Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:55 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Thomas A. Gross, Sr., Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, Joan Merryman, Stenographer, and guests.
Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the previous meeting. Mr. Gross moved that the minutes from the meeting of January 5, 1998 be approved as presented, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.
Mayor Bailey announced that the Mayor and Council has cash on hand and in banks on January 26, 1998 of $164,823.53.
Mayor Bailey said the first item on the agenda was a presentation by Ken Beatty of the Delmarva Space Training Program. She said information from the brochure had been distributed to the Council. Mr. Beatty said the first thing he wanted to ask for was a waiver of the $400 filing fee for the Board of Appeals conditional use application to allow the training center in the former Schlegel building at the Industrial Park. He said they have not gotten any grants as yet and are in the process of trying to raise funds. He said the idea for the space training center came about because the United States does not have any certified space science teachers, and no classes in space training. The program will take children at a young age and give them space training and teach space history. It will be a one of a kind vocational training center in the United States for children, college students, teachers, and people from industry. He said if they get the training center off the ground, the County will give them the property where the launch facilities are at the old Nike Station. This will be turned into a moon base, biosphere and dormitories for the cadets. He said they are a Maryland non-profit corporation. He showed a diagram of the facility that was planned for the Schelgel building. He discussed traffic and said the cadets will spend one week at the facility, 24 hours a day and be totally supervised. He said they will have 113 employees. Mr. Beatty said they would also like a letter of support from the Mayor and Council for the project to include in their grant applications and in their business plan brochure. He said they are trying to raise $250,000 in matching funds for their grants. He said by the end of the second year of their operation they expect to gross about 8.5 million dollars serving 130 students a week.
Mr. Bristoll said he would like to see more detailed information on the persons participating, who are on the Board of Directors, their backgrounds and expertise, evidence of support from people in the national space program, and the current financial situation of the group. Mr. Beatty said he would provide the lists and as far as the financial position they have about $500-600 worth of donated equipment. He said they have applied for grants to Ted Turner who was giving away about a billion dollars. He said NASA has a building full of display materials that they will be able to use. Mr. Bristoll said the Mayor and Council will meet again next Monday and asked that Mr. Beatty provide the Council with the more detailed information and return to the meeting next week. Mayor Bailey said that the $400 fee referred to was the filing fee for an application to the Board of Appeals and this fee pays for the attorney for the Board and the advertising required for the hearing. Mr. Beatty said he would provide further information and return next week.
Mayor Bailey stated that Mr. Ingersoll was absent as he had been in the hospital with the flu and pneumonia.
Mayor Bailey said the Town will begin enforcing the parking meters next week. She said a copy of a brochure had been distributed showing the parking available in the downtown area, metered, free lots, and lots available on the weekends, as well as a notice stating that a warning will be given before a ticket is issued. She asked the Council to review the ad which will run in the local newspaper and parking flyers will be available for the merchants. Mr. Kirby asked if the meters were all fixed and the stickers giving the times are replaced or readable. Mayor Bailey said we will see that the meters are all in working condition. Mr. Gross said he had comments from three business people that are upset over the enforcement of the meters. The Council agreed that the ad was satisfactory.
Mayor Bailey read a letter from Stewart Barroll responding to the Council's question about whether a councilmember's child could apply for the Mayor's scholarship, and whether a councilmember could serve on the selection committee. She said the letter states that there was nothing in the agreement with the College prohibiting a councilmember's child from applying for the scholarship. He said as long as that councilmember does not get involved in any of the selection process they would be allowed to apply unless the Council adopts a policy prohibiting that. She said according to this letter no one from the Mayor and Council should serve on the committee. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said there was a councilmember on the committee before as well as someone from the high school, someone from the College and the Town Manager. Mayor Bailey said we need to get a committee appointed by the next meeting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she did not understand what the college financial aid department had to do with the Town granting this scholarship. Mayor Bailey read from the Town's agreement with the College which stated that the scholarship was for a financially disadvantaged student. The College has the process for determining the financial qualifications of students who apply to Washington College. Mayor Bailey said there are certain people who must be on the committee and asked that the Council be prepared to appoint a committee next week. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked that Mr. Ingersoll check how this was handled in the past.
Mayor Bailey announced that the Beautification Committee's winter garden lecture series will have their next lecture on Sunday, February 15, 1998 at 2 p.m. at the Kent County Library and will be about ornamental grasses in the urban landscape.
Mayor Bailey read a thank you letter from Diana Clapp, Chairperson, for the Haunted Crack House expressing their appreciation to the Town for our assistance on this project.
Mayor Bailey stated she met with representatives of the State Highway Administration on Tuesday. She said that Rt. 20 and Rt. 291 does not meet their requirements for putting up streetlights. They said that area does not have the traffic pattern for lighting according to their standards. They said they had no problem with us going to Delmarva Power and if Delmarva Power wants to put in a pole, they have no problem with mounting a light. We would have to have permission from the property owners for any back on Talbot Boulevard or Speer Road. Mr. Gross asked if there were requirements regarding fatal accidents as there had been a fatal accident at that intersection. Mayor Bailey said she asked them to go back and do a new traffic study on Rt. 291 to see whether there was a need for a traffic light at the intersection. They did a study while the college was closed and there was less traffic. They have agreed to do another study. They are also working on a way to get pedestrians across Washington Avenue to the shopping center. They do not want people crossing at the intersection where the yield lane is because the drivers would be looking behind them and not watching for pedestrians crossing the street. They are checking to see whether a pedestrian crossing could be put in up by the Chesapeake Bank with sidewalk going around the corner and up to that area.
Mayor Bailey stated that the Shared Opportunity Services group will have a meeting on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Kent County Library. She said she would attend and anyone who wants to attend may do so. Mrs. Plummer said the location has been changed to the Board of Education Building.
Mayor Bailey read a Resolution of support for an application from Jamie Barrett for business revitalization funds for the property at 805 High Street for his barber/beauty shop. Mr. Bristoll moved that the Resolution be adopted, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.
Mayor Bailey stated that there are some reappointments that need to be made. She asked that Janey Barrett be reappointed to the Recreation Commission; that Kees deMooy be reappointed to the Historic District Commission; and that Charles Black be appointed to the Recreation Commission. She said she would ask for a vote on those appointments at the next meeting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked that Robert Janson-La Palme be officially reappointed to the Historic District Commission. Mayor Bailey said she would think about it. Mr. Kirby said Mr. Gruber was up for reappointment on the Board of Appeals. Mayor Bailey said she will look at that.
Mayor Bailey read from a press release which announced that Mrs. Baxter's house on Cannon Street will be featured in the February issue of Southern Living magazine. The architect Anthony Barnes and the builder David Hoon have received awards. They give awards each year for outstanding homes and Mrs. Baxter's home was one of five winners from 200 entries.
Mayor Bailey read from several sources concerning the mortgage grant, including the packet from DHCD. She discussed the Governor's Smart Growth Initiatives and the importance of stopping urban sprawl and revitalizing urban neighborhoods. She read about other towns and cities that have experienced the same changes to their downtown areas that Chestertown has experienced on High Street with an increase to multiple housing units and unresponsive landlords. She said all the materials emphasize a mixed use, variety but compatible housing sizes and economic levels of residents in a neighborhood, and the ideal neighborhood as being a five minute walk from the center and five minutes from services. She said Chestertown needs to get more single family home ownership situations. She said with multi-family rental units no one has a front yard, therefore, no one takes pride in the yard, no one takes care of the yard and no one cares. She said the information she had read was to show that research has been done and studies show what makes a neighborhood work. She said the programs are not just something that the State dreamed up. She asked if anyone had any comments.
Dorothy Plummer stated she lived in the 400 block of High Street and she asked if the Town was still considering the lower State level for the sale price for houses under the mortgage program. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said the Council voted on that at the last meeting and it was $104,500. Mayor Bailey said she applied for a limit of $110,000. When the State approved the grant the used what they thought was the current FHA limit of $104,000, however this had been increased to $130,000; they had the income limits for a family of 3 or more of $89,000. She said her grant did not ask for that income limit, it was too high, and the limit she asked for was $59,600. She said we have gotten sheets with the correct figures. Mayor Bailey said she did not think there was any vote on this matter at the last meeting. Mrs. Plummer said that the 400 block of High Street has seven houses on the market, more than have signs on them. She said that was a shaky block and if there was someone who qualified for the loan and the house was near the upper limits set by the State, why won't the Town accept that and keep it down. She said she would urge the Mayor and Council to change that limit.
Mr. Bristoll said he made a motion at the previous meeting that the Town change to the higher sale price limit but there was no second to the motion.
Mr. Kirby said the criteria that the Council voted on when the grant application was approved was not for $130,000. He said when they voted that limit was never mentioned and that was not what he had voted for. Mayor Bailey asked Talbert Rowe to explain this. Mr. Rowe said CDA was not aware that FHA had raised the limit and had they known about the change, then the information on the grant would have stated an amount up to the FHA limit or an amount proposed by the Town. They thought the FHA limit was $104,500, the Town applied for $110,000, and the State then imposed a limit of $104,500. He said had the State known that the FHA limit was up to $130,000 the State probably would have approved the Town's request for $110,000. Mr. Rowe said when he talked to CDA about raising Chestertown's limit to the $130,000, they told him that they would make the change if requested by the Town of Chestertown. He said that the FHA limit for an area is set based on 50% of the median sale price for homes in Town. Mr. Gross suggested the owner take a second mortgage.
Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said according to stock market reports and news interest on loans are down to 6% and asked if there was some other way the Bank could work out a way that the family could buy a home in Chestertown. Mr. Rowe said he was not at liberty to answer questions about that. He did say that there was 6.4% money, but $110,000 was the limit on that.
Schaffer Reese stated he owns 412 High Street, which was the house in question. He said he understood that the people applying for the loan to buy his house fit the spirit of the program and he did not understand why this would not be something that everyone in the community would not embrace. He stated he was not making a profit but would lose money selling the house for the price he was. He said the value of the house had gone down and the sale would cost him about $11,000.
Charles Sommers stated he was a builder and had built and sold homes under the CDA program and he thought the Town should let the limit be higher. He said some of the homes talked about were above the limit, and that a second mortgage could not be taken under a CDA loan. He said if the Town grant can go higher, the Town should let it go higher. Mr. Gross said that the buyers should try to purchase a house they can afford. Mr. Rowe said that was the very purpose of the program, to provide the loans so that people can afford to buy a home. Mr. Gross said he felt if someone could afford a $130,000 home, they do not need a 4% loan.
Stephen Higgins said he purchased 537 High Street, has renovated it and has a purchaser interested in the house under the 4% program. He said he did not think there was a limit on the 4% money. He said they were looking at other homes to renovate and resell. Mayor Bailey said there has always been a limit. Mr. Higgins said he talked to Crestar Bank and was told that the program was under the FHA guidelines. Mayor Bailey said the buyer should go to Crestar and work with them. Mrs. Mumford said she thought that the $110,000 was high and felt that $80 or $90,000 was high enough. She said she had to do something for her ward, from the by-pass to Kent Street. She said there are many houses that need to be renovated such as on College Avenue. She said there are historic homes that could be beautiful and she was sorry but to start lending money at $130,000 the money would be eaten up with only a few houses. She said there was great potential in the 500 block of High Street and the 400 block of Cannon Street, and those houses should come under this program. Mr. Reese said as far as he knew this was the only application for this loan program and if the money was not used in Chestertown, it would be used somewhere else. He said by raising the limit they would be giving more people an opportunity to use it. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said the money was supposed to be $2 million. Mayor Bailey said she wrote the grant application and it was for $1,000,000 which was what we got.
Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the bills presented. Mr. Bristoll moved that the bills be paid as presented. Mr. Gross said he had a question on the bills. He asked what the checks for Robert Edler were for. Ms. Merryman said that he had taken the dependents off his medical insurance but we had failed to make to correct the deduction on the payroll and had to reimburse him the money. Mr. Gross seconded the motion to pay the bills and the motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Bristoll moved that the meeting be adjourned at 8:45 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.
Submitted by:
Joan Merryman
Stenographer
Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey
Mayor
RETURN to 1998 Minutes