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
October 9, 2007
APPOINTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEER
Following
approval in closed session the Commissioners convened in open session
to appoint Greg Barnes to the position of Civil Engineer in the Engineering
Department to fill a vacant position. Barnes salary is $71,000 and individuals
in similar positions received adjustments to equivalent salary. The measure
was approved on a 4-1 vote with Commissioners Baker and Wivell voting "no".
HAGERSTOWN AND WASHINGTON COUNTY LAND USE DESIGNATIONS
Steve Goodrich,
Chief Planner and Mike Thompson, Director of the Department of Planning and
Community Development brought this report on Hagerstown and Washington
County growth area land use designations to the Board. Goodrich suggested that
the Commissioners send correspondence to the Hagerstown Mayor and Council acknowledging
that within the growth areas in respective Comprehensive Plans, certain parcels
of land have differing land use designations. Washington County would
give further consideration to the land use designations on those parcels during
the planned 2008 update of the Comprehensive Plan and during any future annexation
proposals for those parcels with the goal of achieving consistency with the
Hagerstown and Washington County Comprehensive Plans for the benefit of the
citizens of both jurisdictions. During the September 25th meeting
the Planning staff advised the County Commissioners of some inconsistencies
between proposed land use designations in the draft City of Hagerstown and adopted
Washington County Comprehensive Plans. Staff explained how many of the
differences have been resolved and identified others that would be further reviewed
by the County and City Planning Commissions. The Commissioners requested additional
background information on Hagerstown’s land use assignments and on the
sites where reconciliation of the differing land uses was not immediately likely.
In 27 areas, resolution has already been achieved. Some areas may require
restudy by the City, other areas may require restudy by the County. Several
mapping errors were also noted, Goodrich said. The Commissioners made comments
on a number of the recommendations. Input gathered will be compiled and reviewed
at a later date.
REPORT FROM THE EXCISE TAX TASK FORCE
Planning and Community Development Director Mike
Thompson and Excise Task Force Chair John Schnebly brought this report to
the Board. The Excise Tax Task Force (ETTF) has reviewed the existing
ordinance and made a series of recommendations as required under Section 2 (c)
of House Bill 1355, which was signed into law by the Governor on April 24, 2007.
The Board of County Commissioners appointed a Task Force in June of this year
as specified in that Bill. The group consisted of thirteen-members and an alternate
from the Board of Education. The group met weekly beginning in July and concluded
its work on September 26, 2007 in order that the report could be forwarded
to the Commissioners and the Washington County Delegation in accordance with
the statute. The Task Force reviewed all aspects of the ordinance, concluding
with a line-by-line review of the existing document. The report outlines the
process as well as the discussions held concerning the various aspects of the
ordinance. The two most significant changes being recommended are that the excise
tax should be assessed on a gross square footage basis for both residential
and non-residential construction within the County and the elimination of many
of the exemptions. Recommendations from the task force said that the current
fee matrix should be eliminated and replaced with a flat fee for non-residential
construction. The flat fee for non-residential construction should be set at
$0.75 per foot for all construction. Exemptions for non-residential construction
for the first 5,000 square feet and for the first 50,000 square feet of additions
should be eliminated. Sections providing for waivers and giving exemptions for
in-kind contributions for non-residential construction should be eliminated.
The ETTF recommended that the Commissioners explore with the Local Delegation
to the Maryland General Assembly the possibility of having an annual escalator
index cost adjustment mechanism for the commercial portion of the building excise
tax. The exemption for Elderly Housing should be removed and a separate policy
developed by the Board of County Commissioners with regard to affordable/workforce
housing, ETTF said. Excise Tax on residential construction should be based
on construction activity defined by square footage instead of dwelling units.
Excise Tax should be assessed on all residential additions, at 50% of the indicated
rate for new construction. The Excise Tax charge for multi-family residential
units, townhouses and duplexes, should be charged a rate comparable to that
of single-family residential units based on the total square footage of each
unit. Exemptions for farm construction; government construction, residential
accessory structures, schools, redevelopment areas, enterprise zones and
religious corporations should remain, upon review and clarification of definitions.
Section 7 (e) of the ordinance should be revised to eliminate “that primarily
provide additional capacity” in language regarding capital costs for schools.
Section 13, dealing with Affordable and Workforce Housing, should be eliminated
from the ordinance and dealt with in a separate ordinance, ETTF said. The
provisions for the doubling of the tax for subdivisions over 25 units as set
forth in Section 3A (b) should be eliminated. Finally, ETTF recommended a flat
rate of $2.00 per square foot be applied to all habitable square footage for
single-family, duplexes and townhouse units including additions. Discussion
centered on the amount of that tax on residential construction. Schnebly told
the Board that the report was the task force's charge and that report was submitted
as required. A formal discussion on the recommendations will take place within
the next two weeks, prior to the report being submitted to the legislative delegation.
2007 MARYLAND INSTITUTE OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SYSTEMS (MIEMSS) GRANT
John Latimer,
Director of the Division of Fire and Emergency Services
requested acceptance of the 2007 Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical
Services Systems (MIEMSS) Grant in the amount of $2,278.00, and to authorize
the Director to execute a Memorandum of Agreement with the agency. The grant
is an annual allocation meant to offset operating costs associated with the
Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) protocol program. The measure was approved
by unanimous vote.
JURISDICTIONAL EMS MEDICAL DIRECTOR CONTRACT RENEWAL
Fire and
Emergency Services Director John Latimer brought this request, to approve the
Contract Renewal for the Jurisdictional Emergency Medical Services Medical Director
for the period of September 1st, 2007 to September 1, 2008 before the Board.
State law requires that each County/jurisdiction appoint a medical director
to oversee pre-hospital care. In addition, the medical director supports
Fire and Rescue Communications with medical direction for emergency medical
dispatch protocols. Washington County entered into a contract, to be renewed
annually, with Dr. Vincent Cantone of Smithsburg, Maryland effective September
1st, 2006. The recommendation was to renew the contract.
After the first discussion with the Commissioners on September 18th, Latimer
provided the total number of hours worked by Dr. Cantone during the contract
period estimated at 282 hours. According to the contract, the Medical Director
is compensated at $25,000. The amount is budgeted in the FY '08 operating
budget. Commissioner Wivell asked if the hours worked would reflect an acceptable
annual average and Director Latimer said that they would reflect such an average.
The measure was approved by unanimous vote.
THE COMMISSIONERS HELD AN EVENING MEETING IN THE TOWN OF WILLIAMSPORT, AT
7 P.M. IN TOWN HALL AT 2 NORTH CONOCOCHEAGUE STREET.
COMMISSIONERS'
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Commissioner Terry Baker reported on attending the Recreation and Parks Board
meeting last week. Reports on Parks activities from Buildings, Grounds and
Parks Director Jim Sterling and on Recreation programs from Recreation Department
Director Jaime Dick were positive, Baker said. Program Open Space funding
will be available for land acquisition at Smithsburg, to expand the town park.
Municipalities will need to submit POS requests in January. The Rec Department
will host a special Halloween event for local children on Saturday,
October 20th and registration is required by calling 240-313-2805. Baker thanked
the Mayor and Council of Williamsport for hosting the Commissioners’ meeting.
Commissioner Jim Kercheval commented on the recent County/City of Hagerstown
2+2 Committee meeting. The City Council’s position on the U.S. 40/Edgewood
Drive project is supportive, Kercheval said. The City wants to implement a
leash law, and issues surrounding enforcement of such a statute by County
Animal Control officers was also a topic of discussion by that committee,
Kercheval said.
Commissioner
John Barr reported on a meeting that he and County Administrator Greg Murray
attended with Hagerstown Community College (HCC) President Guy Altieri and members
of the HCC Board of Trustees on Capital Improvement Project budget issues. The
Wetlabs project at HCC is on time and on budget, student enrollment
is up and programs that allow high school seniors to attend college classes
prior to graduation are working well, Barr said.
OTHER BUSINESS
County Administrator
Comments: County Administrator Greg Murray told the Williamsport audience that
the meeting was an example of one of the Commissioners’ 2007 goals in
action. The goal calls for greater public accessibility to BOCC meetings through
evening meetings in the municipalities. A second thrust of that goal is streaming
audio of Commissioners’ meetings live on the internet, when possible.
A bookkeeping error that showed the Town of Williamsport to be $78,000 in arrears
to the County Water and Sewer Utility was cleared from the books. The
sum had previously been paid to the County, Murray said. Commissioner Kristin
Aleshire sent his regrets on being unable to attend the meeting, but stated
he would attend a town meeting in November, Murray said. Staff
Comments: Sheriff Doug Mullendore reported that a replacement for the Williamsport
Town Deputy will be named, the current officer is going to National Guard training
for 6 months, Mullendore said. The Sheriff’s Department and the Town have
worked together to solve speeding and other traffic issues in the Town, The
Sheriff reported.
Office on
Disability Issues Administrator Norman Bassett reminded the Board that the Disabilities
Advisory Committee and the Maryland Department of Disabilities will host a regional
Disabilities Forum on Monday, October 15th, to assess unmet needs of people
with disabilities in the area. That meeting is set for 1-4 p.m. at Robinwood
Medical Center.
TOWN COMMENTS
Mayor James
McLeaf introduced members of the Town Council and town employees and thanked
the County for assistance over the past two years. Work with the Department
of Water Quality led to interaction with the USDA to resolve some utility issues,
the Mayor said. County Administrator Greg Murray said a cooperative venture
between the Town and DWQ have assisted in establishing the government wireless
communication network.
CITIZEN'S PARTICIPATION
Each week
the Board of County Commissioners sets aside time to hear from citizens of Washington
County on matters of interest to the Community.
Per-Olof Bachman of Manor Church Road, Boonsboro, requested County assistance
with traffic and noise issues resulting from a possible zoning violation.
County Administrator Greg Murray said that Public Works will look at the Road
issues, placing traffic counters along the road, the Sheriff’s Department
will look into possible need for special events permits for the venue in question
and that the County Legal Department will also take a look at the issue.
ADDITIONAL TOWN COMMENTS
Williamsport Councilman Earl Pereschuk asked for a waiver on fees for recycling
Christmas trees at the County Landfill. Each year individuals may recycle
trees for free, but municipalities are barred from the free service. Pereschuk
said the Town collected about 50 trees last year. Commissioner John Barr
said that the issue will be reviewed.
OTHER BUSINESS
County Administrator Greg Murray advised Councilman Jeff Cline that the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development has stated that a state Small Business Specialist would be housed in the County to assist in business development, if sufficient office space could be secured. The Town of Williamsport offered that office space at its Town Hall.