Wicomico County, MD
Council Minutes
September 5, 2006
The County Council of
Wicomico County, Maryland met in Executive Session on Tuesday, September 5,
2006 at 10:00 a.m. in Council Chambers,
President Sarbanes brought
the meeting to order and presented a Proclamation acknowledging Grandparents
Day, officially celebrated on September 10th.
The certificate was received by
Ms. Helen Johnson, MAC, Inc.
On motion of Mrs. Bartkovich,
second by Mr. Dashiell, Council unanimously approved the Minutes of August 15,
2006, as amended.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR
Theodore E. Shea, II,
submitted the following items of business:
Arts & Entertainment
District: Messrs. David Ryan, SWED, Inc. and Michael
Wigley came before Council to continue discussion of the application for the
referenced designation. Mr. Ryan
reiterated that the A & E District is a geographically designated area to
serve as an attraction for artists and arts and entertainment enterprises to
locate in that district and attract economic activity and neighborhood
revitalization. The proposed area would
be comprised of approximately 73 acres in the Salisbury Downtown area and
extends from
Appointments:
Workforce Investment
Board: Michael Pennington, Executive
Director, Tri-County Council, has requested an appointment to the referenced
Board. On motion of Mr. Long, second by
Mr. Dashiell, Council unanimously approved the appointment of Mr. Doug Wilson
to the Board.
Update on State Surplus
Property: Gary Pusey, Planner, Planning
& Zoning, advised Council that the county must advise State Highway
Administration by September 24, as to whether any county department might be
interested in the surplus property located at Rt. 50 and
Fire Protection
Division: Mr. Thompson, Director of
Human Resources, has received a request from the Department of Public Works relative
to the Fire Protection Division’s need for additional personnel. The division is experiencing a marked
increase in work volume; it should be noted that the services generate revenue
to help offset the cost of employees. Mr. Sharma is requesting a full time
equivalent position. Following review of
the request, Mr. Thompson is
recommending that a half-time
position be considered. He then invited
Mr. Sharma to speak with Council about the request. Mr. Sharma explained that a current full time
employee wishes to become part time; therefore, the department would like to recommend
approval of a half-time position, with the option to be increased to a full
time position. On motion of Mr.
Dashiell, second by Mrs. Bartkovich, Council unanimously approved the request. Mrs. Petersen asked for an amended motion to
include a transfer from Contingency, to which Mr. Dashiell complied.
Impact Fee Waiver Request: Mr. Shea
reminded that Council had discussed a recent request for a waiver of an impact
fee. During a work session, Council
generally concurred to deny the request.
Because no formal action is
taken in work session, Mr. Shea asked Council to do so now.
Mr. Long motioned to deny the
request; the motion received a second from Mr. Dashiell and was duly carried
with Mr. Dodd voting “no.”
Public Hearing Action: Mr. Shea
recalled that during the August 1st meeting, a public hearing was
conducted regarding a drainage easement to the City of
Workforce Investment Board
Appointment – continuation: Mr. Shea referred to today’s action of
appointment to the Board, stating that there is a question of whether the
request was for one appointment or two.
Consequently, he will contact Mr. Pennington to clarify the actual
number of vacancies on the Board. If
this can be determined prior to the end of this meeting, Council would be
advised accordingly.
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
Patricia B. Petersen,
Director, submitted the following items of business:
Contingency Report: Mrs. Petersen reported no changes of the balance
from last month, totaling $40,400.
Permit to Operate: Ball Cottage
Bed and Breakfast has met all requirements for renewal of its permit to
operate. On motion of Mr. Dodd, second
by Mr. Taylor, the request received unanimous approval.
Volunteer Fire Companies: The following
fire departments are requesting budget EMT funds, as follows: Delmar, 2 full time paramedics; West Side, 2
full time paramedics; Parsonsburg, one full time, share one with Pittsville, 5
part time employees; Hebron, two full time paramedics; Mardela, two full time
paramedics. On motion of Mr. Taylor,
Council unanimously approved the funding requests as submitted.
In addition, Parsonsburg
Volunteer Fire Department is requesting monies from the budgeted Capital
Sinking Fund in the amount of $51,000 to assist in purchase of a rescue
pumper. Appropriate documentation for
matching funds accompanied the request.
On motion of
Mr. Dodd, Council unanimously
approved the request.
Manufacturing Tax
Exemption Requests:
The Finance Department has
received three requests from Stonetech, LLC, Jubilant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and
Alpharma, Inc. for the referenced exemption.
In order to process these requests before the October deadline, Mrs.
Petersen is recommending conditional approval of the exemptions for next year,
pending resolution of certain issues and obtaining verification of State
qualification. It should be noted that
Council does not grant retroactive exemptions.
On motion of Mr. Long, Council approved the requests based upon the
criteria of Mrs. Petersen’s recommendation.
Unanticipated Revenue: Mrs. Petersen
has been informed by Mr. Sharma of unanticipated revenue related to dredging
operations. Normal procedure would be to
place the monies in the Dredging Reserve Fund, contained within the General
Fund. Funds, when needed, are then
transferred to the Solid Waste fund. To
streamline the process, Council is asked to approve the transfer of the entire
Dredging Reserve amount to Solid Waste as a restricted reserve. On motion of Mr.Taylor, Council unanimously
approved the request as submitted.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
P.
Mr. Sharma gave a brief
report on the clean up/recovery efforts following tropical storm Ernesto.
Subdivision Plats:
John Redden, Deputy Director,
advised that the plat review for
Mr. Redden then reviewed the
following plat.
Subdivision: re-subdivision for Baker DPW No. 28-06
Location:
Applicant: Steve Warren
Owner: Shane & Marie Baker
Applicant proposes to
re-subdivide an existing lot into two lots.
A dwelling exists on the proposed smaller
the
recommendation and conditions received Council concurrence.
URBAN SERVICES
COMMISSION
On motion of
Mr. Long, Council approved convening as the Urban Services Commission.
Mr. Sharma
reported that a resident has requested an adjustment to a third quarter sewer
bill, justified by the fact that following numerous plumbing repairs, the third
quarter billing for water consumption was abnormally high at $403.20. After comparing the last five third-quarter
billings, Mr. Sharma is recommending that the bill be reduced by $282.24. On motion of
Mr. Long,
second by Mr. Dashiell, Council unanimously approved the request as submitted.
On motion of
Mr. Long, Council approved adjournment of the Urban Services Commission and to reconvene
Executive Session.
2006-2007
Road Schedule: Mr. Sharma gave a comprehensive review of the
draft road improvement schedule, which includes the following: blacktop funding
equals $3.4 million; slurry paving equals $577,760; and chip seal work funding
equals $992,707. Mr. Sharma also stated
that it would require $5.3 million to meet all needs; however, funding will
allow $3.5 million to be spent this year.
Updates on
Projects:
Coulbourne Mill
Dam – repairs to the dam will take approximately 3 months and will require
detours for that period of time.
Ferry Operation
- Repairs to the Upper Ferry are almost complete and the ferry may be in
operation this weekend. Once the Upper
Ferry is back in operation, the Whitehaven Ferry operation will be closed for
repairs and maintenance.
Railroad
Crossings - Repairs to crossings at
Council member
Dashiell commended Mr. Sharma and staff on preparation of the road schedule. He referred to the ongoing infrastructure needs
and would encourage the new
PUBLIC HEARING:
There were no
public comments. Mr. Sharma wished to
state that Council will not receive any major amendment requests due to issues
regarding capacity; only smaller amendment requests with which the department
is comfortable would be presented.
Council comments
included Mrs. Prettyman’s question as to whether the City of
Edgar A. Baker,
Jr., had no items to present to Council.
PLANNING,
ZONING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
John F. Lenox,
Director and Gary Pusey, Planner, came before Council to present the following
items:
Information
Items:
Mr. Lenox
announced that Jacqui Kamp, Long Range Planner, will be relocating to
Metropolitan
Planning Organization: Mr. Pusey reported that the department has
received a draft of the Long Range Transportation Plan from the Consultant. The
Technical Committee will meet with the consultant next week; there is also an
MPO Council meeting with the consultant is scheduled October 2, 2006, is an
open meeting and public comments will be received. The Plan is being made available to the
public on the County website, the Planning Office and the Library.
Municipal input
and participation are key to the organization’s progress.
Rural Areas – Planning
& Implementation: As the department continues to update the
County’s Comprehensive Plan, attention must also be given to sensitive areas
element, a priority preservation areas component and a water resources element. In addition, another state mandate regarding
tributaries strategy implementation plan that encompasses 10 watersheds statewide.
This initiative proposes that
each basin develop its own plan, which should be a compilation of municipal
plans within that designated basin. The
local watershed or basin is comprised of four counties. Mr. Michael Bilek,
Dept. of Natural Resources, will act as Coordinator. Mr. Lenox stated that the Municipal/County
work session scheduled for September 27th would be an opportune time
to have Mr. Bilek share information on the
program.
On another note, Mr. Lenox referred
to the 2006 Land Preservation, Parks & Recreation Plan, adopted this past
March, which include many of the issues relative to the land use plan, cluster
development code, etc., that have been discussed at length by the Planning
Commission. Members are recommending that Council and the Commission join to
form a working committee to represent a cross section of various interests,
encompassing two-thirds of the county.
The committee would then review the code to ensure proper and legal
interpretation and to ensure that the best controls are put in place. Mr. Lenox reminded all that when the Zoning
Code was revised in 2004, agreements reached in 1998 were left intact. It is now time to either reaffirm those goals
or update to achieve continuity for both codes.
Mr. Lenox implied that process should begin quickly.
Mrs. Prettyman referred to
the 1998 Comprehensive Plan which was implemented prior to her taking office,
with the outcome having a questionable effect on the agricultural community; if
this
Committee is to be formed, its
work should not be done in haste. In
fact, she would prefer to see the establishment of this review committee
delayed until the new Council has taken office.
Mr. Sarbanes stated his
interpretation of the request is to simply begin the process of forming the
committee; however, he agrees with Mrs. Prettyman that its mission should be
accomplished in whatever amount of time is required. He also agrees that a balanced, diverse
committee is essential. Mr. Taylor also
agreed with his fellow Council members.
Mrs. Prettyman also asked
what part of this process would address groundwater protection issues. Mr.
Lenox responded that groundwater protection is a chapter within the County
Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan; a draft of that Plan should be available
relatively soon. Mr. Lenox asked if this
Council wishes to see a draft, or would prefer that the new Council receive it.
Mrs. Prettyman asked how
House Bill 1141 would affect updating the Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Lenox stated the Bill
requires the new element to be in effect within three years.
The only issue that must be
addressed by October 1 is the comparisons made during a proposed annexation; in
other words, anyone filing a proposed annexation after October 1, the
comparison would be County zoning to local zoning, as compared to County
Comprehensive Plan to local zoning. The procedure to begin the formulation of
the Committee was discussed.
Mr. Taylor then motioned to
proceed with the formation of a committee and requested that Planning &
Zoning provide the proposed structure to Council. The motion received a second from Mr. Dodd
and was unanimously carried. Mrs.
Prettyman volunteered to serve as Council liaison to the committee. Mr. Dashiell remarked that this is a very important
issue; people who have the expertise are needed to assist the new County
officials, but this Council needs to take the first step. Mrs. Prettyman also mentioned the importance
of finding the appropriate, set number of people to serve on this committee.
Brannock/Nichols: $426,887.50
Freeman: 546,299.00 (balance of funds available)
Mr. Dashiell announced that
he would abstain from this vote. On
motion of Mrs. Prettyman, Council unanimously approved the easement offers with
six favorable votes and Mr. Dashiell abstaining.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Dr. Augustine DiGiovanna referred
to written material sent to Council regarding subdivision proposals to go
before the Planning Commission, a Daily Times article discussing growth issues,
requested the membership list of the Salisbury Area Metropolitan Planning
Organization, hoped
that Council and the Public
Works Director would be attending the October 2 meeting and supported Council’s
decision to begin the process of forming the Comprehensive Plan review
committee.
Mary Ashanti, President,
NAACP, also referred to the proposed committee and asked that the membership
not be too small to ensure that representation be fairly inclusive.
Ms. Karen Basile referred to
Mr. Dashiell’s remarks about needs exceeding revenue; she commended Council’s
efforts to provide services to citizens within the budgetary constraints; she
also suggested that the solution to generating more revenue is to enact an
Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.
Mr. Dave Bromley, Fire
Chief’s Association, expressed the Association’s concerns regarding the
salaries of Emergency Services operators, the fact that neighboring counties
pay more, and the increasing cost of turnover of employees and subsequent
training. Mr. Bromley asked Council to
address this situation, keeping in mind that people’s lives depend on quick response
in time of need and to take action to resolve the problems.
COUNCIL COMMENTS: None
On motion of Mr. Dodd, second
by Mr. Dashiell, Council unanimously authorized a closed work session today.
On motion of Mr. Dodd, the
meeting was adjourned.
________________________________________
Anthony
Sarbanes, President
________________________________________
Charles
R. Dashiell, Jr., Vice President
________________________________________
Edward T.
Taylor, District 1
________________________________________
Stevie
Prettyman, District 2
________________________________________
Gail M.
Bartkovich, District 3
________________________________________
Marvin R.
Long, District 4
________________________________________
Larry W.
Dodd, District 5
_____________________________
Theodore E. Shea, II
Administrative Director