PRESENT
Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman
Council President Robert Cannon
Council Vice President Frank Himelright
Councilwoman Lavonzella Siggers
Councilman Palmer Gillis
The Mayor and Council met in regular session at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. The Lord's Prayer was repeated and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Council President Cannon called the meeting to order.
Mayor Tilghman introduced and welcomed a special guest to the Council meeting, Mayor Dean Johnson from the City of Annapolis.
Council President Cannon acknowledged Councilman Jim Ireton's resignation effective August 4, 1999. Council will discuss filling the position in a work session on Wednesday, August 11, 1999.
On a motion by Mr. Himelright and seconded by Ms. Siggers, the minutes of July 26, 1999 were unanimously approved.
Ms. Siggers motioned and Mr. Himelright seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1729 to bring it on the floor for discussion. City Solicitor Paul Wilber presented Ordinance No. 1729 which amends Section 5.16.010 of the Salisbury Municipal Code by requiring the City Clerk to issue renewal licenses for close-out sales instead of coming before Council for approval.
Mr. Himelright motioned and Ms. Siggers seconded to amend Ordinance No. 1729, paragraph A, lines 5 and 6. In both lines, he should be made gender neutral. Ordinance No. 1729, as amended for second reading, passed unanimously.
Mr. Himelright motioned and Ms. Siggers seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1730 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Ordinance No. 1730, as highlighted by City Solicitor Paul Wilber, allows for the payment of overtime to Emergency Medical Service employees. They were originally paid for overtime purposes as firefighters, but a federal court case ruled that they cannot be treated in that fashion.
Ordinance No. 1730 for second reading passed unanimously.
Ms. Siggers motioned and Mr. Himelright seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1731 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Fire Chief William Higgins presented Ordinance No. 1731 as an ordinance reallocating money originally included in the bond issue for the purchase of a quint/ladder fire truck to the purchase of a Squad Unit.
Ordinance No. 1731 for second reading passed unanimously.
Ms. Siggers motioned and Mr. Himelright seconded to approve Resolution No. 655 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Resolution No. 655, as introduced by City Solicitor Paul Wilber, amends SC7-28 of the Charter by placing the Contingency Fund under the control of the Mayor and City Council rather than under the control of the Mayor. The Mayor and Council, by a majority vote of the City Council, may authorize direct expenditures from the Contingency Fund for public purposes not anticipated at the time of budget adoption. In addition, the Mayor and City Council, by a two-thirds vote of all members of the City Council, may allocate Contingency Fund monies to the various offices, departments or agencies of the City as the Mayor and Council deem advisable.
Ms. Siggers expressed concern that Council was putting the Mayor in a position as an administrator to not be able to respond in an expedient manner to a request by a department because of having to track down Councilmembers. She felt there was currently a check and balance system in place which has been effective. In Ms. Siggers view, this change was tying the hands of the administrator.
Mr. Cannon pointed out that this change adds flexibility to the system by providing the City Council with a contingency fund. In his opinion, it is a city contingency fund, and if the Mayor or City Council sees a need, they can jointly work toward the disposition of that need.
With no further discussion, all voted in favor of Resolution No. 655 with the exception of Ms. Siggers who voted nay.
Mr. Himelright motioned and Ms. Siggers seconded to approve Resolution No. 662 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Mayor Tilghman recommended the reappointment of Mr. David Baker to the Historic District Commission for a term of six months, expiring December 31, 1999. Although Mr. Baker did not want to serve another term, he agreed to serve an additional six months until a replacement is found from the Camden District.
Resolution No. 662 passed unanimously.
Public Works Director presented Charlotte Habliston's request for annexation of her triangular shaped property located between Nanticoke Road, Pemberton Drive and Parsons Road. The property contains approximately 3.6 acres and is currently zoned C-1 Select Commercial under Wicomico County regulations. The property has a large dwelling and horse barn. Development plans include demolishing the horse barn to construct an 11,000 sq. ft. Rite Aid store. The status of the dwelling is not known at this time. Impact on existing water and sewer from the Rite Aid and the existing dwelling is expected to be roughly 1,670 gallons per day. A gravity sewer will need to be extended approximately 330 feet northerly on Pemberton Drive, from the main at the Pemberton Drive and Parsons Road intersection, to serve this development. Mr. Elliott pointed out that properties or future developments lying north of the proposed gravity sewer may require a public or private lift station in order to be served. Stormwater will be managed onsite and discharge into Mitchell Pond. A cost/benefit analysis was performed which revealed that revenues exceed expenses for this development by $4,307.
Ms. Siggers inquired if there was a potential for de-annexation in the event the property was annexed and the proposed construction of a Rite Aid did not occur. Mr. Elliott noted that the Ruark property was a unique situation so we need to see what happens and take guidance from it.
In response to Mr. Himelright's query, Mr. Elliott could not give a cost estimate at this time for a private or public lift station. He would also have to look at the cost to determine where it needs to be allocated for that service.
Mr. James Trader voiced concern with the traffic situation in that area. Mr. Gene Groten did not believe another super drug store was warranted. Ms. Shanie Shields indicated her support of a Rite Aid if the traffic problem was addressed.
The following items were presented for approval by Director of Procurement & Parking Carol Turner, C.P.M., CPPB:
1. Declaration of Surplus - Finance . . . . . . . . . . . .-0-
2. Water Fountains - P.W. Woodcock & Waterside Playgrounds
(601-3705-532.70-28: unbudgeted capital)
M & C Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,895.00
3. Contract No. A-11-00
Blacktop Patching Materials (001-3205-532.43-04; 601-3705-532.43-04;
601-4105-532.43-04)
I. A. Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,750.00
4. Contract No. A-6-00
Street Materials - Stone (001-3205.532.43-04; 601-3705-532.43-04;
601-4105-532.43-04)
Black Dog Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,625.00
Arundel Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $28,448.00
5. Professional Services (001-1701-515.33-02)
Miles & Stockbridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5,446.10
Mrs. Turner reported a change in item #2. The Waterside Playground should be changed to Newton Tot Lot since a water fountain for Waterside was requested through POS. Ms. Siggers expressed her appreciation for consideration of the Waterside Playground and Newton Tot Lot.
Council unanimously approved items 1, 2 as amended, 3 and 4. Mr. Himelright motioned to table item #5 because he still had not received sufficient answers to the Miles & Stockbridge bill. He also wanted a representative of Miles & Stockbridge to explain their bill to Council. The motion died for lack of a second. On the vote to approve item #5, the vote was a 2-2 split with Ms. Siggers and Mr. Cannon voting in favor of approving and Messrs. Gillis and Himelright voting nay.
Mr. Cannon recommended that Mr. Himelright and Mr. Gillis address their questions/concerns to Miles & Stockbridge in a letter. Mr. Gillis related that he had no desire to write a letter to Miles & Stockbridge. He was opposed to paying the bill because it went beyond the scope of the original agreement on the work they were hired to do and he had never seen a law firm bill on almost an annual basis versus a monthly basis. In his view, something was fishy, and until that information is revealed, he was not in favor of approving the bill. Approval of the Miles & Stockbridge bill was put on hold at this time.
Mr. Gillis requested that the dues structure for the Maryland Municipal League be addressed before the next fiscal year. In his opinion, Salisbury should not be paying the same amount of dues as the City of Baltimore and some of the larger cities.
Mayor Tilghman commented on the following:
attendance at press conference with Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council announcing the
expansion of the New Year's Eve Eastern Shore event to a week long celebration to be
held in the old Salisbury Shirt Factory building;
tentatively planning a community dialogue to be broadcast from SSU with hopes of
having members of the Police Department, Council and Administration present to answer
questions;
appeal for volunteers to serve on the Police and Community Relations Board;
extended appreciation to Col. Guthrie and the Police Department for a successful
resolution to the recent bank robbery;
Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's visit to Salisbury on August 18, 1999;
neighborhood walk on Tuesday, August 10, 1999, in the upper north section of Camden;
Neighborhood Roundtable will be working on a schedule for rotating day and night
meetings;
working on forming two new neighborhood associations - Harbor Pointe and Princeton
Homes/Princeton Avenue area; and
meeting with representatives from the park area who are interested in a neighborhood
watch.
Council President Cannon's comments included:
press release issued seeking qualified applicants for the vacant City Council position
(names and resumes to be submitted to the City Clerk by 4:30 p.m. on August 17, 1999);
mandatory housing violation fines - city cannot enact an ordinance prohibiting the judge
from waiving the fines;
recycling levels are not up to where the City hoped they would be, but some of the
apartment complexes are not participating (considering sending letter to complex owners
requesting participation);
consideration of whether to extend water and sewer to Wor-Wic;
received preliminary report on Fire Master Plan Study;
Northeast Collector - future discussion with State Highway Administration and Wicomico
County concerning the "T" at Zion Road; and
Senior Citizens Center presentation proposed for downtown.
Mr. Jack Powell asked that Jim Ireton's position be replaced with a Democrat since Mr. Ireton was a Democrat. Mr. Robert Ryan, however, pointed out that the citizens of Salisbury have clearly stated they wanted non-partisan elections so partisanship should not be a factor in Council's appointment.
Ms. Julia Hancock commented that the Public Access Channel should be made entirely public. She does not have cable television and therefore does not have access to Channel 26.
Mr. C.T. Webster recognized Col. Guthrie and the Police Department for their outstanding performance in bringing the bank robbery situation to a successful conclusion.
Ms. Becky Swartz, on behalf of the Doverdale Association, requested Council's assistance in getting community policing back on their streets. She suggested that two officers be pulled from the Zero Task Force for this effort. Col. Guthrie related that he does not have the personnel to cover that area as he did last year and he is also short four officers this year. Col. Guthrie explained that the overtime has been restricted to court and emergency situations in light of the overtime budget cut. Messrs. Gillis and Himelright commented that if there was a need now, then the overtime money should be spent and then come back for additional funds when a shortfall exists. Mr. Cannon thought we may need to reallocate personnel to where the problems exist or hire additional officers. In Mr. Cannon's view, we should be able to protect the city without overtime.
Mr. Gary Herb suggested that money be found to put officers in the areas most needed whether it meant giving up repairing typewriters or copiers or doing without uniforms.
Mr. Donald Records, who has lived in the Doverdale neighborhood for 34 years, reported that he was robbed at gunpoint and his wife threatened last week. He did not believe the horse patrol was a deterrent to crime so those monies should be used for officers to patrol the neighborhood in vehicles. Mr. Gene Groten and Ms. Shanie Shields agreed that community policing needed to come back.
Mr. James Trader commented on the following:
stop having police officers serving paperwork for the courts in order to have money
available for more officers on the streets;
spoke with his apartment manager concerning recycling after the last Council meeting;
appreciated adjustment on light at Camden Ave. and South Blvd.;
disappointed that the Traffic Commission had been disbanded, especially since the traffic
situation is horrendous in the city;
should have an officer between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at Mill Street directing traffic;
consider having Mill Street one-way;
should have preventive measures to prohibit pigeons in city garage;
leaks in city garage;
horse and bike patrol may be good public relations tool, but not effective policing;
concerned with $160,000+ HotSpot grant for E. Church Street (could use that money for
police officers);
priorities for street paving - Circle Avenue bridge, and Market Street, need to be
addressed before some of the other streets;
criteria for parking around the Government Building - questioned if public officials have
to pay the same as citizens; and
loss of money on sale of Franklin Hotel - questioned if taxpayers would get credit.
Mr. Robert Taylor suggested that an invitation be extended to Miles & Stockbridge to attend the next Council meeting to answer questions relating to their bill. Mr. Taylor distributed a handout concerning the Board of Zoning Appeal's denial of Wal-Mart's expansion. Kris Hughes, Director of Planning & Zoning, cautioned Council on listening to any further testimony on this case since the Wal-Mart issue was currently on appeal. In regards to the Ruark property de- annexation, Mr. Taylor noted that he was opposed to the de-annexation and inquired as to the status of the lawsuit on this matter. Mr. Wilber reported that he spoke with Ruark's attorney who will be sending the proposed language on the lawsuit, but to date, nothing had been received. In regards to the extension of water and sewer to Wor-Wic, Mr. Taylor asked Council to be careful in giving these services to anyone who is not annexed.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m.
City Clerk
Council President