Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Thomas A. Gross, Sr., Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, Police Chief Wayne Bradley, W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Joan Merryman, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the previous meeting. Mr. Bristoll moved that the minutes of the meeting of December 15, 1998 be accepted as presented, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey read the 1999 Report of Municipal Affairs. Mayor Bailey thanked the town employees for their continued work throughout the year. She also thanked the private citizens who serve as volunteers on the Town commissions and committees.

Mayor Bailey called on Chief Bradley for the police report, a copy of which was attached to these minutes. Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions of the Chief. Mr. Kirby said he had reviewed the audit for the year ending June 30, 1998 and it appeared that the Police Department was over budget by about $67,000.

Mayor Bailey asked Mr. Ingersoll to elaborate on that issue. Mr. Ingersoll stated that for most of the year the department had 10 officers on staff. He said for a portion of the budget year there was grant income for an extra police officer that was received and then expired. He said there was a lot of overtime, a turnover of three positions with training and hiring of two additional people. He said one man has resigned since. Mr. Ingersoll said two years ago the Town hired Alton Sommerville under the Cops Fast program. Subsequently Alton's brother was hired by the Council knowing that he was an extra man.

Chief Bradley said the Cops Fast grant ran out but the employee remained in the department and those costs were not included in the budget. A condition of the Cops Fast grant was that the Town would retain the officer when the grant was completed. He said with the turnover uniforms had to be purchased for five different people which was an unusual occurrence. He said there were other grant funds which were not received until after the close of the fiscal year. He said the department had budgeted for 9 officers and they had the grant for the 10th officer. Chief Bradley also stated that there are many community events and projects that take extra officers and overtime was needed to take care of these activities.

Mr. Kirby said his concern was that almost every line item in the police expenditures was over budget last year. He asked about the payment to the Task Force when no money was budgeted for it. Mr. Ingersoll said the Town had not intended making any payments to the Task Force in that budget year as we were to have an officer in the Task Force. The officer subsequently returned to the Town, and the Town was later charged for that year ($8008) and part of a previous year ($6000) which appears in the audit. Further, the overtime expenses for extra patrols to be paid by the Hot Spots Grant ($7,000) was not reimbursed before July 1 and does not show up in the audit. Mr. Ingersoll said the main overage was salaries and overtime. He said the difference of about $25,000 was the 10th man that had not been budgeted two years ago. He said at this point, the Council needs to look at whether they want to hire the tenth person for the department or keep nine officers and bring the budget back in line.

Mr. Kirby said he felt that when a budget was approved for any department, then that department should be able to operate within that budget. He said the Council was asked regularly to approve bills being paid and when he approved those he assumed that there was money in the particular account under that department's budget to cover those expenses. He asked whether the Town should do a supplementary budget when this occurs. He said he felt that a department should budget to cover expenses and when that budget is in force should abide by that budget. Mr. Ingersoll said that for capital items that are not budgeted or unexpected, when the Council votes to approve such expenditures that essentially has been the budget revision. He said the budget was a guide. He said if the Town itself ever ran in the red it would be a problem, however, the general fund has never run in the red. He said the solution in the police department appears to be that we cannot carry ten men and stay within the budget. He said when three men are sent to school, overtime must be paid to others to cover the regular work schedule and this has a serious impact on the budget. Mr. Ingersoll added that quarterly reports on the status of the budget can be submitted to the Mayor and Council for review.

Mayor Bailey said one of the interesting things about the police budget was that the income from parking meters and fines by State law must be listed as Street Department revenue. She said another interesting issue in budgeting was that revenues or grant funds, though expected, do not always come within the budget year intended.

Mr. Gross said he understood that the revenue from the parking meters was to be earmarked for downtown. Mr. Ingersoll said the funds are used in the downtown in several areas and he could show that to the Council more specifically. Mr. Bristoll said he felt a budget was a limitation on expenditures and that the goal should be not to go over the budget. He said he did not feel any action should be taken in any department to spend more money that budgeted unless it was discussed with the Council. He said he did not think money could be spent until we have it. He said he understood that the revenue from the parking meters was to cover the salary of the meter monitor and the excess would be spent in the downtown. Mr. Ingersoll said the revenues are not broken out into separate accounts, it was all in the general town funds. He said the Utilities Commission often operates using depreciation funding, which was not illegal, but in essence represents being over budget. He said revenues for the coming year from hookup fees are predicted closely for large projects, but the timing was not always accurate.

Mr. Ingersoll said he keeps a close eye on the budget and spending. He said maybe some of the expenses incurred by the police department for special events will have to be passed on to the organizations holding the activities. He gave the Tea Party as an example. The overtime for regular and reserve officers for these public events was in the thousands. He said this event was the one time during the year when most of the non-profits in the County raise money for their activities. He said when you scrutinize the budget, those are some of the first things to look at. He said the Town can continue at this point with nine officers and determine whether the Town can adequately be covered with nine officers, or whether we need to go to ten and budget accordingly for next year. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she would like to see the figures on how the amount of overtime needed with nine officers would compare to the total salary and expenses for a tenth officer. Mayor Bailey said the police budget only went up 1% last year. She agreed that the Town should examine the need for a tenth officer and make the expense comparison suggested by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and will look at this at budget time.

Mayor Bailey recognized Bruce Neal, Chief of the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company, and asked if he wished to address the Council. Mr. Neal said he was just observing and he had retired from his job at the Dover Air Force base.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll said the first item to discuss was the reuse of Stam Hall. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Martin, potential purchasers of the building, were present. Mr. Ingersoll said he has previously asked the Council to consider the impact of using the upper floors in the building as apartments. He said the Town's Density Conversion policy adopted in 1992 had three requirements for conversions which he read. He said there was approximately 4000 sq. ft. of land and by law the entire second, third and fourth floors could be developed for retail or office space without providing any additional parking. He said that Mr. Martin would like to create two apartments and was requesting a waiver of the conversation policy regarding parking. Mr. Ingersoll said there were waivers in the zoning ordinance concerning parking in the vicinity. He said lot area requirements cannot be changed and it may enter into the final decisions on the building. He said he felt the C-2 zoning regulations implicitly allows at least one dwelling unit on a property in C-2. He said he felt that the need for two parking spaces for two apartments would be a less demanding need than the current use of the building, or the potential of having the entire buildings used for office or retail space which would be legal under the zoning ordinance.

Mr. Martin said Mr. Ingersoll had outlined their request. He said he did not feel the project was economically feasible unless they would have two apartments. He agreed he would not ask that the density be further increased in the future if the waiver were granted. Mr. Ingersoll said the conversion policy has been effective, but he felt the Council had the power to either change the policy or waive a portion of the policy. He said any agreement with Mr. Martin would have to be recorded on his deed. He said he would also have to be sure all other issues in the zoning ordinance are addressed. Mayor Bailey said she felt the Town needed to be flexible in order to encourage the reuse of historic buildings to prevent the deterioration of historic properties. She said under current zoning, a Chestertown as we know it could not be created. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she felt the matter should be one of consideration of each building on as case by case basis.

Mr. Bristoll moved that the Mayor and Council grant permission for the Stam Hall Building to be converted with a limit of two apartments on the upper floors by an exception to Item 2 of the Regulations Concerning Density Conversions, provided all other zoning requirements have been met. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey said that the Tri Community Preservation group asked to address the Council. She introduced Mike Johnson. Mr. Johnson stated he was from Massey and their group was concerned with preventing the relocation of an asphalt batch plant in Massey. He said this plant was proposed for a Planned Industrial Zoning District and anything allowed in that district would then be allowed in any other such district in Kent County. He said two such districts are located on Chestertown's doorstep (the airport property and on Morgnec Road) and that was why he was bringing the matter to the attention of the Town Council. He said asphalt batch plants are considered heavy, hazardous industry and he read the list of hazardous contaminants that they produce. He said this same application has been refused location in Kent County under the county zoning regulations and he was not aware of any changes to the regulations that would now allow it. He said allowing the plant under current zoning would set a precedent and allow like heavy industry to locate in the districts on the edge of Chestertown or other industrial zones in the County. He said he felt the plant would cause harm to the long term economic development in the County rather than help it. Mayor Bailey said she would see that this information was forwarded to the Town's Planning Commission as they were working with the County Planning and Zoning regarding the area surrounding the Town. Mr. Johnson said that there will be a hearing on this application at the Board of Education Building on January 6, 1999.

Mr. Ingersoll stated that the Chestertown Heritage Association care of Carrie Schreiber has withdrawn their permit request to hold First Night Chestertown on December 31, 1999. Her letter stated they could not get any of the bands they wanted to get.

Mr. Ingersoll said he discussed Y2K compliance at a previous meeting. He said two things he would like to do was convert the MIP accounting system from DOS to Windows and upgrade the computers. He said the conversion will be more expensive, but he would like to proceed with the upgrade of the computers which will cost $2400. This expenditure would come from professional fees from the Mayor and Council budget which will not be spent this year. The Council agreed that Mr. Ingersoll should proceed with the upgrade of the computers.

Mr. Ingersoll said Charlie Rhodes of the Department of Natural Resources called and said Les Terry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture will visit Chestertown on Wednesday, January 6, 1999 to review the problem with black headed vultures that are congregating in Town. He said these birds are aggressive and they are damaging roofs by eating the stone from the aggregate. He said they will be eventually be testing a piece of equipment like a flare gun which will make a noise like a firearm discharging to drive the birds away. He said with the Council's cooperation, he will discuss this with them. He said the police and the neighborhood should know that this will be occurring at dusk. He said the birds are at Byford Court, Horsey Lane and Eliason's Hollow. He said he will give public notice of the flare gun activity if this method will be used and he will issue a permit for this.

Mr. Ingersoll asked the Council to accept the audit which was presented by Bud Wallace at the previous meeting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the Council accept the audit for the year ended June 30, 1998, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey reminded the Council of the seminar on holding effective meetings to be presented by DHCD at the Board of Education building on Monday, January 11, 1999 at 7 p.m. She said all public agencies and organizations are invited to attend.

Mayor Bailey announced the winners of the Christmas decoration contest as follows: Residential - Mr. & Mrs. Leslie Joiner, 115 Manor Ave., 1st place; Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goodall, 1 Byford Court, 2nd place; Mr. William Walbert, 202 Radcliffe Drive, 3rd place; Residential Apartment - Orgirina Graves, 706 High Street, 1st place; Florence Dickerson, 201B Kent Crossing, 2nd place; Commercial - Chestertown Rehabilitation Center, 1st place; A. H. Kepner, 201 High Street, 2nd place; and Dukes Moore Insurance, 205 High Street, Honorable Mention. She thanked everyone for their decorations and community spirit.

Mayor Bailey said the Utilities Commission meeting will be Tuesday, January 19 due to the holiday on Monday. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said the 19th was the date for the Eastern Shore Association legislative dinner. The Utilities Commission meeting was set for Tuesday, January 12, 1999 at 7:30 p.m.

Mayor Bailey said there were requests for hearings for a change from beer and wine to licenses including liquor. The first was for a Class B on sale for Jillian's Pub and the other was for a Class A off sale for Super Soda I. There have been no problems with either establishment and the Council had no opposition to these requests and would make no comment to the County Board of License Commissioners.

Mayor Bailey said she would discuss the request for signs from the Chamber of Commerce at the next meeting.

Mr. Ingersoll said a request from Crossroad Community had been received and he would distribute the information to be discussed at the next meeting.

Mayor Bailey read a letter from Susanne Hayman. Mayor Bailey thanked Ms. Hayman for all her work on the Hot Spots Grant and her cooperation in all matters where she worked with the Town. She reminded the Council there was vacancy on the Board of Election Supervisors and she will discuss a nomination with an individual and bring it before the Council at the next meeting.

Mayor Bailey announced that the parking meters were back in effect.

Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the bills. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the bills be paid as presented, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:10 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman[Stenographer]

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey[Mayor]