MINUTES
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
MAY 3, 1999

Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., 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 said since he was had not attended, he would not make a motion. Mr. Kirby said he had also missed that meeting. Mayor Bailey said that approval of the minutes from the April 19, 1999 meeting would be held until the next meeting since Mr. Gross was absent and there would not be a second for a motion on the minutes.

Mayor Bailey called on Chief Bradley for the police report, a copy of which is attached to these minutes. Chief Bradley gave the report for the month of April 1999. Chief Bradley reported that on April 27, 1999, Governor Glendenning presented Rev. Fisher from the Gospel Church of God with a Volunteer Service Award for his work in the Hot Spot Community in Chestertown. Rev. Fisher was one of 32 recipients out of 400 nominations statewide. Chief Bradley commended Rev. Fisher for his work on community policing, crime prevention, cleanup and community pride.

Chief Bradley stated that a meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 5, 1999 at 7 p.m. by the Department and the State's Attorney to which property owners have been invited. He said the meeting will advise owners/landlords that they must start taking responsibility for their tenants who cause problems. He said notices have been sent to the landlords asking for their cooperation and they will be advised of actions that will be taken if situations with tenants continue.

Mayor Bailey said she would like the Council to direct the Historic District Commission to start looking at these properties that are being allowed to deteriorate because of lack of maintenance, for example, upper High Street, Cannon Street, Kent Street. She said this falls under their jurisdiction and the Commission can begin to inventory these buildings. She said landlords have the funds and if they don't we will see if there is help through the State. She asked the Council if they had any problem with that. The Council agreed. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said this was her suggestion as she thought this was the only way to get improvement in the 500 bl. of High Street, Kent Street, and Cannon Street. She said the tenants are being allowed to tear up the properties, and things such as windows, doorknobs, trim, etc. cannot be replaced. The Council agreed to have the Historic District Commission work on this. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said other Towns are doing this and it is working.

Mr. Bristoll said Mr. Ingersoll should meet with the Chairman and discuss this part of their responsibility. Mayor Bailey ask Mr. Ingersoll to take care of discussing this with the Commission.

Mr. Kirby said there was an article in the Sunpaper discussing the decline of crime in the State and the rise of crime in Kent County of 1.2%. He read from the article then stated that according to the statistics given in the police reports, 80% of the crime had occurred in areas other than the Hot Spots. He said therefore the statements in the article attributed to Chief Bradley were not accurate. He said 65 out of the total of 348 Part I crimes was not even 20% of the Part I crimes for the entire Town and to say that the 65 in the Hot Spots was the majority was not accurate. He said the Hot Spots ward did not have the most crime, his ward (the 4th) had the most. He said according to the figures in the reports, only 20 to 25% percent of the crimes were in the Hot Spots as opposed to 70-80% in the rest of the Town. He said the article states that the Hot Spots patrols are a reason for the increase in crime because of more reporting and he did not think that was accurate.

Chief Bradley said he had stated the Hot Spots area plays a part in the increase of reported crimes. Mr. Kirby said when he had asked about the crime increase at a previous meeting, the Chief had made a point about the Hot Spots causing the increase. He said he wanted to make the point that the majority of the crime was not in the Hot Spots area but was in the rest of the Town and the information in the article was incorrect. Chief Bradley said he had not as yet read the article.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz asked Mr. Kirby if the shopping center was included in Mr. Kirby's ward. Mr. Kirby said it was and he did not know if the crime was in the shopping center but it was in his ward.

Mrs. Mumford-Pautz thanked the Police for the increased service and patrols in the 3rd ward and noted there has been an improvement. She said she did not understand why the ward did not get it before. Mayor Bailey said that the funding for the Hot Spots patrols is in place again for the warmer weather.

Mayor Bailey called on Dave Sandebeck who had asked to be on the agenda. Mr. Sandebeck read a statement in which he explained situations involving kids on skateboards at the College and at Wilmer Park, and discussed skateboarding as a sport. He asked that the Town provide a skateboard facility from the Recreation budget. He said Rock Hall has a skateboard facility. He asked that the Kent County News address the issue. He asked that the Council take a stand for or against skateboarding and state their reasons for their stand.

Mayor Bailey said it was not a matter of being for or against skateboarding. The skateboard requirements of the Town's insurance carrier are very complicated, and costly. She said Rock Hall had gotten a waiver of those requirements because there was an existing tennis court adjacent to their police department. The police department is given credit for supervising it by being there. She said the initial cost for a facility would be $15-$25,000; the property must be fenced; the facility must be supervised whenever being used; all participants must use safety equipment; the facility must be built to the insurance carrier's specifications; and the activities are regulated. She said the whole recreation budget for a year was $15,000 and a skateboard facility really involves money and we don't know where to get it. She said the insurance would be an extra several thousand dollars a years for a facility. She said if there was anyone who had an idea how it can be done, please contact her.

Mr. Ingersoll asked Chief Bradley if the recent incident mentioned by Mr. Sandebeck had involved damage at Wilmer Park. Chief Bradley said there were several incidents at the Park, but he was not familiar with that particular incident. He said if we get a call from neighbors of the park, they respond to it. Mr. Ingersoll said the Town was required to pass the skateboard law a few years ago by our insurance carrier. He said about a year ago, the Town started a policy that to the extent possible, not to enforce the ordinance if kids were not doing anything wrong or being harmful to people or property.

Mr. Ingersoll said that there are two groups now working on a recreation center, one appointed by the County, and the private working on a YMCA. He said these are the places where such a facility could be a supervised activity. He said Mr. Sandebeck was welcome to work with those group. He said the Town was currently trying to acquire a park with a $300,000 State grant in Town as we have no fields for any active sports in the Town. He said we do not have the kind of surface needed unless we get cooperation from the Board of Education or the college.

Mr. Bristoll suggested that a group of parents put together an association supporting the idea of skateboarding and present to the Council a plan to work together organizing, helping, funding, and supervising such a facility. He said a group of 20 parents willing to help with all of this was what was needed.

Taylor Sandebeck said there were places and the kids were willing to build the facility. Mayor Bailey said we have do follow the specifications of the insurance carrier in order for us to be insured. She said Mr. Bristoll's suggestion was an excellent one, a parents group who gets together like the group that built the playground. She said the young people and parents needs to get together and come up with ideas.

Lee Sandebeck said she ride horses at Worton Park and they have insurance for that activity. Mr. Ingersoll asked if they had ever asked the County about a skateboard facility at Worton. Steve Sandebeck said he agreed that Worton was probably where it should be done. Mr. Ingersoll said the County has a riding program; his question was why don't they have a skateboard facility for kids out there.

Andrew Wagner said the tennis courts at the Middle School was a good place. He said bicyling was a form of transportation and their form of transportation was skateboarding. Mrs. Wagner said it was a wholesome form of recreation and was quite a skill and a sport. Mayor Bailey said the tennis courts at the Middle School are owned by the Board of Education, also a County entity.

Mayor Bailey suggested that a group of parents talk to the County and hopefully when the Town gets a recreation park, some space may be found.

Mayor Bailey called on the Town Manager for his report. Mr. Ingersoll said he was introducing the Budget for 1999-2000 as Ordinance No. 1-99. He said the draft of the budget had been distributed to the Council. Mr. Ingersoll went over the first page which was the summary of the budget and stated that for each line item there was another page with the breakdown. The total general government revenues would be $3,016,172. He said the proposed budget was based on a $.90 tax rate with no contingencies in any department. He said the budget included a 4% town employee pay raise. He said an increase in the entry level pay for police officers was proposed to attack the problem of turnover, and also an increase in the salaries who have been here for five years or less. Mr. Ingersoll reminded the Council that the budget workshop meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 17, 1999. The public hearing on the budget will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 7, 1999.

Mr. Ingersoll announced that SCORE will hold a seminar at the Chester Ridge Yacht and Country Club on Wednesday, May 12, 1999 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The seminar will be a workshop on how to start and manage a business.

Mr. Ingersoll said that he had has questions about the timing for the installation of the fencing at the Gilman project. He said Phase I was nearing completion and the fencing will be installed within the next 30 days.

Mr. Ingersoll said he needed to request an executive session following the meeting on a personnel matter and a contractual matter. Mr. Bristoll moved that an executive session be held pursuant to Sec. 10-508 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, was seconded by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ingersoll said the State Highway Administration has agreed to reline the traffic lanes on Philosopher's Terrace at it meets Rt. 213 and mark it for a left turn lane south and a straight and right turn lane on the right on Wednesday. He said the Town crew will rent a device that grinds up the old paint and stop bar as part of a cooperative effort.

Mr. Ingersoll said the Town had received a notice from the Kent County Zoning Board of Appeals of a hearing set for 8:30 p.m., May 10, 1999 at the County Commissioner's Hearing Room. The hearing will be on the application from Chestertown Brick Co. for a variance of the setback requirements to have parking and an access road 60 feet from their western property line. He said the County thought our property line was right next to the site (a map was sent). He said it appears that a gas facility was proposed with three 30,000 tanks so rather than look at it as a side yard variance, it should be viewed as an industrial site.

Mr. Ingersoll said the schedule for the MVA bus is now on the Chestertown Home Page on the internet. He said it was usually the second Monday of each month except it will be Tuesday, June 8th.

Mr. Ingersoll said letters had been distributed from the First United Methodist Church suggesting that the Town make the 100 block of N. Mill Street one way from Calvert to High Street. He asked the Council to read the letters and take it up at the next meeting. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said many changes are going on around Town and she asked why the planning was held off until after the building was done. She said a right hand turn out of People Bank was approved after the building was approved and now one-way on Mill Street was suggested. She said this was a small town and she named all the one-way streets and said while it was great for some, it was not great for others. Mr. Ingersoll said the County has always planned to build parking lots and they know they need more. He said the Church has also has been wanting to remove a building so they could put in a small parking lot but they have not been able to do that. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said she did not think the Town needed to keep changing the traffic flow to accommodate a few people. Mayor Bailey said if the Town is encouraging the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, which were built before cars, people will have to be more flexible to accommodate the parking for employees and visitors. She said we did not want to lose the government center from downtown Chestertown.

Mr. Ingersoll said the MML will be printing a history of Maryland and asked every Town to submit something. He said there was a cost to this for one page or 2. He said he will get more information on this for the next meeting.

Mr. Ingersoll read a letter from the Rescue Squad asking for a flashing traffic signal on Rt. 291 in front of their facility. He said the letter asked that the matter be referred to the State Highway Administration. He asked the Council to consider whether they felt this was a good idea. Mr. Ingersoll read a letter from Elder J. D. Bartley from the United Church of Deliverance at 328 Cannon Street requesting the Town to take a one-time ad in a booklet celebrating a 25th pastoral anniversary for Pastor Bartley. The ad would be $40 for a full page and $20 for a half page and the money and ad would be due by May 14, 1999. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the Town take a full page ad at $40. The motion died for lack of a second.

Mayor Bailey reported that the U. S. Census Bureau has advised that the residents of Chestertown will receive census forms by first class mail. She said it is vital that all residents be counted in the census as much of the grant funding and other government funding we receive is based on the census figures.

Mayor Bailey said a liquor license hearing will be held for a transfer of the license for Lewes Dairy on May 18, 1999 at 9:45 a.m. She said anyone having opinions on that should advise the County Commissioners.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any questions or comments. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz said there was a street light out on Poplar Avenue and in front of the cemetery. She also asked that people notify the Town Office when there was a move out or a lot of bulk trash out. Mr. Ingersoll said we will report the lights for repair.

Mr. Kirby said last Thursday night the Sheriff's Office served a warrant in the 100 block of Kent Street and two adults and one juvenile was arrested. The adults were charged with possession with the intent to distribute in a school zone and main target of the warrant was someone who had been convicted in Circuit Court on the same type charges and was awaiting sentencing. Mayor Bailey asked whether this was a repeat offense in that property and she would clarify the issue about that with respect to seizure of property from an owner where convictions have occurred three time in a row. Mr. Kirby said he did not know about that.

Ms. VanHouten discussed the lights at the waterfront project and said the light was too bright for the residents in the 100 block of S. Water Street who back up to the waterfront. Mr. Rosenbaum agreed that the lights are too bright. Mr. Ingersoll said he had asked the Council to look at the lighting. Mr. Bristoll said it was very bright and that they had discussed shielding them to reduce the light to residents. Mayor Bailey asked the rest of the Council to look at this and ask Mr. Ingersoll to see what could be done to lower the illumination.

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

Mr. Bristoll moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:08 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman (Stenographer)

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey (Mayor)