[0:25] sh

[0:53] okay all right call me or this is the

[1:08] May 2024 work/ the mar city council for

[1:11] the city of Rossburg roll call in your

[1:13] ring Elizabeth commissioner Donnie

[1:15] Carter here commissioner Nina forsight

[1:17] here commissioner Kevin Grove here

[1:20] Commissioner Adam Richie here and mayor

[1:22] Robert flan again

[1:25] here okay the first item we have to

[1:28] discuss with you tonight is is the

[1:31] budget Elaine has presented this to you

[1:35] in the past but she'll talk to you a

[1:36] little bit about it again here tonight

[1:39] no major changes since last month but

[1:41] the public hearing as

[1:44] required um will be next Tuesday and

[1:48] that's been

[1:49] advertised so we have not made any

[1:52] changes the budget ordinance and the fee

[1:55] schedule that we discussed last month

[1:57] would be presented in its entirety again

[2:00] at your council meeting next week have a

[2:03] public hearing and then the vote so if

[2:05] you have any recommended changes that

[2:07] you not brought to my attention sooner

[2:10] please let me know so we can prepare

[2:11] those revisions but

[2:13] otherwise as we discuss

[2:16] class on my way down here I was thinking

[2:19] about the

[2:20] budget and how you know most of our

[2:24] budgetary money other than like grants

[2:25] and stuff comes from city taxes and

[2:30] money and the reason we're spending it

[2:32] is for the people and I really like the

[2:34] way that you and the rest of the staff

[2:37] are conscientious

[2:39] about getting the best quality without

[2:43] overcharging and that that balance is

[2:45] you it just seems like all really worked

[2:48] very well to serve you know City

[2:52] residents in most fiscally responsible

[2:54] way you know also Forward Thinking not

[2:57] just the cheapest thing now but you know

[2:59] planning for the future so

[3:02] congratulations well thank

[3:04] you

[3:06] that we are it you know a lot of you

[3:10] know the state and the

[3:12] county it's both been very public that

[3:14] they've faced their fiscal challenges

[3:17] this current year so um it feels really

[3:20] good to come to you with a balanced

[3:24] budget that will continue operations as

[3:27] normal without any cuts increases in

[3:31] taxes

[3:32] so continuing to provide as best of

[3:35] level of service as we can

[3:39] yes everybody good yeah all

[3:44] right next Lydia and Hayden I guess will

[3:48] talk about that we have to have a public

[3:51] hearing as required to apply to

[3:54] cdbg

[3:57] so they want to chat about their

[4:00] intentions for that

[4:01] application uh yeah basically just for

[4:03] the sake of submitting the application

[4:05] for the cdpg funding which is everything

[4:06] we talked about at PACE this year um we

[4:09] have to do a public uh hearing about it

[4:13] so U it's almost just an ID copy of um

[4:17] what we talked about at PACE it would be

[4:18] the North Grant and Center extended

[4:21] projects um both just fairly small

[4:23] postage stamp sized um sewer separation

[4:26] projects the typical ones we do we would

[4:28] if we have to get in there move water do

[4:30] that um there will be some sidewalks and

[4:32] some pavement that gets done because of

[4:34] it um but ultimately uh this this CSO

[4:39] project both of them separate will

[4:41] benefit all of Frostburg so it benefits

[4:43] all of the different um socioeconomic

[4:46] backgrounds in Frostburg because what

[4:48] starts at one end of the Town creeps

[4:50] down to the other

[4:52] um so it's just it's kind of a boon for

[4:55] everybody involved because it keeps our

[4:56] sewage treatment costs Down For What

[4:58] Cumberland builds the count the county

[5:00] builds um everything ultimately makes it

[5:03] way to right Crossing or to over the

[5:05] edge of the Hill there through eer so

[5:07] what we what we can reduce ends up

[5:10] saving everyone in froster money so I

[5:13] don't know if there's anything you want

[5:14] to add about it just in addition to the

[5:16] public hearing we'll uh need a

[5:18] resolution of your support for

[5:19] application of up to the $800,000

[5:23] allowance and I'll give sort of a brief

[5:26] quick snippet sort of like I just did

[5:28] there next week okay all right the the

[5:31] North Grand are we going to get rid of

[5:33] all the stone up

[5:44] there we're have to tie it off to

[5:47] something yeah we actually Ray and I

[5:49] were talking about that that we have to

[5:50] make some we're gonna have to do some

[5:51] elevation work but we're gonna we're

[5:53] gonna make it work so yeah I'm excited

[5:55] to get that one done those cobblestones

[5:58] provideed traction or bread

[6:02] now it's just going to be

[6:05] like um probably yeah I mean it's it's

[6:08] if we have a place to put them which we

[6:10] should up behind the water treatment

[6:11] plant um because we end up using a lot

[6:13] of that stuff for um in different places

[6:16] around town for the artistic uh

[6:18] curbstones that we have to put back in

[6:20] certain places so we end up looking for

[6:21] those at least once a year so it would

[6:23] be nice to have

[6:27] yeah questions good okay if you need to

[6:31] take

[6:33] off Good Luck get kids

[6:42] okay sorry I have like really the wrong

[6:46] thing up right

[6:48] now I'm a year behind

[6:51] times I don't know how that happened

[6:54] but

[6:56] okay

[6:58] um the

[7:00] submitted their annual uh request to

[7:03] appeal repeal the open container law for

[7:06] Derby Day uh they're planning on having

[7:10] day on Thursday July 4th not Saturday uh

[7:15] Thursday July 4th but then the rain date

[7:17] would be Saturday July

[7:18] 6th so there's any concerns with that

[7:21] commissioner Chief worked out in the

[7:24] past okay so that would be a resolution

[7:27] at your council meeting as well okay

[7:31] um Lydia is with us tonight to talk

[7:34] about

[7:35] arpa um we're winding down we're at um

[7:41] just over seven months to obligate all

[7:44] of the 8.4 million that the city has

[7:47] received in arpa

[7:49] funding and um there's a few well

[7:52] there's a project l wants to talk to you

[7:54] about and just kind of go over where

[7:57] things Li lie and um kind of our plan

[8:01] moving forward so I'll turn it over to

[8:04] Lydia and

[8:07] then so I passed around uh where we're

[8:09] at with the funding everything in the

[8:12] orange on the top right is not obligated

[8:16] they're just for General projects so

[8:18] anything that came up with Public Works

[8:21] sewer um my recommendation would be to

[8:25] kind of stop with the spending in that

[8:27] category to see where um um the Gateway

[8:30] comes in and and then we have things

[8:34] planned for purchases Capital purchases

[8:36] that we could make to to use that money

[8:39] but maybe just wait off until we hear

[8:41] about the Gateway um so that equals that

[8:43] 460 amount currently what we haven't

[8:46] earmarked for anything is the 30 almost

[8:50] 54,000 so we have around 814,000 not

[8:54] obligated to any projects currently so

[8:57] the one I wanted to talk to you guys

[8:59] about today today uh is a playground

[9:00] equipment at Glen Denning it was

[9:03] installed in

[9:05] 2003 whenever the rec complex was being

[9:08] worked on um the structure then was

[9:14] $113,000

[9:15] we applied for POS and Community parks

[9:18] and playground funding for the cost of

[9:20] the playground um we didn't get the

[9:23] community parks and playground funding

[9:25] we did receive POS funding but we had to

[9:29] reallocate a portion of that that we

[9:31] were going to use for the playground for

[9:33] the pickle ball courts whenever we

[9:35] decided to move forward with that so we

[9:39] talked with Brandon with game time they

[9:41] have a grant program that'll match 50%

[9:45] or 100% whatever we put in for

[9:47] playground equipment that's in September

[9:51] and he's just looking for a budget to

[9:53] kind of start working with a design for

[9:56] that

[9:57] playground he

[10:00] that well I guess with that and

[10:03] considering the installation cost we're

[10:05] looking at needing

[10:07] $200,000 since we didn't get the CPP

[10:09] funding uh we've already removed the two

[10:11] to fivey Old play area because it's

[10:14] deteriorated we've removed several

[10:17] slides and and stairways on the larger

[10:19] and the 200 would get us um what we

[10:23] equivalent to what we have with keeping

[10:25] the swing set so just looking to see you

[10:29] guys has had any other

[10:31] questions another thing you know the

[10:33] restrooms are not in great shape up

[10:35] there either upside the playground yes

[10:38] so I did fail to mention that I did talk

[10:40] to uh commissioner Richie about the

[10:42] restrooms I went up took some pictures

[10:44] did uh an estimate to update them it

[10:48] cost about

[10:49] $7,000 um and I think that the 200,000

[10:53] are bu we would be able to allocate the

[10:55] some of the POS money that we had

[10:57] towards the playground if we got 200 of

[11:01] our um playground equipment is very

[11:05] expensive man the the lucrative State

[11:09] funding years seem to be not there in

[11:13] the near future at least and um I think

[11:16] L Denning that playground in particular

[11:18] is probably the most popular playground

[11:20] in town um having that age children I am

[11:24] Fielding a lot of question what happened

[11:26] to the little place you know so um I

[11:30] think Brian has a sign up there saying

[11:32] improvements are

[11:33] coming um and did a Facebook post

[11:39] but it does seem like a lot of money you

[11:42] can buy a lot for 200,000 but there's a

[11:44] lot of liability that the playground

[11:47] companies have to ensure and safety

[11:50] measures and so forth and so on so um we

[11:54] felt this was a good investment of arle

[11:57] money um and just

[11:59] is something that a lot of your

[12:01] residents care

[12:03] about get a lot of good use there's

[12:05] always a lot of lot of kids up there all

[12:09] the time it's us I get the bathrooms

[12:13] dressed up and get some new playground

[12:14] stuff very

[12:18] nice any other questions okay so that

[12:21] would

[12:23] be um a resolution then to allocate that

[12:27] money all funding to the playground

[12:30] equipment obviously it wouldn't be the

[12:32] bit award yet but um we would just take

[12:35] care of that or of a resolution what all

[12:37] needs to be done to the

[12:41] bathroom in particular the partitions

[12:44] are rested so that's uh we just did a

[12:48] restroom that's about $3,200 for

[12:50] partitions um the toilets are all right

[12:53] we need new urals faucets s dispensers

[12:56] 350 for paint floor ceiling um the door

[12:59] frame restroom signs I have a category

[13:02] for miscellaneous but the one of the big

[13:04] expenses is those bathrooms are on a MAG

[13:07] lock and someone tried to pry open the

[13:10] one of the

[13:11] doors um whenever it was after it was

[13:14] locked and it bent the frame so that's

[13:17] about $1,500 to $1,800 just to replace

[13:19] the one

[13:21] door you can see the damage on but the

[13:25] ceiling was updated in the last two

[13:27] years and there's new LED lights

[13:29] fixtures and I think we'll be able to

[13:30] use all the the toilets so I think 7,000

[13:33] would cover up with us doing the

[13:40] installation thank um another one so we

[13:44] have the salt facility at

[13:48] alternate and that was as part we have

[13:50] the number on that because that was part

[13:52] of the bid um not ready to make a

[13:55] recommendation to move forward with that

[13:57] or not um the fire

[14:00] department uh came to us with a couple

[14:03] months ago and just wanted to put it on

[14:04] your radar I told him again this would

[14:07] be something that we would wait till um

[14:10] we had a clear picture of these bigger

[14:12] projects and other needs of the city um

[14:16] is replacing their like change copy sign

[14:19] at the fire department with an

[14:22] electronic um LED changeable message

[14:25] electronic messaging center is what we

[14:27] call them um

[14:29] and then they said you know if the city

[14:31] would fund that the city would have

[14:32] access so like there was an emergency

[14:35] you know we could kind of overtake it

[14:36] and put messages out on it as well um

[14:39] but then you know it could be a revenue

[14:41] source for them like they had in the

[14:44] past just managing that change copy sign

[14:46] is kind of a lot yeah they they had

[14:49] already also said that we could put our

[14:53] our events if the city was having an

[14:56] event sure that we could use that sign

[14:58] and advertise that event good so yeah we

[15:02] have they have gotten some Bas some

[15:04] basic information on that and talked

[15:06] about it so that's a potential um

[15:08] project there's some big ticket items

[15:11] that like if by some miracle that

[15:14] Gateway project the roundabout project

[15:16] comes in as expected and within the

[15:19] grant funding um we could use a new

[15:22] street sweeper that's probably

[15:24] $150,000 right there so um there's a lot

[15:28] of things that I know the outside

[15:31] departments have identified as wants not

[15:34] needs but it could be a good way to

[15:36] upgrade equipment that we have or get

[15:38] new equipment that we don't have to make

[15:40] sure we're taking advantage of spending

[15:42] everyone every last one of those dollars

[15:47] so

[15:50] but kind of holding tight um a little

[15:53] bit I mean it was really good news where

[15:54] the parking lot construction came in it

[15:57] and but

[16:00] the Gateway is kind of still what has me

[16:02] nervous I'd hate to be $300,000 short

[16:05] and just blown

[16:07] $300,000 on a new plow truck you know

[16:10] something not blown

[16:13] but it would that'd be hard hold that

[16:15] back as long as we can yeah yeah so and

[16:18] as long as it's ordered

[16:20] obligated by December 31st we're okay

[16:24] so we should have a clear picture about

[16:27] it yes I did want to add that the grant

[16:30] for the playground is in September so if

[16:32] we wouldn't end up needing all of that

[16:34] we would know by September so we can

[16:37] reallocate and then all the projects

[16:39] that I removed um from the top of the

[16:42] list and represented as completed

[16:44] projects amount they're all on the city

[16:47] website under Administration if you'd

[16:48] like to read the synopsis of what we've

[16:51] done

[16:53] okay those AR programs certainly have

[16:56] come in handy they've really helped a

[16:59] lot immensely once in a

[17:04] lifetime um there's a few other things

[17:07] uh that I just wanted to touch base on

[17:10] um many thanks to Lydia for doing so i'

[17:14] I've told some of the team here that

[17:17] sometimes it's the smallest projects

[17:18] that are the hardest projects and the

[17:21] church sign at the intersection of 36

[17:24] and 40 Lydia did the large part of a

[17:27] coordination with the churches as well

[17:29] as the sign company I got an immense

[17:33] positive feedback on Facebook um so it

[17:37] looks good so thank you

[17:40] viia um congratulations to everyone uh

[17:44] but the city won the Maryland Rural

[17:47] Water Water System of the year um award

[17:51] last week at the Maryland Rural Water

[17:53] conference

[17:54] and some of us were on the front page of

[17:56] the paper so that was good PR but um I

[18:00] think more importantly just the the

[18:02] recognition for what the city's done

[18:04] over the past 30 to 40 years with

[18:07] building the water system and then um

[18:10] supporting our neighbors to the south in

[18:13] their time of need

[18:14] so plus the gold and it's an award the

[18:20] optim you know what it's called yeah

[18:24] there's that word but it's we've met all

[18:26] three metrics uh that the EPA wants us

[18:29] to achieve in terms of source water

[18:32] protection of our of our Sur I'm sorry

[18:35] of our surface water so taking measures

[18:37] to eliminate the presence of

[18:39] cryptosporidium in our water supply so

[18:43] we were only one of four rural

[18:45] jurisdictions in Maryland to receive

[18:48] that

[18:53] so we did not win the taste of the tap

[18:57] award which means we have the best water

[18:59] but we're competing with wellwater

[19:00] communities like it's just not it's not

[19:03] Apples to

[19:07] Apples tastes

[19:12] very and then lastly um between this

[19:17] week between right now and next Tuesday

[19:19] we're going to be migrating to new um

[19:22] meeting online meeting software so we

[19:25] will no longer be using this I Compass

[19:28] product product we're actually migrating

[19:30] to the Civic plus product so it will be

[19:33] better integrated with our

[19:35] website

[19:37] um and we'll the live stream um people

[19:41] will have to go directly to the YouTube

[19:42] page to find the live stream that'll be

[19:46] the probably the biggest change but this

[19:47] is about a 50% cost savings and annual

[19:50] subscription so between the cost savings

[19:53] and the better integration with the

[19:55] website um we thought it was the most

[19:57] prudent move so um Jamie on Bethany's

[20:01] staff has kind of taken the lead with

[20:04] Bethany and I doing a little bit um but

[20:08] many many thanks to Jamie for leading

[20:11] that and uh so we'll be getting

[20:13] everything switched over and so going

[20:17] forward for people looking for the

[20:18] meeting if they would have this I

[20:20] Compass the Frostburg City whatever this

[20:23] Frostburg city. Civic web bookmarked

[20:26] they would just need to go to Frostburg

[20:28] city.org

[20:29] and then go to the meetings there so

[20:31] it'll be more similar to like the

[20:33] counties and cumberland's meeting

[20:36] software

[20:39] so um but hopefully I mean and your

[20:42] agenda will look different in terms of

[20:45] font and layout but the content will

[20:48] remain the same so but just wanted to

[20:51] give you a heads up on

[20:54] that that's all I have but I'd like to

[20:57] turn it over to you all to answer or

[20:59] address anything of

[21:06] concern all right very good thank you

[21:08] all very much have a good evening

Mayor and Council Work Session - 14 May 2024

Transcript