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
March 13, 2007
COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Commissioner
Kristin Aleshire commented on Monday evening's joint rezoning hearing and said
that issues requiring less time should be placed on the agenda before other,
more lengthy, rezoning matters. The hearing extended until near midnight on
Monday evening.
Commissioner
Jim Kercheval reported on the Maryland Association of Counties' position on
the "Green Fund Bill". The bill as proposed would assess a fee for
each square foot of impervious ground statewide. MACo supported the bill
with amendments, Kercheval said. The Commissioner testified on that bill last
week, and stated there were still concerns over the impact on economic
development that such a bill would have. There is a possibility the bill would
be worked on over the summer should agreements on the proposed amendments or
the Senate version of the bill not be resolved, Kercheval said. The County/City
2+2 Committee met last week and reviewed issues of importance. Those meetings
have restarted on a regular basis. The Board of Education's 2+2 Committee will
hold its first meeting on Monday. Kercheval said. The Commissioner gave thanks
to former County Administrator Rod Shoop for his years of service to the County,
and commented on the open house event held in his honor this week. Shoop's
last official day with the County will be March 15th. County Engineer Terry
McGee will testify in Annapolis this week in opposition to a proposed stormwater
management Bill that would increase regulatory requirements on the ponds. The
logistics of living up to these new requirements could be cost prohibitive,
Kercheval said.
Commissioner
Terry Baker reported that the Recreation and Parks Board has heard all Program
Open Space requests from the municipalities for the FY 2008 budget year. $2.8
million in requests were received, while the County is expected to be given
$1.9 million in those state park funds. The requests will be prioritized
and approved by the R&P Board prior to approval by the Commissioners.
Commissioners'
President John Barr commented on traveling to Annapolis last week with Hagerstown
Business College faculty and administrators to testify before the state Higher
Education Commission on the College's request to be authorized to pursue four-year
status. That request was granted, Barr said. The Commissioner presented a Certificate
of Merit to Jeffrey Smith of Boy Scout Troop 62 for attaining Eagle Scout status
and the Order of the Arrow achievement. Two additional certifications are planned
for that troop on March 24th, Barr said. The "Growing Seeds for Life" event
held by the 4-H Club at the Agricultural Education Center was informative, Barr
said.
WATER QUALITY OPERATIONAL AND CAPITAL BUDGETS AND COST OF SERVICE
RATES
Acting Director
of the Department of Water Quality (DWQ), Julie Pippel brought both the Operational
and Capital budgets for DWQ before the Board for review.
The Utility Administration Fund is projected at $3.49 million for Fiscal
Year 2008, and includes department administration, Laboratory, Maintenance,
Information Systems, Contract Operations and Inspection Projects budgets.
The Water Fund would be reduced by $412,070.00 to $1.27 million, an overall
decrease of 24.5%. The Sewer Fund would be reduced by $169,870.00 to a total
of $3.49 million. The Pretreatment Fund has been zeroed, due to privatization
of that plant. Rental of the facility engenders $350,000 in revenue annually.
Under the proposal, fees for water service would increase $2.40 for the base
amount of 6,000 gallons per month (gpm), and an additional 30 cents for each
additional 1,000 gallons. The proposed residential sewer rates would increase
by $2.80 for the base rate of 6,000 gpm, and an increase of 14 cents for each
additional 1,000 gpm. Allocation rates would rise, from $3,500 per year to
$5,900 per year. Discussion on this line item resulted in consensus to look
at the structure of annual allocation increases for small businesses to allow
for partial versus full increases based on usage. A motion, to take the proposed
rates to Public Hearing was passed by unanimous vote.
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.
No one appeared
to make comment on this date.
OTHER BUSINESS
County Administrator
Comments: County Administrator Greg Murray reported on Senator Mikulski's announcement
of about $250,000 in federal funds to the Sharpsburg and the Fairplay Volunteer
Fire Companies for emergency equipment. Callas Contractors requested a change
order to a Water Quality contract at the Sandy Hook plant in the amount of $28,000.00.
Pumps purchased as replacements were found to be inadequate and had to be replaced.
The measure was approved by unanimous vote. The most recent list of County expense
by function from the State Fiscal Guide showed Washington County contributing
about 7.3% of its total annual budget to operations of Hagerstown Community
College, which is above the state average of contributions by counties, at 4.1%.
HCC has received a 15% increase in its budget over the last two fiscal years,
while County revenues increased 8% in FY 2006 and 10% in FY 2007. Commissioners'
Strategic Planning meetings will begin on Tuesday March 20th, with an additional
meeting set for Easter Week, when traditionally there is no Commissioners' meeting
held.
MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAM
Cyrus Lesser,
Mike Cantwell and Peter Jiang of
the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) brought this discussion of the
County-wide Mosquito Control program before the Board. MDA requested that Washington
County consider providing funds to maintain and improve the cooperative mosquito
control program or consider alternatives to the current program. Currently the
program is funded by the 8 communities in the county which choose to participate
with 50% matching funds from the state. Development, stormwater management practices,
West Nile virus and the arrival of an invasive mosquito species have increased
the complexity and cost of providing adequate service MDA said. Recruiting and
retaining seasonal employees was also seen as an issue of concern. Current funding
is not sufficient to provide a quality program. Options included continuing
current program operations; modifying the current program funding by the addition
of matching county funds; turning over the responsibility of the program to
a county agency with a continuation of state matching money at the current level;
or privatizing mosquito control and requiring communities to contract with private
businesses for mosquito control service. MDA said about $7,500 would be needed
from the County for full service, and if the status of the operation remained
as is, about $3,500 would be needed. MDA was requested to provide a job description
for a potential employee, and present the information to the Board at a later
date.
PARENT-CHILD CENTER FUNDING
Vince Dellaposta
and Dick Everhart of the Parent-Child Center (PCC) Board of Directors
brought this request for funds for renovation and programs before
the Board. PCC found it necessary to recently install a new heating and air
conditioning system at a cost of $20,000, and make an additional $20,000 in
repairs to its building. A letter from the Center Board tl the Commissioners
stated that PCC is solely dependant upon local donations and fund raising activities. The
request was for $150,000 annually in the Commissioners' budget. Commissioner
Kercheval stated that private non-profit groups must be on the approved list
of organizations to which the Commissioners may make direct donations, and said
the County Attorney's Office would find if the Center was on that list. If not,
the group would need to make an application.
THE BOARD HEARD THE ANNUAL BUDGET REQUEST FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM
OF FINE ARTS AT THE NOON HOUR
ANTIETAM CREEK WATERSHED STUDY
Donna Brightman
and Emilie Cooper, a Watershed Forester with the Resources Conservation and
Development (RC&D) arm of the Maryland Forest Service, brought this
matter before the Board. Cooper is working with a citizen’s organization,
the Antietam Creek Watershed Alliance (ACWA), to develop a strategic plan of
action to revitalize Antietam Creek along its entire length, starting at the
Pennsylvania line, near Waynesboro and traveling south until it exits Washington
County near Antietam, into the Potomac River. A major goal of the initiative
is to encourage formation of an Antietam Creek Collaborative. The Commissioners
were requested to provide support for the project through interaction with environmentally-related
departments. Projects would improve the appearance of the stream, promote economic
development opportunities, and aid restoration of Chesapeake Bay. Brightman
said that currently the Creek does not meet water quality standards, has inadequate
buffering along its length and is the site of illegal dumping. The Citizens
for Protection of Washington County (CPWC) have joined the collaborative. County
Administrator Greg Murray said the Department of Water Quality will help the
group. The ACWA was formed to be a clearinghouse for a community effort
on behalf of the creek. The evaluation process will be grant funded through
RC&D.
AIRPORT LAND ACQUISITION
Hagerstown
Regional Airport Fire Chief Phil Ridenour brought this request, to approve acquisition
of land at 14211 Basore Drive before the Board. The request is to purchase
the land from owner Robert Winters in fee simple not to exceed $200,000 including
closing costs. On August 22, 2006, Airport staff presented a Future Land Acquisition
Plan to the Commissioners. The plan identified this parcel as a number one priority
for future acquisition to enhance airport development. Additionally, this property
is identified as such on the Airport Layout Plan. The owner wishes to sell the
property in order to settle an estate. He has offered it to the airport before
selling to anyone else. The land is the last parcel of a "triangle" in
the southeast airport quadrant that the airport/County already owns. Acquisition
of the parcel and improvements will help the airport control security, get
revenue from the improvements and plan aviation-related uses for this
particular area in the quadrant. Airport staff and Real Property Administratror
Joe Kuhna negotiated a price of $190,000 with Winters for the acquisition, who
accepted the offer along with the County’s willingness to cover closing
costs, at $1,219.00. Because of the unexpected offer by the seller, the airport
does not have immediate available funds to make this purchase. Airport staff
talked with the Federal Aviation Administration, Airports District Office. They
feel confident that future grants will become available to the airport to reimburse
the purchase. The request to fund the acquisition at a sum not to exceed $200,000,
and to make a budget transfer in that amount from the CIP contingency budget,
was approved by unanimous vote.
40-WEST LANDFILL LEACHEATE PUMPING SYSTEM AND POWERS ESTATES
Department
of Public Works (DPW) Director Joe Kroboth brought this request before the Board,
to authorize the Division of Public Works to enter into an agreement with the
Developers of Powers Estates in exchange for up-sizing 5,500 Linear Feet (LF)
of sanitary sewer and construction of 380 LF of leacheate force main. The project
would yield a significant cost savings to the County over the life of the Forty
West Landfill, Kroboth said. Rainwater that comes into contact
with landfill waste is referred to as leacheate. Federal and state regulations
require leacheate to be collected and treated as wastewater prior to discharge
into waterways. Forty West Landfill currently generates nearly 3 million
gallons of leacheate annually and is expected to generate more than 517.8 million
gallons over the next 45 years. Currently, leacheate is collected through
a series of pumps and piping systems and stored in two silo storage tanks until
it can be transported to the Conococheague Wastewater Treatment plant. Two
additional silo storage tanks will be required to accommodate the storage requirements
in the future, due to the rate of leacheate generation expected. Hauling
leacheate to the wastewater treatment plant is contracted to a private company,
and the current rate is $0.015 per gallon. Hauling costs are subject to
fuel cost increases. Leacheate generation will continue to rise until
several years after capping of the landfill takes place. The Powers Estates
Development, planned for construction in the north east quadrant of Huyett's
Crossroads, will extend sanitary sewer lines to within 650 feet of the Forty
West Landfill property and within 2,100 feet of the existing leacheate storage
tanks. An affordable opportunity exists for the County to discharge leacheate
directly into the sewer lines and eliminate hauling cost, saving taxpayers
approximately $8,980,825.00 over the next 45 years. The system,
as designed, cannot handle the leacheate flows from the landfill without upsizing
several sections of the gravity sewer system. The Division of Public Works
discussed this concept with the Powers Estates Developers and they agreed to
the concept pending agreement by the Board of County Commissioners. The County
would be granted a permanent easement across Powers Estates land in order to
own and operate a force main from the landfill. 5,500 LF of gravity sanitary
sewer would require upsizing. Approximately 380 LF of the landfill force main
would be constructed initially to avoid future disturbance of residential lots.
The five acre lot planned for conveyance to the County for public use would
be reduced in size to approximately three acres, to minimize the maintenance
effort required by the County and would be suitable to fill the need. In addition
to hauling costs, treatment costs would be significantly reduced due to bypassing
the pre-treatment facility. The Water Quality Department has reviewed
the characteristics of the leacheate generated and it is of acceptable quality
to discharge into the conventional sanitary sewer system. The developer asked
that the County request that water be provided to the area by the City of Hagerstown.
A motion to reduce the lot size from 5 to 3 acres, accept the grant of right
of way from the developer, with the developer paying to upsize the proposed
sewer line, and no guarantee of inclusion in the Urban Growth Area or provision
of water and sewer to the 2-acre lot, was approved on a 3-2 vote with Commissioners
Kercheval and Aleshire voting "no". A separate measure, to construct
a pumping station at the 40-West landfill, to be paid for by savings from the
project, was approved by unanimous vote.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET DISCUSSION: BOARD OF EDUCATION
Washington County Board of Education (BOE) Assistant Superintendent for School Operations Boyd Michael, BOE staff and members of the County's Capital Improvement Committee, Budget and Finance Director Debra Murray, Director of Special Projects Gary Rohrer and Planning Director Mike Thompson, brought this review of the proposed Capital budget for the public school system for Fiscal Year 2008 to the Commissioners. The total FY 2008 request of $33.3 million includes $2.2 million for the new Maugansville Elementary School, just under $12 million for the new Westfield's Elementary School, and $15.8 million for the new Pangborn Elementary School. Cuts of approximately 2.5 million were made in new school costs after bids were reviewed by BOE staff. Systemic projects would be funded at $1.26 million, Capital Maintenance costs would be $1 million and $100,000 would be used for Americans with Disabilities Act projects. All budgets will be reviewed again prior to the Public Hearing in May at Kepler Theater on the campus of Hagerstown Community College.