July 2, 2001

The Town Council of the Town of Easton met today at 7:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Administrative Support Supervisor Rich Warfield who asked for nominations to serve as Acting President of the Council as Mr. Willey was unable to attend due to a family health issue. Mr. Reed nominated Mr. Ford, which was seconded by Mr. Jensen and carried unanimously. Mr. Warfield then turned the meeting over to the Acting President, Mr. Ford.

The following Council members were present: Mr. Ford, Mr. Jensen, Mr. Reed, and Ms. Jackson-Amis. Also attending the meeting were Mayor C. Eugene Butler, Chief of Police George Harvey, Town Engineer Tim Glass, Town Attorney Chris Kehoe, Assistant Town Engineer Joe Gruber, and Assistant Town Planner Lynn Thomas.

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

Mr. Ford briefly discussed the Executive Session, which was held prior to the regularly scheduled Council Meeting.

Mr. Reed made a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting held on June 18, 2001, seconded by Ms. Jackson-Amis, with written corrections, and carried unanimously.

Ms. Ellen General stated that the Passports to the Arts program would be continuing on Friday, July 6, 2001, with the Summer Concert series in Thompson Park during lunchtime hours. She went on to say that she had been granted Public Assembly permits by the police department for some upcoming events. Ms. General also discussed upcoming celebrations that would take place at Idlewild Park on July 14, 2001. Also, the U. S. Air Force show tunes group, High Flight, will be introduced to the streets of Easton soon.

The Acting President of the Council brought a letter to the floor from County Manager, Andy Hollis requesting the waiver of the Historic District Application fee for the landscaping renovations for the Talbot County Courthouse. The request was approved upon a motion made by Mr. Reed, seconded by Mr. Jensen, and carried unanimously.

Resolution No. 5729, "A resolution to ANNEX FOUR pARCELs of land to the Town of Easton located (1) On the north side of Bay STREET CONSISTING of 1.4 acres of land, more or less; (2) ADJACENT of the power plant property of the town of easton consisting of 5.102 acres of land, more or less; (3) on the west side of Flood Avenue consisting of 8106 square feet of land; and (4) on the northwest side of Matthewstown Road consisting of 1.238 acres of land, more or less and to provide for the terms and conditions of the annexation." was approved unanimously by a roll call vote upon a motion by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Ms. Jackson.

Ordinance No. 422, "An ordinance of the Town of Easton amending the official zoning map of the town of easton to apply an original zoning classification of I-1 (select industrial) to three parcels of land annexed to the town of easton located (1) on the north side of bay street consisting of 1.4 acres of land, more or less; (2) adjacent to the power plant property of the town of easton and consisting of 5.102 acres of land, more or less, and (3) on the west side of flood avenue consisting of 8106 square feet of land, more or less and to apply a zoning classification of r-10a (residential) to a parcel of land annexed to the town of easton located on the northwest side of matthewstown road consisting of 1.238 acres of land, more or less." was approved unanimously by a roll call vote upon a motion by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Ms. Jackson.

Consideration of Resolution No. 5730 and Ordinance No. 424 was tabled until the next Council Meeting upon a motion by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Mr. Reed.

At 7:15 p.m., The Acting President of the Council opened a Public Hearing on Easton’s Community Legacy Application. Assistant Town Planner, Lynn Thomas began the discussion by expressing that he hoped the council members got the chance to take in some information at the recent MML conference on the new program initiated by Governor Glendenning, which was to implement the Smart Growth program. There are 10 million dollars statewide for a variety of projects. He discussed how the program was introduced and what is included in the program. Boundaries were delineated. The Community Legacy Task Force identified three planning projects and five other projects to include in the application. Mr. Thomas is currently still working on the budget and has come up with an estimate of $575,000. One suggestion was to drop the idea of replicating the Asbury Place project on the West End for the senior low-income housing area as a site, which has not been identified. Another is to increase the estimate of Mr. Bibb’s property acquisition. A feasibility study must be added for a micro-enterprise project for the youth of the community. Also, the record should be kept open until Friday.

Ms. Jackson commended Mr. Thomas and Ralph Young for their efforts on behalf of the Town. She asked for volunteers within the community to assist with the self-help housing idea. She spoke about people coming together to make some changes to the town and how the changes may effect the history of Easton.

Mr. Ford described the project requests made by EBMA, which included improvements on Bay Street, a museum in conjunction with the Waterfowl Festival, and the establishment of a real estate fund for use in attracting businesses to the Town center.

Under public comments, Ms. Margaret Roe of Corbin Parkway wondered if we had a site in mind for the community center. The response was that we have sites in mind, but we haven’t progressed to the point of acquiring any of these sites and would rather not announce the site in mind before actually talking to the owner of the property and getting an actual answer.

There being no further business, the Acting President of the Council closed the Public Hearing at 7:38 p.m.

Assistant Town Engineer, Joe Gruber, spoke on his memo regarding the replacement of culverts on Third Street. Mr. Gruber stated that FEMA provided an estimate to repair the damage, which was caused by Hurricane Floyd. Bids went out but the low bid was considerably higher than the estimate. FEMA has indicated that they would cover the additional expense if the scope of work remains as they had originally estimated.

Ms. Jackson suggested that the Engineer’s office should send FEMA a letter confirming what was told to them to protect the Town. Mr. Gruber agreed to do so. Upon a motion made by Ms. Jackson and seconded by Mr. Jensen, the request was approved unanimously.

At 7:45 P.M., The Acting President of the Council opened the Public Hearing for the purpose of gathering input on Resolution No. 5740 which is to authorize the submission of a "Maryland Community Development Block Grant- Economic Development" for the purpose of developing a plan for Easton Town Center Marketing and Recruitment Strategies. The Assistant Town Planner, Mr. Thomas described the program. The Town must secure the funds and then develop a scope of work with the assistance of Cindy Stone. Ms. Jackson recommended that whatever potential Community Legacy projects could be applied here should be assigned to this grant.

Mr. Steve Magnasarian expressed concern about vacant storefronts and the continued commercial viability of Easton’s downtown. He encouraged the Town Council to use these funds wisely by dealing directly with large brokers.

In response to a question from Mr. Ford, Mr. Thomas indicated that the funds could be available within 30 to 60 days.

There being no further questions or comments, the Acting President of the Council closed the Public Hearing at 8:03 p.m.

Upon a motion made by Mr. Jensen and seconded by Mr. Reed, Resolution No. 5740 passed unanimously by a roll call vote.

Mr. Jim Prettyman submitted a report on behalf of the Easton Volunteer Fire Department. He thanked EUC and EPD for their support during the McDonald’s fire.

Mayor Butler reported that the Maryland Municipal League convention was a success. He stated that a lot of relevant information was made available to Town officials and Easton’s representatives made the best of it.

Mayor Butler stated that he had received a request for a skateboard facility. After speaking to Parks and Recreation Director, Mike Morse, Mr. Butler felt that it was something that Easton could do. Mr. Ford asked about funding and Mr. Butler indicated that interested parties had some funding ideas and a plan that outlined where the money would come from. Mr. Kehoe suggested that they be given the opportunity to present their plan to the Town Council.

Chief Harvey spoke to the Town Council on behalf of the "Block Party for Jesus" group. They would like to sponsor an event on July 21 2001, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It would be necessary to block off the parking lot beside the Historical Society building. He requested approval of the request, which was unanimously received on a motion made by Ms. Jackson and seconded by Mr. Jensen.

The Chief presented a request for an "Old Fashioned Community Family Carnival" sponsored by the Mid-Shore Community Church to be held on Friday July 6^th at 8:00 p.m. on the Wal-Mart parking lot for information purposes.

Dominos Pizza would like to give away pizza to the community on their parking lot at 415 E. Dover Street for Community Appreciation Day and is requesting the involvement of McGruff the Crimefighting Dog. Easton Police Department would be happy to assist. Also, the Police Department recommends approval of the requests made by Ms. Ellen General earlier in the meeting. Approval was granted unanimously upon a motion made by Ms. Jackson and seconded by Mr. Jensen.

Mr. Glass indicated that he is still working on a request for crosswalks on Port Street with the State Highway Administration. He also described the circumstances that left portions of the Town out of electricity for one to two hours on Sunday night. He also expressed appreciation for approval of the EUC Cable TV rate increase on behalf of Easton Utilities.

Mr. Butler asked if any of the Council members would be interested in serving on the Mid-Shore Regional Council and Mr. Jensen expressed interest.

Mr. Ford reminded those present of the upcoming calendar of events.

Mr. Jensen mentioned that Sections 4 & 6 of Matthewstown subdivision are on public notice for wetlands. If anyone is interested in becoming an "interested party", they must contact Mr. Alan Campmeyer before 4:30 p.m. on July 17 at 410-543-6703. Mr. Jensen stated that with the recent passing of Ms. Jean Lord, all should be aware of the "treasures" of Easton.

Ms. Jackson asked Mr. Kehoe if he had sent a letter to the Talbot County Council requesting swimming passes to the George P. Murphy pool. Mr. Kehoe indicated that he had referred the request to Mr. Warfield. Mr. Warfield stated that he would take care of it tomorrow. Ms. Jackson also stated that she was misquoted by the Star Democrat and that she spoke with the Star Democrat and had declined to respond to a question about Mr. Jensen’s article. She believes in orderly procedures and due process.

Mr. Ford closed the meeting by asking for continued prayers for Mr. Willey’s son and for all those with ailing loved ones.

There being no further business, the Acting President of the Council adjourned the regularly scheduled meeting at 8:30 p.m. upon a motion made by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Ms. Jackson, and carried unanimously.

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Richard T. Warfield, Jr. for Town Clerk