MINUTES
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
October 7, 2002

Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Whaland Clark, Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby , W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Jennifer Stead, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the meeting or the executive session of September 16, 2002. Mr. Bristoll moved that the minutes be accepted as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey stated that an executive session was held directly following the Mayor and Council meeting of September 16, 2002 pursuant to section 10.508 of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland. The entire Mayor and Council was present and voted unanimously to go into executive session. The meeting was held to discuss a property matter and a personnel matter. No motions were made or passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Minutes were taken and are part of the record.

Chief Coryell was present and stated that Chief J.D. Erwin, President of the Law Enforcement Section of the Maryland Municipal League, was in attendance to present a plaque to Officer First Class Jason Yiannakis. Chief Erwin stated that this award was given to Officer Yiannakis in June at the MML Conference, but they wanted to award it to him again in a local public forum. This was the Top Cop award for the State of Maryland.

Chief Coryell stated that for the month of September 2002, the Chestertown Police Department made fifty-three (53) adult arrests involving the placement of one hundred fourteen (114) separate charges. The most frequent charges were twenty-seven (27) for theft, seven (7) for assault, five (5) for DWI, and eleven (11) for CDS. There were fourteen (14) juvenile arrests involving eighteen (18) separate charges. The highest category was for assault, followed by theft. In addition, there were seven (7) civil citations issued primarily for open containers, littering, and noise violations.

Chief Coryell stated that there were six hundred fifty-six (656) calls for service during the month of September, and three hundred nine (309) traffic stops with a total of seventy (70) citations issued and two hundred sixty-two (262) warnings.

Chief Coryell stated that due to the ongoing issue in Prince George's and Montgomery County, the Sheriff's Department, Rock Hall, and the Chestertown Police were making the law enforcement agencies as visible as possible. Personnel would be at schools for the opening and closing of schools and citizens should be assured that they would be vigilant.

Mr. Ingersoll asked Chief Coryell to comment on the Task Force Agreement with the State Police. Chief Coryell stated that the Task Force was good for the Town and he wanted to remain a part of it. He said one of the commitments the Task Force made was to put four (4) video cameras in the Town police cars, merchandise totaling $16,000. Chief Coryell strongly recommended remaining in the Task Force.

Mr. Kirby stated that he was still waiting for an answer as to whether the Town had to pay to be a member of the Task Force. Mr. Ingersoll stated that a fee did have to be paid and it was $2.00 per head. Mr. Kirby stated that he considered this a contractual matter to be discussed in executive session.

Mr. Bristoll moved for an executive session directly following the Mayor and Council meeting under section 10.508 of the Annotated Code of the State of Maryland to discuss a contractual matter, and any other matters that may be necessary. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mr. John Seidel and Mr. Kees deMooy from the Historic District Commission were present to discuss the Historic District Design Guidelines. Mr. Ingersoll stated that Mr. Seidel and Mr. deMooy donated a tremendous number of hours of their time to put the guidelines together. Mr. Seidel stated that the guidelines that were in place were not as clear as they could have been. He said there were a number of meetings among the Historic District Commission members to discuss what they thought should be in the guidelines, as well as meeting with the Maryland Historical Trust (the overseer to the Historic Districts in the State). Based on those results, the guidelines were revised. Mr. Seidel stated that the guidelines spell out why there was a Historic District, what they were seeking to do there, and the procedures to follow.

Mr. Seidel stated that he would like to see the guidelines on Chestertown's website and would like to run a series of meetings with realtors and others to try to make them aware of the requirements of the Historic District Commission. Mr. deMooy stated that he would like to see a simplified sheet of guidelines that would allow a homeowner to know if their project qualified for meeting with the Historic District Commission.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked if the District should be extended out Route 20 and on Washington Avenue. Mr. Seidel stated that as of now, the Commission followed the guidelines of the Historic District Proper, which was not a very large area. He did not know, however, the proper mechanism for expansion. Mr. Seidel also stated that the County Commissioners have embarked on a countywide preservation effort, which would address some issues of expansion.

Mr. Seidel stated that the Commission was seeking formal adoption of the main body of the text by the Mayor and Council. He said the appendices contained procedural issues that were a matter for the Historic District Commission. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to approve the main body of the Design Guidelines, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that the first item on his agenda was Chester River Landing's annexation request. He said he sent the Council a memo on October 1, 2002 with a letter from Dan Saunders, who was representing Chester River Landing LLC. The letter requested annexation of the land from Alger Oil to Tri-Gas. Mr. Ingersoll stated that this was the most preliminary form that the annexation process would be in. There were two ways a property could be annexed; one by the request of the owners in the area and the other was if the Town embarked on annexation. He said there were nine (9) to one dozen (12) property owners in the area and they seemed to be in favor of the annexation. He also said that he could not imagine another annexation beyond this with the exception of failing water systems. He thought this should be the final one in this southern direction.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that the land would come in with equivalent zonings to what they had in the County. Mr. Ingersoll recommended that the Council begin the process of annexation with the property owners. He said there was a two-part resolution/ordinance process that took almost a four-month period.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he thought the reason for the annexation request was that there was not adequate sewer for even modest development at D&R and Tri-Gas. He said all the costs of water and sewer would be borne by the developers and that meant water and sewer from the armory out. Mr. Ingersoll stated that the Town would reap the benefits of the expanded tax base, helping the taxpayers.

Mr. Bristoll asked what would happen if the year after annexation, there was a burst of development in that area. Mr. Ingersoll stated that the project the developers were proposing would finish out their site.

Mr. Kirby stated that there were two properties that were listed inside the annexation on the map, but they were not listed on the properties that have assessed values. He asked where Mr. Smith's and Mr. Bramble's properties were listed. Mr. Ingersoll explained that the list was generated by the applicant, not by the Town. He said, however, the map was accurate.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that before annexation could be embarked upon, 25% of the registered voters had to sign the petition as well as 25% of the landowners.

Mr. Bristoll moved to proceed with a Resolution for Annexation, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he had a request to waive the open container law for the Wildlife Festival. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to waive the open container law on Friday evening, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he had a request from Dukes-Moore Insurance Company to waive the open container law on their premises on November 7, 2002 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. as well as to erect a tent in front of their office. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to approve the application as presented was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll had a request from the Kent County Jaycees to host the Kent County Christmas Parade on Saturday, November 30th. Mr. Clark moved to approve the application as presented was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll reviewed an application from Rosemary Lee to hold a fundraising walk on Saturday, November 2nd at 10:00 (rain date Sunday, November 3rd at 2:00 p.m.) for the Bay Area Young Life (non-denominational Christian outreach program for high school youth). Mr. Bristoll moved to approve the application as presented, was seconded by Mr. Clark and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll had a request from the Lion's Club to hold a Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 26th. The parade would gather at the Garnett School parking lot and the Catholic Church. It would exit onto Kent and proceed down High Street to the judge's stand at Memorial Park and Cross Street. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved to approve the application as submitted was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll had a request from the Sultana for the weekend of November 9th and 10th. He stated it would be discussed at the next meeting since some members of the Council had not had time to go over it.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that he had several requests to stop large trucks and commercial vehicles from parking around the entrance to the Chester cemetery. He asked for "no parking" around the cemetery. Mr. Bristoll stated that Mr. Ingersoll did not need a motion and could do it as the Town Manager. Mr. Ingersoll said that he would draft an Ordinance for the Council, which would restrict large commercial vehicles from parking on all streets when not delivering.

Mayor Bailey stated that the SHA was holding its annual meeting on Wednesday, October 29th at 9:30 a.m. at the County Office Building.

Mayor Bailey announced that a grant for $10,000.00 was received from UMES for the design work needed on the new recreation park behind Rolling Road. Mr. Ingersoll stated that this was a matching grant. Mayor Bailey stated that the people from Rolling Road would be included in the design pieces.

Mayor Bailey stated that the Rails to Trails issue seemed to be a moot point since the County had backed off of it. She asked if there were any members of the audience that wanted to make comments about Rails to Trails. Mr. Clark recused himself from the discussion and left the room.

Mr. Townsend was present and stated that he was opposed to the rails-to-trails, especially running down his property line. Mayor Bailey stated that there were no plans for the rails-to-trails in Chestertown. She said there was an opportunity to have plans done for free, with the understanding that nothing would be done unless the people in the Town wanted it. Mr. Kirby stated that this whole issue stemmed from Mr. Secrest's vision of what he wanted to see in Chestertown. He said it was a dead issue with the Town and the County.

Mr. Secrest was present and stated that the efforts for rails-to-trails never had any intent to cause property owners any harm. He said there were people who were in favor of the plan and he would like to look at a segment of one mile from the Chamber of Commerce and Wilmer Park to across the street from Artworks. He said there were sessions set for Thursday, at noon, at the Black Eyed Susan and Thursday, October 17, 2002 at 6:00 p.m. at the library to discuss how the trail can be financed.

Mayor Bailey stated that there were residents of Coventry Farms at the meeting to discuss the driving of deer that had been approved by the Council. Ms. Bonnie Smith presented a petition on behalf of the residents of Coventry Farms objecting to the driving of deer and hunting of the wooded area adjacent to the subdivision. Mayor Bailey stated that the Council would look over the petition and it would be discussed at the next Mayor and Council meeting on October 21st.

Ms. Joyce Moody was present on behalf of Janes Church, and wanted to discuss the permit that was issued by the Town for a Youth Empowerment Rally on August 31st.

Ms. Moody stated that their presence was offensive to a business owner (Chester River Knitting) who should have been approached ahead of time to inform them that the church had a permit. She said there were several things that occurred that were offensive to the church members. The business owner did not like the "jungle gym" that was erected for the day. She said a vehicle owned by Chester River Knitting came through the barricades; they called the police because people were sitting on their private bench, and; they removed the salt bags, supporting the jungle gym. Janes church called police at that point. She said it was unfair to assume that the church was to blame if their business was disturbed.

Ms. Moody stated that some of this could have been avoided if Chester River Knitting had been contacted prior to the rally. She said since the Town permitted the event, the Town should have contacted the businesses. She did not feel it was the church's responsibility to notify owners.

Mayor Bailey stated that she valued Janes Church very much and did not want anything like this to happen again. However, to defend the business owners, they had a special invitation day and were not aware of the rally that was going to be held. Mr. Ingersoll made it clear, as a condition of having the permit, that the business owners be advised of the rally by the church.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz stated permits needed to be more thoroughly checked into before they were granted.

Mayor Bailey stated that she was in receipt of a letter from the Chamber of Commerce with regard to the "Welcome to Kent County" signs. She said the Chamber wanted to assess a fee of $65.00 per year for maintenance of the welcome signs. Mr. Bristoll moved for the yearly payment of $65.00 for sign maintenance, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried with four in favor, Mr. Kirby opposed.

Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the bills. Mr. Bristoll moved to pay the bills as presented, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mr. Clark moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:00 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:

Jennifer Stead
Stenographer

Approved by:

Margo G. Bailey
Mayor