Town Hall is expected to be open to the public on October 1, according to City Manager James Wieprecht.

Wieprecht told the City Council at their September meeting that the Town Hall is close to re-opening. They have "started putting the furniture together, but we can't actually occupy it (Town Hall) yet" and are awaiting a fire marshal follow-up inspection.

Mayor Wantz said Town Hall is slated to open October 1 so the public can again start accessing the facility "in its new and more-secure fashion." He said there is one piece of glass that may not be installed by October 1, but it will not hinder the re-opening.

City to get election drop-box

The City Council voted at their regular September meeting to approve the proposed location of an election ballot drop-box in the municipality for use by area citizens in the upcoming November election.

Mayor Wantz told the council at the September work-session that Taneytown was offered an opportunity to have a ballot drop-box by the Carroll County Board of Elections for this election season. "I'm very excited about the prospect of doing so."

He said the proposed location for the drop-box will be at the municipal Police Station where it will also be under video surveillance.

Attorney Jack Gullo, who is also an attorney for the Carroll County Board of Elections, said the election board noted at one of their meetings that there were no drop-boxes n the northern area of the county, which would mean voters in that area would have to mail their votes in, drive them in, or vote in-person. Gullo said the state Board of Elections approved of the proposal.

The only thing we would have to do, he said, would be to have our police respond to any complaint that an individual was electioneering in the area of the drop-box. Gullo said bi-partisan teams from the county Board of Elections would be collecting the ballots.

The town will have to enter into a memo of understanding (MOU) with the county Board of Elections to allow the drop-box to be located in the municipality.

Playground contract awarded

The City Council awarded the contract at their regular September meeting for the Taneytown High School park playground to Playground Specialists, Thurmont.

Mayor Wantz said, during a previous work session, the town received seven responded to the town's request for bids on the proposed park improvements, and selected Playground Specialists' proposal in the amount of $133,499. "The designs (submitted by all the bidders) were spectacular."

Wantz said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board wanted to see more inclusive pieces of equipment for children who may be less mobile than others. "I think it's a great step forward for the city to be more inclusive on those things."

Commissioner Joe Vigliotti said, "It's been 10 to 15 years since this park has had an upgrade. It's certainly overdue." He noted the contract being awarded also includes the removal of the old playground equipment at the park.

Halloween party permit approved

The City Council approved a permit at their September meeting to allow a Halloween party to be held at Memorial Park. The party is being held by West Carroll Cheer, a recreational cheerleading group governed by the West Carroll Recreation Council.

Commissioner Vigliotti noted during the previous work session that the event application noted that alcohol being served. He said a town ordinance clearly states that any area of an event which is involved in serving alcohol must be held within a fenced-in area.

Mayor Wantz said the area in which the beverages would be served is located the football field area, which is fenced. "That's how we do the Wine Festival in the football field without having to do any additional fencing."

The mayor said the event coordinators would be responsible for employing COVID-19 precautionary measures. "It's nice to see events starting to pop-up again. But we're starting to see some sort of normalcy maybe coming back to us again. That's exciting to see."