BOCC 2/3/04

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0968dfc3.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id179.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC Meeting Notes 1/1/04 6/30/04"><U><B>BOCC Meeting Notes 1/1/04 - 6/30/04</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=130 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0978dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#336666" FACE="Arial" ><B>Welcome to the Web Site of Clare Whitbeck</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Web Site of Clare Whitbec"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id180.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 1/6/04"><U>BOCC 1/6/04</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id182.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 1/13/04"><U>BOCC 1/13/04</U></A>   |   <B>BOCC 2/3/04</B>   |   <A HREF="id185.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 3/16/04"><U>BOCC 3/16/04</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 3/23/04"><U>BOCC 3/23/04</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id184.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 4/6/04"><U>BOCC 4/6/04</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id199.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 4/20/04"><U>BOCC 4/20/04</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id200.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOCC 4/27/04"><U>BOCC 4/27/04</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=350 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0978dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>BOCC 2/3/04</I></div> <div> After the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, the agenda was approved with one change.  The 9:30 A.M. African American Month history presentation was off the agenda due to the closure of schools.  The bills were approved as were the minutes.  </div> <div> The ferry service update was provided by Joyce Malone.  The County has been approached by Ed Von Bergin for sunning a Ferry service from St. George’s Island to Virginia.  Departures would begin at 8:00 A.M..  Staff was to meet with Von Bergin and ride the ferry, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  He will provide signage and a port-o-let.  If the Commissioners go forward, there would be a lease agreement which could be for a fixed amount or we could get $1 a car.  There will be a public meeting at next week’s public forum to discuss this.  McKay said they will decide today whether to go further.  McK asked if they had discussed having commercial vehicles paying a higher amount for commercial vehicles.  The idea, he said, is to have this be for tourism.  There should be no commercial vehicles using the ferry.   He intends the landing to be at the parking lot.  It didn’t appear that there would be a major impact.  It would leave at the base of the bridge of St. George’s island.  There would be an additional pier in the County.  Hopefully people could use the pier.  Jarboe said that most of the time the pier would be sitting idle and could be used by the public.  McK said he needs a consensus.  The forum will begin at 7:00.  </div> <div> County Administrator George Forrest was next.  </div> <div> The first item was draft agendas for Feb 10 & 17.  The Black Caucus is coming to make a presentation on Black History Month.  The Piney Point presentation will be rescheduled.  Next came the Board of Education to accept 3 grants totaling $73,806.  Dr. Lyon, Cr. Ridgell, and Dan Carney came to present the Local Management Board Block Grant.  These funds will be used to support the extended day program.  Students will take a pre and post test to see if the children who participate make gains as compared to their peers.  These will be at Banneker and White Marsh, both of which have had success with these programs.  The National Science Foundation grant is to foster interest in engineering, especially among women and minorities.  It’s a partnership with the College of Southern Maryland.  This program is to increase awareness of engineering as a career course.  The NOAA grant is to learn about environmental impacts on the Bay.  It is for teacher stipends and for funding instructional resources for instructional resources.  Comm Raley asked how many workshops and was told that depends on when the workshops are held.  He hopes most will go for stipends and was told yes.  Raley wants consultant fees minimized.  He was told the science supervisor will teach the workshops.  It was approved.  The vote was 5 - 0.</div> <div> Mr. Kelly of Information Technology came to present a budget amendment from the IT software account to Facilities Management for the HVAC software upgrade.  McK asked if this is a one time software upgrade.  Kelly said he thinks there will be more next year.  It was approved.  The vote was 5 - 0</div> <div> Next came the Real Property Agreement for an SMECO easement for the electric lines at Chaptico Park.  Mattingly said it’s not the 6<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> election district.  It will have to be retyped although it will be corrected.  The agreement was approved.  The vote was 5 - 0.  Next came the lease agreement with O’Brien Realty.  It’s a month to month lease for the property next to the Navy Museum site.  O’Brien will pay $3,000 a month for $4,000 sq. ft as well as the utilities.   This is just a new lease with a new rental fee.  The lease was approved.  The vote was 5 - 0.</div> <div> George Jarboe came with the grant agreement for the Statewide Special Transportation Assistance Program (SSTAP).  It’s for rural areas not served by public transportation.  They take appointments for pick ups and use it to pick up medical adult day care clients.  They now go into 5 areas of the County a certain day of the week.  The budget amendment will allow them to realign some funds.  McK noted they had received a little more money than expected.  There is more revenue and  will be more fares coming in.  They received $1,820 more.  The vote was 5 - 0 in favor.  </div> <div> When I returned, George Erichsen was using money from the vacant position for the facilities manager to cover the increase in tipping fees at the Calvert County landfill.  It seems our charges at the landfill lose $51,000 a year on the tipping costs at Calvert County.  Jarboe asked what it would require to increase the fees.  Erichsen noted it would take a public hearing.  McK said all the citizens are paying the fees for a small few.  McK said the situation is a little different at the landfill.  Convenience centers are for normal household waste and are available to all citizens.  The Landfill is targeted for larger amounts and commercial users.  He wants a fee based system that covers the cost.  McK continued that he could support the proposal to use the facilities manager.  Erichsen noted they requested $95,000 for increased fees, which was turned down.  The increased tonnage will require even more money than was expected.  That is why the $15,000 a month figure was selected.  McK said they will address this today and address the problem further down the road.  Raley noted that Elaine Kramer presented a precise memo which contained a lot the information that George has been discussing.  We need to address the issues of shortfalls this year and next.  McK noted the BOCC has done an incredible job in controlling costs. The force they fight against, he continued, is the decline in State funds.  McK said the State needs to solve the structural imbalance.  We can’t keep taking these cuts and provide the services.  The citizens will pay either way.  Jarboe said the convenience centers will continue </div> <div> Although Phil Cooper was scheduled to present, another person came to present the grant agreement for emergency medical dispatch certification. The vote was 5 - 0. </div> <div> Recreation and Parks came with an alcoholic beverage license for the Wicomico Shores Golf Course.  McK said he knows that Jarboe will vote against it. Mattingly noted that the facility has never had any violations.  He thinks they can control the hours of operation, which they could not do if it were privatized.  McK thinks privatization could be discussed at some future time.  The vote was 4 - 1, with Jarboe voting against it.  He  thinks it should be privatized. </div> <div> Next came Donna Sasscer to release Henry and Nancy Virts from an agricultural land preservation agreement.  They have a purchaser for one parcel.  That created the subdivision, which is a violation of the ALP agreement.  McK asked if the property will go back into ag preservation.  Donna said that is up to the landowners.  The property owner must stay out a year as part of the penalty for going out.  The release was approved.  The vote was 5 - 0.  </div> <div> Item 9 was removed from the agenda. (Robin Finnacom’s contract.)</div> <div> After a break, we watched a video of the visit to the McFail multigenerational activity center.  The scarcity of land within the town of Bel Air caused the multigenerational facility.  Lunch service has gone from 30 a day to 100 a day with the opening of the new building.  Seniors use the multipurpose from 8:00 - 4:00 P.M..  In the summer both groups are using the building.  The kitchen is designed for on site preparation.  The children get the gym on a snowy day (seniors won’t come out.)  The gym can be divided in half.  The local recreation council paid for the equipment in the gym.  Seniors have a lounge where they can see when the bus comes.  There is a library/conference room.  The building being shown cost $5,000,000. </div> <div> When the video ended, McK said they are discussing the multigenerational concept.  Next week’s agenda will discuss how the existing plans could be modified.  This is a discussion of the concept.  Phil Rollins and Gene Carter were called to the table.  McK said they might open the discussion for additional comments.  If they change direction at Charlotte Hall, they will hold s discussion.  Carter said he thinks the concept is commendable and can obviously work.  It requires, he continued, a larger cost.  We have had some successes and some which are not so successful.  The Hollywood center works well with Recs and Parks programs sharing medical adult day services.  The space is entirely separate.  Chancellors Run is a facility designed for seniors and medical adult day care with a small teen center.  The building is less than half of the building in Harford County.  The building has not worked out well as a multigenerational center.  It lacks the substantial gym and separate space for on going programs without impinging with other programs.  The space for seniors who need medical adult day services has not worked out well, either.  Carter said we have the benefit of experience that indicates what works and what doesn’t work.  Utilizing the building would require designing it for that purpose and it would have to have a size that would accommodate all the programs.  Rollins agreed that Chancellors Run has not been successful and we tried to make programs fit budget instead of designing the facility to fit the program and finding the money to do that.  He is excited about having a facility.  It has to have a gymnasium to be successful.  A gym accommodates basketball, volley ball, etc.  Dedicated space is also essential.  You really do need dedicated spaces.  He thinks it’s a wonderful idea and would love to move in this direction.  George Forrest said the County could move services to the northern part of the County as well as public safety.  Rollins said the old Carver building is being used by Recreation and Parks and the Boys and Girls Club.  Rollins thinks Carver has the potential for this type of facility.  The biggest obstacle to overcome is funding, both capital costs and operating costs.  Harford County pays the operating costs for the building we saw.  Carter said the gymnasium and multi purpose room need to be separate.  There is a great deal of time required to take down and set up the room.  Rearrangement requires hours of staff time.  There is always a staff person there.  McK said this discussion wasn’t intended to discuss specific locations.  McK said those types of facilities appear to need places to have this type of facility.  A small facility, such as the Loeffler Center, when you try to use smaller rooms, the problem is the rooms are not designed for what is going on there.  Carter said Carver is a fantastic opportunity to get a facility of that size with those accommodations and amenities.  It could be a Southern Service Center.  Rollins said Recs and Parks currently uses school gymnasiums.  They would continue to use those gymnasiums.  They have a real space problem.  High school gyms are not available.  They would like practice for basketball at least 2 or 3 times a week, but teams are lucky to get one practice a week. McK asked if combining resources would provide a better resource.  Funding is always an issue.  He wants to know if one larger facility would make more sense.  Is a community park better, or is a regional park better?  McK said regional parks work better.  McK said a store manager can manage a small store or a large store.  He asked what the commissioners think.  Raley asked the size of the Chancellors Run facility and was told about 12,000 sf, the Harford county center is under 30,000 sf, the proposed senior center is about 12,000 sf.  Raley asked what the state aging people think of shared facilities.  Carter said they tend to encourage that approach to keep the seniors more actively involved with and exposed to the rest of the community.  Seniors seem to age better when they are involved with all the community.  McK said we are trying not to segregate our generations.  Integration seems to have been more successful.  Jarboe asked how large the Harford gym was and was told 8,000 sf.  Jarboe said could we plan a gym as part two of the senior center, with part 3 being the junior center.  Carter said the northern senior center wanted the capacity to expand the building in the future.  It would go further back into the site.  He thinks the site would support such an approach.  Rollins said he asked George Erichsen that question.  Erichsen said the site would have to be looked at closely.  Forrest said he thinks this discussion premature.  McK said he hopes these questions will be answered next week.  “We all are wantin’ to do the right thing here,” he continued.  Mattingly said he doesn’t have a problem with the concept if that’s where we have to go.  We are working under the program the way it is today.  If all the plans are to be adjusted to include multigenerational development, Mattingly continued, I don’t have a problem.  It comes back to large projects are hard to work into the budget.  Maybe we’ve been more successful by working smaller projects into our budget.  It took 13 years to get the Lexington Park Library built.  We are not short of plans and ideas.  We have to prioritize.  We are where we are in the capital budget.  We have rec center for Nicolet and the Northern Regional Park.  The facility up there gave you a cold feeling, but it was fine.  Jarboe said the discussion is about whether to adopt this concept and change the plans for future development.  Mattingly said it’s more important to know what the community thinks.  Do we want to transition?  Jarboe noted the Optimists got together in the 7<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> District.  It was all generations.  Carter said the opinions are all over the place.  There are activities that seniors enjoy to themselves and some that younger people enjoy to themselves.  The question is whether there is a facility that meets needs of individual groups.  In our community, the concept makes sense.  One thing we haven’t looked at is a community block grant.  That would be supported if the facility is used for diverse groups. McK asked if we build a center that costs $200 a sf for seniors, or one that costs $150 a s.f. for more groups.  If you reduce the cost by combining the two, you can do one sooner rather than two later.  How do you chose which group gets the benefit?  His concern is that if we build small pieces for a program, when does the other piece get built.  Carter said staff is supportive of the approach.  He thinks County staff can work together.  In the long run everybody will benefit to a much greater extent.  </div> <div> Mary Ruth Horton, chair of the Commission on Aging, said they have been working on this process very carefully.  We really need to know what the entire community wants and needs and will support.  Were it not for the budget constraints, we would make it larger and friendlier and better.  Some projects have been put off for years.  There is a real need in the northern end of the community for a permanent home for this.  She believes there are real reasons to look at the concept.  We need to discuss this at all levels.  How does the public feel about this issue?  We can make decisions and have discussions to advise you about the needs.  We need to have a public forum so this new information can be processed.  They must be thoroughly looked at.  There is a lot of frustration in the Northern end of the County.  Gentlemen we have the bird nesting season coming up.  I suggested they will have trouble setting a time for a meeting, and might want to have two.  Ardith Young noted that she attended a meeting 17 months ago should have produced a building and we would be having a discussion about how to expand a building.   Most of the seniors who have been working on this project will be dead by the time this happens.  McK said this can not be just for seniors.  He wasn’t ready to guarantee they would be the only ones to use this facility.  He said the facility would not be available for 14 months.  He thinks the seniors should have a facility immediately.  There will have to be suitable space available immediately.  Mattingly asked what they are proposing to do.  Will there be a gathering to get a feel for this facility.  Staff will present next week on what it would take to get a change in programming for the Charlotte Hall facility.  Mattingly asked if there were contract details to be worked out.  Forrest said they will have to negotiate with the contractor.  He thinks they need to present the information.  </div> <div> I left the room during commissioner time to talk with seniors about the senior center.  McK say Friday night the McK and Jarboe attended the JRROTC fall meeting.  The principal noted that one day a week the cadets are in full uniform and the atmosphere in the school changes. There will be a hearing on the senior property tax cap. 7:00 P.M..  They will reconvene at the Dept. of Public Works and Transportation assembly room.  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>