Executive Department
4th Quarter Report
Fiscal Year 2003
Activities and Accomplishments
A) The Grants/Special Projects Director, continued to work with the HotSpot program, serving as the Lead Coordinator. Ann Northam is the Church Street Neighborhood Advocate.
The grant application for Year 6 of the Church Street HotSpot program was submitted to the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention in May. Our application was approved as submitted, and we were awarded money for the following programs:
School Resource Officer / Wicomico Middle School / Sheriff’s Department ....................... $20,000
Narcotics Buy - Bust Operations / Salisbury Police Department ............................................$7,579
Prostitution Stings / Salisbury Police Department .................................................................. $6,431
Neighborhood Advocate - Lead Coordinator / Mayor’s Office ............................................ $7,500
East Salisbury Elementary School / Summer Program ........................................................... $3,000
Wicomico Middle School / Dream Catcher’s After-School Program .................................... $3,000
Grace United Methodist Church / Teens On The Go Program .............................................. $3,000
Total Funds Received .................... $50,510
HotSpot meetings continue to be held the third Tuesday of every month at Grace United Methodist Church at 5:30 p.m. The HotSpot mailing list consists of over 100 agency representatives and area residents.
B) The Boundless Playground project was divided into in two phases in order to meet funding constraints. Phase 1 included all major site excavation, the creation of the parking areas and the asphalt accessible trails, and the purchase and installation of the play equipment and the safety surfacing for the school-age play area. Phase 2 included the purchase / installation of the play equipment and safety surfacing for the pre-school play area, picnic tables, benches, trash cans, handicapped-accessible water fountain, fencing and landscaping.
The Boundless design staff subsequently decided that they wanted to make some minor changes to layout of the playground. At the same time they sent our vendor information up to the State Department of General Services for their approval. The vendor is scheduled to be approved by the DGS at their meeting on July 2nd. Once that has been completed and the final funding issues have been settled we can get the contract signed and begin Phase 1 of the playground.
Our current estimate for completion of Phase 2 of the project is approximately $160,000. We are working on a Community Legacy grant application to acquire the funds necessary to complete Phase 2.
C) Work began on the Pedestrian Connectivity Study and the Downtown Lighting Analysis through Davis, Bowen & Friedel. This project was funded through Community Legacy. Davis, Bowen & Friedel are starting with the gathering of the base data, and from there will move to community meetings to get input from the public on their suggestions for possible improvements. We expect that the study will be completed sometime in September.
D) Work continued on the owner-occupied housing rehabilitation projects being funded through the Community Legacy Revolving Loan Fund monies ($150,000). These projects are being handled by Salisbury - Wicomico Department of Planning, Zoning & Community Development (PZCD). The limited number of contractors willing to do these small rehabilitation projects continues to present a challenge, as well as the extremely busy schedules of the inspectors. The PZCD staff is continuing to market the program to additional new contractors, and we will be sending a flyer out to the residents in the target neighborhoods next quarter to make sure they know that these loan funds are available.
E) The Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Service (SNHS) continued working with the $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds that they received for their owner-occupied housing rehabilitation grant / loan program. SNHS is running into the same problems that the Planning, Zoning & Community Development staff have been experiencing - extremely busy housing inspectors and lead hazard inspectors, and a shortage of qualified contractors willing to do jobs this small. However, they have multiple projects rolling now, and things are progressing well.
F) On May 9, the newly re-constituted Fire Service Agreement committee met for the second time to continue work on developing a new agreement between the City and the County. The committee met again on June 5. At the request of County Council President Sarbanes, John Pick and Acting Fire Chief David See met with the full County Council on June 17 to discuss this agreement. Mr. Sarbanes felt that it would be advantageous for County Council members to have the opportunity to meet directly with City representatives so that their questions could be answered from the City’s perspective. Because of the new members on the subcommittee, the first several meetings have been devoted primarily to bringing the new members “up to speed” on the work of the committee and the issues that had not yet been resolved. Considerable time has also been devoted to discussions as to why the City feels it is entitled to receive reimbursement for a portion of its Fire Department budget for providing service outside the City limits. The committee agreed to met again in July.
G) The GIS User’s group met on both June 5 and June 13 to continue to discuss the use of the funds that have been made available for this project in both the City and County FY 04 budgets. The group agreed that it would be desirable for Frank McKenzie to brief the Mayor and the City’s department heads on the progress of this project to date so that they could have a better idea of its future potential. The group is also looking at the list of data layers that were suggested by the consultants as the highest priority for creation in the upcoming year. The group is to get back together in July, after the Mayor and department heads have been briefed, so that their suggestions can be included in the GIS work program for FY 04.
H) On May 20, the Mayor and Executive Officer met with the County Council to review the six annexations that were pending before the City Council. The purpose of the review was to provide additional information to the County Council to aid them in making their decision whether to approve the rezoning of these parcels. As a part of the annexation process, the County Council has the power to approve the City zoning classification, that is being requested by the developers and/or property owners, if the proposed zoning differs significantly from the existing County zoning . The situation before the County Council was unique because of both the number of these annexations (6) and the size (in excess of 200 acres total). The County Council members expressed concern about these developments because of the impact they would have on County facilities. The City pointed out that these parcels could also be developed, even if they were not in the City. If they were not in the City, however, the full impact would fall on the County. If they are developed in the City, the responsibility for street maintenance, police protection, snow removal, and other services would be the City’s. The City also pointed out that, if these properties were developed in the City, they would be on the City’s water and sewer systems, thereby reducing their impact on the environment.
Subsequent to this meeting, the County Council approved the rezoning of all of these properties. In a meeting on June 26, the City Council approved three of the annexations, but turned down the other three. The Council members voting against these annexations expressed a concern that they would over-burden the City.
I) On May 8, the Executive Officer, the Finance Director and Councilman Webster met with the County Council to discuss the City’s request for a tax differential. Following a presentation by John Cawley summarizing the City’s request, the County Council indicated that they would let us know what they decided. In a letter dated June 2, the County advised us that they would not be acting favorably on our request.
J) The Healthy Housing Ratio Task Force, which was formed to look into the possibility of establishing a “desirable ratio” between owner-occupied and rental properties, met on a number of occasions throughout the quarter. Amy Liebman was serving as chair of the committee. The concept of a “desirable ratio” came out of the report from the City’s Housing Process Action Team and is based on the notion that we will never know whether we have too many rental units unless we know what is a desirable number against which we can measure. On May 22, the committee compiled a draft report and forwarded it to the Mayor for comment. As of the end of the quarter, the committee had not produced a final report.
K) At the beginning of the quarter, the City was still faced with an unresolved situation in the Fire Department. In late March, Fire Chief Brezler reported to the Mayor that he had effectively lost control of the Station #2 volunteers, who were acting as if they were an independent fire company rather than a part of the Salisbury Fire Department. As a result, the Chief stated that, in his opinion, public safety was being compromised.
Faced with this knowledge, the Chief, with the approval of the Mayor, sent a letter to all Station #2 members asking them to declare whether they wished to remain with the Salisbury Fire Department. Eleven members indicated that they wished to remain with the department and twenty-one did not respond. Those who did not respond, were sent a letter advising tem that they were no longer associated with the department and that, among other things, they were no longer authorized to respond to alarms on behalf of the City. The City immediately began to man the station with volunteers from Station #16. These individuals responded to alarms in the Station #2
primary response district with back-up from Station #16.
On April 4, 2003 the City Council adopted a reciprocity agreement between the City and the Station #2 Volunteer Corporation which would have had the effect of recognizing this corporation as a separate entity and not a part of the Fire Department. The Mayor subsequently indicated that she would not sign this agreement. Since the agreement required approval of both the Mayor and the Council, it was never implemented.
On Friday, May 2, representatives of the City met with representatives of Station #2 along with a mediator in an attempt to reach an understanding to resolve this disagreement. Following a day-long meeting, the parties were able to reach an agreement. Among the terms of the agreement, the Station #2 volunteers were allowed to return to active status with the department and, in return, they agreed that they would be under the direction of the Fire Chief. This agreement was approved by the City Council at their meeting on May 12.
Since the approval of this agreement, the Fire Chief and his administration have been working with the Station #2 volunteers to resolve the many remaining issues that needed to be resolved before the volunteers could be returned to duty. Among those issues were a need for all of the volunteers, who wished to be active, to update all of their training and certifications. In addition, the equipment, that had been purchased by the volunteer corporation, in anticipation of their separation from the department, had to be evaluated and brought into compliance with departmental standards before being put into service.
By the end of the quarter, all of the volunteers, who were able to meet the necessary certification and physical requirements, had been returned to active status and Truck 2, whose ownership has been called into question, has been returned to service. Engine 210, which was purchased by the Station #2 volunteers in anticipation of their separation from the department, was undergoing its final evaluation and testing prior to being placed into service. The turnout gear, which was also purchased by the Station #2 volunteers, was in the process of being received and issued to the volunteers. This gear had to be modified by the manufacturer so that it would meet departmental standards and would be identical in appearance to the gear used by the rest of the department. Other issues were still being resolved.
L) Pursuant to a promise made to the members of the Fire Department, on June 10, the Mayor, the Executive Officer and Acting Fire Chief David See met with the line officers from the three fire stations to discuss matters of mutual concern. Acting Deputy Chief Tim Keenan was also in attendance. This meeting was intended to be the first of a series of quarterly meetings with the line officers and is designed to make sure that communications with the volunteers don’t break down. Among the items discussed were: volunteer officer professional qualifications; the process for selection/election of volunteer officers, and the volunteer executive board.
M) On April 15, the Mayor’s proposed FY 04 budget was delivered to the City Council. Among the most important recommendations included in this document were a proposed $.05 increase in the property tax rate and an 8% increase in the sewer rate. The proposed increase in the property tax rate was the first increase in seven years and was largely based on the cost of a proposed major improvement in the Police retirement program. The increase in the sewer rate was necessitated by the debt we incurred for the design and engineering of the waste water treatment plant expansion and upgrade. The proposed budget placed a great deal of emphasis on capital outlay. There was no pay increase for employees included in the proposed budget.
The first reading of the budget ordinance was held on April 28 followed by a full schedule of budget work sessions by the City Council. On May 6, the required public hearing was held. On June 9, the Council adopted the budget as it had been amended and adjusted by the Council. After giving the matter full consideration, the Council let stand the increases in the tax rate and the sewer rate as proposed by the Mayor. The Council, through a number of cuts in proposed expenditures, was able to reduce the amount that the City intended to appropriate from the General Fund balance.
N) The City was successful in the 2003 General Assembly session in having legislation passed that would reduce from four (4) to two (2) the number of required newspaper advertisements in the annexation process. This legislation, which was unsuccessful in the 2002 General Assembly session, was co-sponsored by State Senator Richard Colburn and Delegate Norman Conway. The purpose of this legislation was to reduce the cost incurred by a property owner in the annexation process, thus making annexation a little more attractive. The City had seen advertisement costs as high as $3,000 for single-lot annexations. As introduced, this bill would have applied to annexations of 50 acres or less. However, during the course of the legislative session it was amended so that it now will apply only to annexations of 25 acres or less.
This bill was signed by Governor Ehrlich and will go into effect on October 1, 2003.