City of Cumberland , Maryland
Regular Session
Council Minutes
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The Mayor and City Council of
INVOCATION – Councilman Hendershot
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES
CALL OF ROLL:
Present: Mayor Fiedler, Councilmen Elliott, Hedrick, Hendershot, and Rephann. Department Heads and/or Officials present were Jeffrey E. Repp, City Administrator; H. Jack Price, Jr., City Solicitor; Jeff Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services; Kevin Hagerich, Director of Public Works; William Herbaugh, Fire Chief; and Margie Eirich, Acting City Clerk.
REPORTS:
Routine:
1. Personnel Activity report submitted by April Howser, Human Resource Officer, for the period August 7 – 20, 2005.
2. Report of Code Enforcement submitted by Jeffrey Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services, for the period July 30 – August 18, 2005.
Councilman Hedrick made a motion to accept the reports. Councilman Elliott seconded the motion, and the vote unanimously carried.
PUBLIC HEARING
The Regular Session of the Mayor and City Council was adjourned at 7:45 P.M. in order to conduct the following public hearings:
Hearing #1 - To Zone approximately 183 acres +/- of recently annexed property along County Club Road, known as the Cumberland Country Club, to Urban Residential (R-U) and Conservation (C).
Jeffrey Repp, City Administrator, introduced into the public record the following exhibits:
a. Notice of Public Hearing;
b. Resolution from Planning Commission recommending the zoning.
Mayor Fiedler asked for questions or comments. There were none.
Hearing #2 - Rezone approximately 8 acres +/- of property on James Day Drive, known as the Naval Reserve, to from Residential Estate (R-E) to Urban Residential (R-U).
Mr. Repp entered into the public record the following exhibits:
a. Notice of Public Hearing;
b. Finding of Facts;
c. Traffic Count Information;
d. Resolution from Planning Commission recommending the change in zoning designation.
Mayor Fiedler asked for questions or comments. Mr. Repp clarified for Mr. Jim Combs that the entire area, including the
Terry Socha questioned the reasoning behind the classification of R-U rather than R-O and Mr. Repp advised that although he could not speak for the Planning Commission, staff had made the recommendation to move to R-U to be consistent with the neighborhood. Mr. Repp further explained the re-zoning process as related to the Comprehensive Plan.
There were no further questions or comments.
Hearing #3 – Zone 30 acres +/- near
Mr. Repp entered the following exhibits into the public record:
a. Notice of Public Hearing;
b. Resolution from Planning Commission recommending the zoning.
Ms. Socha asked what the County zoning on this property was and Mr. Repp advised that it was G-2, which is essentially the same as the City’s R-O zoning.
With no further comments, the public hearing adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Reports and Letters of Commissions, etc., and Employees:
Letters:
1. Zoning Recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Commission
a. Approximately 182 acres +/- of annexed property along
b. Rezone approximately 8 acres +/- on James Day Drive, known as the Naval Reserve, to Urban Residential (R-U).
c. Zone approximately 30 acres +/- near Cumberland Country Club, known as the Mitchell Property, to Residential-Office (R-O).
Mayor Fiedler made a motion to accept the letters of recommendation from the Zoning Commission. Councilman Elliott made the motion to accept, Councilman Hedrick seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
ORDINANCES AND CHARTER AMENDMENT RESOLUTIONS:
ORDINANCE No. 3539 ENTITLED, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP REFERRED TO IN SECTION 25-1 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND (1991 EDITION) FOR THE PURPOSE OF ZONING THAT PROPERTY COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE CUMBERLAND COUNTRY CLUB RECENTLY ANNEXED INTO THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND,” was introduced in Title only.
Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the first reading and move to the second reading. The motion was seconded by Councilman Hedrick and unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3539 was introduced in Title only for its second reading. Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the second reading and move to the third reading after comment. The motion was seconded by Councilman Hedrick. Mayor Fiedler asked for questions or comments and there were none.
The motion to approve the second reading and move to the third reading was unanimously accepted.
Ordinance No. 3526 was read in Title only for its third reading and unanimously adopted.
ORDINANCE No. 3540 ENTITLED, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP REFERRED TO IN SECTION 25-1 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND (1991 EDITION) FOR THE PURPOSE OF REZONING APPROXIMATELY EIGHT ACRES, MORE OR LESS, LOCATED ON JAMES DAY DRIVE AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE NAVAL RESERVE, FROM RESIDENTIAL ESTATE (R-E) TO URBAN RESIDENTIAL (R-U),” was introduced in Title only. Councilman Hendershot made a motion to approve the first reading and move to the second reading. Council Hedrick seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3540 was read in Title only for its second reading. Councilman Hendershot made a motion to approve the second reading and move to the third reading after comment. Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion and Mayor Fiedler called for comments. As there were none, Mayor Fiedler called for the vote and the motion was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3540 was read in Title only for its third reading and unanimously adopted.
ORDINANCE NO. 3541 ENTITLED, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP REFERRED TO IN SECTION 25-1 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND (1991 EDITION) FOR THE PURPOSE OF ZONING THAT PROPERTY, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE THOMAS W. MITCHELL PROPERTY, RECENTLY ANNEXED INTO THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND,” was introduced in Title Only.
Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the first reading. Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3541 was read in Title only for its second reading. Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the second reading and move to the third reading after comment. Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion and Mayor Fiedler called for comments. As there were none, Mayor Fiedler called for the vote and the motion was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3541 was read in Title only for its third reading and unanimously adopted.
ORDINANCE NO. 3542 ENTITLED, “AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR PLACEMENT OF ADDRESS NUMBERS ON HOUSES LOCATED IN THE CITY OF CUMBERLAND AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF,” was introduced in Title only.
Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the first reading. Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3542 was read in Title only for its second reading. Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the second reading and move to the third reading after comment. Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion and Mayor Fiedler called for comments.
Jim Combs asked if the intent was to change the numbering system and Mr. Repp responded that it was not, but rather to require a physical address on each house, to be visible from the street. Terry Socha suggested the ordinance should require that the physical address be placed on the property rather than on the house because of certain difficulties that may arise because of shrubbery or the location of the house itself in relation to the street. Mayor Fiedler stated that there would be exceptions to the rule and the City would deal with them. Mr. Repp said that staff would make a recommendation to Council if the ordinance proved to be unworkable.
Mayor Fiedler called for the vote and the motion was unanimously approved.
Ordinance No. 3542 was read in Title only for its third reading and unanimously adopted.
ORDERS:
Consent Agenda:
Mayor Fiedler advised that there were eleven (11) items on the consent agenda. As there were requests to handle certain items separately, Councilman Rephann made a motion to adopt agenda items 2 - 5 and 7 - 9. Councilman Hendershot seconded and the following Orders were unanimously adopted:
Order 24,242 Authorizing the Chief of Police to execute a School Bus Enforcement Grant from the State of
Order 24,243 Authorizing the City Administrator to execute a grant between the City of
Order 24,244 Authorizing the City Comptroller to abate real estate taxes on City-owned property located on Bishop Walsh Road / Haystack Mt for the tax years 2004, in the amount of $1,615.00, and 2005, in the amount of $1,615.22.
Order 24,245 Accepting the proposal of Whitman Requardt and Assoc. for Phase F of the Fort Hill Construction Phase Services - $64,187.00.
Order 24,247 Authorizing the execution of a 36-month Fair Market Buyout Lease with IBM for an IBM AS Model 520 and associated hardware and software - $2,735.00/month.
Order 24,248 Authorizing an amendment of the Table of Organization regarding the Department of Public Works.
Order 24,249 Authorizing the execution of an employment agreement with Nate Emory for the position of Acting City Engineer.
Councilman Rephann made a motion to adopt Item No. 1 from the consent agenda and Councilman Hendershot seconded the motion. Terry Socha submitted a handout to the Mayor and City Council regarding impact fees. She formally requested that the Mayor and City Council contact a consulting company to look at the issue of collecting impact fees from new residential development, voiced concerns over putting the cost of these additional residents onto the tax payers, and suggested looking further into commercial development.
With no further comments, the following order was unanimously adopted:
Order 24,241 Adopting the Wallace, Roberts & Todd Sustainable Economic Development Strategic Plan – June 2005.
Councilman Rephann made a motion to adopt Item No. 6 from the consent agenda and Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion. Upon questioning from Linda Golden, Mr. Repp stated that the amount of the lease was $8 per square foot for 400 square feet, for an annual amount of $4,800.
With no further comments, the following order was unanimously adopted:
Order 24,246 Authorizing the execution of a Commercial Lease Agreement with
Councilman Rephann made a motion to adopt Item No. 10 from the consent agenda and Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion. Jim Combs requested that a report referred to in the Audit Report be placed on the website for public viewing. Councilman Hendershot advised that Mr. Combs could review his copy.
With no further comments, the following order was unanimously adopted:
Order 24,250 Authorizing the acceptance of the 2004 Financial and Single Audit Report.
Councilman Rephann made a motion to adopt Item No. 11 from the consent agenda and Councilman Hendershot seconded the motion. Jim Combs asked if the County also granted historic tax credits and Mr. Repp advised that the County participates with the City’s historic district through a property tax freeze, but does not provide a property tax credit as the City does.
With no further comments, the following order was unanimously adopted:
Order 24,251 Granting a Historic District Tax Credit to Neeli and Stan Lambert for property located at
Letters, Petitions, Applications, Proclamations, Etc.
Mayor Fiedler accepted the following letters:
1. Petition for Development & Responsibilities Agreement – Young Family LLC, West, II
2. Notification that the Rolling Mill Historic District will be considered for nomination to the national Register of Historic Places – State Historic Preservation Officer.
Requests To Be Heard:
Jim Combs commented that last year the newspaper had quoted Mr. Repp as stating that the City’s budget had improved, showing a slight gain. In reading the recent audit, however, Mr. Combs noted that it stated that year had ended up in deficit.
Mayor Fiedler said that Mr. Combs’ statement was not correct and requested that he talk with Mr. Repp about it. The Mayor said that adjustments had been made because of new regulations and the number is not as it was reported there.
Mr. Combs asked what the balance in the general fund was as of June 30, 2005 and Mr. Repp stated that it was ($200,000), though that was his number, not an audited number.
With no further comments, the meeting adjourned at 8:08 P.M.
Approved September 20, 2005
Lee N. Fiedler, Mayor
Margie Eirich, Acting City Clerk