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
December 19, 2006
THE BOARD PARTICIPATED IN NEW COMMISSIONER ORIENTATION FOR THE PERMITS AND
INSPECTIONS DEPARTMENT
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.
Bill Beard,
President of the Washington County Historical Society Board and newly appointed
Executive Director Jim Neville reported to the Commissioners on the mission
and activities of the Society, its facilities and collections. Aside from the
Miller Houser and Beaver Creek School that are owned by the Society, the contents
of the Hager House in City Park and the Country Store at the Agricultural Heritage
Museum are owned by the group and on loan to those organizations, Neville said.
Jim Devine
of Hagerstown commented on energy issues, on the election process, on growth
in the County, on a need for a rental-inspection program outside the City of
Hagerstown and in School construction issues.
OTHER BUSINESS
Appointments to Boards and Commissions: County Clerk Joni Bittner brought
a request from the Solid Waste Advisory Committee for reappointment of John
Cohill to the Committee for a second three-year term. The measure was
approved by unanimous vote.
County Administrator's Comments: County Administrator Rod Shoop advised the
Board that an organizational meeting of the Charter Home Rule Committee will
be held on Thursday, December 21st at 5 p.m. in the Commissioners meeting
room. The University of Maryland is assisting in writing that Charter, Shoop
said. The Commissioners were reminded that annual holiday Caroling would take
place at 11:45 a.m. on the Administration Building's front steps. The next
Commissioners meeting is January 9th, Shoop said.
Staff Comments: Office on Disability Issues Administrator Norman Bassett
reported on last week's meeting of the Disability Advisory Committee, which
welcomed Delegates Chris Shank and Rick Weldon as guests. The Delegates heard
a report on the Developmental Disabilities Administration Waiting List Initiative
from DAC member Phyllis Landry. The Delegates were asked to continue their
support of that initiative. The report indicated that 486 persons who have
developmental disabilities are receiving services in Washington County, while
332 persons remain on the waiting list.
Public Works Director Gary Rohrer commented on the County Street Acceptance
:Policy. Rohrer told the Board that some streets in the County have not been
accepted into the County structure and snow plowing on those thoroughfares
is the responsibility of the subdivision developer.
COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Commissioner
Kristin Aleshire requested that a goals retreat be held soon. County Administrator
Rod Shoop commented that a Goals planning session should be held once the new
County Administrator has been hired. The Board should consider 4-year initiatives,
annual goals, and review the vision and mission statements, Shoop said. Aleshire
commented on attending the Boonsboro annexations meeting held on Monday evening.
Over 200 people attended that meting, Aleshire said, and of 27 speakers, 20
were opposed to the density of development that the Town has proposed. The Commissioner
talked with the Mayor and Council members after that meeting about additional
information the Commissioners are seeking about the annexations. There
is another public meeting scheduled by the Town on December 28th, in order to
avoid stipulations on the process that will go into effect when House Bill 1141
becomes law on January 1st.
Commissioner
Jim Kercheval reported on last week's Tri-County Council meeting. Kercheval
will serve as Vice-Chair of that Council for 2007. The County has three appointees
to the TCC, Kercheval, Commissioners' President John Barr and Economic Development
Commission Office Director Tim Troxell. Four additional positions are allocated
to the County including an elected representative of a County municipality or
designee, Chair of the County Delegation or designee, and two citizen-at-large
positions. Those positions will have to be filled, Kercheval said. A meeting
with developers of Claggett's Mill subdivision was held last week. A new school
mitigation plan is forthcoming from that developer, Kercheval said. The
Black Rock Golf Course Board met Monday, and reported that revenues for the
year are up. Budget finalization for the Golf Course is the topic of that Board's
next meeting, Kercheval reported.
Commissioner
Terry Baker requested meetings with late afternoon or evening start times to
enable citizen participation, and asked if meeting agendas could be developed
two weeks in advance.
Commissioners
President John Barr told the Board that the next meeting of the Airport Board
is set for Thursday, December 21st, and wished all County staff and citizens
the Happiest of Holidays.
BID AWARD: LEFTHAND NETWORKS INC. PRODUCTS
County Buyer Rick Curry, and
Ron Whitt, IT Department Director brought this Bid Award for Lefthand Networks
Incorporated Products to the Board for approval. The request was to award the
bid to the responsive, responsible bidder with the lowest bid, InTouch Technologies
of Frederick, Maryland in the amount of $91,954.10 The County is in the process
of migrating to blade server, server virtualization, and storage area networks
(SAN) technology for deployment in the County’s IT infrastructure to be
used in implementation of an enterprise geographic information system (GIS):
and to replace three existing servers that are over five years old. Integrated
technologies provide for better system security, higher server availability,
data and server redundancy, scalable high capacity storage and better utilization
of system resources. In the past two months, the Board approved the purchase
of Dell blade servers and VMware Infrastructure 3-server virtualization software. This
purchase provides the final component of this strategy, Whitt said. The measure
was approved by unanimous vote.
UNITED WAY/COMMUNITY HEALTH CHARITIES UPDATE
Angie Helfrick of the Alterative Sanctions office
brought this report to the Board. Helfrick has served as coordinator for the
annual employee fund drive to benefit the United Way and Community Health Charities
drive. Helfrick said that again this year Washington County employees participated
in the United Way Campaign as a “Pace Setter.” County Employees
collected approximately $43,000 during the “Pace Setter” time frame.
The annual Day of Caring was held on October 11, 2005, with some 60 County Employees
participating, compared to the 50 who participated last year. County employees
represented one of the largest teams participating in the Day of Caring and
assisted with projects at seven different locations including W House, Boys
and Girls Club, Boy Scout Office, Community Action Council, Interfaith Service
Coalition, Horizon Goodwill and Alzheimer’s Association. Helfrick gave
special thanks to John Pennesi, Deputy Director of the Buildings, Grounds and
Parks Department for assessing the projects and coordinating supplies needed
for each project. With John’s assistance, the Day of Caring was
a huge success, Helfrick said. The goal for the combined United Way and Community
Health Charities pledges this year was $62,000. Washington County Employees
donated a combined total of $59,955.50 to both the Untied Way and Community
Health Charities. A total of $57,043.50 to the United Way Agencies was
an increase of approximately 10% from last year’s figure of $49,657.00
and employees gave $2,912.00 to Community Health Charities. Overall, of the
County’s 670 full-time employees, 355 employees donated to either the
United Way or the Community Health Charities. That figure represents 53% of
the county employees donating, Helfrick said.
COMMISSIONERS AND COUNTY EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATED IN HOLIDAY CAROLING ON THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING STEPS AT THE NOON HOUR.