Note: This is a SUMMARY of the Commissioners Meeting for the purposes of a Press Release. These are not the official minutes of the meeting.
WORKSHOP: WORKFORCE HOUSING
County Administrator Rod Shoop brought this discussion before the Board. The Workforce Housing Task Force, appointed by the Commissioners, presented their report on October 25, 2005, which included a list of recommendations. Commissioners' President Greg Snook welcomed members of the Task Force and offered some recent facts on the housing market in the region. Frederick County recently completed a 37 page report on Workforce Housing, which cost taxpayers $42,500.00. Snook congratulated the Washington County group for making an insightful report that did not cost taxpayers anything. Much of the information and recommendations in both reports were of a similar nature, Snook said. The Task force suggestions included a five year graduated tax credit for qualified new homeowners. Every new housing unit should pay some excise tax towards the cost of public facilities, but the amount should be determined by a sliding scale based on unit size rather than a fixed per-unit basis. Excise tax on multi-family units should be the same as single-family instead of more. Doubling of the excise tax in large developments should not apply to units less than 2,000 square feet; doubling of the excise tax now applies to all units over 25 built in a given subdivision, per year. Residential additions over 1,000 square feet should be subject to excise tax; currently a 4,000 square foot addition can be added onto an 850 square foot house and no excise tax is paid. Adjustments to the excise tax structure in total should be revenue neutral, so that more costs of schools, roads, and other public facilities are not spread to the general taxpayer. Local government and local employers should each match State Loans already available towards closing costs for eligible purchasers of affordable housing. A Workforce Housing Trust Fund for loans and strategic write-downs should be established to spur development of affordable housing. Establishment of a Land Trust that could be used in a wide variety of neighborhoods, substantially lowering initial costs to the buyer, splitting investment appreciation with the community, and permanently maintaining affordable units. Regulatory Relief to examine building and zoning code standards for unnecessary or duplicate provisions. Examine allowing manufactured housing under modern codes that eliminate problems created by old stereotypes. Expand the existing Acquisition with Rehabilitation program for current sub-standard housing units and explore offset with the Land Trust initiative. Immediate adoption of mandatory Inclusionary Zoning where developers make a percentage of new units affordable to Workforce Housing families in turn for additional density in developments; this item was included in the Public Hearing report, but a preliminary voluntary program was eliminated for the final report presented to the Commissioners. Appropriate consultants should be used to prevent "reinventing the wheel" when grinding out the details to adapt other communities programs for local use. First priority for eligibility whenever possible should be given to those working in Washington County. Discussion centered on setting priority areas for immediate action. Three areas were prioritized for immediate focus. The Definition of manufactured housing and development of design standards for those structures will be investigated by Planning and Permits staff. A local Homeowners Tax Credit Program to complement existing state programs will be investigated by a subcommittee of the Task Force and a report given to the Commissioners. Members of the Committee would also look at lowering homeowner costs at loan closing and make specific recommendations. In addition, Commissioners' President Greg Snook suggested staff make recommendations on possible use of the $2 million in County surplus funds to aid in tax relief efforts. County Administrator Shoop said that the workshop was the first of a number planned prior to a final report to the Local Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly.
UPGRADE OF THE "PEOPLE TOOLS" PLATFORM
Information Technologies Director Ron Whitt, IT staff members Angie Poffenberger, Jennifer Landman, Paul Armstrong, and members of the PeopleSoft Task Team brought this item to the Board for discussion and approval. The PeopleSoft Task Team is a cooperative partnership between Budget & Finance, Human Resources and Information Technologies. Its focus is to review and understand PeopleSoft’s functionality, address system operational issues, identify training and operational requirements, and plan for upgrades and enhancements. PeopleSoft is a comprehensive software program for budgeting, financial operations, and Human Resource management The PeopleSoft Task Team is recommending that the County Commissioners approve a budget transfer in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) from the 2006 CIP Technology Development and Upgrade account, to a People Tools Upgrade project account, to fund the People Tools platform upgrade project. The People Tools platform consists of PeopleSoft provided software utilities and third party software applications (BEA Tuxedo, BEA WebLogic, Crystal Reports, and Micro Focus Net Express). These software tools provide the web client interface; provide an environment for the applications to interoperate; and provide the tools that allow IT to maintain the PeopleSoft applications and data. The cost for the upgraded People Tools software components are included in the annual maintenance fee paid to Oracle (PeopleSoft). The People Tools upgrade project will provide for on-site technical consulting, training and instruction for IT staff members on how to upgrade and maintain the People Tools platform. Two years ago the Commissioners supported a major PeopleSoft application module (Budget & Finance, Human Resources, CIS, EPM/Budget) upgrade and data conversion project. These modules were installed, configured, and tested on new Dell servers. At that time, IT staff was instructed on how to apply release updates, patches, and fixes for the PeopleSoft applications only. The budget estimate for the People Tools upgrade project is $66,000; therefore, a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be developed for the subsequent award. The scope of work will include on-site technical consulting, hands-on training, instruction, and management to assist IT staff in performing the upgrade of the current People Tools platform to the latest available release. Funds are available in the CIP under the Technology Development and Upgrade account. Use is appropriate according to project description and justification and project qualifies as a CIP project by definition under County policy. The budget transfer was approved by unanimous vote.
BUDGET TRANSFER: PENMAR WATER PROJECT
County Budget and Finance Director Debra Murray brought a request for an increase of $547,000 to the PenMar Water Project to cover actual bid expenses, and to provide increased matching funds for US Department of Agriculture and Maryland Department of the Environment grants, which have increased. Funds would come from the Mount Aetna water project, which will be moved into the 2007 fiscal year from FY 2006. The measure was approved by unanimous vote.
BUDGET TRANSFER: CONOCOCHEAGUE SEWER INTERCEPTOR
Debra Murray also requested transfer of $576,000 to the Conococheague Sewer Interceptor project for matching funds due to increases in grant and loan amounts from a number of state and federal sources. The measure was approved by unanimous vote.
COUNTY ASSISTS REACH
County employees assisted REACH Caregivers Cold Weather Shelter for homeless persons program with donations of clothing, bedding, foodstuffs and cash, designed to coincide with the opening of the shelter for this winter season. Four pallettes of supplies valued at over $500.00 were donated, along with around $175 in cash. 14 coordinators were named for each of the County's buildings and locations. Supplies donated included such diverse items as paper towels, socks, Coffee, Instant Hot Chocolate, Pillows, Liquid Dish Soap, Chapstick, Hot and Cold Cups, Cleaning supplies, Personal Hygiene Items such as deodorant, foot powder, shaving cream and toothpaste, Heavy Work Gloves, Thermal Underwear, Dry Cereal, Instant Oatmeal, Paper Towels, Disinfectant Spray, Kleenex, Trash Bags, Aluminum Foil, Powdered Milk, Liquid Hand Soap, and a host of other items the shelter will use in providing temporary relief to homeless individuals during the winter months. The mission of the Cold Weather Shelter provided by REACH is to provide homeless adults with a safe shelter of last resort to avoid risk of death or bodily harm from hypothermia. A second mission is to provide information and services to shelter guests for specific needs they are facing. The strength of the program, REACH says, comes from houses of worship and concerned community members combining their time, energies, compassion, and talents. The cold weather shelter opened its doors for the 2005-2005 season on November 7 th.