(2/6) The Thurmont commissioners approved at their February 2 meeting … an ordinance amending the municipal code for correcting discrepancies between the code and parking citations.

The action was taken in response to a request proposed by Police Chief Gregory Eyler at the board’s January 26 meeting.

At the January 26 meeting, Chief Eyler told the board that the wording in the municipal code states a parking-violation citation recipient has 30-days to pay a fine, and five-days’ notice before the due-date to notify of intent to challenge the citation in court. The chief said the actual citation states 20-days, and to notify the department within 15-days of the intent to challenge the citation in court.

Eyler requested that the commissioners adopt an ordinance that reflects the information that is currently on the citations. "It’s (the verbiage) conflicting, and people get confused by it," he stated, adding, "Actually a resident here in Thurmont brought that to our attention … I think it’s a carry-over that nobody (throughout time) has caught onto."

Commissioner Martin Burns described the adoption of the changes as "a no-brainer," adding, "I think it makes complete sense … thankfully, a resident brought it to our attention. That’s awesome."

Commissioner Wes Hamrick noted bringing the code into conformity with the citations themselves saved a lot of money, as opposed to having to reprint citations and their envelopes, further stating, "I’m thankful that an extra pair of eyes … outside of ours, saw it."

Eyler noted that the resident who reported it had been cited – and had apparently exceeded one of the failure-to-pay stipulations but was not fined because of the disparity in the regulations. Is the recipient had been charged, he would have been reimbursed under the circumstances, the chief said.

The ordinance was unanimously adopted and became effective effect on February 9.

In other business at the February meeting, the commissioners approved a contract for the North Church Street water-main engineering and design services.

Chief Administrative Officer James Humerick told the board that the contract services would be addressing an abandoned, underground pump-station under North Church Street, which has not been functioning for years, and a four-inch water main.

The pump-station has contributed to flow and pressure issues, and the pump and water main are to be replaced with a straight-through six-inch main. The commissioners awarded the contract for the engineering and design work to Arrow Consulting, Inc., for $8,850. The commissioners previously approved $110,000 in the town budget for the completion of the project.