MAYOR AND COUNCIL
AUGUST 4, 2014
Mayor Cerino called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Council members Liz Gross, Linda Kuiper, Samuel T. Shoge and Mauritz Stetson, W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Jennifer Mulligan, Town Clerk and guests.
Mayor Cerino asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the Mayor and Council meeting of July 21, 2014 or the public meeting regarding the Kent County Middle School Recreational Campus of July 29, 2014. Ms. Gross moved to approve the Mayor and Council meeting minutes as submitted, was seconded by Mr. Shoge and carried unanimously.
Mayor Cerino asked for a motion to pay bills. Mr. Stetson moved to pay the bills as submitted, was seconded by Ms. Gross and carried unanimously.
Ms. Nancy McGuire was present along with Ms. Bernadette Bowman, Ms. Kristin Owen, Mr. Kevin Hemstock and Ms. Barbara Jorgenson to discuss the War of 1812 Battle of Caulks Field, which was scheduled for the weekend of August 30th. She thanked the Council again for their donation to the event.
Ms. McGuire stated that the “Prelude to Caulk’s Field” will take place in Chestertown on Friday evening, August 29th with an encampment on the Custom House lawn. There will be a parade on Saturday, August 30th on High Street with a flag raising and wreath laying at Memorial Park. Ms. McGuire stated that High Street would only be closed from Water Street to the River, with the rest of High Street closed only during the parade.
Ms. Owen stated that there would be lectures offered at the Bordley Building on Saturday, August 30th. Music, food vendors, a beer truck and Crow Farm Winery would be set up downtown in an effort to keep people in Town after the parade and would provide a festive atmosphere. The Pride of Baltimore was offering sails at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Mr. Hemstock stated that the actual battle would take place at Caulk’s Field on Sunday, August 31st from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ms. Bowman stated that there is an exhibit at the Kent County Library on the War of 1812 for the month of August. She said that MPT would be filming the festivities on Saturday and Sunday. There was a 24 page program, written by Mr. Hemstock, that was available for purchase full of information on the War of 1812.
Mr. Shoge asked if there were any plans to have an event of this nature on a more frequent basis. Ms. Bowman stated that she understood the need for large events such as this and there would be discussions for future events.
Ms. Bowman stated that there would be a raffle for 2 tickets to the Ravens vs. Chargers Game on November 30th. Raffle ticket costs are $10.00 and could be purchased through the Friends of Kent County.
Mr. Ingersoll stated that the solar bid proposals were under review. He said that he would like to retain Michael Forlini, Esquire, who was a specialist in contracts associated with PPAs and/or construction of solar facilities, to help with reading the bids. He said that he would prefer that a solar engineer review the bids as well. Mr. Ingersoll stated that there were clearly low bids received and the idea was to make sure that the low bids were also safe bids. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would recommend the PPA route, the lowest bid of which was at $.045 per kilowatt hour. He said that according to the bid documents, the suggested award date was September 15, 2014.
Ms. Kuiper stated that she would like to have a discussion with Kent County on their solar endeavor. Mr. Ingersoll stated that Kent County had PPAs at $.07 or above with escalating clauses. He said the County had not procured their PPA’s in the same manner as the Town and had multiple different entities connected to the solar program which made calculating benefits hard to do. He said the Town’s system was designed to meet 80% of all the Town meters, only in order to keep it understandable.
The Council agreed that Mr. Ingersoll should engage Michael Forlini, Esquire to review the solar bids.
Mr. Ingersoll stated that representatives were present at the last meeting regarding a new pavilion at the Whitsitt Center. He said he called Gillespie & Sons to discuss the pricing of the Town’s proposed in-kind donation of labor and materials for a sub-base. He said that the rest of the concrete cost was $850.00 and the concrete base would be approximately $275.00, plus the Town’s time and equipment to install the base. He said that in the discussion, Mr. Todd Gillespie pledged $500.00 towards the concrete itself.
Mr. Ingersoll stated that the Council had discussed changing the Recreation Commission Ordinance and said that Ordinance 05-2014 Chapter 30: Recreation Commission was scheduled to be introduced tonight. Mr. Ingersoll stated that the Council received a redacted version of the existing Ordinance and a clean copy of the proposed Ordinance. Mr. Ingersoll stated that Mr. Gross suggested considering the Ordinance for adoption at the September 15th meeting.
Ms. Gross stated that the existing 1978 Ordinance needed so much rewriting, that it is basically a new Ordinance. Therefore, the old will be repealed and replaced entirely with the new. She said that she tried to incorporate some comments from Mr. Arrowood, Chairman of the Recreation Commission. Ms. Kuiper stated that she would bring this Ordinance forward for adoption at the September 15th Mayor and Council meeting to allow opportunity for comment and revisions. Ms. Mulligan stated that she would put the proposed Ordinance on the website for the public to view.
Mr. Ingersoll stated that he prepared a Resolution authorizing the submission of the Community Parks and Playgrounds Grant Application for the Kent County Middle School Campus. He said that this would authorize Mayor Cerino to sign all of the necessary documents for the application. Mayor Cerino read the Resolution into the record. Mr. Stetson moved to approve Resolution 02-2014 Authorizing the Town’s Submission of a Community Parks and Playground Grant Application for the Kent County Middle School Playground Restoration Project, was seconded by Ms. Gross and carried unanimously.
Mayor Cerino stated that he and Mr. Ingersoll met with Ms. Barbara MacBeth and Ms. Beryl Kemp of the Garden Club to discuss Fountain Park. He said that there were some steps that needed to be taken this year in an effort to restore the park. He said that the Fountain Park Strategic Planning Committee filed a report with the Mayor and Council earlier this year and supplied recommendations, one of which was to widen the brick walkways for the vendors at the Artisan’s Market. He said that he would like to have the walk along High Street widened from 6’ to 12’. He said that the issues of soil and sodding could then be resolved and the artisan’s would have room to set up on the expanded High Street brick.
Ms. Kuiper said that she would notify the artisans before the work began. Non-profits might also have to be notified of the changes and moved in their set up.
Mr. Ingersoll stated that he had taken soil samples from the Fountain Park and sent them to the University of Delaware for analysis. He said that he would also take samples of the soil in the Park that did not seem to grow grass as well.
Mayor Cerino stated that the Garden Club had plans to extend the planting beds and add some other landscaping elements that may deter some of the foot traffic through the park.
Ms. Kuiper moved to approve to increase the brick walkway, laying the bricks in a pervious fashion, along the High Street side of the Fountain Park widening the walk from 6’ to 12’ beginning in the fall and amending the soil and sod, was seconded by Mr. Shoge and carried unanimously.
Ms. Nancy McGuire stated that the electric needed to be upgraded in the park and suggested adding conduit along the street if possible. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would contact Mr. Baldwin regarding the installation of future electrical conduit.
Mr. Shoge stated that he would like to have public meeting regarding the Mabel Mumford Gateway Park on Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in Town Hall. He said that the main reason for the meeting was to update the public on the progress of the park, show conceptual drawings, and discuss the hurdles that the Town has overcome to acquire the land to build the park.
Mayor Cerino stated that the second Charrette for the Marina design had to be scheduled. He said that he would like to have the meeting on Wednesday, August 27th at 6:30 p.m. at the Chestertown Marina to go over the conceptual designs that came out of the first public Charrette. The Council agreed to the date.
Mayor Cerino stated that after the meeting on August 27th, the Council would have to make a decision regarding the redesign. He said that he wanted decisions by mid-September so the Town can go after funding.
Mayor Cerino stated that he and Mr. Shoge met with Ms. Francoise Sullivan of Moo Productions to discuss ideas for the new website. He said that Ms. Sullivan was going to begin working on a “dummy” homepage to present to the Council.
Mayor Cerino stated that the River Arts has been working with a program called “Eat, Drink & Buy Art”, which was a State run tourism program that helped promote arts towns like Chestertown. He said that Chestertown is a part of the program and a bill was sent for $264.71 for the development of an app to further promote the towns. Mayor Cerino read the letter into the record. River Arts asked for the Town to pay the fee to EDBA. The Council asked that Ms. Diver research if the Town paid the fee in the past. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would return to the next meeting with the any fees paid to this organization in the past.
Mr. Stetson stated that he visited Berlin, which has been designated as the “Coolest Small Town in America”. He said that although Berlin was a nice town, Chestertown had much more to offer in his opinion.
Mr. Stetson stated that the Town Crew did a fabulous job of maintaining the Margo Bailey Park. He said that the trees that had problems with beetles were beginning to look better, and a walkway was built to Heron Point. Ms. Gross stated that the path from Heron Point to the Margo Bailey Park was very nicely done.
Mr. Stetson stated that the Friends of the Dog Park was beginning a fundraising project for something at the Park and said that he would come before the Council with specifics after the Board met.
Mr. Stetson stated that he was happy to see the third phase of the Rails-to-Trails started. Mr. Shoge agreed, stating that the business owners in C-3 were excited that the trail was going in behind their businesses.
Mr. Shoge stated that he was concerned about the road in the Chestertown Business Park (Dixon Drive). He said that the manholes were coming up and there were also potholes. Mr. Ingersoll stated that he would look at Dixon Drive to see what repairs were necessary.
Ms. Kuiper stated that the flags for the War of 1812 would be flying all over Town throughout the month of August.
Ms. Gross stated that the Fall MML Conference in Annapolis would be held from September 11th through 13th.
Mr. Bill Arrowood, Chairman of the Recreation Commission, was present and stated that there was a surplus of t-shirts from the bocce league and presented a shirt to each member of the Council.
Mr. Arrowood stated that the Recreation Commission was starting a wiffle ball league, which would begin on Monday, August 11th at the field on Philosopher’s Terrace and Campus Avenue. They were also having kick ball in September at the same location on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He said that the fall bocce league would begin in September.
Mr. Arrowood stated that he was also a representative of the Samaritan Group and would like to suggest a plaque to be installed on the bench in remembrance of the homeless man who passed away in the park earlier this summer. He said that several other benches in the park already have plaques on them. Mr. Arrowood stated that he would discuss the plaque in detail with Mr. Ingersoll.
There being no further business, Mr. Stetson moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:10 p.m., was seconded by Ms. Gross and carried unanimously.
Submitted by: Approved by:
Jennifer Mulligan Chris Cerino
Town Clerk Mayor