MINUTES
TOWN MEETING
July 1, 2013
Emmitsburg Town Office
Present:
Mayor Donald Briggs; Commissioners Clifford Sweeney,
Christopher Staiger, Patrick Joy, James Hoover and
Tim O’Donnell, President.
Staff present were Sue Cipperly, Town Planner; Donna Despres, Town
Clerk and Dave Haller, Town Manager.
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Call to Order
Commissioner Tim O’Donnell, President of the Board of
Commissioners, called the July 1, 2013 Town Meeting
to order at 7:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was
recited.
Appearance by Frederick County Commissioners Blaine Young and Kirby
Delauter spoke to the Board on matters of fire
support, personnel/budget cuts and, upon Board
inquiry, transportation.
Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of the June 17, 2013 Town Meeting were
approved as presented.
Commissioner Comments
Commissioners cited recognitions to include thanks
to organizers of Heritage Days, the combined effort
of all local organizations and staff, and county
commissioners for participating in the parade.
There was also a great turnout for the bike ride.
Attendances included the annual MML conference
citing the sessions attended and meetings with state
representatives--legislative and agency. Also from
the MML conference there was a comment on the water
shed implementation program referred to as WHIP.
Mayor’s Comments -
successful Heritage Day and MML convention.
Concerns with state highway re planned renovation
of square. He also cited various attendances at
area events.
Administrative Business
·
Community Pool – hose constantly running
·
Solar/lights
Consent Agenda - none
Reports:
Treasurer’s Report
- Commissioner Sweeney reported on June 2013 cash
activity. Detailed report at Exhibit A.
Planning Commission Report –
There was no planning commission meeting in the
month of June.
II. Agenda Items
Solar project funding
This item was referred to the July 15, 2013 upon prior request.
Chicken Ordinances: 13-05 Section 17-Zoning; 13-06
Section 6-Animals
Ms. Cipperly gave a bit of background on the item stating that
staff has been working on this since about March
2013. Ms. Cipperly introduced changes to the
ordinances to the council. Public Comments:
Adam Leverette, 404 West Main Street –
questioned the
need for a site plan for the chicken coops. Kimberly Nicolet,
400 West Main Street - opposed to the chicken
ordinance. The Board did not have any opposition
with Ordinance 13-05 Zoning. Discussion took place
for Ordinance 13-06 Animals. Commissioner Hoover
went over the proposed items he would like to have
changed. Commissioner Staiger suggested putting a
sunset provision on the ordinance.
Motion:
- To approve Ordinance 13-05 Section 17
entitled Zoning.
Motion by
Commissioner Joy, second by Commissioner Hoover
Vote: 5-0 in favor
Motion:
- To approve Ordinance
13-06 Section 6 entitled Animals as
modified with the recommended changes by
Commissioner Hoover, except for number 8 which shall
be kept as the original language; and add an item
12, “The provisions of this subsection B
shall expire 18 months from passage unless extended
by ordinance”. The recommended changes to be
made in Section B Chickens: at subsection
item number 1 after the word “the”, add the word “total.”
Under number 4 after the word “moved”,
add “shall be considered as permanent structures
and therefore.” Under number 5 after the words
“location to location”, add “shall not be
required to meet the requirements for accessory
structures as stated in Title 17, but.” Under
number 6 after the word “coop”, add “or
pen.” After the word “any”, add the word
“adjacent.”
Motion Amendment
-
Motion was amended to remove the word “adjacent”
under number 6 so that it reads “25 feet from any
residential dwelling unit.”
Motion by
Commissioner Joy, second by Commissioner Sweeney.
Vote: 5-0 in favor
Littering penalty - discussion
Mayor Briggs stated that there have been great concerns about the
littering and trash problems in the town to include
furniture being placed in the dumpsters and he is
looking to the Board to see if there is some way
they would like to address this problem. Some
questions that arose during discussion were
enforcement and how other municipalities deal with
littering. It was stated that passing an ordinance
does not address the issue. Recommendation was
made for staff to contact MML.
Code of conduct for elected officials – discussion
Mayor Briggs reported that this was something that was looked at a
couple months ago and the Board concurred to have it
put on the agenda as a discussion item. This was
currently passed in the town of Brunswick. Some
concerns expressed were the code of conduct only
spoke of elected officials; that it should apply to
all staff; and the premise that it becomes a method
to induce conformity. Commissioner Joy commented
that it’s the president’s job to enforce conduct of
officials. Commissioner Hoover reported that the
employee handbook already covers code of conduct.
Commissioner Hoover agrees with concept saying that
it would especially benefit newly elected officials
and although there have been no major problems that
the best time to implement such a policy is
before a problem happens. Commissioner Sweeney
was in favor of the idea. Commissioner Joy stated
that the example presented would need some changes.
Set Agenda Items for July 15, 2013 Town Meeting
1.
Budget transfer – Solar
funding FY2013
2.
Trail update
Consent agenda
·
Reappointment to the Parks and Recreation Committee
III. Public Comments – none
IV. SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDMENTS AND/OR
RESOLUTIONS
V. Adjournment
With no further business, the July 1, 2013 Town Meeting
was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
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