MINUTES

TOWN MEETING

April 2, 2012

Emmitsburg Town Office

Present:  Mayor Donald N. Briggs; Commissioners Clifford Sweeney, Glenn Blanchard, Patrick Joy, Tim O’Donnell and Christopher Staiger, President 

Staff present were Vickie Felix; Sue Cipperly, Town Planner and Dave Haller, Town Manager.

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I.       Call to Order

Commissioner Christopher Staiger, President of the Board of Commissioners, called the April 2, 2012 Town Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.  Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

 Approval of Minutes

The Minutes of the March 19, 2012 Town Meeting were approved as presented.

Commissioner Comments

Commissioners cited attendances, meetings, recognitions and announcements to include primary election, welcome center reopening, Bell and History day events and the little league.  Thanks were expressed to the Knights of Columbus for the annual Easter egg hunt, and the EBPA for the guest bartender event to raise money for the food bank.                                      

Mayor’s Comments

Mayor Briggs announced the reopening of the Welcome Center on Memorial Day weekend and thanked Frederick County Tourism; commented on the beauty of the community trail and the asset that it is to the town; expressed thanks to the EBPA for the celebrity bartender event to raise money for the food bank and encouraged all residents to vote tomorrow at the primary election. 

Administrative Business

·         MML conference registration

·         Free admission to pool on Community Day

·         Water drainage problem on Community Trail at marker 0.1 and .02

·         New signage coming out of town, hope to be up by the middle of May

·         G8 Summit in May

·         Agenda packets and time of receipt

·         Radio tower

·         Speed bump on Huntley Circle

·         LED street lamps

·         Gravel problem at Brookfield and Irishtown Road

·         Stop sign on Jubilee property

Consent Agenda - none

Reports:

Treasurer’s Report- Commissioner Blanchard reported on March 2012 cash activity.  Detailed report at exhibit A.

Committee Reports – Commissioner O’Donnell reported that the Citizens Advisory Committee met and discussed concerns of parking meters along Main Street and the placement of them, town strategy in regards to parking availability along Main Street and town-owned land, and what the town intends to do with that land. 

II.       Agenda Items

Presentation by Dr.  Alban Superintendent of Frederick County Schools

Dr.  Alban addressed the Board and presented it with several topics of interest to include growth of area in schools, improvements and renovations.  She also went over the changes that are occurring in testing.  She stated that the State applied for a waiver of the no child left behind requirement.  She explained the common core implementation and went over the changes in graduation requirements.  She added that the school would be offering a highly able learner program this fall.  After her presentation, she answered questions from the Board.    

Sustainable Communities Application Resolution

Ms.  Cipperly gave a power point presentation in regards to the Sustainable Communities Program application.  She went over the boundary map describing the designated area and the goal statement.  The deadline for submittal of the application is April 10 and the decision by State will be June 2012.  She is looking to Board for approval.
Motion: - To approve Resolution 2012-05R – a resolution to designate the

Town of Emmitsburg as a sustainable community

Motion by Commissioner O’Donnell, second by Commissioner Blanchard   

Vote: 5-0 in favor

Community Garden Program Review

This item was brought before the Board because there are questions occasionally on community gardens.  Mr. Haller provided the Board with the current 2012 agreement for review.  Commissioner O’Donnell requested to provide one plot, not requiring a deposit, for the April 14^th library event, to be given out as a raffle item to promote the community garden program.  No opposition to reserving a garden plot for the winner of the raffle.  Winner would still have to fill out the garden plot agreement.  Commissioner O’Donnell will collect the form on the day of the event and give to town office. 

Emmitsburg Baseball and Softball Contract

The current contract is enforced through November 30, 2013.  Mr. Haller reviewed some of the history involved in developing the contract, a copy of which he provided to the Board.  The contracts probably started around the year 2003.  Commissioner Sweeney expressed his concerns with residents not being able to use the fields if no one is using them.  No action was taken at this time.  Mayor Briggs requested that a Little League representative be here if this item comes before the board again.                                                                                                                                                 

FY 2013 Budget Discussion

Commissioner Staiger stated that the council gave staff some direction at the last meeting for the preparation of the budget which he now has concerns about, after giving it more thought.  The Board was given a prediction from the 2012 constant yield tax rate certification that council will see a decline in revenue based on property tax reassessments that took place.  They discussed some other potential issues which raised the question, “Do they maintain the current rate of .36 or agree to raise it to the constant yield rate this year?”  To maintain the same real estate tax revenue the Board would have to raise the tax rate.  Commissioner Staiger commented that he is not sure that he is still in favor of just rolling over the fund balance from the end of this year because it really does not solve the problem- -they can’t keep deferring expenses.  Commissioner Joy suggested shifting capital improvement funding from longer-term projects.  He commented that it would be premature to have staff prepare the FY 2013 budget using the .42 cents constant yield tax rate.  Public Comment: Sr. Eleanor Casey, 333 South Seton Avenue – in favor of raising to the constant yield tax rate.

Motion: - To support the constant yield tax rate of .4265 per $100 of assessed value for budgeting purposes for the FY 2013 budget.

Motion by Commissioner Blanchard, second by Commissioner O’Donnell
Vote: 4-1 in favor

Commissioner Joy opposed

Set Agenda Items for April 16, 2012 Town Meeting

1. Consideration of water tap fees

2. Review of garbage collection bids

3. FY 2013 budget review

III.     Public Comments - none

IV.      SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDMENTS AND/OR RESOLUTIONS

V.        Adjournment

With no further business, the April 2, 1012 Town Meeting was adjourned at 10:07 p.m.