CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 13, 1999 MEETING #17

PRESENT Mayor Barrie P. Tilghman *
Council President Robert Cannon
Council Vice President Frank Himelright
Councilman Palmer Gillis
Councilman William Stacey

* left 8:40 p.m.

IN ATTENDANCE

ABSENT

CONVENING - APPROVAL OF MINUTES AUGUST 23, 1999

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.

Council President Cannon welcomed newly appointed Councilman William Stacey who replaced former Councilman Jim Ireton.

On a motion by Mr. Himelright and seconded by Mr. Gillis, the minutes of August 23, 1999 were unanimously approved with the addition of Council's Closed Session of September 8, 1999.

ORDINANCE NO. 1732 - 2ND READING - FY2000 BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR WATERWAY IMPROVEMENT GRANT/JOHNSON'S POND BOATING PIER

Mr. Gillis motioned and Mr. Himelright seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1732 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Ordinance No. 1732, as presented by Ms. Deborah Stam, accepts $5,000 in grant funds for a new boating pier on Johnson's Pond.

After discussion, Ordinance No. 1732 for second reading passed unanimously.

ORDINANCE NO. 1733 - 2ND READING - FY2000 BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR CDBG HOUSING REHABILITATION GRANT

Mr. Himelright motioned and Mr. Gillis seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1733 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Ms. Deborah Stam presented Ordinance No. 1733 as an ordinance accepting $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for a housing rehabilitation program to serve elderly and very low income residents. The program will be administered by Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service (SNHS).

Mrs. Debbie Campbell, Director of SNHS, gave an overview of the loans they have administered. A total of 153 loans were closed as of September 1999 for $7,098,226. Of this amount, $1,225,218.57 was loaned in District I or to District I residents. Twenty-two customers are or were from District I.

After further discussion, Ordinance No. 1733 for second reading passed unanimously.

PROCLAMATION HONORING CHARLOTTE AND WILLIE HARRISON

Mayor Tilghman presented a proclamation to Charlotte and Willie Harrison in recognition of their community service to the Church Street Neighborhood.

ORDINANCE NO. 1735 - 1ST READING - EMPLOYEE INDEMNIFICATION

Mr. Gillis motioned and Mr. Stacey seconded to approve Ordinance No. 1735 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Ordinance No. 1735, as introduced by City Solicitor Paul Wilber, adds a new chapter to the Salisbury Municipal Code (Chapter 2.50) to provide for the indemnification of City employees in criminal matters under certain instances. The City would defend and indemnify any employee against criminal prosecution, investigation, or inquiry which may arise by virtue of any act or omission in the performance of the employee's duties or by reason of any employee's official capacity with the City. It would not include traffic tickets, citations or criminal charges arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle. Indemnification would include reasonable attorneys' fees, court costs, fines and penalties. This would primarily effect Public Safety and Public Works employees. Mr. Wilber pointed out that LGIT provides a defense for civil charges, but not criminal charges. Excluded from the ordinance are elected and appointed officials (i.e., City Solicitor, board/commission/committee members, independent contractors, volunteers).

Mr. Robert Taylor felt that the legislation needed more research before passing and suggested contacting other municipalities and governments in the area before enacting.

Mr. Cannon questioned when and how indemnification comes into play and who makes the determination (i.e., Executive Officer). Mr. Gillis asked how one party determines the reasonableness of fees on behalf of someone else. Mr. Cannon requested that the City Solicitor consider these issues by the next reading.

Ordinance No. 1735 passed unanimously for first reading.

RESOLUTION NO. 664 - AMENDMENTS TO EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK - MILITARY LEAVE POLICY, HAZARD REPORTING PROCEDURE AND WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY

Mr. Stacey motioned and Mr. Gillis seconded to approve Resolution No. 664 to bring it on the floor for discussion. Executive Officer John Pick introduced Resolution No. 664 which revises the Employee Handbook by adding protection for employees who report suspected wrongdoing, adding procedures for reporting of hazards in the workplace and amending the military leave policy.

Resolution No. 664 passed unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARING - LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT BLOCK GRANT

Col. Ed Guthrie and Lt. John Moore briefed Council on the $136,900 Law Enforcement Block Grant. The federal government will provide $123,222 and the remainder funded by the City. The following products are targeted to be purchased with the funds: rugged laptops; upgrading terminal to PC's; AS400 upgrade; Cerulean Mobile Data System upgrade; installation of Web Server; and implementation of crime analysis system.

Mr. Stacey hoped that Council would recognize the need for the Crime Data Analyst position which was previously cut from the budget and that they would revisit this position in a future work session.

AWARD OF BIDS

The following items were presented for approval by Director of Procurement & Parking Carol Turner, C.P.M., CPPB:

1. Declaration of surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-0-
2. Motorola Portable Radio (101-3220-532.70-30; unbudgeted)
Caldabaugh Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,179.00
3. City Banking Services
Nations Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+$10,500.00
4. Contract No. A-12-00
Street Materials - Borrow & Topsoil (001-3205-532.43-04; 601-3705-532.43-04)
P & A Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 18,156.00
5. Contract No. 138-93BNR; Change Order No. 3
Engineering Services, BNR Pilot Study (302-4190-537.70-46)
O'Brien & Gere Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 24,000.00
6. Contract No. A-10-99, Renewal - P.D.
Radio & Communications Maintenance (001-2115-521.43-02)
Caldabaugh Communications . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 26,355.00
7. Contract No. A-15-99, Renewal
Police Depart. Uniforms (001-2105-521.20-83)
F&F&A Jacobs & Sons, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 27,654.25
8. Contract No. A-2-98, Renewal
Polymers (601-4101-533.60-04)
Coyne Chemical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 86,752.30
9. Contract No. 109-99
Water & Wastewater Master Plan (601-3501-531.30-24; 601-3901-531.30-25)
O'Brien & Gere Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 98,980.00
10. Contract No. A-7-00
Curb, Gutter & Sidewalk (001-3205-532.43-04)
Malone & Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$201,800.00
11. Contract No. 108-99
Preliminary Design for Phase II BNR
Upgrade & Expansion of WWTP (302-4190-537.70-46)
O'Brien & Gere Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . .$418,370.00

Upon a motion by Mr. Himelright and seconded by Mr. Gillis, items 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 through 11 were unanimously approved.

In regards to item #3, City Banking Services, Mr. Stacey expressed his concern that the issue wasn't significant enough to make a change, especially since changing banking services would be a lengthy and troublesome process. Mr. Baskerville agreed that changing services would be a lot of work, but overall he still recommended changing banks. After further discussion, upon a motion by Mr. Himelright and seconded by Mr. Gillis, all voted in favor of item #3 with the exception of Mr. Stacey who voted nay.

A brief discussion ensued regarding the maintenance repairs to the radios and towers. Upon a motion by Mr. Gillis and seconded by Mr. Himelright, item #6 was unanimously approved.

MAYOR'S COMMENTS

Mayor Tilghman commented on the following items:

HotSpot meeting held last Friday concerning the new area designation on the western side of Salisbury. Sally Dolch is the lead coordinator in this effort;
Mayor and Wil Elliott meeting with residents and business people in the Truitt Street area between Church Street and the railroad tracks to discuss storm water management;
Y2K Public Access TV program on August 30, 1999. Mayor Tilghman hopes to have another one before the new year;
Mayor and Chief Webster participated in a community dialogue on September 8, 1999 which will be rebroadcast over the next few weeks on Public Access Channel 26;
Mayor will be meeting with Community & Police Relations Committee on September 27, 1999;
Mayor spoke with resident who complimented the City on street paving program;
Chief Webster is in Ocean City attending the Maryland Chiefs Association meeting this week;
Mayor met with BHZ inspectors last week to discuss different ways to give a more saturated approach to different neighborhoods for code enforcement; and
Executive Officer Pick met with representatives of Norfolk Southern (purchasers of Conrail) to discuss the possibility of repairing the Mill Street line.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS

Council President reviewed the following items which were discussed in the September 8, 1999 work session:

Zoo Commission concession stand (consensus to move forward to have a stand open by next spring with bids going out before January);
report by Charter Review Committee on City Manager form of government (to be discussed again on October 20, 1999);
future items for work sessions (i.e., employee benefits, health insurance, Downtown Salisbury Association.

PERSONNEL MATTER

Upon a motion by Mr. Stacey and seconded by Mr. Gillis, Council unanimously approved to add as an emergency item to the agenda the discussion of a personnel matter (signing of a check for an employee). Mr. Gillis felt there was still some unanswered questions (i.e., whether this was a payroll related item for back pay or the settlement of a legal dispute). He was not in support of the agreement as it now stands or the settlement amount proposed.

City Solicitor Paul Wilber recommended that Council go into closed session to discuss this personnel matter. Executive Officer John Pick objected to this matter being discussed in open session.

Since Mayor Tilghman had left the Council meeting, Council decided to schedule this discussion with the Mayor during Council's September 22, 1999 work session.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Ms. Julia Hancock commented that the Public Access Channel is not public access because she would have to pay for the channel. She does not have cable and therefore is unable to view the Public Access Channel 26. Ms. Hancock asked that Oak Hill Avenue be addressed for curbing and guttering. PW Director Elliott noted that it is included in the program. Ms. Hancock also mentioned that she recalled there was some interest in turning the railroad bed by Mill Street into a city street if it was abandoned. Mr. Cannon noted that Dave Ganovski gave a status report last week on improving the railroad in that area.

Mr. Jack Powell reiterated his interest in having all meetings held in the evening.

Mr. Kenneth Holland asked when we would reconnect the east side of Salisbury to the west side of Salisbury. In his opinion, we could open up the plaza to relieve the bottleneck.

Mr. Himelright referred to the editorial which indicated that City officials had supported the decision to deny approval of the Wal Mart expansion. He questioned who represented the City officials. Mr. Pick noted that he was also concerned with that comment because the City Council had not taken any position on this issue. The editorial could have been referring to the Board of Zoning Appeals who are appointed by the City and did vote in favor of denying the expansion. Mr. Gillis cautioned Council about discussing this issue since it was pending litigation.

With no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 9:03 p.m.

CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

TIME & PLACE: 4:35 p.m., Room 301, City/County Government Building PURPOSE: Potential litigation pertaining to a personnel matter
VOTE TO CLOSE: Unanimous (Councilwoman Siggers was not present during the vote to close.)
CITATION: Annotated Code of Maryland Sections 10-508(a)(7)(8)
PRESENT: Mayor Barrie Tilghman, Council President Robert Cannon, Council Vice President Frank Himelright, Councilwoman Lavonzella Siggers, Councilman Palmer Gillis, Councilman William Stacey, City Clerk Brenda Colegrove, Executive Officer John Pick and City Solicitor Paul Wilber

At 4:35 p.m. in Room 301 of the City/County Government Building, Mr. Stacey motioned to convene into closed executive session for the purpose of discussing potential litigation with the City Attorney concerning a personnel matter as permitted under the Annotated Code of Maryland Sections 10-508(a)(7)(8). Mr. Gillis seconded and the vote was unanimous (Ms. Siggers was not present during the vote to close).

After discussing the issues with the City Attorney, a consensus was reached by Council to move forward with the settlement. On a motion by Mr. Gillis and seconded by Mr. Stacey, the closed session adjourned at 5:35 p.m. and Council reconvened in open session.

City Clerk

Council President