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 16, 2007
THE COMMISSIONERS HELD THE MONTHLY MEETING WITH THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DISCUSS ANTIETAM ACADEMY, A COMPREHENSIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN AND FUTURE SITE FOR LAND ACQUISITION FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM GROWTH
COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Commissioner Kristin Aleshire commented on Correspondence from Frostburg
University dealing with economic data for Maryland, and on a request for
comments on an environmental assessment of the Antietam Battlefield. The Commissioner
commented on attending the recent south County Democratic club meeting.
Commissioner Jim Kercheval reported on a meeting of the Commission on Aging
Strategic Panning group. The group is looking at creating a long range plan
to create a "senior friendly" County as the amount of seniors increase
with the aging of the baby boomer generation. Issues discussed included
transportation, housing, access to information, health and long term care,
civic involvement, and need for senior centers in the County. The Commissioner
also discussed a Planning Commission workshop that discussed proposed amendments
to the current rezoning process to improve public input and information provided
for the Commissioners. The new process would involve two public meetings
as well as new requirements for information that must be provided by the applicant. The
workshop also included an update to the Commission on the Urban Rezoning process
underway. Kercheval commended County Staff and all the volunteers that
participated in the United Way Day of Caring this week.
Commissioner
Bill Wivell reported on a meeting with Governor O'Malley in Oakland on Saturday.
The Governor discussed the coming special session of the legislature dealing
with budget issues. O'Malley pledged that the State would get its own fiscal
house in order and would not pass its obligations on to the Counties. The
Governor did propose, however, a reduction in school construction funds from
$400 million last year to an on-going level of $300 million annually. He
also proposed a slowing of Thornton funding on an on-going basis. The
Governor's plan would reduce spending growth, close corporate tax loopholes
and increase the corporate tax rate from 7% to 8%. 8-tenths of a cent would
be added to the gasoline tax and thereafter it would be indexed for inflation
indices. He also proposed that state sales tax be increased from 5% to
6%. The Commissioner reported that the Governor further stated that making the
income tax rates more progressive and a 3-cent reduction in the state property
tax would more than offset the proposed tax increases for approximately 85%
of Marylanders. Other issues, such as the Transportation Trust Fund, were
also discussed.
Commissioners' President John Barr also commended County Staff for participating
in the United Way Day of Caring this week, thanking all employees for donating
time to improving conditions for less fortunate in the community.
INTRODUCTION OF NEW EMPLOYEES
Human Resources
Administrator Dee Hawbaker brought five new employees before the Board for introductions
and welcome. Amy Stahl is a new Plant Operator Trainee, and Bradley Ditto
was recently hired as a Plant Operator in the Department of Water Quality. Casey
Nogle is the Deputy Sheriff School Resource Officer in the Sheriff's
Patrol Division. Joseph Gustaf, is the new Motor Equipment Operator
III in the Division of Environmental Management and George Sonnik is the incoming Director
of Human Resources for Washington County.
Human Service Transportation Coordination Update
Rod MacRae,
Chair of the Human Service Transportation Coordination Committee (HSTCC), Norman
Bassett, Administrator of the Office of Disability Issues and Commissioner's
Liaison to the Disability Advisory Committee, Dave Jordan, Director of the Community
Action Council, and Elisabeth Fetting, of KFH consultants, brought
this report to the Board. The process of coordinating human
service transportation, initiated by the transportation subcommittee of Washington
County’s Disabilities Advisory Committee is nearing formalization with
circulation of a memorandum of understanding between participating agencies.
The Washington County Commission on Aging, Washington County Community Action
Council, United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland, Horizon Goodwill Industries,
The ARC of Washington County, Washington County Health Department, and the Washington
County Public Transportation Department are all taking part in this effort. Community
Action Council has agreed to serve as the coordinating provider for portions
of the transportation programs currently being conducted, either directly or
by contractual service, by the various participating agencies. A timeline for
implementation of the agreement has been developed and coordinated human transportation
services are expected to begin July 1, 2008. The project seeks to maximize available
resources and provide improved service to consumers by using resources, either
vehicles or finances, in a manner that allows those resources to be used more
broadly than they are able to be used by the individual agencies as they fulfill
their specific missions. For example, a medical assistance client whose
medical appointment transportation is funded through Medicaid could travel with
a United Cerebral Palsy client to the same or similar destination, saving effort
and money if a central office coordinated the travel. Washington County’s
coordination effort is currently in the second year of a possible four-year
funding cycle, having received $40,000 each year in FY 07 and FY 08. Monies
from FY 07 were dedicated to the development of an inventory of existing resources
and programs and the formulation of the implementation plan. Monies from
FY 08 will be used to hire a transportation coordinator to establish the office
and put into place the necessary administrative and operational infrastructure
to conduct the program. The coordination of human service transportation services
is a priority of the Maryland Transportation Administration and the establishment
of such service in Washington County will not only provide improved client service,
but will also position the county, through the coordination office, to access
grants that will only be available to such a centralized effort.
CITIZENS 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.
Cliff Anderson
of Hagerstown commented on the need for improved transportation, especially
for persons with temporary injuries in rehabilitation programs. Only transportation
for medical purposes is payable under insurance, and opportunities for participating
in community life are reduced, he said.
OTHER BUSINESS
County Attorney Issues: County Attorney John
Martirano commented on attending the Planning Commission workshop on Monday
looking at the ways rezonings take place in the county.
Reports from County Staff: Human Resources Administrator
Dee Hawbaker requested advertisement of a GIS Specialist position in the Instructional
Technologies Department. The measure was approved by unanimous vote.
Office of Disability Issues Administrator Norman
Bassett reported on the Regional Disabilities Forum held at Robinwood Medical
Center on Monday. Secretary of the Maryland Department of Disabilities Cathy
Raggio and staff, along with the Governor's Disability Advisory Commission were
on hand to hear input as to needs of citizens with disabilities in Washington
County. About 60 people attended the forum and a variety of issues were discussed,
he said.
PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF DRAFT CHARTER
Jeanne Singer,
Chair of the Charter Home Rule Board (CHRB) and members of that group formally
presented the draft of the proposed Charter to the County Commissioners. In
August of 2006, the Washington County Board of County Commissioners decided
to propose Charter Home Rule for Washington County after a request from the
League of Women Voters. This form of home rule requires the development
of a County Charter Document. The CHRB was appointed to draft the proposed
Charter that will be put to the voters in the February 2008 primary election. The
CHRB finished a draft of the charter this summer, and was charged with presenting
that document to the Commissioners before October 19th to receive comments from
the governing body. The Charter proposes that the sitting 5 County Commissioners
become the County Council until terms end in 2010. The Council would continue
to have both executive and legislative powers. In 2010, the first election of
the Council would take place, with 7 Councilmembers as opposed to 5 Commissioners.
5 would be elected from districts and 2 elected at large. The district boundaries
would be established locally. Under the Council's Legislative powers, 4 votes
would be needed to pass laws and regulations. Voters would have referendum power
to overturn laws if a certain percentage of the voters petitioned to do
so. Executive powers would remain in the office of the County Administrator,
with no change to except for title, which would change to Chief Administrative
Officer (CAO). The Board decided not to include an elected County Executive
in the structure, due to additional expense and personnel that office would
require. There would be no change in the Budget and Finance Officer's appointment
or duties, and the Office of Treasurer would remain as an elected position. The
draft proposes that the Charter may be amended by referendum, it may be repealed
through electoral process and the form of government could return to Commissioner
or convert to code home rule. The draft provides for the Charter to be reviewed
periodically. There would be no change to law enforcement, with the Office of
the Sheriff remaining an elected post. Salaries for Councilmembers would remain
the same until changed by a future Board, and existing laws would stay in effect.
Singer told the Board that despite advertisement of its website, only 35 individuals
had made comments. The presentation sought input from the County Commissioners
on its provisions. Discussion centered on inability of independents to
be replaced should an independent member resign or otherwise leave office. Lack
of a timeline for appointment of the President and Vice-President of the Board
was another concern. Also discussed was the lack of a provision of a special
election if several of the Council's members were incapacitated at the same
time. Definition of District Boundaries was debated, but the language of the
recommendations is thatg of the U.S. Supreme Court, Singer said. The lack of
ability to take issues such as district lines and bond limits was questioned.
The Commissioners will provide additional comments and questions to the Charter
Board prior to the final document being presented. The Commissioners and the
Charter Board reminded all citizens that final comments on the draft Charter
are due by October 23. The Board's website is www.charterboard.org.
TRI-COUNTY 911 DATA PROJECT AND GIS UPDATE
Bud Gudmundson,
GIS Manager and John Latimer, Emergency Services Director brought these reports
before the Board, with a request to adopt changes to the Digital Spatial Data
Distribution Policy AT-2. The Western Maryland Tri-County 911 Data Project is
now complete. The geographic data compiled for use in the 911 dispatch
system was delivered by the vendor and it has been installed and is in use. The
data must be continually maintained and updated, and will be used by other county
departments in a GIS format for other purposes. The data can be accessed
through the intranet without GIS software, and will be available to the engineering
community and the public through license agreement. The responsibility
for distribution of the data will be transferred to the GIS Office from the
Planning Department through a revision to the Data Distribution Policy. This
project has been an integral part of the Enterprise GIS implementation Gudmundson
said. The report contained information on the purpose, project history,
timeline for the project and, participants. The measure, to adopt the changes
to the Data Distribution Policy was approved by unanimous vote.
Fee Increase for Boys & Girls High School Summer Basketball League
Jaime Dick, Recreation Director, brought this request to the Board, to approve a new fee structure for the Boys and Girls High School Summer Basketball League as proposed by the Recreation Department Staff. The Washington County Basketball Officials Association has requested to increase the fees to $50.00 per game for the Summer 2008 Summer League. This is an increase from $45.00 per game from the previous two years. We have agreed to this increase and we are asking for the Association to lock-in the price for three years. To offset the additional increase for officials Recreation is requesting to raise the price for League entry fees. A sliding scale has been incorporated to benefit as many County Teams as possible. Dick told the Board that the larger schools can have 4 or more teams each year. The 2008 New Fees Proposal would move away from a static fee for in-county registration to a scale that provides lower rates for additional teams. Schools registering 1 or 2 County Teams would pay $475.00 per team, 3 or 4 County Teams would pay $450.00 per team, 5 or more County Teams would pay $400.00 per team and non-county teams would pay a flat rate of $600.00 for each team registered. The measure was approved on a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Kristin Aleshire voting "no".
PROCLAMATION: JFK 50 ULTRA MARATHON AND FINANCIAL AID REQUEST
Mike Spinnler
of the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club, JFK 50 Mile Director, and Tom Riford,
of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) brought
a review of the JFK 50 Mile Ultra-Marathon, for the 45th Annual event
and Financial assistance request. To the Board. The JFK 50 Mile is the largest,
oldest, and most prestigious ultra-marathon in North America. There are planned
improvements for the safety of participants during the event set for Saturday,
November 17th. Spinnler and Riford asked the Commissioners to assist with
$2,500 from the Hotel-Motel tax to be used for police and emergency services
assistance. Runners come from all over the world for this event, Riford
said, with teams from every branch of the U.S. Military competing. Safety is
a concern, and organizers of the JFK, working with volunteers and professional
support, have made several improvements. The race also helps support local charities
and non-profit organizations. The CVB supports this event, and has committed
an equal financial match of $2,500. The race attracts over 1,200 participants,
with additional family members, volunteers, spectators, and media personnel
staying in Washington County for two to three days. The event generates a total
of more than 2,600 hotel room nights. The measure was approved by unanimous
vote, but Spinnler was directed to communicate with Sheriff Doug Mullendore
on possible alternative routes for the race that would not require closing off
lanes in active roadways. Commissioner Terry Baker presented a proclamation
to Spinnler recognizing the impact and benefit the event has in Washington County.
EXCISE TAX DISCUSSION
County Administrator
Greg Murray brought this continuation of the Excise Tax discussion begun last
week, before the Board. The Excise Tax Task Force's (ETTF) review of the ordinance,
concluded that the excise tax should be assessed on a gross square footage basis
for both residential and non-residential construction within the County and
many of the previous exemptions should be eliminated. 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.. A formal discussion on the recommendations will take place
within the next two weeks, prior to the report being submitted to the legislative
delegation. Discussion centered on information provided showing effects of the
proposed per-square-foot rate on the County's Capital Improvement Project budget,
which funds school construction, and currently shows revenue shortfalls. Three
structures were provided, for gradual, moderate and rapid recovery rates. PSF
rates from $2.00 to $4.00 were factored by the number of square feet of proposed
new housing construction for 2008 through 2013. Numbers generated showed when
possible break even points would be reached, and project costs that would have
to be moved further into out years for that point to be reached. In addition
the Commissioners discussed the list of recommendations made by the ETTF,
asking if the Commercial recommendations took into account retail construction
within the Coty of Hagerstown. Further information would be needed on the first
5 of the recommendations before final action could e taken. The Board agreed
to provisions to remove the exemption for elderly housing, to tax on square
footage rather than dwelling units, to charging 50% of the new construction rate
for additions, and to charging multifamily units equal rates with residential
construction based on gross square footage. Exemptions for farm construction,
government buildings, residential accessory structures, schools, redevelopment
areas, enterprise zones and religious corporations would remain in the ordinance.
A section of the ordinance that dealt with provision of additional capacity regarding
schools was eliminated. Approval was given to developing a separate policy for
development of affordable and workforce housing. The provision for
doubling the excise tax rates for greater than 25 units per development in a
year was retained, to be clarified using the word "subdivisions" rather
than "applicant". The PSF rate will be debated next week, but
the provision that additions be taxed at the full rate was eliminated based
on the earlier provision. In addition the Board requested clarification of the
percentages of the tax from residential or commercial that would go to support
schools, roads, etc. Additional discussion will be needed on the issues.