(11/22) Preliminary Town Hall Site Plan Expected

Burgess Barnes informed the Town Council that the town expects to receive the preliminary Town Hall site plans in mid to late November. Once the plans have been received, they will be sent to the County’s division of Planning and Permitting to start the necessary round of permits.

The County’s Planning and Permitting Division is responsible for the management and administration of the development review function of the Frederick County Planning Commission, including the review of site development plans and Adequate Public Facilities applications.

Barnes also stated that the town had not yet submitted an application to obtain a grant from the state to help cover the expected $400,000 cost for the new town office. The town has until June 1st to submit the grant application if the application is to be considered in the states FY-23 budget. In the meantime, Barnes told the Council that he intends to proceed with the project and fund its cost using a loan with Woodsboro Bank that is currently in place for the project.

Rental Costs for Park Pavilions to Increase

At the November 9th Woodsboro Town Council meeting, Burgess Barnes initiated conversation about the cost for citizens to rent the pavilions at Woodsboro Park. Town Manager Mary Rice outlined the park rental agreement as $50 per day with a refundable $25 deposit for damages or excessive litter. She raised concern over charging renters for litter that may have been left by others, asking, "how do we know if the renter left the mess or someone did it after they left?" Town staff holds the security check and mails it back to the renter if the park is picked up. "We’re collecting a security deposit… and sending it back almost all the time. " Rice added. Rice noted that the cost in staff time to handle the security deposits and then having to go to the post office to mail them back just didn’t add up, and was subtracting from the profit the town did make from the rentals.

Commissioner John Cutshall raised the question of how often the Town has had to deposit the refundable charges, to which Rice replied, "in 17 years, probably twice." Commissioner Dana Crum mentioned being "on the fence about it being $75," noting that she understands getting rid of the security deposit but was unsure of the cost increase. It was also noted that the price per day has not been changed since 2004. Barnes mentioned, "everything is going up, and you’re not going to get a rental in Frederick County at the other parks for less than $100-150.’" "We have one of the best parks in the County, but I don’t want to see it be out priced either." Rice added.

Taneytown charges $75 to reserving a pavilion in one of its parks from April through October, but drops the rate to $35 during November through March.

Cutshall was first to motion for the new park rental agreement, which is a flat rate of $75 per day with no refundable deposit. The motion was approved 3-1 with Crum against the increase. Barnes noted that the price would not change until January 2022.

Council To Consider COVID-19 Staff Bonuses

Burgess Barnes has recommend to the Town Council that they use $12,000 of the $473,908 American Rescue Plan Act funding the town has received to date to provide a bonus to the town staff who physically continued to come into worked during the pandemic. As the town has only three fulltime staff, that would equate to a $4,000 bonus per employee.

Barnes noted that other towns are also giving staff bonus for working through the pandemic. Taneytown approved a $1,200 bonus for essential employees who were compelled to report to work when the town offices were shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Town Seeks Candidates for Committees

Two town Committees, Planning & Zoning and the Board of Appeals, are looking to fill open seats. According to Barnes the Town has some "potential annexation requests coming up, so it is very important that we fill these seats as soon as possible." If you live within Woodsboro’s town limits and are interested in volunteering your time, please contact the Town Office. Interested parties can also attend the public Planning & Zoning meetings that are held on the first Monday of each month in the meeting room behind St. Johns Church.