MINUTES
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The first order of business was to swear in reelected Councilman Kirby and newly elected Councilmember Clark.

Mayor Bailey gave the oath of office to James Brian Kirby, Councilman for the 4th Ward, while his wife Jewell held the Bible.

Mayor Bailey gave the oath of office to W. Whaland Clark, Councilman for the 2nd Ward, while his wife Sue held the Bible.

In attendance at the meeting were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., W. Whaland Clark, Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, Police Chief Wayne Bradley, W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Joan Merryman, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey gave the 1999 Report of Municipal Affairs.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the meeting of December 14, 1999 and executive sessions of December 14, 16, and 20, 1999. Mr. Bristoll moved that the minutes be approved as presented, was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held on December 14, 1999 at 8:10 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 discuss a personnel matter, was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. and minutes were taken for the record.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held on December 16, 1999 at 8:00 a.m. pursuant to Sec. 10-508 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Four Councilmembers were present and voted unanimously to go into executive session to discuss personnel matters. The Mayor attended a portion of the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m. and minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held on December 20, 1999 at 1:00 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 to discuss personnel matters. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. Minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Mayor Bailey called on Chief Bradley for his report. Chief Bradley said the first matter for him was to swear in John Beville, the newly hired trained police officer. Mayor Bailey gave the oath of office to Officer Beville. Chief Bradley introduced Officer Brian Redman to the Council. Officer Redman graduated from the Academy on December 16, 1999.

Chief Bradley gave the monthly report for December 1999. He said the yearly report will be presented at next month's meeting. He stated that the Open House at the Community Resource Center, 506 Calvert Street, has been changed to January 14, 2000 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. The Center will be open to the public and everyone was invited to attend.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions of the Chief. There being none, Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report.

Mr. Ingersoll said the Town will settle on the purchase of the 18 acre park property on January 18, 2000. He said the funds have been received from the State and County and the Town's portion of the purchase will be $50,000, which has been budgeted.

Mr. Ingersoll said there were no Y2K problems and a lot of that was due to Pat Diver's work with all the computers.

Mr. Ingersoll reported that he had a note from Mike Wootton that the election results page was the third most popular site on the Chestertown web site last month. He said that was a reason to continue with that reporting on the next election.

Mr. Ingersoll thanked the All Seasons Garden Club for the decorations on the Police station. Dorothy Martin was the mainstay for those decorations.

Mr. Ingersoll said he will talk to the Chamber of Commerce at their meeting on Wednesday, January 5, 2000 at 8 a.m. They will be having a meeting on tourism and he will give them an update on the design and funding for the visitor's center. He said we are awaiting the results of a grant application filed by the Kent County Chamber of Commerce for $150,000 for this project.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions of Mr. Ingersoll. There being none, she said she would like to reappoint Jane Scott to the Tree Committee and she will take a vote on that at the next meeting. She said she will start taking up reappointment to other commissions at the next meeting.

Mayor Bailey said she appreciated the Chestertown Fire Company giving us the monthly fire report. In November there were 33 calls, 10 in Town, 17 in the County and 6 out of the County.

Mayor Bailey announced the winners of the Christmas decorating contest as follows: Residential - 1st place, Steve Hayman, 414 High Street; 2nd place, Leslie Joiner, 115 Manor Avenue; Residential Apartments - 1st place, Orgirina Graves, 706 High Street; 2nd place, Kathleen Porter, 112 Lynchburg St. Lot 7; Commercial - 1st place, Kepner Antiques, 201 High Street; 2nd place, Lee Hendrickson, 320 High Street. She said this was one of the best years for lights and decorations and she thanked everyone in the community for their efforts.

Mayor Bailey called on Tyler Brown who was working through Kent County Communities in Schools Mentoring Program. Mr. Brown explained the program in detail and said that anyone who was interested in mentoring a child could contact him at the Board of Education. His direct telephone number is 410-778-6874. He said the mentoring program was a one on one support effort for children at risk with an obligation of an hour a week and two other contacts, which could be phone calls. He said the Board of Education has funds for assisting in activities for mentors and he encouraged people to get involved.

Mayor Bailey announced that the Beautification Committee will sponsor the Town and Trowel Garden Series at the White Swan Tavern. The first lecture will be on January 23, 2000 a 2 p.m. and the second will be on February 27, 2000 at 2 p.m.

Mayor Bailey said they will discuss the Cannon Street pier and the lease agreement at the next meeting. She said the Town Attorney was reviewing the suggestions for lease provisions. She said the neighbors on Front, Water and Cannon Streets know about the meeting. The Utilities Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 18, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. since Monday would be a holiday. Mr. Bristoll asked if the Council would meet with Mr. Barroll to discuss the lease prior to the public meeting. Mayor Bailey said they would.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions or comments. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she attended the County Commissioners meeting where they discussed the architecture for a recreation and senior center building. She said she and other seniors hope it will be located within the Town limits of Chestertown.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked whether the apartment management or individual tenants were responsible for furniture put out at apartment projects and did the Town pick that up. Mr. Ingersoll said that it was always the responsibility of apartment owners first, and secondly if it was a minor amount the Town could remove it at the property owner's expense. He said if it was an overhaul of a lot of units or an eviction with large amounts, they would need a private carrier to haul the furniture. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she has previously mentioned the trash bins at Brookmeadow. She said they are inadequate and always overflowing. Mr. Ingersoll said he had talked to the company that owns the project to have the dumpsters dumped more frequently or provide larger or more dumpsters. He said apparently they have not taken care of the problem.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she wanted to make people aware that all dogs must have a license and dogs must be on a leash at all times. She said dogs cannot run loose.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said there was one trailer at Edge of Town Trailer Park that had every window broken out and the doors broken down. She said it was a hazard to the community.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said there were no Christmas baskets this year. She said this was a program that had gone on for 36 years and apparently there were not enough people, volunteers, in all of Kent County to pack the baskets. She said that had quite an impact on people in her community, the seniors, the families, and the children. She said there are students at Washington College and the High School could take this up as a project and had there been some organization there could have been Christmas baskets.

Mrs. Ann Hoon asked what organization usually did the Christmas baskets. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she was not discussing names. She said she just wanted the public to be aware that it was not done this year and hopefully there will be people who will get it back on track again. Mr. Bristoll said he thought the year before that high school students had been involved.

Marge Fallaw, 530 Kent Street, said she wanted to discuss pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Rts. 213 and 219. She said the State could certainly install timed pedestrian crossing walks and signals and they were certainly needed. She said the lighting at the intersection was not good for pedestrian crossing and with the new sidewalks the Town has installed, there will be increased foot traffic. She said the pedestrian crossings should be at the intersection where they are expected by motorists and it can be done here because it has been done in other cities and towns. Mayor Bailey said it was something that the State had discussed and she will start pushing them on this matter.

Mayor Bailey said if there was nothing else, she would entertain a motion to pay the bills. Mr. Bristoll moved that the bills be paid as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried by unanimous vote.

Mr. Kirby moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:05 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman
Stenographer

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey
Mayor