Meeting Minutes

Woodsboro, Maryland
March 9, 2010

The Woodsboro Town Council met today at 7:00 PM in the Firehall with the following members present:

Burgess Smith, Commissioners Rittelmeyer, Brakebill and Rensberger.
Arriving late was Commissioner Eaves.

There was two guests and two residents in attendance.

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

The February 2010 minutes was reviewed and a motion to accept them as presented passed 3 – 0.

The February 2010 financial statements was reviewed and a motion to accept them as presented passed 4 – 0.

CD’s was reviewed. CD 29565 is approaching maturity and Mary will have new CD rates at the Workshop meeting. Resident Donald Trimmer suggested looking into the 60 month CD at a rate of 2.53%.

Commissioner Rittelmeyer had nothing new to report.

Commissioner Eaves reported on the sewer leak on Creagerstown Rd. It has been repaired and closed. He also informed the Council of the hydrant in Copper Oaks Ct. leaking and being repaired.

Commissioner Rensberger reported he will soon be putting together RFP’s for the waterless/recyclable toilet and fishing pier. He has a meeting with the State of Maryland on March 16th to process paperwork for reimbursement. The volleyball nets will soon be installed. The Civil War Heritage signs are slated to be installed in advance of the Memorial Day Parade. Gary will talk to the Legion at their next meeting. FY11 CPP grant; we have applied for $84,000 which is 100% reimbursable? It has passed the Governor’s approval and now awaits the Legislature approval. Also in the future Commissioner Rensberger hopes to prepare RFP’s for the soccer field and the wetland restoration project. This is a two part grant. FY11 POS grant is now open. He thanked Commissioner Rittelmeyer for his ideas and asked that if anyone else has an idea to forward it to him. Opening Day for the Rec Council is on April 10th and he will forward information to Sandy Saylor to place on the website. Mary reported on some vandalism at the Woodsboro Park and is awaiting a returned call from Sandy Saylor who reported it to her. Commissioner Rensberger reported the two grants that are available every year overlap one another and he asked for Administrative help. Burgess Smith will meet with him in reference to this.

Commissioner Brakebill reported Planning and Zoning will meet March 10th. He is in hopes of receiving a draft copy of the WRE/MGE at this meeting. He announced there will be a second extension on the getting this to the State. That pre-approved extension will be granted until October 2010. 401 S. Main Street property owners are on the agenda; it is unclear as to rather they understand they need to pay fees prior to the Site Plan Review which will take place at this meeting. Denis Superczynski is working with them on this. Commissioner Brakebill also reported on an email from Town Attorney John Clapp in reference to a hearing date that has been set for April 20th for the County APFO judicial review. Commissioner Brakebill also reminded Burgess Smith that the Planning and Zoning Committee still has an outstanding request to the Council for Administrative assistance. Burgess Smith informed him that he will take care of this during the budget.

Commissioner Rensberger announced he will be at the hearing on April 20th. Burgess Smith will try to attend. Resident Don Trimmer asked the Council what their stand is on the matter and Commissioner Brakebill gave an explanation on what has transpired to date. Resident Don Trimmer asked if the town is going to develop their own APFO and Commissioner Brakebill explained that our twenty year Comprehensive Plan is basically our APFO.

The first line of New Business was with guest Ashley Terry who was in attendance to ask the Council’s permission on placing a can recycling bin in the Woodsboro Park. She has started this project in her school and all funds will go to a Caring Fund. Reliable Recycling Center in Frederick will provide the bin and pick up of the cans. Burgess Smith expressed his concerns of trash being thrown in the bin and would be responsible for separating it. He is also concerned about security. Commissioner Rensberger asked if the assigned person would sign into a contract to maintain the bin. Commissioner Brakebill asked how long this would last and was informed it is an ongoing project. He then suggested placing by the dumpster and if it caused a problem to remove it. Commissioner Rittelmeyer felt if placed by the dumpster it would be used wrong. Resident Don Trimmer announced as a citizen of Woodsboro he is against it. He has concerns with rodents and bees and doesn’t want to see the Park become a dump. It was decided to have a day to day no charge to the town contract with Reliable Recycling and whoever is responsible, other than the town, for maintaining the bin defaults it’s gone. Commissioner Rittelmeyer was concerned who would “police” the area. Commissioner Brakebill made a motion to allow the bin to be placed in the Park with the condition it is fully maintained by someone other than the Town with a location to be determined. Commissioner Rittelmeyer asked if we are doing a contract and Burgess Smith didn’t feel one was needed. Commissioner Brakebill felt a signed document indicating what will be done and who will maintain it is a good thing. Jennifer Terry indicated she would like to have the bin in place by Opening Day which is April 10th. The motion was passed 4 – 0. Commissioner Rittelmeyer thought placing it along Rt. 550 and Council Drive at the Industrial Park would be a good alternate location if the Town owned the property.

The next line of business was with Deputy Sutton who gave a brief report of calls in the area. He reported on having the PACE Unit (Pro-Active Community Enforcement) in town. Commissioner Rensberger asked if Woodsboro is above or below County average in calls. Deputy Sutton explained how this is a two phase question. Call volume is high but it is because Woodsboro lies between so many areas and that most calls are initiated by the Sheriff’s Department. Burgess Smith then asked the Council if they would like to begin with the Deputy Program again in April. Commissioner Brakebill asked if we were still getting tax equity money from the County for this program and thought it should be looked at on a financial basis. Deputy Sutton explained that even without the Town initiating the Program the Sheriff’s Department still had five or six traffic enforcers in town running traffic at various locations for a period of time. Commissioner Rensberger questioned if this was a guarantee and Deputy Sutton gave an explanation as to why it is not a guarantee. Burgess Smith will have budgetary figures at the Workshop meeting for discussion.

Resident Don Trimmer thanked the Town on behalf of the Fire Department for the donation presented at their annual banquet. He then mentioned a statement made in the February minutes. He informed the Council that the Fire Department does not have any snow plowing equipment and therefore was not responsible for pushing any snow onto resident’s property. Commissioner Eaves indicated that the State sent equipment out to help Fire Departments and it could have been them.

Resident Don Trimmer then opened discussion on planting trees in the wetlands at the park. He asked if the Council was aware of the 200 foot right of way owned by the State. He indicated when the State sold the town the land they kept 200 feet in the event they would ever need to rebuild or dualize Rt. 550. Commissioner Rensberger explained the land is owned by the Town but there is a right of way with the State Highway Administration. What the Town does in that right of way can not impede anything the State would wish to do. Or, what we do in the right of way is at the Town’s own risk should the State choose to exercise its easement rights and build or develop in that area. A brief discussion was then held on the ownership of the said land. Joel will review the plats in the office. Commissioner Rittelmeyer feels even though it is owned by the State it still would not exclude us from moving forward. Resident Trimmer then asked if the Town looked into using the Crep Program. Commissioner Rensberger was not familiar with that program and Mr. Trimmer will provide a contact to Commissioner Rensberger.

Resident Trimmer then expressed how upset he was about the snow being pushed back onto the sidewalks that residents had already opened.

Resident Robert Richards was in attendance to inquire on rather a tree line follows the same height regulations as a privacy fence. Burgess Smith indicated it was a Planning and Zoning issue. Commissioner Brakebill didn’t believe fence height applied to tree height. Mr. Richards then asked for a status update on the property on top of the hill. Commissioner Brakebill gave a brief history.

Commissioner Rittelmeyer would like to see water and sewer rates as a discussion item on the Workshop Agenda. He feels even though it is a budget discussion, if we wait until we get an approved budget we won’t see any increased water and sewer fees until September. He feels we need to do something now to have monies coming in the beginning of FY11. Burgess Smith indicated he will have to investigate the requirements for advertising.

As a follow up from the last meeting, Commissioner Rensberger indicated he had provided information for the Code Enforcement and Zoning Officials Association and asked if it could be discussed at the next Workshop meeting.

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

Respectfully submitted,
Mary E. Rice
Corporation of Woodsboro