TOWN OF EASTON, MARYLAND
December 6, 2004
Councilmember Maureen Scott-Taylor Councilmember Moonyene Jackson-Amis
Also in attendance were the Town Attorney Mr. Kehoe, Chief Blue, Town Engineer Mr. Glass, Town Planner Mr. Hamilton, Economic Development Coordinator Mr. Bond and Mr. Karge, the Town Clerk.
At 7:00 p.m., the President of the Council called the meeting to order. Mr. Jensen opened the meeting with prayer and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 15, 2004 MEETINGS
Upon motion by Mr. Wendowski seconded by Ms. Scott-Taylor and carried unanimously, minutes of the November 15, 2004 meetings were approved.
EASTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT
There was no representative present from the Fire Department at this time.
MR. RAY CLARKE, COUNTY ENGINEER TO PRESENT NEW TALBOT COUNTY LIBRARY DESIGNS
President of the Council introduced Councilwoman Hillary Spence and County Manager Andy Hollis.
Mr. Clark discussed the Easton Library design competition. He stated that the project was put out to bid on September 3 and received 26 registrations during the process. Mr. Clark discussed the design jury and the selection process for the firms. He stated that they have requested that the top three firms do a 3-D rendering of their presentation. Mr. Clark stated that out of 14 submissions, it has been narrowed down to the top three and two alternates. He invited the Town Council to offer comments on the designs. He discussed the efforts with the Easton Historic District Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Mr. Clark discussed the distinctions in the three designs.
Ms. Scott-Taylor asked if the parking for the library encompasses the Town’s parking lot.
Mr. Clark stated that this does include the Town’s parking lot. Mr. Clark stated that they need to have discussions regarding the parking lot with the Town.
Mr. Wendowski asked if there would be traffic study. He discussed moving a considerable amount of traffic through the area.
Mr. Clark stated that he will make the suggestion and see how to move forward with that.
Mr. Clark stated that all the designs are looking at a two-story library with entrances on the basement. He discussed security measures.
Mr. Clark stated that the budget they currently have is nine million dollars with one million for site work.
Mr. Jensen asked which building the Historic District preferred. Mr. Clark stated that he was not sure which one they preferred. He discussed conversations with Mr. Bollman, Chairman of the Historic District Commission.
The Town Attorney stated that the project has to go through the Historic District Commission review and the site plan review.
Ms. Spence stated that she is appreciative for the opportunity to present the project as well as the coverage by the Star Democrat. She discussed an opinion box at the library where the public can provide feedback. She stated that the library will add to everyone’s quality of life.
SCOUT MASTER ERNIE SMITH AND MEMBERS OF TROOP 532
Scout Master Smith stated that they are present tonight for rank advancements and merit badges that require them observe a local town meeting. He stated that they are new and meet at the Church of the Nazarene. Mr. Smith introduced members of his troop. Mr. Ford encouraged the troop to stay and ask any questions.
ITEMS BY MAYOR WILLEY
Nothing at this time.
ITEMS BY CHIEF OF POLICE
Chief Blue stated that there are five recruits attending the Police Academy starting January 10. He presented Ms. Geneva Davis, Ms. Michelle Dyott, Mr. Brian Dads, Mr. David McNeal and Mr. Howard Elzey. He stated that they are moving forward filling the vacancies.
Chief Blue stated that there will be two graduates December 20 from the Academy.
Chief Blue stated that he has been discussing joint patrols with Sheriff Pope. He discussed holiday patrol and cooperative efforts.
Ms. Jackson-Amis requested additional lighting on Clay and Jowite due to unusual activity.
Chief Blue stated that the bike patrol is looking at that area as well as public works.
ITEMS BY THE TOWN ENGINEER
The Town Engineer, Mr. Glass stated that the asphalt plant in Easton will be closing within the next two weeks.
Mr. Glass stated that the leaf collection will continue until Christmas.
The Town Engineer stated that street reconstruction work continues between Goldsborough and Dover Streets and also Winton Avenue between Higgins Street and Rails-to-Trails.
Mr. Glass stated that they are continuing research for funding opportunities for the Doverbrook storm drain replacement. He stated that unfortunately, they have exhausted their efforts with MDE and Community Development Block Grant Program through the State of Maryland. He stated that there is a request through Mayor Willey to Congressman Gilchrest for funding opportunities as well as a personal request from citizens in that area.
Mr. Glass discussed the schedule for the West Kennedy Street annexation and sewer upgrades. He stated that they anticipate all work to be completed by next September. He discussed design work for the West Glenwood sewer extension and street reconstruction.
Ms. Jackson-Amis discussed alternative solutions for the flooding and if there could be other funding opportunities.
The Town Engineer stated that nothing would come to mind to qualify for other funding.
Ms. Jackson-Amis asked where we go next in exploring avenues for mitigating these concerns.
Mayor Willey stated that he has representatives from Senator Mikulski’s office as well as Congressman Gilchrest here to discuss the project and funding opportunities.
ITEMS BY THE TOWN PLANNER
Mr. Hamilton stated that the Planning and Zoning Commission meets December 16. He stated that they have two applications; a major retail store Lowe’s proposed between Food Lion and Ruby Tuesdays and an application to convert the old Southern States building to a furniture store and build a four-story storage building and on the back of the site a medical office building. He stated that this has to go to the Planning Commission then to the Board of Appeals for multiple uses on a lot.
The Town Planner stated that the Planning and Zoning Commission had reviewed a project on Plum Street to convert the old moving and storage warehouse into five apartments which is a PUD which needs to come before the Town Council for a public hearing.
The President of the Council set the Public Hearing for January 3 at 7:15 p.m.
The Town Planner stated that he will run an ad for the architectural design guidelines.
Mr. Jensen stated that on January 6 at 7:00 p.m., he would like to have a Ward 2 meeting with residents to discuss the Historic District expansion. He asked for the Planning Department’s assistance.
Mr. Hamilton discussed the job opening in the Planning office. He stated that they are looking to promote within before advertising.
Mr. Ford asked for the status of the Zoning Ordinance. Mr. Hamilton stated that he is working on it with Zach Smith in his department. He stated that they can proceed and amend the document as often as necessary.
COMMENTS FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Mr. Bond discussed the arts banner auction which grossed $12,000.
Mr. Bond stated that the holiday parade went well on December 4.
ORDINANCE NO. 479, “AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF EASTON GRANTING THE APPLICATION OF PASSYN & PASSYN, LLC FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (“PUD”) ZONING DISTRICT UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE EASTON ZONING ORDINANCE.”
The President of the Council, Mr. Ford stated that this ordinance had been introduced at the last meeting. He stated that based on the previous meeting comments, there seems to be significant issues in the Findings of Facts; affordable housing portion and the contribution from the applicant for veteran’s housing.
The Town Attorney discussed the Findings of Facts and the 27 conditions. He stated that most of the conditions are not of any controversy. Mr. Kehoe stated that there are three conditions among the members of the Council that should be clarified as well as points that involve either changes to or deletions of some of the conditions.
Mr. Kehoe stated that the first with ongoing discussion among the members of the Council is Condition No. 23; Affordable Housing. He stated that the Affordable Housing proposal before the Council reflects communication between Ms. Jackson-Amis concerning her desires as to how she would like to see this particular aspect of the application structured. Mr. Kehoe stated that there has been discussion among other elected officials as to whether or not this proposal and all its particulars is the best way to go. He stated that he needs final guidance how they would like to see that issue structured.
Mr. Kehoe discussed additional conditions.
Condition No. 25 having to do with a preference for Veterans’ Housing. Mr. Kehoe stated that there is a lack of finality on the matters of the Council how to handle this matter in the application.
Condition No. 26 which is a remedy which would be created in terms of a bond or some other security for possible homeowners complaints against the developers is something talked about but have never come to a firm conclusion what the amount would be and how that would be structured. He stated that this is a matter outstanding and something Mr. Phillips will address.
Condition No. 20 in the application having to do with traffic improvements on Route 328; the entrance to the development, the intersection of Route 328 and Route 50. Mr. Kehoe stated that he knows that the Town Engineer feels very strongly about. He stated that this has also been flagged as something the developer finds problematic as to how it is structured now.
Condition No. 19 pertains to the same general topic. Mr. Kehoe stated that the applicant would like to see Condition 19 and Condition 20 deleted.
Mr. Phillips, representing the applicant was present to address the Council’s concerns. He stated that there are significant differences in the Findings of Fact. Mr. Phillips stated that the issues out there have been outlined by Mr. Kehoe. He stated that the most difficult of all the issues is the affordable housing issue. Mr. Phillips discussed the history of the discussions between the applicant and the council.
Mr. Phillips stated that the conversations regarding the affordability issue was that there would be a 10% affordability concept in the development and the applicant is in agreement with that. Mr. Phillips stated that their concern is not the fact that there will be affordable housing but their concern is that it appears that the applicant or the builder would be the agency that would have to look at these people and determine if they met the criteria. He stated that they do not want to be that person. Mr. Phillips stated that the Town needs to address that with an Affordable Housing Ordinance that would undertake the process defining who those people would be.
Mr. Phillips discussed the level of assurance required by their bankers before committing their resources.
Mr. Ford discussed Item 23A and Item 23B in the Findings of Facts.
Mr. Phillips stated that this needs to be a town led program; not the applicant.
Mr. Kehoe discussed the price of homes benchmark from state programs in Talbot County. He stated that it is currently $161,000. He discussed the difference in the approaches.
Ms. Jackson-Amis discussed the index that is being referred to as affordable. She stated that as stated, affordable housing would be identified in the range of $160,000. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that from her perspective, she does not want to use percentages; she wants to use actual numbers similar to the way done by another developer. She stated that $160,000 is not what she considers to be affordable housing. She stated that in the other approved project, affordable is defined as $110,000. She stated that she is interested in saying that affordable houses should be between $120,000 and $130,000.
Mr. Jensen stated that the median income in Talbot County is around $45,000. He stated that 80% would be $38,000 which would make a house price of about $120,000 to $140,000.
Mr. Phillips stated that the houses in this neighborhood are not going to be disparate in value as the other development that was agreed to. He stated that the margins are not the same; this will not be an upper income development but a moderate income development.
Mr. Phillips discussed the issue of Route 328 and Route 50 on page 5 of their Findings of Facts. He discussed the per lot fee for road improvements for 539 lots in lieu of doing work on Route 328 and Route 50.
Mr. Jensen asked if the applicant wants to delete Condition 19 and Condition 20. Mr. Phillips stated that is correct; this addresses the issue the road improvements are about.
Mr. Phillips stated that they will delete 19 and 20 and will put up $1,078,000 up front before the first car hits the road towards correcting and helping with the traffic problem plus the impact fees which will pay their proportion of the east/west road.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that her concern is that Mr. Passyn agreed to what was set forth in the Town’s Findings of Facts. She stated that it was on these Findings of Facts that she agreed to support this application. She stated that it appears to her that the proposal is trying to be changed.
Mr. Kehoe stated that the Findings of Facts, 1 through 27 are the result of deliberations in Open Session and the instructions given to him.
Discussion occurred regarding the improvements and the expenses at Route 328 and Route 50.
Mr. Kehoe stated that the developer may say that they don’t want to pay this but this is not a negotiation process between the Council and the developer; it is the Council’s decision what the want to impose on the application.
Mr. Phillips discussed his recollection of the agreement regarding road improvements.
Mr. Phillips discussed page 10 and the Veterans preference. He stated that they would prefer to make the entire development VA eligible where it would have to meet the VA criteria. He stated that the developer would have to be willing to sign onto the VA financing where the builder shares on more financial responsibility. He stated that aspiration ally, they have no problem with the concept in trying to encourage and want to encourage VA preference and VA participation in terms of how they market these units although that criterion does not fall in the affordable housing guidelines.
Mr. Wendowski discussed the applicant’s contribution to the east/west connector road.
Mr. Phillips stated that the difference is that the applicant thinks that they will not necessarily be able to do this; they put $200,000 on it but they are willing to roll that up with another hunk of money that is going to help with the east/west connector and that’s how they came to the $1,078,000 and then the concept was that it may take the Town ten years to build the road out and then the discussion came about to pay the entire sum up front versus paying the amount over five to ten years.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she would not like to see the competition between the other affordable housing and the veterans’ preference. She stated that the way the applicant’s proposal sets up the scenario, if there is a veteran and someone else who qualifies for the 10% affordable home, then the veteran would get that over this other consumer and that is not the idea. The idea was to have 10% set aside for any citizen that could meet the affordability criteria, then the special dispensation for veterans. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated Mr. Passyn was very much in favor of this provision and even stated that his brother was a veteran and they also had a concern to do something. She stated that she did not think they would create a potential competition for the veterans in the overall housing unit.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that in all these provisions, they should be covenants that run with the land which she does not see here in the event this project is sold.
The Town Attorney stated that in the Town of Easton’s Findings of Facts, that is addressed in paragraph 27.
Mr. Ford stated that he is disagreeing with No. 25 in its entirety as written as he think it is impractical and would be burdensome to administer. He thinks that the suggestion by the applicant to have the entire development VA eligible is a much cleaner, more practical way to go.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that because you say veterans’ preference, under whatever the circumstances would be, the veterans’ preference would supersede whatever else is on the table. She stated that she would like the veterans to have a preference and that this can co-exist with affordable housing.
Ms. Scott-Taylor asked what would be the average price of the homes set aside for veterans.
Mr. Phillips stated that those homes would be in a wide range in the group.
Mr. Phillips discussed the commercial portion of their Findings of Facts. He stated that it relates to 10,000 square feet of footprint, not 10,000 square foot of commercial.
Mr. Phillips discussed the possibility of a performance bond.
Discussion occurred regarding the developer and the builder.
Mr. Kehoe clarified on page 6 the term ultimate developer.
The Town Attorney advised the Council that if they think having a bond in addition to the bond the Attorney General has required the Passyns to have as a result of the Matthewstown Run situation, the language in the ordinance works, it can be made clearer.
Ms. Scott-Taylor asked if the bond in effect for Matthewstown Run would carry over for this development.
Mr. Phillips stated that it covers the builder; not the development so it covers ongoing builder activities unless it is a different builder. He stated that one way to address it is that there should be a bond with the Maryland Home Builder’s people, through the Attorney General’s office.
Mr. Glass stated that his concern with No. 26 is that the Town of Easton will not be in any position, particularly the Building Inspection department, handling this bond or getting involved with non-building type issues between a builder and their client. He stated that these are contractual issues that may have nothing at all to do with building codes. Mr. Glass stated that their plate should be clean pertaining to what issues they deal with when we relate to this or any other builder. He stated that we are here to enforce the building code and to make sure that the structure is in compliance with that Code.
Mr. Phillips stated that the bond is full and available.
The Town Attorney suggested that the language require that the applicant or any affiliate of the applicant would consent to the Attorney General’s office imposition of a bond if the Attorney General’s office so desires or deems it to be appropriate.
Mr. Glass discussed the traffic topics. He stated that with reference to deleting No. 19 and No. 20, he was under the understanding that with all developers and any projects that the developer is responsible for identifying what the impacts are in the community and seeking ways to mitigate those impacts through usually construction activity. He stated that there is a situation where a traffic study was submitted that identified some issues with US 50 and Route 328 and that traffic study had more than one scenario with two lanes or three lanes through. Mr. Glass stated that it is his belief that the State Highway Administration is moving forward with the construction plans for a three lane without regards to local development outside the US 50 corridors. He stated that this project would be done anyway and not in response to local development activity. Mr. Glass stated that he believes we still need an updated traffic study to address not only to update numbers and to re-look at some intersections. Mr. Glass stated that he believes it is important to have the developer rather than pay in and have the Town solve or at least fix traffic impacts that are caused by that development, but to address those impacts by the developer which is the way that has been handled in past cases by all the developers.
Mr. Jensen stated that No. 19 is basically that they are going to pay for a new traffic study and No. 20 says that they are going to fix Route 328 and US 50 depending on the outcome of the traffic study. Mr. Jensen suggested leaving No. 19 in and recommending talking about No. 20.
Mr. Glass stated that his office in particular is not in the business of going out and making improvements to certain intersections and roadways on behalf of any particular project or the direct impact from that project. He stated that it is important to separate this and say that no matter what happens, if this development comes along, whatever improvements are needed where, there are traffic impacts that are going to have to be addressed; more than likely in the front end of the project as opposed to us deciding where it is appropriate to put the money and our responsibility to bid it, construct it, inspect it and get it done in some reasonable time frame.
Mr. Wendowski stated that he agrees as the traffic study is at least two years old.
The Town Attorney discussed improvements performed by developers and supervised by State Highway Administration.
Mr. Glass stated that the second part of paragraph 20 is important and should not be taken out. He stated it talks about the construction use of and any proposed improvements to Black Dog Alley shall be approved by the Town Engineer’s office and the Talbot County Engineer’s office. He stated that this is relative to Black Dog Alley and its use relative to this project. He stated that this has to happen and there is going to be a requirement for a county access permit to access Black Dog Alley. He stated that deleting No. 20 in its entirety is inappropriate.
Mr. Ford discussed how to proceed. He went through the items as identified to facilitate progress. He stated that Mayor Willey has stated that without a contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, he will not support the ordinance.
Mr. Ford referred to pages and item numbers as prepared by the Town Attorney.
1) Page 5, No. 2; Commercial footage not to exceed 10,000 on subject project. He stated that the applicant’s interpretation of that is that they would prefer that it reads foot print rather than total commercial space. He stated that difference is that if it states footprint, the applicant can build two-story of commercial space. The Town Planner stated that we should refer to the original site plan. The consensus was that this change was no problem. The Town Attorney suggested saying that 10,000 square foot print with the total space not to exceed 20,000 square feet. Mr. Phillips stated that there may be some three-story in the foot print. Mr. Passyn discussed the original drawings. He stated that in the original renderings, it was basically five Easton type downtown commercial spaces. Mr. Wendowski stated that you may want to limit the height.
2) Page 7, No. 18, 19, 20; 18 introduces the concept that the applicant will provide $1,078,000 towards transportation improvements. 19 is the traffic study and 20 is the improvements to Route 328 and US 50 intersection. Mr. Ford stated that the applicant would like the costs of No. 20 to be included in the $1,078,000 and the Findings of Facts as presented by Mr. Kehoe have the contribution as an addition to the work required for Route 328 and US 50 intersection. Mr. Jensen stated that he thought they were working under the assumption Mr. Phillips presented; however, the outline Mr. Kehoe and Mr. Glass presented make a good point as written. Mr. Kehoe stated that he will make clarifications on No. 19 and No. 20 but the concept will not change. Ms. Scott-Taylor suggested a compromise on No. 20 regarding improvements to Route 328 and US 50. She suggested a contribution of an additional $250,000 over and above the $1,078,000 in lieu of all for consideration. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she remembers Mr. Passyn agreeing to all these conditions so she thought that negotiations were over and the consensus was on the conditions as agreed to. Mr. Phillips stated that another way to approach this would be to say that the applicant would do the work at Route 328 and US 50 and would pay for it. Then the amount would go towards something else with the total of those costs would come to an additional amount over that amount. Mr. Phillips stated that his client agrees to the improvements deemed necessary to Route 328 and US 50 in addition to the million dollars as related to their development’s impact on the intersection. Mr. Kehoe stated that the developer also has to clarify the county’s requirements which the Town Engineer and the Town Attorney anticipate coming before Black Dog Alley. He stated that the county is definitely going to have a say on road improvements on Black Dog Alley. Mr. Ford stated that what they are asking is to accept the Findings of Facts as written in regards to Nos. 18, 19 and 20.
3) Page 8, No. 23 the Affordable Housing Component. Mr. Ford stated that the main issue he sees with the Affordable Housing as presented in the Findings of Fact is that it does not have the support of Mayor Willey who does have veto power over this ordinance. He stated that we need to look at this process as is there room for compromise here in order to accomplish what we all want to do which is to provide affordable housing units on the ground for families in need. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she does not want the compromise to affect the constituents in this community to never have their concerns addressed at the maximum level possible. She stated that 10% was set forth with Elm Street and we should continue with the 10%. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she also thinks that the Mayor’s suggestion of a financial contribution is important. She stated that the amount of money that is considered affordable should also be set forth which she believes is $120,000 to $130,000 per home. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that No. 23 in the Town Attorney’s Findings of Fact is the one she wants voted on but the money amount has to be delineated as $120,000 to $130,000. Mr. Bond discussed Talbot County’s median income range. Mr. Kehoe suggested having the price of the home to reflect to adjust to reflect changes in the cost of housing and the Maryland Mortgage One program is a program the State has to try to index what that cost of housing is on a county by county basis. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she wants the affordable housing prices should be kept at $120,000 to $130,000 for a few years. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that maybe it is too important to decide on tonight. She stated that obviously, we haven’t found a way to satisfy everyone’s’ concerns. Mr. Kehoe stated that Mr. Bond proposes that we suggest at a different way to get to the same place. He suggested saying that the houses will be priced so that someone earning the median income of the Town of Easton will be able to purchase one of the houses with conventional 30 year mortgage financing devoting 30% of his or her household income to principal interest and tax payments. Mr. Bond stated that the higher the interest rates go, the worse it is for the Passyns.
Mr. Wendowski made a motion to table the ordinance, seconded by Ms. Jackson-Amis. He stated that his vote is no but realistically, the Council has been in session for over two hours and we are still negotiating. He stated that he is not happy when he is handed changes to an ordinance at 8:00 and discuss it unit by unit.
Mr. Ford stated that it is plain that the Council is struggling with this application. The reasons are many faceted but the main reasons are that the past several years, certainly for the present and future, development in Easton and Talbot County is going to come under heavy scrutiny, intensive review which he feels is completely appropriate. He stated that the reason this particular application is getting this type of review is this is the single largest project this town has ever considered and a huge deal to get right. Mr. Ford stated that the timing coincides with similar considerations we are going through with affordable housing, impact fees and transportation infrastructure within the Town. He stated that if we don’t get this application right with 539 homes and some commercial space, the Council will not have done their job.
Mr. Ford also added that there is a motion and a second to table this issue. He stated that he would like to have the Council prepared to vote on December 20.
Mr. Ford stated that there are two issues to resolve: the particulars regarding affordable housing and the particulars regarding the Veteran’s Preference.
Ms. Jackson-Amis’ motion to table the ordinance was carried with Mr. Jensen voting no.
RECESS
At 10:07 p.m., the President of the Council recessed the meeting for a five minute break.
RECONVENE
At 10:12 p.m., the President of the Council reconvened the regularly scheduled Council meeting.
DISCUSSION OF DOWNTOWN PARKING MANAGEMENT REPORT
The President of the Council discussed the voluminous telephone calls and e-mails received regarding Mr. Bond’s parking report and recommendations. Mr. Ford stated that there are a number of issues that the Council needs to deliberate on for input. He stated that the one item that is time sensitive is if we are interested in making any alterations whatsoever to the current sticker system, those stickers expire the end of this calendar year to be renewed January 1.
Mr. Jensen stated that he feels that cost of the stickers should be raised due to the fact that the parking lots are not being maintained by the cost.
Mr. Wendowski suggested increasing the ticket fees and come up with some ordinance that would come up with the sliders.
Ms. Scott-Taylor recommended eliminating the blue stickers because that is time sensitive.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that she is not in the position to participate and has not considered it as she would like.
Mr. Wendowski discussed his response to constituents.
Ms. Jackson-Amis asked if this could be considered at the next meeting.
Mr. Ford stated that the other option that would buy a little time is to ask the Town Clerk to not issue anything but six month permits.
Ms. Scott-Taylor stated that she too would like to get around town and talk to more people.
Ms. Scott-Taylor made a motion to table the discussion of the parking study until the next meeting and authorize the Town Clerk to issue six month parking permits for the first half of 2005, seconded by Mr. Wendowski and carried unanimously.
Mr. Jensen asked Chief Blue about the sample ordinances that would address the “slider” problem.
Chief Blue stated that he has given the four ordinances to Mr. Bond.
Mr. Bond shared the ordinances with the Council.
Mr. Bond discussed the language in Item B. The second sentence reads that there shall be a presumption that any vehicle that is moving from one space to another space in the immediate area has been moved for the purpose of evading time limitations on parking. Mr. Bond stated that the reference to immediate area is very vague and the easiest way to correct that is to make it read, vehicles being moved from one two-hour space to another two-hour space.
COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL
Ms. Scott-Taylor thanked the residents of Chapel Farms, the RTC Task Force and staff that came out last Monday to participate in our workshop. She stated that they are working on some revisions to their proposal on finishing off Chapel Farms.
Mr. Jensen stated that with the parking issue, one of the underlying assumptions of that whole thing is that we have amazing retail part of downtown that is vying for parking spaces. He discussed retail spaces going out of business and being replaced by non-retail. Mr. Jensen asked the Council for their insight on exploring what can be done in terms of restriction of uses on certain parts of the downtown. He suggested speaking with other towns.
Mayor Willey stated that he has already been in contact with the State of Maryland DBED and is also looking at incentives that might be able to be offered.
Mr. Wendowski stated that he would like to see the Council moving forward on impact fees. He stated that it is time we had Tischler or a representative come in and discuss it.
Mr. Ford stated that he anticipates this being the subject of the January workshop.
Ms. Jackson-Amis reported that the Date for Douglass was a huge success. She stated that she was delighted that there was so much participation. She stated that everyone looked great, the music was outstanding and the food from the Tidewater Inn was delicious. Ms. Jackson-Amis acknowledged the donation of the Gold Room by the Tidewater Inn and Ms. Scott-Taylor and the staff were great. She stated that there is great support from the community at large. Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that three of the four artists were also in attendance. She stated that the artist donated his stipend check back.
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that on Saturday, there will be a Kwanza celebration at the Be a Star. She stated that it is always held on the second Saturday in December and recognize members of the community with a Mojo or a unity award. She stated that the ceremony will be at 3:00 p.m.
Ms. Scott-Taylor stated that the Tuckahoe River Bridge was renamed the Frederick Douglass Bridge on Friday, December 3. She stated that Lt. Governor Michael Steel was present as well as decedents of Frederick Douglass.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Ms. Kristen Dukes, owner of Flo-Mir, Ltd., 23 E. Dover Street across from Talbot Bank stated that she is a “slider.” She stated that she has had a business here for 26 years as of October 26. She stated that she has paid in one year, tickets totaling a record year of $683. She discussed the limitations on the two-hour parking limit. She stated that the metered parking is not a bad idea in the town because when people come to town from other areas, they sometime come for the entire day. Ms. Dukes asked that the parking remain as it currently is. She stated that the key to filling those spaces with retail stores would be very helpful but the key is to do business in town. She stated that those drivers that have permits usually support the downtown businesses because they are there doing their job. She suggested making the two-hour spaces three-hour spaces to give shoppers more time in the downtown stores.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, upon motion by Mr. Jensen seconded by Ms. Jackson-Amis and carried unanimously the President of the Council adjourned the regularly scheduled meeting at 10:33 p.m.
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Town Clerk