The Wicomico County Council met in Legislative Session on
Tuesday, April 1,
2008, in Council Chambers, Government
Office Building,
Salisbury, Maryland at 10:00 a.m. President Cannon called the meeting to
order. The Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of
Allegiance were recited. Present: John T. Cannon, President; Stevie Prettyman, Vice President; William R. McCain,
Sheree Sample-Hughes, Gail M. Bartkovich, David A. MacLeod and Joe Holloway.
In attendance:
Matthew E. Creamer, Council Administrator; Edgar A. Baker Jr., County
Attorney and Melissa Holland,
Recording Secretary.
A Proclamation was presented to Mr. McKinley Tull by Mr.
McCain for Fair Housing Month.
On motion of Mrs. Bartkovich and second by Mrs. Prettyman
the minutes of March
18, 2008 were unanimously approved.
Matthew E. Creamer,
Council Administrator:
Resolution 34-2008-Resolution
approving certain transfers between major categories of the Wicomico County
Board of Education Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2008; transferring a total
of $98,484-Mr. Bruce Ford and Mr. Allen Brown came before Council. The
Board of Education has an account with CATO and Pacific Pride for
gasoline. A credit card is given to the
drivers of the fleet vehicles. Mr. Brown
explained that only two Board of Education employees are given vehicles to take
home for emergency purposes. The other
fleet vehicles are secured behind a locked gate when not in use. On motion of Mr. McCain and second by Mrs.
Prettyman Resolution 34-2008 was unanimously approved.
Resolution 33-2008-
Resolution approving the Capital Program for Wicomico County
for Fiscal Years 2009 through 2013. On
motion of Mr. McCain and second by Mr. MacLeod the Multifamily Apartment
Complex in the amount of $111,300 was unanimously removed from the Capital Program. Mrs. Sample-Hughes explained that the
Wicomico Public Library is in the process of getting schematic designs to
determine how much space is needed and to determine location. Mr. McCain asked if the amount could be reduced
to which Mrs. Sample-Hughes stated that Mr. Tom
Hehman, Director of Library, said that $150,000 would be a
sufficient amount for this project to move forward. On motion of Mr. McCain and second by Mrs.
Bartkovich the amount of funding for the Wicomico Public Library was unanimously
approved for $150,000. Mr. Baker had
been asked to provide Council with his legal opinion regarding the Fire Station
in the City of Salisbury and stated that the
County does not have a legal obligation to the City of Salisbury.
Mrs. Bartkovich made a motion to remove the New Fire Station in the
amount of $438,750 from the Capital Program with a second by Mr. Holloway. Mrs. Sample-Hughes then made a motion to
provide half of the funding for the New Fire Station with a second by Mr.
MacLeod. Half of the funding would be
$219,375. Mrs. Sample-Hughes stated that
a new facility has been constructed and 10,000 new residents have moved to the
West side of the County she feels that more residents can be serviced and have
increased their equipment. Mrs. Prettyman
said that due to other fire companies asking for assistance and the County not
being able to assist that she can not support the motion. Mrs. Prettyman said there are monies in the
sinking fund for the fire companies as all fire companies should be treated
equally and fairly. President Cannon
called for a vote for reducing the fire station to $219,375 to which Mr.
McCain, Mr. MacLeod and Mrs. Sample-Hughes voted ay with Mrs. Bartkovich, Mrs.
Prettyman, Mr. Holloway and President Cannon voting in opposition. President Cannon went back to the original
motion to remove the New Fire Station in the amount of $438,750 from the
Capital Program with Mrs. Prettyman, Mrs. Bartkovich, Mr. Holloway and
President Cannon voting ay with Mr. McCain, Mr. MacLeod and Mrs. Sample-Hughes
voting in opposition. Mr. McCain made a
motion to discuss reducing the amount for the Animal Health Facility to
$150,000, being as there was not a second the motion failed. Mr. MacLeod stated he feels the County should
support the Zoo as many citizens enjoy the zoo.
Mrs. Prettyman explained that the County does support the zoo through receipt
of twenty percent of the hotel room tax dollars. Mr. Holloway stated that most zoos charge
admission and he feels that the zoo needs to be more self funded. On motion of Mr. Holloway and second by Mrs.
Prettyman the Animal Health Facility in the amount of $300,000 was taken out of
the Capital Program with Mr. McCain and Mr. MacLeod voting in opposition. Resolution 34-2008 was approved with Mr. McCain,
Mr. MacLeod and Mrs. Sample-Hughes voting in opposition.
Resolution 38-2008-Resolution
declaring that Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. located at 28594 Naylor Mill Road, Salisbury,
MD 21801
is eligible to receive enterprise zone benefits. On motion of Mrs. Prettyman and second by Mr.
MacLeod Resolution 38-2008 was unanimously approved.
Resolution 32-2008-Resolution
authorizing the execution and delivery of equipment schedule No. 07 and related
instruments, pursuant to approved master lease agreement No. 04112 and
determining other matters in connection therewith. Mr. Ray Micciche,
Director of Information Systems and Mr. Fred Harris,
Purchasing Agent came before Council. This
lease is with SunTrust. Mr. Ray Micciche explained that the software is the
replacement for the 911 software records system that is being used for
Emergency Services and the Sheriff’s Department and will also give information
to all of the local fire companies. The
lease covers the software and training that is required. The existing GIS system is also tied into
this software. Mrs. Bartkovich asked if
lease could be broken down into two Resolutions as one is for software and the
other is for a new Caterpillar loader for Solid Waste. The Resolution for equipment schedule No. 08
is Resolution 39-2008. On motion of Mrs.
Bartkovich and second by Mrs. Prettyman it was unanimously decided to have
equipment schedule No. 07 for Resolution 32-2008 and equipment schedule No. 08
would be Resolution 39-2008. On motion
of Mrs. Bartkovich and second by Mr. MacLeod Resolution 32-2008 was unanimously
approved. Resolution 39-2008-Resolution authorizing the execution and
delivery of equipment schedule No. 08 and related instruments, pursuant to
approved master lease agreement No. 04112 and determining other matters in
connection therewith. Mr. Harris
explained that this company was decided upon as they provide a buy back on the
equipment. On motion of Mr. Holloway and
second by Mr. MacLeod Resolution 39-2008 was unanimously approved.
Resolution 35-2008-Resolution
confirming the engagement of the firm of Pigg, Krahl, Stern and Company (PKS)
to perform the independent audit of the County’s financial transactions
required by Section 904 of the Charter of Wicomico County- Mrs. Patricia
Petersen, Director of Finance came before Council. Mrs. Bartkovich asked which type of audit
they perform to which Mrs. Petersen responded this is a financial statement
audit. All red flags found in the audit
are reported to Management, Management being the County Executive
office. A request was made again for the
Management Letter that PKS submitted for the 2008 audit. Mrs. Petersen explained that if a new firm
was hired the firm would have to document the entire system which would entail
how it works by memos and flowcharts.
PKS has understanding of the system and through prior work papers they
would be able to just transfer the information as opposed to creating all of
the new information. On motion of Mrs.
Sample-Hughes and second by Mrs. Prettyman Resolution 35-2008 was unanimously
approved.
Resolution 36-2008-Resolution
confirming the appointment of Kimberly Thomas to the Core Service Agency Mental
Health Advisory Board-On motion of Mrs. Sample-Hughes and second by Mr. MacLeod
Resolution 36-2008 was unanimously approved.
Resolution 37-2008-Resolution
confirming the appointment of Jerome Novack to the Core Service Agency Mental
Health Advisory Board-On motion of Mrs. Bartkovich and second by Mr. MacLeod Resolution
37-2008 was unanimously approved.
Resolution 31-2008-Has
been withdrawn by the County
Executive.
Edgar A. Baker, Jr., County Attorney:
Mr. Baker had nothing at this time
Public Comments:
Mrs. Mary Ashanti, President NAACP, came before Council to
express the NAACP concerns regarding social responsibility and moral
accountability. Mrs. Ashanti expressed the resident’s disappointment
with the portables being placed outside of West Salisbury Elementary with
selection of Prince
Street School
portables to be the new home of alternative learning program called
Choices. Mrs. Ashanti brought an incident to the
Council’s attention which occurred in November 2007 with the Sheriff’s
Department and would like to know who is responsible for insuring that a report
of the investigation into the incident will be released to the public in a
timely manner.
Augustine DiGiovanna came before Council to express his
concerns regarding the Planning Commission and the developments and
subdivisions that have been previously approved. He provided written comments to the Council
as well.
Joe Gidjunis, reporter for The Daily Times, came before
Council to inform them that he will no longer be the reporter for Wicomico County
as he is transferring to New Jersey
and will be working for the Gannett there and he expressed his appreciation to
the Council. Council members expressed
their good wishes for his new job and thanked him for his service.
Mr. Creamer informed Council that at a previous meeting
there were letters of information regarding applications for Fred Moore
Properties and Kensington Manor LLC for work being done at the Holly Center. This correspondence is first notice and the
State will send out another opportunity for anyone requesting a public
information meeting to be held and if the Council would like to request a
meeting it can be done so once the letter of invite is received.
Council
Comments:
Mr. Joe Holloway thanked everyone who attended the public
hearing on March
25, 2008 regarding the West
Metro Core
Park and he also thanked
all of the people who called and emailed the Council as well. Mr. Holloway said that when the right
property is found and all of the requirements met he would be fully supportive
of a park. He also informed the citizens
that on Saturday, April
5, 2008 Plow Days will be taking place on Mount Hermon Road and invited them to
attend.
Mrs. Prettyman stated that she was against buying a
subdivision for a park and feels the County should look for lower priced
land. She also thanked Mr. Pollitt for
withdrawing this and hopes that the next time a park is proposed it will be
embraced by all citizens.
Mr. MacLeod hopes that the County will be able to locate
land on the West Side to have a park and
thanked the citizens for all of their comments.
Mrs. Bartkovich thanked Mr. DiGiovanna for an issue that he
brought to the attention of Mr. Pollitt and Planning and Zoning Department
which was held from the agenda. She also
said that the development plan was complete for Whaley’s Run and Stonebridge
has submitted the items which were missing from their development plan.
Mrs. Sample-Hughes announced that Rewastico Creek in Hebron has been placed on
a study by MDE until August 2008 to monitor the water quality of the wastewater
being released into the creek. A public
hearing will be on April
10, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. regarding Waller Landing. Hebron
is holding an election on Tuesday, April 8th from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00
p.m. and encourages the citizens to vote.
Mr. MacLeod informed the Council that the panel completed its
interview process for the position of Health Officer and has submitted a recommendation
for Mr. Pollitt.
Mr. McCain said that Mr. Pollitt’s reason for pulling the
park property is because the citizens were divided and he compliments Mr.
Pollitt.
President Comments:
President Cannon explained that he wants the Salisbury Fire Department to know
that due to cuts the County is not abandoning them but would like to minimize
the work done by the Salisbury Fire Department by creating a fair balance
between all fire stations. President
Cannon also said that in the Public Hearing regarding the West Metro Core Park
everyone was allowed to speak and he was glad that it was a very civil meeting.
Mr. McCain moved that the meeting be adjourned to an open
work session. The motion was second by
Mrs. Prettyman and unanimously approved.
Legislative Session
April
1, 2008
________________________________
John
T. Cannon, President
________________________________
Stevie
Prettyman, Vice President
________________________________
William
R. McCain, At-Large
________________________________
Sheree
Sample-Hughes, District 1
_________________________________
Gail
M. Bartkovich, District 3
_________________________________
David
A. MacLeod, District 4
_________________________________
Joe
Holloway, District 5
________________________
Matthew E. Creamer
Council Administrator