January 2, 2001

The Town Council of the Town of Easton met today at 7:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order by the President of the Council, Mr. Willey, with the following members present: Mr. Ford, Mr. Mayer, Mr. Heinmuller, and Mr. Reed. Also attending the meeting were Mayor C. Eugene Butler, Town Engineer Mr. Glass, Town Planner Mr. Hamilton, Chief Harvey, and Town Attorney Mr. Kehoe.

Mr. Mayer opened the meeting with prayer. He led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Mayer made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 18, 2000 meetings as written, seconded by Mr. Reed, and carried unanimously.

Mr. C.R. Chance was present with a report on the 2000 year end totals for the Fire Department. Outgoing Chief Chance thanked the Mayor and Council for the support for the last two years. Mr. Chance introduced Mr. Kelly Jones, Chief for 2000-2001.

Chief Jones stated that there will be no live drills at the Plum Street address because it is within town limits. He stated that the house will be smoked for training purposes. Chief Jones asked if there are objections to bringing neighboring companies in for drills. The consensus was that it was okay. Mr. Mayer asked that neighbors be notified prior to drills.

Chief Harvey stated that the structural defects he had noticed needed to be addressed.

The President of the Council wished Chief Jones good luck. He stated that he will be present at an upcoming meeting with the new line officers.

The Town Planner stated that there are four projects that require Council review. He asked the President of the Council to set Public Hearings for an amendment to a CM at Londonderry where they want to add 59 units. He stated that at the intersection of Dutchman’s and Route 50, the Planning Commission has a proposal for a PUD for Royal Farms which would include a service station and two restaurants. The Town Planner stated that Cooke’s Hope has asked for an amendment to their PUD for expansion of 39 residential units on the southside.

The President of the Council scheduled the Londonderry and Meadow Drive Public Hearings for February 5 and the Royal Farms and Cooke’s Hope for February 20.

The President of the Council asked the Town Planner to discuss the request from Lenfest for a sign. The Town Planner discussed the situation. He stated that Lenfest proposes to place a sign on each side of the entrance on the right-of-way of the development.

Mr. Mayer discussed the size of the sign. Mr. Hamilton stated that the sign is within the limits of the Zoning Ordinance.

The Town Engineer discussed the position of the signs.

The Town Attorney suggested delegating the decision to the Town Engineer and the Town Planner to meet with Lenfest Corp. to discuss the signs and the positions.

It was the consensus of the Council to let the staff meet with representatives from Lenfest and make a recommendation to the Council at the next meeting.

The President of the Council asked if there is anyone from the audience to bring anything before the Council. There were none.

The President of the Council wished everyone a great New Year. He stated that he is looking forward to working with the Council, the staff and the citizens in the upcoming year.

The Mayor wished everyone a healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year.

Mayor Butler reminded the Council of the Eastern Shore Association of Municipality meeting on January 16 at Annie’s Restaurant.

Chief Harvey wished a happy New Year to everybody.

Mr. Heinmuller stated that he enjoyed the company of the officers on New Year’s Eve walking around the First Night Talbot’s celebrations. He asked the Chief to relay his comments.

The Town Engineer wished everyone a prosperous New Year.

The Town Engineer stated that a new Maryland law requiring homebuilders to register became effective January 1, 2001. He stated that anyone in the business of constructing a new home has to become licensed with the Attorney General’s office of the State of Maryland. He stated that the Town of Easton is not allowed to issue building permits unless the entity has registered with the state. Mr. Glass stated that it is business as usual and the Town is accepting information for permits until the entity receives their license.

The Town Attorney wished everyone a very happy, prosperous New Year.

The Town Attorney asked for a brief Executive Session for the advice of Counsel.

Mr. Ford made a motion to approve the Plum Street residence for Fire Department use, seconded by Mr. Mayer and carried unanimously.

Mr. Ford gave a final reminder in regards to the next visioning meeting on January 10 at 7:00 p.m.

Mr. Mayer stated that the New Year’s celebration hosted by First Night Talbot was excellent.

Mr. Reed echoed everyone else in wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. He hopes that the Council will be able to reach its goals set for the new year.

Mr. Heinmuller also echoed everyone else in wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. He highly recommended that everyone read Mr. Lee Denny’s article "Easton Visioning Draft Revised," which was in the December 31, 2000 newspaper. He stated that the article gave a listing of the kinds of things that the visioning process wants to solve and plenty more. He invited everyone to come out to the meeting on January 10.

Mr. Hamilton stated that in October 2000, some applications for petitions for annexations were received. The Planning and Zoning staff has been working with the applications and trying to get the process started. He stated that he wanted the petitions to be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their review and recommendations for the council.

The Town Attorney stated that the technical problem was that the metes and bounds descriptions and surveys reached for annexation at some point do not quite close for a technical review. He stated that it is inevitable that the survey issues will be corrected.

The Town Planner stated that there are two petitions for annexations. He displayed the proposed Foster annexation request and the proposed Swann Haven annexation request. The Town Planner asked that the petitions be forwarded to the Planning Commission for the review.

Mayor Butler asked what the acreage is on the Foster annexation request. The Town Planner stated that the Swann Haven request is for 79 acres and the Foster annexation request is 159 acres, 12 CL and 147 residential.

Mr. Mayer made a motion to forward the annexation petitions to the Town Council for their review, seconded by Mr. Ford.

Mr. Ford reminded the Council that recent applications have run into delays and obstacles because of the lack of information about the future plans on those parcels. He stated that hopefully, the petitioners will take note of that and come before the Planning Commission and the Council with information about what the plans are. Mr. Hamilton stated that he has passed that information on and he was surprised to see that there was not additional information submitted with the annexation petition. The Town Planner stated that he assumes that before it gets to the Town Council, the petitioners will have a sketch plan.

Mr. Mayer’s motion to forward the petitions for annexation was carried unanimously.

At 7:31 P.M., Mr. Mayer made a motion to convene into Executive Session for the advice of Counsel, seconded by Mr. Reed and carried unanimously following a roll call vote.

At 7:57 P.M., the President of the Council reconvened the regularly scheduled meeting.

The President of the Council asked if anyone was interested in going to the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner Friday, January 19 at a cost of $31 per person. There was no interest at this time due to previous commitments.

There being no further business, Mr. Mayer made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Reed and carried unanimously.

At 7:58 P.M., the President of the Council adjourned the regularly scheduled meeting. 

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Town Clerk