September 14, 2004
TOWN OF EASTON, MARYLAND
Workshop
Upcoming Issues
Councilmember Maureen Scott-Taylor Councilmember Moonyene Jackson-Amis
Also in attendance were Town Attorney Chris Kehoe, Town Clerk Robert Karge and Economic Development Coordinator Mr. Al Bond.
The Mayor and Council met in a workshop session at 6:30 p.m. in the Council’s Chambers.
WORKSHOP MEETING
The President of the Council called the meeting to order.
AGENDA
The President of the Council discussed the agenda for the meeting. He stated that it is a list of major issues currently being discussed by the Mayor and Council. The issues include:
1. Affordable Housing
2. Rental Housing Inspections
3. Impact Fees
4. East/West Connector Road
5. RTC Property
6. Town Charter update
7. Architectural Standards
Mr. Bond stated that he is going to bring a study of parking in the downtown by the end of October.
Mr. Ford stated that all of the above issues have been around for a while.
Mr. Wendowski suggested prioritizing the issues.
Mr. Ford suggested extra workshops due to the number of major issues before the Council. He stated that he would like to schedule an additional workshop meeting per month. Mr. Ford suggested the second Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. with a concise agenda.
TOWN CHARTER UPDATE
It was the consensus of the Council to consider changes to the Town Charter at the next regularly scheduled workshop in which Ms. Van Emburgh will be present from the Town Attorney’s office.
RENTAL HOUSING INSPECTIONS
Mr. Ford discussed a paper the League of Women Voters has put together regarding rental housing inspections. He stated that it presents policy options and enforcement issues as well as fee schedules. Mr. Ford stated that the piece missing is Town of Easton staffing requirements and budget implications.
Mr. Jensen discussed recent correspondence from the State of Maryland regarding lead paint inspections.
Mr. Ford asked the Town Clerk and Mayor Willey if budget impact information could be available for the workshop meeting in October should the Town require additional staff and go to scheduled rental housing inspections.
PROJECT LEADERS
Mr. Ford suggested tackling the issues by appointing a project leader for each issue, putting it into a single document and then presenting the compiled information for the Council to review.
Mayor Willey discussed difficulties with demands on staff members.
The Town Attorney stated that as a staff member, he thinks that the important role that the Council can play in this is how the Mayor should prioritize these projects. He stated that the logical person to act as the go between with the Council is the Mayor.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Ms. Jackson-Amis discussed concerns regarding Elm Street’s agreement with the Town of Easton. She stated that the Town should get what has been identified for affordable housing and have it someplace and identify some of the housing stock that has already been put into the housing inventory project completed by Ms. Priscilla Morris and at least know that we have some funds that have been reserved to begin some of those projects.
Ms. Scott-Taylor stated that her concern with the Housing Trust issue is that we have not decided what those funds are going to be earmarked for; whether they are for renovations/restoration or building new affordable homes or a combination.
Mr. Wendowski stated that we need to establish who is going to administer the Trust.
Mr. Ford stated that we need to identify those issues and the options that we have; the biggest one how much money do we want to raise in a given year or a given period which will determine what our fees are.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that it is her understanding that all of the money that has been earmarked for affordable housing does not go into the Trust Fund. She stated that the Elm Street money was not set up that way. She stated with that particular project, it was to go to identifiable homes in an identifiable part of town and the longer we wait, the more the building costs will be and the less likely we will get eight houses and have to have four.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that the issues are set forth and we have to get someone to administer the Trust Fund.
Mayor Willey stated that we haven’t decided whether we want houses set aside or contributions from developers or both.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that the decision has been made for Elm Street. She stated that we should be able to see progress in this area.
The Town Clerk stated that he will get copies of the PUD agreement that specifies what is agreed to.
The Town Attorney stated that the Elm Street agreement is separate apart and is much more specific geographically as to where the money is to be spent but Elm Street is not going to fund that until they get all their permits. The Town Attorney stated that he thinks we have time to address the Elm Street issues and get it right because the money is not going to come in from Elm Street for a little while.
The Town Clerk stated that the problem is deciding how the money is supposed to be spent. He stated that once the money comes in, we have to have someone enforce it. Mr. Karge discussed decisions that must be made at the Council level.
Ms. Jackson-Amis asked what needs to be set up to get this going. She stated that this needs to be done before the property is all purchased by somebody else.
The Town Attorney stated that the Elm Street situation is an opportunity for the Town that involves a very cooperative developer and with a very finite and limited focus geographically on what those funds are supposed to do.
The Town Attorney suggested letting Mayor Willey come back with a specific proposal as to how Elm Street is going to be administered and assess the experience on how these things are going to work practically on a larger and more difficult level with more complex issues. This will answer the immediate need on getting this going and it gives experience on how these things are going to get done and what the staffing will be.
The Town Attorney discussed his recollection of the timing mechanism and the details outlined in the Elm Street PUD.
Discussion continued on various funding aspects of affordable housing.
Ms. Scott-Taylor suggested prioritizing the list for the benefit of being able to accomplish goals with the present staff and take the affordable housing component and remove Elm Street and deal with the Elm Street issue separately; keeping it on the priority list.
Mr. Ford stated that the Council needs to have all the information to make educated decisions.
RTC PROPERTY
Ms. Scott-Taylor asked if preliminary work on the east/west connector road had been completed by the Town Engineer’s office.
Mayor Willey stated that if you look at the RTC property, we have the details of the Chapel Farms development prepared by the Town Planner, the details of the east/west road have been roughed in as far as we can go with the details of the storm water management pond. Mayor Willey stated that with these items, we are looking at 15 acres which leaves over 40 acres of land that something needs to be done with.
Mr. Ford discussed how the information could be compiled by one councilmember with suggestions what the next steps should be.
Ms. Scott-Taylor stated that until we know how much money is available, it is impossible to proceed.
Mayor Willey stated that we need to make a decision to finish Chapel Farms, put the road across with the storm water pond. If that’s agreeable, we would go to the next step which would be to sell or auction 26 building lots.
The Town Attorney discussed the Town of Easton’s ability to sell the RTC property. He stated that he does not think it is legally appropriate to sell portions of the RTC property as a funding mechanism. He stated that if you have a long term project that you need now, such as the east/west connector road, you can keep indefinitely deferring that project until you accumulate the money to pay for it or you can issue bonds.
Mr. Jensen suggested that Ms. Scott-Taylor and he work on the east/west connector road and the RTC property together.
Mr. Ford asked if the information could be compiled by the second week for the meeting in October.
The Town Clerk stated that the impact fee will not pay for the east/west road.
The Town Attorney stated that the east/west road should also cover an existing traffic need and the impact fee is only for new traffic.
The Town Clerk stated that the Tischler report is going to say that we have these various demands, these are costs to repair them; this portion can be attributed to the new impact.
Mr. Ford clarified that the east/west connector from Route 50 to Aurora Street is not going to be built by a specific developer but will be funded by varied revenue sources. He stated that the eastside collector will get built by development.
The Town Attorney stated that some council someday will be faced with the necessity of filling in the gaps for the eastside collector road.
The materialization of the Tischler report regarding impact fees was discussed. The Town Clerk stated that we should have something in hand in three to five weeks.
ASSIGNMENT OF COMPILATION OF INFORMATION OF PROJECTS
Mr. Ford stated that Ms. Scott-Taylor and Mr. Jensen will take two issues; the east/west connector road and the RTC property.
Mr. Ford stated that he will take the Housing Trust Fund.
Mr. Wendowski stated that he will take Impact Fees.
Mr. Ford and Ms. Jackson-Amis will work together on Housing Trust Fund and Affordable Housing.
Mr. Jensen will compile information regarding architectual standards.
Mr. Ford asked Mr. Bond where we stand on the Nexus report. Mr. Bond stated that he thought he would have the information tonight but he was missing one critical piece of information. He stated that it is basically done and he will have the information for distribution on Monday.
Mayor Willey stated that while the information is being compiled, be considerate of the staff as they are responsible for certain things.
The Town Attorney suggested to Mr. Jensen, in fairness to the public that he deliberate at the next Council meeting regarding his concerns with the traffic and the east/west road.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Mr. Wendowski seconded by Ms. Scott-Taylor, the President of the Council adjourned the workshop at 7:46 p.m.
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Town Clerk