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.
Review of Actions Taken in the Washington County
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
November 14, 2006
Due to elevator Repair at 100 W. Washington Street, this meeting was held at the Department of Water Quality Public meeting room, located at 16232 Elliott Parkway, in Williamsport, Maryland
Commissioners' Vice-President William J. Wivell presided over this meeting.
COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Commissioner
Jim Kercheval commented on meetings of the Planning Commission and the
Economic Development Commission last week. The Commissioner attended Veteran's
Day ceremonies at Clear Spring High School and a wreath laying ceremony at Jonathan
Street honoring Medal of Honor Winner Corporal William Wilson and the Buffalo
Soldiers. The Commissioner also commented on the People's Choice Awards hosted
by the Community Foundation of Washington County that honored local volunteer
efforts, and the Commission on Aging's Centenarian event that honored 26 persons
in Washington County over the age of 100. Kercheval spoke at a showing of environmentally
friendly cars at Valley Mall with Congressman Roscoe Bartlett and commended
the Mike Callas Stadium committee on a fine job culminating in last week's dedication
ceremonies.
Commissioner Dori Nipps also reported on attending the Commission on Aging
Centenarian luncheon and presented plaques to the honorees. The oldest living
County citizen is 109 years of age, Nipps said. The League of Women Voters
is assembling a group to look at recommendations from the Affordable
Housing Task Force and ways to implement those recommendations. $1 million
remains in set-aside funds for property tax relief, and that issue would be
discussed, Nipps said. The group requested a Commissioner participate in the
meetings. The
Historic District Commission has announced that Trains of Christmas will be
presented at Hagerstown Railroad Museum on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
beginning November 24th and continuing through February 25th.
Commissioners'
Vice-President Bill Wivell reported that the Water Quality Advisory Commission
discussed a request for a waiver of allocation fees by the Washington County
Health System at its most recent meeting. The Commission did not support that
request, Wivell said.
WASHINGTON COUNTY HEALTH SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE USAGE
James Hamill,
President and CEO, of the Washington County Health System (WCHS) and Raymond
Grahe, WCHS Vice President of Finance, brought this request before the Board.
WCHS asked for dedication of infrastructure necessary to serve the new Hospital
as part of the previous County investment in the Conococheague Wastewater Treatment
Plant, consistent with Commercial III customers with this level of positive
impact, and the Flow Transfer Agreement between the County and the City of Hagerstown
for the Hospital. Hamill presented an update of the project, total
cost now standing at $255 million. Hamill said that delays in the project have
resulted in higher construction costs. The 500,000 square foot facility
will be built on property owned by the Health System off Robinwood Drive. Emergency
facilities will be approximately twice the size of the current facility. Hamill
said that 70,000 patients are being seen each year by the emergency room. Delays
in relocation have meant the current ER must be expanded. Ground should be broken
for the new facility in January 2007, with completion in 2009. Planning Director
Mike Thompson said that final reviews by planning staff are underway. County
Administrator Rod Shoop said that from the County standpoint this is a very
large project for the healthcare needs of citizens and for economic development.
Shoop said City of Hagerstown staff working alongside the County helped move
the project forward. Shoop suggested no action be taken on a possible allocation
fee waiver request due to the absence of Commissioners' President Greg Snook.
Commissioner John Munson made a motion to bring a waiver to a vote, which
died due to lack of a second. The measure will be brought before the Board at
a later date.
PEN MAR WATER SYSTEM ALLOCATION FEES
Department
of Water Quality (DWQ) Director Greg Murray brought this request, to allow
customers of the Pen Mar Water System who are ineligible for the Pen Mar Water
Connection Assistance Program, to pay allocation fees as a lien on the property
that would be collected when the property is sold or transfers ownership. The
County, through a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), has established
a no-payback loan assistance program for eligible residents for the costs associated
with connection of their residence to the water system. Approximately 62% of
the 78 residents in Pen Mar will be ineligible for the Pen Mar Water Connection
Assistance Program due to income levels. This recommendation would provide
a means of assistance for the allocation fee portion of the connection costs,
about $2,000.00, to those households not eligible for the CDBG program. During
public meetings, residents stated the need for assistance with the allocation
fee even if they were ineligible for the Assistance Program. Residents ineligible
for the CAC program would still be responsible for financing the costs associated
with connecting the residence with the water system. Murray requested a budget
transfer of $48,000 from DWQ contingency funds to finish the project. The measure,
to allow the liens and for the transfer was approved by unanimous vote.
PRESENTATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2006 AUDITED STATEMENTS
Budget and
Finance Director Debra Murray and Auditor Mike Manspeaker of Smith, Elliott,
Kearns, LLC brought this presentation of the June 30th, 2006 audited Financial
Statements before the Board. The Audit was clean, with no discrepancies, Manspeaker
said. The report contained a Management Discussion and Analysis, Government-Wide
Statements, Fund Statements, Footnotes, and Required Supplementary Information. General
discussion by the external auditor and Director of Budget and Finance made comment
on various funds of Washington County, including, the General Fund, Capital
Improvements Fund, Landfill Fund, and the like. The General Fund will have a
surplus of $6 million which was used to bring the County's reserve up to the
required 17% reserve or 60 days of savings. Collections of property taxes were
up by 12% during the fiscal year and Income Tax collections were up 8% due to
growth in the County. Manspeaker said that in terms of revenue collection, several
good years have allowed the County the opportunity of building the cash reserve
in the event of unexpected revenue downturns in the future.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL PURCHASE: VMWARE INFRASTRUCTURE ACCELERATION SOFTWARE
Ron Whitt,
Director of the Information Technologies Department and Purchasing Agent Karen
Luther brought this request, to authorize by Resolution an intergovernmental
cooperative purchase by the IT Department of VMware Infrastructure 3 Acceleration
Kit for 8 Processors from Convergence Technology Consulting, LLC of Bowie, MD
via a General Services Administration (GSA) – IT Schedule 70 contract
for a total amount of $25,143.68. The County is in the process
of migrating to blade server technology for deployment in the County’s
IT infrastructure. Blade server technology combined with server virtualization
technology will provide for higher server availability, redundancy and better
utilization of system resources. VMware Infrastructure 3 is the most widely
deployed software suite for optimizing and managing IT environments through
virtualization. This suite includes the award winning VMware ESX Server,
VMware Virtual Center, VMware HA, VMware DRS, and VMware Consolidated Backup.
The measure was approved by unanimous vote.
ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD ILLUMINATION
Georgene
Charles, Founder and General Chairman of the Battlefield Illumination event,
along with Charles Brown of Rest Haven Cemetery, Antietam Battlefield Superintendent
John Howard and Judi Quelland of Valley Studio brought an update on plans for
this year's event to the Board. This is the 18th annual Illumination, which
places 23,110 luminaries on the battlefield, one for each soldier killed
in that battle. Calendars featuring Quelland's photography were presented to
the Commissioners. Charles said that community volunteers and sponsorship make
the event successful and thanked the County for its annual support in
terms of traffic control measures. Tom Riford of the Convention and Visitors
bureau said the event is the largest illumination in the country, and presented
the group with a check for $1,500 in additional funding to assist this year's
event. Howard said that the event is funded in part by donations from visitors
to the Battlefield.
The County's first donated Land Preservation Easement was accepted by Stanley and Sally Joe Bowser (center, with dog)
DONATED CONSERVATION EASEMENT: BOWSER PROPERTY
Agricultural
Land Conservation Planner Eric Seifarth and Peter Vorac of Mid-Maryland Land
Trust brought the Stanley and Sally Jo Bowser Donated Conservation Easement
before the Board. The Bowser’s donated an easement consisting of 118.25
acres on McFarland Road near the County's Western border.
The Washington County Commissioners support land preservation and entered
into an agreement with the Mid-Maryland Land Trust to work cooperatively to
acquire donated easements, to work cooperatively to bring in additional grants
and foundation funding sources to support the Land Preservation Program in
acquiring purchased easements, and to work cooperatively in landowner outreach
and county-wide community outreach meetings. Mid-Maryland Land Trust, Maryland
Environmental Trust and Citizens for Protection of Washington County have
assisted in the preservation effort, culminating in the first Donated Easement,
by the Bowsers. Vorac told the Board that the family gave up 8 development
rights to make the donation.
CITIZENS PARTICIPATION
Each week
the Board of County Commissioners sets aside time to hear from citizens of Washington
County on matters of importance to the community.
Nick Williams
of the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) commented on the donated easement
and MET's relationship with the state Department of Natural Resources in assisting
preservation in Washington County. Williams said that IRS regulations are allowing
for greater tax breaks for donated easements.
OTHER BUSINESS
County Administrator’s
Comments: County Administrator Rod Shoop told the Board that the meeting
on Tuesday, November 21st would be longer than the planned half-day. There
is normally no meeting in a Holiday week. A recent Casual Day to benefit the
Flight 93 National Memorial raised $552.00 from County staff, Shoop said. The
Hagerstown Soccer Club requested waiver of sewer connection fees in the amount
of $1,800 for permanent restrooms it is constructing at fields being developed
near Cearfoss. The measure, to approve the waiver and pay the amount to the
Water Quality fund from the Commissioners' Contingency Fund was approved by
unanimous vote.
Reports from
County Staff: Public Works Director Gary Rohrer said that Lane's Run Road will
reopen by mid-December. It is closed due to a culvert replacement. Harper's
Ferry Road is reopened to traffic. The Administration Building elevator, under
repair for several months, may be in operation by Monday of next week.
Division
of Fire and Emergency Services Director John Latimer told the Board that the
County has received a 5-year Emergency Medical Services certification from MIEMSS.
10 part-time employees are working with Fire and Rescue companies to offset
personnel issues, Latimer said.
BID AWARDS: INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT
County Buyer
Rick Curry, and Highway Department Fleet Manager Jack Reynard, brought
bids for heavy equipment before the Board for approval. The group asked the
Board to award the bids to the responsive, responsible sole bidder. Discussion
centered on the lack of additional bidders. Staff was asked to provide information
as to the nature of the bid document and straight purchase price versus lease
pricing, at next week's meeting.
BID AWARD: HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT
Buyer Rick
Curry and Highway Department Fleet Manager Jack Reynard brought requests to
award low bids for Industrial Equipment for the County Highway Department before
the Board for approval. Transfer and remount of an existing service body from
one truck to another is requested from RMS, Inc. of Westminster Maryland in
the amount of $12,620.00. Rejection of one bid was recommended. A one-ton Cab
Chassis 4 wheel drive dump body truck with V-box spreader was bid at $95,400
by Hagerstown Ford, which was over budget for the item. One 26,000 pound gross
vehicle weight single-axle truck with dump body and one 26,000 pound gross vehicle
weight single-axle truck with dump body and plow alternate were recommended
for purchase from Five Star International in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the
amount of $233,045.00. The City of Hagerstown piggy-backed on this bid
but will make its own awards, Curry said. The measures were approved with one
bid rejected.
PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO AND MOBILE DATA COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM UPDATE
Deputy Director
of Public Works Joe Kroboth brought this update to the Board. Motorola, L. Robert
Kimball & Associates, Betzwood Associates and County Staff continue to work
on the contract design review (CDR) phase of the project. Kroboth told the Board
that to date 12 day-long meetings have been held since initiating the contract
design review process. The CDR process was initiated by combining the
County site development schedule with the Motorola equipment manufacturing and
installation schedule. The combined schedule is complete. FCC licensing
for the frequencies and sites is being coordinated with Motorola and a third
party license coordinator. Statewide and adjacent county interoperability solutions
have been reviewed and modified slightly due to system changes in adjoining
counties. County staff has coordinated the interoperability solutions
with the State of Maryland, State Interoperability Executive Committee. Discussions
continue regarding the mobile data system. The County held a special meeting
with all mobile data stakeholders on November 9th. The computer-aided dispatch
and law enforcement mobile data applications are being coordinated between the
project stakeholders. The Fire station alerting (FSA) system proposed
by Motorola is being evaluated by the County staff for compliance with project
requirements. The County is awaiting a proposal from Motorola for another
FSA system that provides greater functionality and better complies with the
project specifications. Much of the site improvement portion of the project
is being coordinated by the County in a partnership with the State of Maryland. The
County is responsible for all site development work except the Keep Tryst Road
Site. Site construction contracts will be awarded by the State of Maryland,
Department of Budget & Management using existing state contracts. County
staff will write the Task Order and prepare the engineering drawings for award
by the State. Project management will be performed by the County as part
of the overall project coordination. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has
been drafted to validate the partnership between the state and county. The
draft MOU was sent to the State of Maryland on July 5th. On November 6th,
the State of Maryland provided minor comments for revisions to the MOU. The
Maryland Public Television group that owns and occupies the Fairview Mountain
Site have requested a separate MOU with their agency. Negotiations are underway
on the Sideling Hill, Hancock, Quirak Mountain, Lamb's Knoll and State Highway
Administration sites. 61 Portable radios and accessories were ordered to satisfy
a grant deadline and to provide for communications interoperability for the
Williamsport Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company while responding into Berkley
County, West Virginia. Total budget for the project is $22,683,430.00 Kroboth
said.
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP CARRY-FORWARD FUNDS
Washington
County Community Partnership (WCCP) Director Stephanie Stone brought this
request, to approve use of state carry-over funding, before the Board.
The Washington County Community Partnership for Children and Families, Washington
County’s Local Management Board has recently been awarded FY 2007 funds
for several programs from the Governor’s Office for Children. Local
Coordinating Council (LCC) Flexible Funding in the amount of $115,000 would
be utilized by the LCC through the Local Management Board for community-based
services and community-based out-of-home placements needed by children with
mental or developmental disabilities The Western Region Local Access
Mechanism made up of Allegany, Garrett, Washington and Frederick Counties
would share $264,609 with approximately $72,000 coming to Washington
County to support development of the local access mechanism. The funds would
hire information and referral and database staff to support the development
and implementation of the 2-1-1 system and to hire systems and family navigators. Also
included in this funding is $1,120 per county to obtain cultural competency
training.
An additional $4,412 in Local Access Mechanism funding would go to support
the development of Washington County’s local access mechanism, to cover
training costs and parent stipends in partnership with the other western region
LMBs. In addition, Local Access Mechanism Point of Service Funding of
$53,380 would be used for Children Safe in Their Families and Communities,
Children Enter School Ready to Learn, and Babies Born Healthy programs. The
grants, for a total of $245,912.00 were accepted by unanimous vote.