08-21-2007 Mayor and City Council Minutes

Regular Session

Council Minutes

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

 

 

 

The Mayor and City Council of Cumberland, Maryland, met in Public Session on Tuesday, August 21, 2007, in the Council Chambers of City Hall.   President fiedler called the meeting to order at 6:15 P.M.   

 

Invocation – Councilman Harold Hendershot

 

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States

 

 

 

Call of Roll:

 

Present:   Mayor Fiedler; Councilmen Hedrick, Hendershot, and Elliott.

 

Department Heads and/or Officials Present:  Jeffrey E. Repp, City Administrator; Charles Hinnant, Police Chief; Jeff Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services; William Herbaugh, Fire Chief; Dave Cox, Senior Building/Zoning Officer with the Department of Community Development; Rhonda DeVault, Codes Technician of Community Development; Kathy McKenney, Historic Planner; Jay Oliver, Community Development; and Pamela Cover, Acting City Clerk.

 

 

Minutes  

            Motion was made by Councilman Elliott, seconded by Councilman Hedrick to adopt the minutes of the Regular Session of July 24, 2007.  The minutes were unanimously adopted.

Motion was made by Councilman Elliott that the Minutes of Administrative Sessions of the Mayor and City Council held Tuesday, June 12, 2007 be approved as written and that the minutes of today’s meeting reflect that the Mayor and City Council met in Administrative Session on June 12th.  Councilman Hendershot made the motion to go into Administrative Session conducted June 12. The motion was seconded by Councilman Hedrick and adopted on a vote of 4 to 0 to discuss personnel issues 10-508 (1) of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.  In attendance at the meeting were Mayor Fiedler, Councilmen Hedrick, Rephann and Hendershot.  Also present were the City Administrator, City Solicitor, City Clerk, and Administrative Assistant to the Mayor and Council and Administrator.  The minutes were unanimously adopted.

Unfinished business –   

Ordinance 3596 –  An ordinance to repeal and reenact with amendments  Section 24-152 of the Code of the City of Cumberland providing for  billing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

and collection of sewage and bay restoration fees.

 

 

            Ordinance No. 3596 was read in Title Only for its second reading.  Councilman Elliott made a motion to adopt the second reading and move to the third reading after comment.  Councilman Hedrick seconded the motion.  Mayor Fielder asked the City Administrator, Jeff Repp to make a few comments before the third reading concerning Ordinance 3596.   Mr. Repp stated that this particular ordinance would modify the City’s code so provision could be made to collect, via property tax sales that are conducted by the County, Bay Restoration fees.  There were no comments made and the second reading was unanimously adopted.

Ordinance No. 3596 was read in Title Only for its third reading and unanimously adopted.

 

Reports –  

(a) Routine Reports:

            Councilman Hedrick made a motion to adopt the routine reports submitted.  The motion was seconded by Councilman Elliott and unanimously accepted to adopt the following reports:

1.   Personnel Activity Report for the period August 2 – August 18, 2007

2.   Police Department Monthly Report for the month of July 2007

3.   Utilities Report for the month of July 2007

 

           Councilman Hendershot asked the question, concerning the Police Report, about the two officers on active military duty and if it would impact the Police force in anyway and/or if additional Policemen should be hired.  Mr. Repp responded that there were two officers being interviewed at the present time.  One was in anticipation of this issue and the other to replace the officer that had been promoted to school resource officer.  Councilman Hendershot asked Chief Hinnant how long it took to get an officer hired once interviews are started.  Chief Hinnant explained it takes about a year to get an officer prepared with academy classes and field training.

 

Presentation  -  Housing Code Update and revisions

 

            1. Jeff Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services, stated that on the evening’s agenda was the first reading of an ordinance to pass the new housing code which was discussed a few months ago with the Mayor and City Councilmen, with updates, improvements and enhancements to the housing code.   He continued that tonight’s presentation would be the final draft, taken into consideration the comments from the Mayor and City Council, Mr. Repp, Mr. Cohen and the public.  Rhonda DeVault began the presentation explaining that the existing Housing Code was adopted in 1997 and instigated in 1998.  She stated that no changes had taken place with the code from 1998 to today.  In 2005 a suggestion was made to review the Housing Code and try to make some updates that would take it from a minimum housing standard code to an up to date code.  She stated that the committee formed included, Jeff Hutter, President of the Landlord’s Association; Steve Jenkins, Business owner of Chestnut Flats, LLC, (a local management company for rental units); Wayne Lockard, Owner of Braddock Electric; and Phil Crippen, Owner of Crippen Construction. The City Staff includes, Jeff Rhodes, Director of Administrative Services; Jay Oliver, Manager of Community Development; David Cox and Chris Gay, Building and Zoning Officers with Community Development and herself, Codes Technician.  Ms. DeVault stated that in the revision of the code, definitions were either added or revised.  Revised was the agent and added was boarding house, director, land installment contract and rental dwelling unit.  She asked if there were any comments.  Councilman Hendershot asked if Ms. DeVault could clarify the training issue and fees for the licensure and for inspection.  She stated that as the result of legal review, the training will be voluntary and it will only be mandatory in the case of a violation.  As far as the fees, the current registration fee will be the same as the licensing fee, which is Twenty Five Dollars and No Cents ($25.00) per unit and for any inspections it is also Twenty Five Dollars and No Cents ($25.00).  There were no other questions or comments for Ms. DeVault.  David Cox continued the presentation on the code changes for standards for equipment and facilities.  He elaborated on the water meter changes, smoke detectors, outdoor furnaces and the electrical outlets.  Also updated was animal confinement for small yards and if a tenant has animals in a rental unit, they must reside there.  Mr. Cox clarified a question raised by Mr. Herb Broll concerning multiple water meter minimums for rental units.   Jeff Hutter spoke briefly on the new changes and gave his approval on them.  He stated that ignorance has always been the biggest problem and the new code changes will help everyone understand at a simpler level.  He also stated that the training being provided will help guide landlords with answers to any questions they may have.

2. Overview of Risk Management Program relating to workers compensation (cbiz)  –  Mr. Repp stated that a little over a year ago the City embarked on a change of the City’s Workman’s Compensation. He stated that for a number of years the City had been with the Injured Workers Insurance Fund through the State of Maryland and that the rates were getting out of hand.  The City then entered into a new era with Joe George and CBIZ and that they have been instrumental in helping the City manage its health insurance with Worker’s Compensation costs.  Mr. Rhodes commented on the activities that take place monthly to keep the different departments informed on the safety issues and how to keep accidents at a minimum.   Joe George commented  that, last year IWIF quoted a renewal premium of about $1.7 Million Dollars for Worker’s Compensation coverages and at that time the Mayor and City Council made the decision to go to more of a self-insured program through the PMA Company, where there would be a $350,000.00 deductible, where the City would pay the first $350,000.00 of every claim and then PMA would pay the additional amount of the claim.  The chart shows now that with the premium, losses and expenses associated with PMA and their charges, the cost is $800,000.00, which appears to be a significant savings to the City for the fiscal year 2007.  He continued to explain that because claims take a long time to develop and that the longer the claim remains open the more expensive it becomes, therefore; the final numbers would not be known until at least five years into the future.  PMA made a slight decrease in the cost of Worker’s Compensation and also improved the terms and conditions of the policy associated with the pre-funded loss deductibles due to improvements in claims this past year.  This is the first time the City has seen a rate decrease in a ten year period.   He further explained that as expected, the Fire and Police Departments are the two departments that drive the Workman’s Compensation claim costs up.  Safety and Risk Management meetings and training are being offered to try and bring down accidents as well as four unannounced hazard inspections.   Mr. Broll asked if the reason for the substantial savings in 2006 were from the claims being down or were they denied.  Mr. George said it was because the claims were down.  Councilman Hendershot asked if the money in reserve gained interest.  Mr. George responded no but in the future the City may want to look at a program that offers that option.

3.  Community Legacy Plan Update

Kathy McKenney, Historic Planner, spoke briefly on the five year plan of action put in place in 2002, which addressed the best way to reverse the trends of disinvestment within the community.  She explained that the plan guided neighborhood revitalization and project requests and that now the City must update the plan for the next five years.  Ms. McKenney used a Power Point presentation to explain the new five year plan and updates.  She stated that the many partnerships that the Community Legacy program has is what has helped its success.  The timeline for the program was discussed with the presentation of the Community Legacy Plan to the Mayor and City Council on this date, August 21st, 2007, the final draft of the CL Plan is to be completed by August 31st, 2007, the CL Application project request information provided to City staff by the committee members/project coordinators by August 31st, 2007, the presentation of the final project list to the Mayor and City Council and Public (approval of CL resolution) by September 18th, 2007 and the CL Application is due to DHCD by October 3rd, 2007. 

 

Ordinances and Charter Amendment Resolutions

Ordinance –

An ordinance to repeal and reenact with amendments Chapter 5, Article VI of the Code of the City of Cumberland providing minimum standards for housing and penalties for violations thereof was introduced in Title Only. Councilman Elliott made a motion to approve the first reading, seconded by Councilman Hendershot.

The motion was unanimously adopted to accept the first reading.

 

resolutions:

            1.  A Resolution approving the development of housing in Cumberland Maryland to be financed, either directly by the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of the State of Maryland or through the departments Community Development Administration located at 200 Somerville Avenue known as the William Booth Towers Project in the City of Cumberland to be developed by Hampstead Development Group was presented in Title Only. 

     Councilman Hendershot made the motion to adopt the resolution and Councilman Hedrick seconded it. 

     Mr. Repp commented on the development and that it is to create one hundred and fourteen (114) rental units and that the developers plan on accessing the low income tax program through the State of Maryland Community Development and the City’s participation with this project would be a payment in lieu of tax agreement for a period of ten (10) years at Two Hundred Dollars and No Cents ($200.00) per unit, which equates to Twenty Two Thousand Eight Hundred Dollars and No Cents ($22,800.00) annually to be subtracted from their tax bill.  He continued to say that the rough calculations based on the numbers Hampstead Development provided would be approximately Forty Six Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($46,000.00) tax revenue from the project.

     The motion was unanimously adopted to accept the first reading.

            2.  A Resolution to approve the project to provide tax credits in support of a dental program fund through the Allegany Health Right, Incorporated was presented in Title Only.  The tax credits would be offered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Developments/Community Investments tax credit program.

     Councilman Hendershot made the motion to adopt the resolution and Councilman Elliott seconded it. 

     Mr. Repp stated that several years ago the Department of Housing and Community Development created a program by which non-profit entities can, upon the endorsement of the local government, make application for a tax credit program.  With this particular case, The Allegany Health Right would create a fund that corporate entities could make contributions to on a tax free basis and then use it as their tax credits.  The program can then go to benefit the targeted group, which in this case it will be a fund to be used for low-income individuals who have dental issues.  These individuals would be able to go to Allegany Health Right and receive a grant from the fund that they received private contributions for.  One requirement is that the local government has to endorse the program before they can make application. 

     The motion was unanimously adopted to accept the first reading.          

           

Orders (Consent Agenda)

           

     Mayor Fiedler commented that there were four orders on the consent agenda.  Councilman Elliott made a motion to adopt the Consent Agenda.  The motion was seconded by Councilman Hedrick and the following items were unanimously adopted:

Order No. 24,613 Re-appointment of James Howell to the Shade Tree Commission.

 

Order No. 24,614 Authorizing the Chief of Police, Charles Hinnant, to execute a contract between Cumberland City Police Department and Local Management Board of Allegany County, Incorporated for a Parents & Law Enforcement Activities with Youth Program Grant for Eleven Thousand Four Hundred Thirty Six Dollars and No Cents. ($11,436.00)

 

Order No. 24,615 Accepting the proposal of GA Industries as a sole source for the purchase of three (3) electric check valves for Twenty Six Thousand Six Hundred Forty Nine Dollars and No Cents ($26,649.00)

 

     Mr. Herb Broll made the comment that the Cumberland Times News reported the sum for the purchase was $266,494.00 and asked the Mayor and City Council which was the correct amount.  Mr. Repp responded that the correct amount was $26,649.00

 

Order No. 24,616 Authorizing the execution of a PILOT Agreement between the Mayor and City Council and Hampstead Development Group for a project at 200 Somerville Avenue known as the William Booth Tower Project.

 

 

     Mayor Fiedler spoke briefly on the status of the replacement process for Councilman Rephann.  He stated that there were eleven applicants in which seven have been interviewed individually with the other four scheduled to be heard by the end of the week.  He continued to explain that after the final four were interviewed there would be a selection of the top candidates for the vacancy.  On September 4th at the Regular Council meeting the final four candidates would be invited to the meeting to make a statement on their behalf and to take questions from the public. He stated that the following week of the September 10th there would be a meeting with the Council to follow through with the process and to make their selection.  The candidate would then be sworn in at the September 18th meeting. 

 

Requests To Be Heard:

Mr. Richard Carter, Business Manager for the International Brotherhood of the Electrical Workers, Local 307, stated that he was speaking on behalf of the membership that lives within the City and is asking the Mayor and City Council to take into consideration appointing the candidate for the vacant council seat to the one who received the highest votes at the last election.

Mr. Herb Broll, stated that he would like the letter that was published in the Times-News today to be taken into consideration.  The letter was in favor of Combs because he was the runner up in the last election with the most votes.  He stated that the other candidates do not attend Council meetings and did not put forth the money to run in the last campaign.

Mr. Jim Combs, stated that as a follow up on a meeting two weeks ago where a gentleman from the Housing Committee talked about the development on Sperry Terrace, there was a concern that prisoners would be used to build the houses instead of tax paying citizens that he felt deserved the jobs.

 

Adjournment

            The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

 

                                                                 approved:  September 18, 2007