment.

Commissioner Eckenrode reported having a wonderful time being the Easter bunny at the easter egg hunt and thanked everyone for his wonderful four-year term.

Commissioner Cutshall asked a question on how certain ballots were marked and an answer was provided.  He also inquired about the status of the pond in the park.  Burgess Barnes informed him that he just submitted paperwork for POS grant funding. He also reported the quotes for dredging the pond was $250,000 – $500,000.

Commissioner Rittelmeyer stated that if something is not done with the pond now, it will become a swamp. He suggested doing a procedure called Hydro Raking.

Under new business, Burgess Barnes announced the meeting in June will be back at St. John’s UCC.

Town Clerk Mary Rice informed all in attendance that Jodi and Dan Herche, Election Judges for the May 10 elections, would not accept any payment for their services. They received huge applause from the residents in attendance.

Before comments from the public, a motion to allow each person five minutes vs. three minutes was passed 4 – 0.

Mr. Mike Hillman, editor of the Woodsboro/New Midway News Journal, spoke on the comments presented by Burgess Barnes and explained why his columns was done the way they were.

Resident Gearld Sando, N. Main Street, spoke and reported the MD State Law does not apply to the Town of Woodsboro. He feels the votes from the election should not have been invalidated and there should be an ethics investigation. Mr. Sando provided additional personal thoughts on the election.

Resident Dorthea Mordan, N. Main Street, spoke and feels the direction of the elections should at least be published on the town’s website. She also feels an ethics investigation needs to be done and that the code needs updated.

Resident David Williams, Adams Street, began by saying his statement was a continuation of a response to Commissioner Bill Rittelmeyer on Facebook so that it is public. He then spoke of his research on the election laws. He closed by saying that he was proud of the way he conducted his campaign and how he spent time speaking to neighbors.

Resident Delores Bowen, S. Second Street, inquired on a rumor she heard about townhouses being built by the cemetery. Burgess Barnes provided her with prior discussions from meetings pertaining to the townhouses being built.

Resident Lily Umberger, Weinberg Court, began by saying she thought attendees at the meeting were very disrespectful and asked if anyone had ever held a public office before. You need to be nominated to run. Why didn’t Mr. Williams put his name on the ballot for Burgess? She told the group how long she has lived in Woodsboro and how she has seen this town grow and flourish. She ended by saying the animosity going on now is embarrassing.

Resident Rod Auwater, Copper Oaks Drive, thanked everyone for their service and asked that the invalid ballots be counted.

Resident Rick Little, Scarlet Oak Court, thanked all the candidates and questioned why there wasn’t room in the paper to print Burgess Barnes article, but there was room on the front page to print a candidates picture?  None of the other candidates had their picture printed.  He also asked for the town’s website to be used more.

Resident Rose Woodsmall, N. Main Street, began by saying, because of the appearance of a possible, questionable election process, she is not happy with throwing back in the seventy-eight invalid votes. She feels there needs to be an ethics investigation and if any unethical findings are found, there should be a new election.  The citizens deserve a clean, fair election.

Resident Joann Howell, S. Main Street, explained how she has been involved with many elections in volunteer organizations where you can run for two positions. She feels there needs to be more communication and that the election needs to be run again.

Resident Denise Hahn, N. Main Street, introduced herself as Commissioner elect and thanked everyone for being the spirit of Woodsboro. She will do her best to serve as a Commissioner.

Following public comments, Burgess Barnes answered questions that were asked during public comments. Upon the unruliness of the meeting, it was suggested to close the meeting.

There being no further business, a motion to adjourn the meeting passed 4 – 0.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary E. Rice
Corporation of Woodsboro