MINUTES

WALKERSVILLE BURGESS & COMMISSIONERS TOWN MEETING

April 25, 2007

The Town meeting of the Walkersville Burgess & Commissioners was called to order on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. Those in attendance included Burgess Ralph Whitmore, Commissioners Sam Eyler, James Reid, Donald Schildt, Chad Weddle, and Debbie Zimmerman, Town Manager Gloria Long Rollins, Planning and Zoning Administrator Susan Hauver, Public Works Director Bob DePaola, Water Operator Martin Wolfe, TFC Ramona George, 8 citizens and Jeremy Hauck of the Gazette.

The meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.

1. MINUTES

2. PUBLIC HEARING ON ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT – OTM PARKING

No public comments. Ms. Hauver went over the changes that the Planning commission recommended to Ordinance 2007-02. It reads as follows:

"Substitution of On-Street Parking for Off-Street Parking Requirements: The Burgess and Commissioners may grant a substitution of on-street parking spaces for required off-street parking spaces, if legal on-street parking spaces are available in the vicinity of the property. The Burgess and Commissioners’ approval shall be noted on the site plan presented to the Planning Commission."

3. CITIZENS’ QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

Victor Hoffman, from Glade Village, presented the commissioners with a petition with sixteen signatures, requesting that the temporary speed bump on Sherwood Drive remain in place during the entire baseball season. The commissioners will ponder this request for 2 weeks and discuss again at their next meeting, May 9.

4. FY 2008 DRAFT BUDGET DISCUSSION

Burgess Whitmore and Ms. Rollins presented the preliminary draft budget, noting areas that need more research and fine tuning. Some of the discussion involved concerns such as speeding and speed bumps, water usage for watering athletic fields, electricity deregulation, parks vandalism and closing times, park ranger/night watchman possibilities, neighborhood watch program, employee health benefit costs. The May 9 meeting will include a formal budget for the General Fund and the Water Fund for introduction.

5. NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM INFORMATION

Ms. Rollins presented basic information regarding strategies and implementation of neighborhood watch programs. This may be a possible solution to current park vandalism and inappropriate usage. A meeting will be held on May 16 at 7:30 p.m., which will include interested residents and the resident troopers.

6. REVIEW OF PROGRAM OPEN SPACE REQUEST AND PRIORITIES

Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman presented the Parks Committee recommendations for priorities for Program Open Space projects. Priority 1 is to refurbish the tennis courts at Community Park and the basketball court at Creamery Park. Priority 2 is to build a large pavilion and play system at Heritage Farm Park. Priority 3 is to pave the loop road at Heritage Farm Park.

7. T-MOBILE LEASE FOR WIRELESS SITE AT CRUM ROAD WATER TOWER

Ms. Rollins presented the final version of the T-Mobile lease for a wireless site on the water tower at Crum Road.

8. FREDERICK COUNTY SPECIAL EXCEPTION REQUEST FOR RADIO TOWER

Ms. Hauver went over the notification of a special exception request from Birach Broadcasting Corp before the Frederick County Board of Appeals. The Town of Walkersville is notified as an adjoining jurisdiction. Birach is requesting taking down 2 towers and putting up 3 new towers. The height will increase by 30 feet.

9. DISCUSS SENIOR CITIZEN PROGRAM AND LIBRARY BUILDING

Ms. Rollins presented attendance statistics and costs associated with the Senior Citizens activities in Town Hall. She asked commissioners to consider the level of service that they want to continue to fund, as budget discussions ensue. Commissioner Schildt stated that meals and supplies should be continued at the current level regardless of the utilization, that not enough is spent on our seniors.

Commissioner Chad Weddle made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman, to send the senior citizens group a letter letting them know that it is budget time, and due to costs associated with the program, one day per week is being considered. The motion passed by a vote of 4-1, with Commissioner Donald Schildt opposed.

Ms. Rollins asked commissioners to consider if they would support a senior citizen program to be provided by Frederick County in the old library building, after the new library building is completed. Ms. Carolyn True of the Frederick County Department of Aging would present the details if there is an interest. Burgess Whitmore expressed willingness to discuss this with Ms. True and it would be approximately 4 years until this program could come to fruition.

10. ESSAY CONTEST FORMS AND VETERAN JUDGING COMMITTEE

Ms. Rollins went over the forms for the essay contest that the town is sponsoring for high school seniors for the Memorial Day Remembrance. Commissioners made several changes to the forms, requiring the scholarship winners to be present at the Memorial Day service to read their essays. Commissioners added a $300 second place scholarship and a $200 third place scholarship, in addition to the original $500 scholarship for the contest winner. They also changed the required number of words to 300 words or less. Ms. Rollins will deliver the forms to Walkersville High School tomorrow.

Commissioners appointed veterans Ridge Cramer, Sam Eyler, and Jim Reid to the judging committee for the essay contest.

11. TRANSFER OF PROPERTY TO FREDERICK COUNTY FOR NEW LIBRARY

Ms. Hauver presented procedures outlined by Town attorney David Severn for transferring property to Frederick County for construction of a new library branch in Walkersville.

12. AWARD BID FOR STREET PATCH AND OVERLAY PROJECT

Bid results for the street patch and overlay projects for Highlander Blvd., Colony Drive, and Silver Crest Drive were received as follows: W.F. Delauter & Sons, Inc. in the amount of $85,053, Wastler Construction in the amount of $118,845, and L.W. Wolfe Enterprises, Inc. in the amount of $134,047.54.

13. AWARD BID FOR TOWN HALL JANITORIAL SERVICES

Bid results for town hall janitorial services were received as follows: Monthly contract prices were Commercial Building Maintenance, Inc. $450, Debra’s Cleaning Service $900, Marc Howarth $1,200, Scott Key Center $1,567.50, Service Master $2,000, Quality First Cleaning $14,676. Staff checked references and recommends the low bidder.

14. REVIEW OF DAVID MOXLEY PROPOSAL AND QUESTIONS

Mr. Moxley had presented commissioners with a letter from his attorneys at the last meeting. The letter requested consideration for rezoning the Farm Tract, LLC property to the town’s Limited Industrial Park and B-2 Commercial zoning. The letter noted the recent difficulty in obtaining a water and sewer service designation from Frederick County for Agriculture zoned property. The request includes asking the town to reconsider the location of the future library site and move the site across Rt. 194 to the Farm Tract, LLC property. Mr. Moxley would like to discuss this and the other issues brought forth in the letter. Burgess Whitmore noted that the proposed library site would not be relocated. This has been planned and discussed for years and the 2 acre site on Glade Road is centrally located and easily accessible for citizens to walk to the library. Commissioners took no action on the suggestions requested in the letter.

15. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

16. COMMISSIONERS’ CONCERNS

Discussion ensued regarding recent vandalism in the parks and possible solutions to alleviate this problem.

Burgess Whitmore asked staff to investigate security cameras for the parks.

Commissioner Schildt noted that he had received complaints that the bathroom in Creamery Park has been locked. This was in response to the destruction and mess that has occurred with the paper products and clogging of the toilets.

Commissioner Schildt noted that plans are coming together for the Memorial Day Remembrance. The band, taps player, keynote speaker, soloist have been lined up. He hopes to have church choirs interested in singing patriotic songs. Town staff will assemble the program when the information is complete. Commissioner Schildt also requested that the town allot funds to compensate the band for their expenses. Commissioner Jim Reid made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Chad Weddle, to pay $20 per band member who comes to the service to play on May 27^th. The motion passed by a vote of 5-0.

Mr. Victor Hoffman asked to be notified, on behalf of Glade Village, about Neighborhood Watch information. He will be included on the mailing to the HOA organizations.

Burgess Ralph Whitmore asked and received commissioners’ consent to bring up the issue of fire companies wasting taxpayer dollars to the MML Mayors’ meeting Thursday night. He stated that soon our fire tax will surpass our property taxes.

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Gloria Long Rollins

Town Manager