[0:00] 
[0:02] Minute to spare.
[0:03] Yeah morning.
[0:04] Your board is going to have
official recognition on 24,
[0:07] 25th.
[0:09] They will then officially
vote there on the 25th.
[0:12] That will then be
given to the mayor
[0:14] and as an official
recommendation from the board.
[0:16] And then we will then
either at the eighth
[0:18] or the following week, decide
to inform council of the plans.
[0:22] Who's that.
[0:24] Will they have to
give a presentation.
[0:27] No so anybody could
get started on this.
[0:29] Thank you.
[0:29] Yep yep.
[0:31] All right.
[0:31] Hey you ready.
[0:32] For 30.
[0:33] You ready.
[0:34] Yep all right.
[0:35] We're running.
[0:37] So I was planning to
go through chapters 1
[0:42] through 15, so it's
half of what we did.
[0:46] We did it in two
workshops before,
[0:47] but there's a lot less changes.
[0:49] I was only going to touch
on the highlighted ones,
[0:51] but we can certainly
touch on anything else
[0:53] that you may look at again
and wanted to talk about.
[0:57] The first highlighted change
is actually a big one,
[1:01] and it's the
salaries for the town
[1:04] council members and the mayor.
[1:06] And what I put in there as a
placeholder was essentially
[1:14] double the existing.
[1:16] But that is also
essentially what 1999
[1:20] numbers are brought
to today's numbers,
[1:23] rounded to the nearest 1,000.
[1:25] So that worked out to be double.
[1:28] And you have the
spreadsheet that
[1:31] has a lot of the
other jurisdictions,
[1:34] obviously, that this is
still even low by some
[1:36] of those standards,
but it would certainly
[1:41] do a lot to bring it up to
current day numbers at least.
[1:45] So that's what's in there now.
[1:48] And the way it
works is if we were
[1:50] to enact that with
these code changes,
[1:53] it would apply after
the next election
[1:56] to those election
based on position.
[1:58] Yep well, I don't know what I
would do with all that money.
[2:06] Pay back all the people that you
hadn't paid for all this work
[2:09] here.
[2:09] How about that.
[2:12] So everybody's
anybody's thoughts
[2:13] on adjusting it for inflation,
bringing it up to out of 1999.
[2:22] When I was just
finishing my first year
[2:24] of teaching, May of 1999.
[2:31] The other thing we talked
about the first or second time
[2:34] around that we talked
about this issue,
[2:36] was whether we should
include an annual escalator.
[2:39] I did not, but we
certainly could add one
[2:41] if you wanted to have
it automatically go up
[2:44] every year, a certain
percentage or percentage
[2:47] that the staff gets for
cost of living or something.
[2:52] Some jurisdictions do that,
it just ends up making them.
[2:56] I think that's fair.
[2:59] Yeah, I was thinking about it.
[3:00] I mean, personally, as
somebody as we're elected,
[3:05] I feel like we should
let the people know
[3:08] when we're getting a pay raise.
[3:11] That's just me.
[3:12] So I feel like if we just make
it and I get the argument,
[3:15] I mean, these are not major
increases that we're going
[3:18] to be seeing, but I just
feel like any increase
[3:20] there should be at least
some public knowledge saying,
[3:23] hey, these guys are going
to get a pay raise again
[3:25] instead of just adding it in.
[3:28] That's just my I mean, I don't
think that would be a problem,
[3:30] especially during budget time.
[3:32] We can make it
clear that this is
[3:34] what's already been implemented
and the budget time comes.
[3:37] That would be an opportunity
to make that statement.
[3:42] Just for a point
of clarification.
[3:44] If it's not done
all at once, would
[3:46] it only apply to the next term.
[3:49] Can you give yourself a raise.
[3:52] Yeah So you wouldn't be
able to give annuals.
[3:56] I think every year you have
to wait until the election.
[3:59] You would essentially
be given an annual
[4:00] till the next election.
[4:01] Yeah every four years.
[4:03] Would that be the case, then.
[4:04] This needs to be looked
at forecast it forward,
[4:07] and then come up with an
estimation of those who
[4:10] are already on the council, who
are after this election may be
[4:15] elected then and use that
number because we wouldn't
[4:18] be able to get anything
until the election
[4:20] if we were re-elected.
[4:22] I think if you're
deciding in each budget
[4:24] what percentage you're getting
then yes, that would apply.
[4:27] But if you put it in
there now, I think
[4:29] it could automatically apply.
[4:31] If you say correct,
you'd have to put
[4:33] the whole thing in now, right.
[4:34] Rather than wait each year.
[4:36] Yeah what Andy was saying it
needs to go in now altogether.
[4:41] So if we were to go for
an increase with the idea
[4:45] that there's going to be an
incremental increase that takes
[4:51] that would take effect.
[4:52] Like for example, if I
ran again and won in 2029,
[4:58] that wouldn't take that policy
wouldn't take effect for me
[5:01] until then.
[5:02] You would get the
initial and any others
[5:06] that were approved by that.
[5:08] And then each year you
would get the annual ones
[5:12] for your full term.
[5:13] I guess that word gets sticky is
that theoretically, you're now
[5:16] behind whatever that
annual increase was
[5:18] for the other people
for the first two years.
[5:20] Does that make sense.
[5:22] Because you wouldn't.
[5:23] Yeah and then everybody
would have different.
[5:27] Yeah amounts.
[5:29] They'd be compensated
every single time
[5:31] you had a change in
your starting position
[5:33] and starting over.
[5:34] And to me, I mean, I agree
that bringing the whole
[5:41] all the levels up to a more
reasonable or timely level,
[5:46] I agree with that.
[5:48] I don't know about the
incremental annual increase
[5:52] thing just because it's going
to make things very complicated,
[5:55] and I don't know that.
[5:58] I don't know that I
agree with that anyway.
[6:00] But the other issue that
we've discussed before
[6:03] is that if this goes
forward, then next May
[6:08] will have council members
making more than the President
[6:10] of the Council, which.
[6:11] 
[6:14] Seems unfair, inappropriate,
unfair, whatever the word is.
[6:18] And we're the mayor technically.
[6:22] Well, yeah.
[6:23] That's right.
[6:24] So she.
[6:24] Yeah, it's her and I are
the ones and David is up.
[6:28] Yes yeah.
[6:29] So I mean, I don't
want to take away
[6:30] from anybody else who
would be benefiting
[6:33] from this in that time.
[6:35] I'll share my raise with you.
[6:37] 
[6:40] Can we make it the 2020?
[6:42] There's no end around
because we do it in 29.
[6:45] There's no end around on that.
[6:46] The people that already.
[6:47] Well, then council members will
be making more than the mayor
[6:50] in 29.
[6:51] And so you would already be
like, say, if everybody got
[6:54] elected and we got elected again
and it's implemented in 29,
[6:58] it would encompass all
of us at the same time.
[7:03] And then going forward,
because 29 is the longest,
[7:07] the other side of all
of us here right now,
[7:11] would that work
doing it that way we
[7:13] could delay the effectiveness.
[7:14] But then that one's
the 1 three and Mayor
[7:18] are only guaranteed it for
two years until the salary.
[7:20] So I'm OK with if
it's Doctor Montgomery
[7:24] and miss Curry and Mayor
cook again, I'm fine
[7:28] with them making
more money than me.
[7:32] So it's a stipulation only
if they're elected, right.
[7:35] If it's somebody else.
[7:39] Oh, this means I'm going
to have to buy beers.
[7:42] OK, you said it.
[7:44] Food for thought.
[7:45] Also, because I know
it's always kind
[7:46] of awkward to advocate
for your own compensation
[7:49] or future compensation.
[7:50] You can create something in
here that allows you to say,
[7:54] this must be re-evaluated.
[7:55] This will be up for
reevaluation every eight years
[7:57] or something, so that
it's not you deciding
[8:00] that it should be erased.
[8:01] It is this automatically
reconsidered at the next one.
[8:06] I know it since it
hasn't been since 1999.
[8:10] And finally, like, OK,
this has been long enough,
[8:11] but no one wants to be
the person that says,
[8:13] I think we all deserve a raise.
[8:14] Well, I think you
create that mechanism.
[8:17] No, I don't have
a problem saying
[8:18] I think the council deserves a
raise because I think it's also
[8:21] for the future councils,
not just the five of us now,
[8:24] but for the people
down the road.
[8:25] I mean, still getting
paid based on 1999 salary
[8:29] seems a little low.
[8:32] So it seems like
everybody's in favor of the.
[8:43] Increase and then maybe we could
look at some kind of language
[8:48] like Mr. kitcher
was talking about,
[8:50] where it could be reevaluated
every so often, automatically.
[8:54] 
[8:57] If everybody seems OK with that.
[8:59] Yeah, I'll abstain.
[9:02] A it affects me and I have mixed
feelings about this so I know.
[9:09] Please proceed.
[9:10] 
[9:14] The next changes go
back up to the boards.
[9:19] I'm going to do all
the highlighted ones.
[9:21] So that's salary go down.
[9:24] Yep so this was based on
comments from the council.
[9:31] About town residency.
[9:34] And this is now saying
that it can allow non town
[9:39] residents if they have
possess certain qualifications
[9:44] or expertise.
[9:45] But every board
committee, task force
[9:49] has to have at least 2/3 of
its membership town residents.
[9:52] I think that's the
direction I got
[9:54] and rewatching the
previous workshops.
[9:56] And then I included
language here
[9:59] about not getting compensation
so I could take it.
[10:01] Remember, some boards had
it, some boards didn't.
[10:04] None of those get compensation.
[10:06] I did say, unless specifically
provided otherwise,
[10:09] because the Eastern
Utilities Commission does get
[10:11] compensation, but
they're the only one
[10:15] that I know of that does.
[10:17] So I think they get the same
as the Council members do.
[10:21] So I'll have to visit
with them whether they're
[10:24] going to raise
their salaries based
[10:25] on you all doing that as well.
[10:29] Any questions on
this or concerns.
[10:34] Have we ever had an
issue with not having 2/3
[10:37] of the membership of
a committee or task
[10:38] force being town residents.
[10:40] I don't know.
[10:40] I don't think we've ever
tracked it that way.
[10:44] We certainly have had
members on various boards
[10:47] that have not been
town residents,
[10:49] whether we've ever had three
at the same time, I don't know.
[10:52] 
[10:58] The next.
[10:59] So I'm sorry.
[11:00] Go back.
[11:01] That was 2/3.
[11:03] Yes OK.
[11:04] Yeah thank you.
[11:05] And unless otherwise specified.
[11:07] So some could be more.
[11:09] Restricted And then
the next couple
[11:14] highlighted changes
are just like I said,
[11:15] taken out the compensation.
[11:17] A couple of places.
[11:18] 
[11:21] Then the next.
[11:23] I think it's a little ways down.
[11:26] I'm sorry.
[11:26] Could we go back.
[11:27] I'm trying to figure out
whether I want to erase this,
[11:31] but I think I should.
[11:33] The sentence in section 2.3
says while members of boards,
[11:38] commissions, committees
and task forces
[11:40] may allow non-residents
to be members.
[11:44] It's not the boards that
appoint them, is it.
[11:47] 
[11:51] Oh, yeah.
[11:52] No language.
[11:53] Maybe it shouldn't
say members at all.
[11:54] Just say well,
boards, commissions,
[11:56] committees and tasks.
[11:57] Maybe they have non-residents.
[12:01] Yeah OK thank you.
[12:03] Good catch.
[12:04] 
[12:12] I like page 10.
[12:14] Yeah if you could go
down to the next one
[12:18] while I make that quick.
[12:21] 
[12:25] Oops go into the
highlighted one.
[12:35] It's Tyler.
[12:37] It's a little ways
down, I think.
[12:39] 
[12:44] 2.15 if you get to
a page that we know.
[12:48] 
[12:52] Are absentee ballots,
maybe page 69.
[13:00] That's what you think it is.
[13:01] 
[13:04] Yep that is it.
[13:05] And that was where
we made the change.
[13:09] We talked about at
the first workshop
[13:12] that it could be
postmarked before you
[13:15] had to have it received by
the day of the election.
[13:18] And I think the mayor
brought up well,
[13:19] we don't count the
votes, the absentee
[13:21] ballots till 4:00 the next day.
[13:24] What if it's postmarked
the election day
[13:26] and we receive it by o'clock.
[13:28] Then it could be counted.
[13:29] And so that's what
that change represents.
[13:31] 
[13:36] So I think that might
be the end of this one.
[13:42] 
[13:47] Chapter 9.
[13:48] Yep all right.
[13:49] We're moving to chapter 9.
[13:50] The second document.
[13:52] 
[13:55] Or at least that second PDF.
[13:58] 
[14:03] So the first change related to
burning combustible materials
[14:11] and.
[14:11] 
[14:15] Added the qualifier
provided it does not
[14:17] produce any noxious
or excessive smoke
[14:19] or odor detrimental to
neighboring property.
[14:22] I think Tom deem had suggested
some language to that effect,
[14:26] to give them some
flexibility to enforce
[14:29] this provision a little better.
[14:32] And then someone had mentioned
we should define incinerator.
[14:36] So I found that definition
for an incinerator.
[14:40] What this didn't do, but
maybe you want to add
[14:45] is we talked about
whether an incinerator is,
[14:48] has to be in some
other structure
[14:51] or whether it can be a
standalone incinerator.
[14:53] 
[15:00] I don't know if anyone
has any thoughts on that.
[15:03] I didn't get consensus
of what I should.
[15:06] So my question is, what kind of.
[15:11] 
[15:13] What kind of
incinerator go into.
[15:16] So it's not seen as that the
ideas like in a shed or a
[15:20] where I mean.
[15:22] Yeah outbuilding.
[15:24] I don't know.
[15:25] I mean, is that safe.
[15:26] Can you put Yeah,
I wasn't really,
[15:28] but you can't put an
incinerator inside a building.
[15:31] That's not safe.
[15:34] Trailer what's that.
[15:36] They have them on a
trailer sometimes.
[15:38] So there's more of a
movable incinerator.
[15:41] And then I think there's more of
a permanent fixture incinerator.
[15:46] But, yeah, not necessarily
within a structure,
[15:48] I wouldn't think,
but I wasn't sure.
[15:50] And someone had brought it
up at our previous workshop,
[15:53] so I didn't change it yet,
but I just wanted to raise
[15:55] that issue that I didn't.
[15:59] Yeah, because we had an
incinerator in Matthews town
[16:01] run and it looks
like a dumpster.
[16:04] Burn stuff.
[16:06] So, I mean, I don't
know where you would.
[16:08] I mean, it's enclosed
already being.
[16:10] Is it permanent.
[16:12] No, it's kind of
like a roll off.
[16:14] It just rolls off
like a dumpster.
[16:16] Would you do what you
got to do there on site.
[16:19] And then they take it away
and then they take it away.
[16:22] Is that what we're
talking about.
[16:23] We're not talking
about a permanent.
[16:25] The way it reads
now that would be
[16:27] allowed to have a permanent
one would be allowed.
[16:30] Well, out, saying a portable
one would also be able to do it.
[16:35] Well, I don't think we want to
allow a permanent one, do we.
[16:38] 
[16:41] I wouldn't want a permanent
incinerator in my neighborhood.
[16:45] We do.
[16:47] I don't think so.
[16:47] But if it's not providing any
obnoxious or excessive smoke
[16:50] or odor detrimental to
neighboring properties, then.
[16:54] 
[16:57] Yeah, you may not know
it's an incinerator.
[16:59] And is a crematorium
considered an incinerator.
[17:04] I thought about that.
[17:05] Those are inside there.
[17:06] Yeah, maybe.
[17:09] So, like the Humane Society.
[17:11] Exactly they probably
have a permanent
[17:16] a permanent incinerator.
[17:17] I don't know whether
it's inside or not.
[17:22] All right.
[17:26] No homemade incinerators is
what we're trying to get at.
[17:29] How do you say that.
[17:30] Nicely built in incinerator.
[17:35] The only other way is you
can permit incinerators.
[17:38] So hospital.
[17:39] 
[17:41] Hospital will be built in.
[17:44] There's and that's
hospitals a commercial.
[17:48] Yeah I mean, we're talking
about residential incinerators.
[17:50] And do those need
to be permitted.
[17:51] I mean, there's an
extra work, but there's
[17:54] a way you can maybe
regulate those differently
[17:55] than a commercial building.
[17:57] Who is going to have
all the building
[17:59] code and regulatory
things before they have
[18:01] those at their establishments.
[18:03] So that makes sense to permit
them in a residential capacity
[18:08] could environment.
[18:10] But maybe then something that
happens in the zoning ordinance
[18:13] as opposed to here in the
fire chapter of the code,
[18:19] but I don't know.
[18:20] Just thinking about a permit,
there's not necessarily
[18:24] a permit for this stuff.
[18:28] I guess we could
create one, but.
[18:30] 
[18:33] Yeah, I think it's
my only thoughts
[18:35] were around the residential
use of a roll off incinerator.
[18:39] I mean, who is determining
what is appropriate or not
[18:43] based off of the look of it, the
size of it, the material, it's.
[18:51] But I don't know.
[18:53] Well, I also think the
main point here is also
[18:55] so that you're not just
having a big burn pile
[18:57] in your backyard in town that
could go in any which way.
[19:01] So the idea is that it's
going to be enclosed, right.
[19:03] Which I think is important.
[19:05] So we're good with that.
[19:11] Yeah, I'm good with it as is.
[19:13] And if we need to make
something based off
[19:14] of something that
rises up, we can
[19:17] always adjust it or reevaluate.
[19:19] This next change is just 1112.
[19:25] Page 5.
[19:32] 
[19:37] 1112 oh 4545.
[19:42] Yeah all right.
[19:47] So this we had talked about.
[19:49] 
[19:52] We had had language
about bringing the trash
[19:55] receptacles to the curb.
[19:56] And then we realized, well, we
only do that for residential.
[19:59] So we added residential.
[20:01] And then curb maybe is
not the right terminology
[20:05] for everywhere.
[20:06] So it was to the edge of the
property along a public street
[20:09] or such other location
as designated by the town
[20:12] for collection, to give a
little bit of flexibility
[20:13] for unique situations.
[20:16] You were good with that.
[20:18] OK pretty good.
[20:22] All right.
[20:23] And then the next section.
[20:25] 
[20:31] This is about the trash fee.
[20:33] And I think the council
wanted that an appeal to go
[20:38] to the board of zoning appeals.
[20:40] And so that change
was made there.
[20:44] And I'm sorry, instead
of coming to us
[20:47] the amount of the
trash fee should go
[20:51] to the board of zoning appeals.
[20:53] Well, it goes to
the town engineer.
[20:55] And if the person doesn't like
that decision from the town
[20:58] engineer, they can
appeal the town engineer
[21:00] decision to the board
of zoning appeals,
[21:02] just like they do any other.
[21:03] Oh, so.
[21:04] OK So they're not
deciding the fee there.
[21:09] Yeah, it's only an appeal.
[21:11] So if they bring in, say what.
[21:13] I've charged the wrong fee.
[21:15] And Rick, probably with Sandy
or whoever takes a look at it
[21:18] and says, no, you
charge the right fee.
[21:20] And they say, I want to
appeal that it would go
[21:21] to the board of zoning appeals.
[21:23] Gotcha which is the
process that's set up for.
[21:26] And really, all staff
that appeals like that.
[21:30] And then I think there was the
council wanted to be made aware,
[21:35] though when those happened.
[21:36] So we added language
to say that the council
[21:38] gets a copy of that appeal.
[21:40] 
[21:46] And I think that let's see.
[21:49] Is there anything else.
[21:50] 
[21:57] Oh yes.
[21:58] There was a small change.
[22:01] I think Nick Ewing had made us
aware that traveling nurses.
[22:09] Would solve a lot
of their issues
[22:11] if we could make
short term housing
[22:13] three months or below instead
of four months or below.
[22:16] And so I think the council
was receptive to that.
[22:19] That was a good rationale
for making that change.
[22:22] It wouldn't really have a huge
effect on the weekly stuff
[22:27] that we were you're worried
about more in a neighborhood.
[22:30] So I think that was the
last page in this chapter.
[22:37] 
[22:39] There were a couple of issues
that the council raised
[22:43] that are not addressed
here yet, because I
[22:44] didn't feel like there
was a consensus yet
[22:47] on how to address them.
[22:49] One was voter IDs.
[22:52] We talked about it
a little bit, and I
[22:54] didn't know whether that's
something you wanted
[22:56] to move forward with or not.
[22:57] I think you all said we
want to think about it
[22:59] and come back to that issue.
[23:01] So bringing it back.
[23:04] 
[23:07] You heard that live.
[23:08] Do you know chapter or not.
[23:10] It will go in the
elections election section.
[23:13] So obviously we're just talking
about our town elections.
[23:16] Yes so.
[23:17] 
[23:20] Give me the background because
I'm not sure I remember.
[23:23] That was one of my questions.
[23:24] What is the state
policy when it comes
[23:26] to voter ID identification.
[23:28] Because states
control elections.
[23:30] So what's the state of Maryland.
[23:31] State doesn't control municipal.
[23:33] No it doesn't.
[23:33] You're right.
[23:34] But it sets the rules for the
elections within the state.
[23:37] So the state I believe ID is
required to register to vote,
[23:42] but not when you show
up on election day,
[23:45] is my recollection.
[23:49] And everybody who votes in a
town election is registered
[23:52] is registered with the
Board of Elections.
[23:56] Yeah they keep our list now.
[23:57] It used to be we
had a separate list,
[23:59] but now they keep our list.
[24:01] 
[24:07] I'll stick my neck out.
[24:08] I think we should be
requiring voter IDs.
[24:10] I think government
should, at every level.
[24:12] But at least we
have our opportunity
[24:14] to state that we
want to guarantee
[24:18] the integrity of the elections
we don't want people to be
[24:21] able to walk in, claim
they're somebody else just
[24:24] because they know the address.
[24:26] 
[24:29] Anybody else.
[24:30] 
[24:35] Do what are we.
[24:37] So as far as identification
is concerned,
[24:39] what would we accept
as identification.
[24:42] Picture identification.
[24:43] Official state issued
ID card or driver's
[24:47] license Passport
something has photo
[24:50] government issued ID photo ID.
[24:52] Yeah, it's the only thing.
[24:54] So if you're an 18-year-old
voting for the first time
[24:58] and you don't have
a driver's license,
[25:00] what would you have as a picture
ID if you don't have a passport,
[25:04] you get a state ID card.
[25:05] You would have a non-driving
ID that's issued by DMV.
[25:09] But if they haven't set
out to begin that process,
[25:13] if they haven't been, if they
weren't interested in driving
[25:16] to that point, well,
then they're probably not
[25:17] interested in voting either.
[25:18] So it's simple enough.
[25:21] There are a lot of states.
[25:23] There are a lot of
samples out there.
[25:24] I just I didn't pull it all
together because I wasn't sure
[25:27] if that's something you
wanted to do or not,
[25:28] but I think there was some
language that I saw that talked
[25:32] about what was
acceptable or not,
[25:33] that we could compare
other jurisdictions if you
[25:36] want to move forward with that.
[25:39] Does that eliminate absentee.
[25:42] 
[25:45] Municipals? all in
all, on location.
[25:47] I know Mr. Forte had talked
to in the past about the idea
[25:51] of you would need your ID
to get your absentee ballot
[25:56] to get your absentee ballot.
[25:58] I mean, some capacity, but
that would require the folks
[26:01] at the front, at the front
desk to be inspecting
[26:04] IDs when they're picking up.
[26:06] I don't think it's not overly
complicated if waitresses
[26:11] in a bar can inspect IDs.
[26:13] Yeah no, I get it.
[26:13] I'm just saying that would be a
requirement for them to do that.
[26:17] I can't guarantee who fills
it out and submits it,
[26:19] but I can say who picked it up.
[26:20] So I mean, that's about
all we can do, but I don't.
[26:24] That's not a bridge
too far if we're
[26:27] for absentee, if that was the
determining factor on if we were
[26:32] going to require it on site,
are there any municipalities
[26:37] in the state of
Maryland that require
[26:40] and you might not know this yet.
[26:42] Yeah, I don't know that yet
because 36 states require it,
[26:46] but I don't know in
terms of how many.
[26:49] 36 we're not one of them.
[26:52] It says 36 require voters
to present ID in order
[26:55] to vote at the polls
on election day.
[26:59] But Maryland does not.
[27:01] Maryland does not.
[27:02] There are.
[27:03] And most of them have
exceptions to the rules,
[27:05] but they're very blue.
[27:06] States do not.
[27:09] So this doesn't violate
8 by requiring them.
[27:13] And I've heard this
argument in the past.
[27:15] That's why I'm bringing it up
because I wouldn't want to see
[27:17] us get in a bind with it.
[27:18] But the 23rd Amendment,
not 20 sorry,
[27:23] 24th Amendment says that there's
not going to be any poll taxes,
[27:26] which is a fee in
order to vote if you
[27:29] have to get a driver's license.
[27:30] Some places have considered
that a fee in order to vote.
[27:34] So does that violate
the 24th Amendment,
[27:38] which somebody's going to sue
the town of Easton because it
[27:40] violates the 20,
because they think
[27:42] it violates the 24th Amendment.
[27:43] Whether it does or
not is why hasn't
[27:45] the Supreme Court already.
[27:46] I don't that's why I'm asking.
[27:48] I think so, but I don't know
the answer to that right now.
[27:51] Yeah, I just like to
make sure before we.
[27:55] Yeah, I would
argue it's probably
[27:58] sounds like there's some
interest in at least
[28:00] looking at this further.
[28:01] So maybe I'll pull
together everything.
[28:03] But I would like
to say one thing.
[28:05] We struggle to get people out
to vote in municipal elections
[28:10] as it is, and I would
hate to put any impediment
[28:20] in a potential voters way.
[28:22] I would like to I hear
what everybody's saying,
[28:25] but I'd like to know what
the exception to the rule
[28:27] is, because there may be some
situations where I lose my ID,
[28:33] I want to go vote, but I didn't
have enough time to go do it.
[28:37] I just want to make sure that
it's fair across the board
[28:40] that no one is deprived
the opportunity to vote,
[28:44] because there's too many people
who have died just to vote.
[28:48] And I'm quite concerned about
people coming in and say,
[28:52] I'm Elmer Davis.
[28:53] And then when I come in to
vote, they say already voted.
[28:57] I said, that didn't happen.
[28:59] I mean, so I'm quite
concerned on both ends,
[29:03] but I just want to
make sure that we're
[29:07] doing the right thing
going forward and not
[29:10] dialing some things backwards.
[29:12] 
[29:14] OK anybody else.
[29:17] No I'll look more into it.
[29:18] I'll pull some stuff
together for the next one.
[29:21] Next workshop for that.
[29:23] Then the final thing that was
raised before were false alarms.
[29:28] And I got a copy of the County
false alarm legislation.
[29:31] So I don't know if you had
a chance to look at that
[29:33] and whether that
satisfies any concerns
[29:37] or whether we want
to do something
[29:38] additional in the town code.
[29:41] So it said that if
there was more than two
[29:43] nuisance alarms like any.
[29:45] So basically it puts the
onus on the departments
[29:47] to make a complaint
to the County,
[29:49] is what it looked like to me.
[29:51] Like we've been to a
place on West Street
[29:53] probably 2 times
within the last month,
[29:57] let alone in the calendar year.
[29:59] 
[30:02] So what was the.
[30:09] I don't remember
how this came up.
[30:13] I think we were just
talking about false alarms
[30:16] and whether or not there
is any kind of penalty
[30:19] that the town could enforce.
[30:21] 
[30:25] Or wanted to enforce.
[30:26] Yeah, I think you can.
[30:28] Yeah you just have to
decide if do we want to.
[30:32] And then the amount
comes secondary to it.
[30:37] And if you do there is sometimes
a grace period after two.
[30:42] The third one, there's a
whole bunch of different ways
[30:45] you can see there'd be like
a charges for false alarms.
[30:49] Yeah like a fine.
[30:50] There would be a fee you'd have
to pay for the company coming
[30:52] out again.
[30:53] Yeah or the police coming.
[30:56] Yeah I don't know
if it's a police.
[31:01] I'm sorry.
[31:01] What does the County do
after the second the chief
[31:06] from any department
or department
[31:08] can file something
with the County
[31:10] if they've been out to a
certain place more than twice
[31:14] in a calendar year for a
false alarm, more than twice
[31:19] in a calendar year.
[31:21] But the fire company,
the fire company
[31:26] has to file the complaint
with the County.
[31:30] I mean, they may do some
enforcement on their own,
[31:32] but I can't imagine
they have any way
[31:34] of knowing unless the fire
department reports it.
[31:37] So it would be up to
the Department to do it.
[31:40] But even I mean, even if we
were to implement something,
[31:43] it would be up to the Department
to let the town know that we've
[31:45] been out to this place
four times this month,
[31:48] and they're not seem
to be changing their.
[31:51] I mean, I think twice
in a calendar year is
[31:54] a little severe, but I
think four times in a month
[31:56] is definitely warranted for.
[32:01] So I don't have
a problem looking
[32:04] into some sort of a fine for the
repeat offender, if you will.
[32:10] 
[32:14] Does the County ordinance
only apply outside the towns.
[32:19] When we met with them.
[32:23] I think they applied it
within the town as well.
[32:26] It's my recollection.
[32:28] So do we need to have one.
[32:31] That's really the question.
[32:33] Does this cover what
we would do anyway,
[32:36] or do we want to do
something stricter I guess.
[32:40] I mean, two in a calendar years,
it can't be much less than that.
[32:44] What's a municipal infraction.
[32:48] I don't know how much
they enforce this.
[32:51] Yeah, they have it on the books.
[32:53] 
[32:57] But I also don't know if fire
departments are reporting it.
[33:00] So maybe they don't know.
[33:01] Yeah I'll say something
to Chief Dobson
[33:04] and see if anybody any other
departments are, I mean.
[33:10] But to be honest, I mean, Easton
gets the bulk of the alarms
[33:13] anyway in the County.
[33:14] 
[33:17] Yes Salisbury is within
a year or two freebies.
[33:20] Third one, you're
getting charged.
[33:25] And I think it's important
like, I guess being left up
[33:29] the department's important
because obviously there's
[33:31] a difference between
a malfunctioning
[33:35] detector which just has gone
bad versus somebody smoking
[33:39] in the hallway of the building.
[33:41] And then it sets it off and it's
repeatedly that's the reason
[33:44] why you go there.
[33:46] OK Yeah I'll check
with him about it.
[33:52] And the only other thing I have.
[33:58] We're going to need at
least one more workshop
[34:01] to go through the
rest of the chapters.
[34:03] Again, with the changes
like we did tonight,
[34:07] do you want to do that
at your first meeting
[34:11] in September,
which is a Tuesday.
[34:13] So it's kind of weird with
the Labor Day holiday,
[34:17] it's Tuesday the eighth.
[34:19] Or would you rather wait
till the 21st and do it then.
[34:25] 
[34:28] I would personally rather wait.
[34:29] That's because I have company.
[34:32] I second that motion.
[34:33] All right.
[34:34] Sounds good Because it's
my first day of school, so.
[34:36] Yeah OK.
[34:38] There you go.
[34:41] That's great.
[34:42] Second meeting in
September for that.
[34:44] Yep awesome.
[34:45] Kathy, you got that.
[34:48] Does anybody have anything else
as far as chapters 1 through 15
[34:51] go.
[34:52] If they'd like to bring up,
we got a little bit of time.
[34:58] Just we might want
to read once again,
[35:00] Section 4.4 of on how the
definition of a meadow
[35:08] will be changed.
[35:11] We got a couple minutes.
[35:12] We can pull that
up if we wanted to.
[35:14] Yeah, that sounds good.
[35:15] Thank you.
[35:16] It's 11.
[35:18] Is it.
[35:19] Chapter 11.
[35:20] Chapter 11.
[35:21] All right.
[35:24] Said section 4.
[35:24] I think let me get there.
[35:30] Come on.
[35:33] You said 4.4, David.
[35:35] That's what I remember.
[35:36] But I can't remember
which I thought
[35:39] it was chapter 5 for
some reason, but come on,
[35:43] I can't get back.
[35:44] Trying to get back to any old
and table of contents and see,
[35:52] I think it's in
chapter 11, but that's
[35:54] one of those ones where it
has a lot of point somethings.
[35:57] And so it could be
that it changed.
[36:01] Yes and I'm not
sure what it was.
[36:05] What letter it may have.
[36:06] It may have been a letter.
[36:08] It is page 30.
[36:08] Demoted it a bit.
[36:10] Page 30 of the second document.
[36:14] Oh there it is.
[36:15] Yeah thank you, thank you.
[36:18] 
[36:23] Yeah it's 11 5, but then
it's of the property
[36:28] maintenance code three or 2.4.
[36:30] So it has those two
different numbers.
[36:32] OK here we are.
[36:33] Yeah 11 5.2.20.
[36:38] Chapter 3 general
regulations 302.4 weeds.
[36:45] Exceptions number four Meadows.
[36:47] Yeah provided that
no portion extends
[36:55] into public right of way.
[36:57] The area is set back at least 10
feet from any adjacent property
[37:00] lines.
[37:00] The area is clearly delineated
from maintained lawn
[37:04] by edging, fencing, mowing
strip, or other visible border,
[37:08] and the area is maintained
free of invasive plants
[37:11] and prohibited noxious weeds.
[37:13] 
[37:16] Give a definition.
[37:19] So I guess my
question is, what is.
[37:21] What is the purpose
of this definition.
[37:25] It is.
[37:26] It'll make a big difference at
Eastern club for the maintenance
[37:30] of the MHC properties,
which right
[37:33] now are allowed to grow any kind
of grass, weeds or anything.
[37:39] Gotcha and would only need
to be mowed in a 10 foot
[37:42] perimeter for them
to declare that all
[37:44] those weeds are a meadow.
[37:46] Understood thank you.
[37:49] Put it in context for me.
[37:52] Thank you.
[37:52] 
[37:55] OK I mean, I think
Tom's motivation
[37:58] for proposing this
was just to make
[38:02] this language comply with the
current international property
[38:05] maintenance code.
[38:06] Sample language.
[38:07] But that the effect is it
will affect the East Coast.
[38:11] So that wasn't the purpose for
it, but it is an effect of it.
[38:15] Yeah so people need to know.
[38:18] OK yeah.
[38:21] Just any kind of thing.
[38:22] Yeah There's a lot
of houses like that.
[38:25] Great yeah.
[38:29] So, Doctor Montgomery,
you're good with that.
[38:31] Yes, absolutely.
[38:32] Thank you for that
clarification.
[38:34] That's important that the
purpose of putting this there
[38:37] was to comply with the
International Building codes.
[38:40] We didn't just make it up.
[38:41] He pulled this from somewhere
that had a sample language.
[38:45] Yeah just I know we have
a very specific case that
[38:49] we're thinking
about for the item
[38:52] be if I do not have
a 10 foot setback,
[38:56] does that eliminate me from
being able to have a medal,
[39:02] thinking about more of an
in-town residential property
[39:05] that may not have that much
distance between properties.
[39:08] Is that just if you don't have
the 10 feet, you're out of luck.
[39:13] I just want to make
sure that makes sense.
[39:16] You wouldn't want
someone walking
[39:17] by on a sidewalk to have.
[39:21] Hitting their leg.
[39:22] You want to make sure.
[39:22] Yeah, we're thinking
about it because it's
[39:24] not just a public right of way.
[39:27] Maintain privacy.
[39:29] OK anybody else MS Vandenberg,
thank you very much for all
[39:38] your work with this.
[39:39] And you got a
little bit of time.
[39:42] We'll take a quick
break, and then we'll be
[39:44] back for the meeting at 5:30.
[39:46] Yeah, I was trying
to figure out.
[39:47] 
[39:50] So what is that.
[39:51] The maintenance room.
[39:52] 
[40:57] You don't know.
[41:09] 
[41:24] Me good evening, everyone.
[41:33] I'd like to open
the meeting and have
[41:35] remarks and pledge of Allegiance
by Council Member Curry.
[41:39] 
[41:44] Good evening, everyone.
[41:45] And in this age of online,
even the Pope is online.
[41:51] And as a good Catholic,
I'm going to read
[41:53] his newsletter every Monday.
[41:55] So I'm going to read from
his newsletter this morning.
[41:58] Lord Jesus, as we
begin this new week,
[42:00] take complete
control of our steps,
[42:03] decisions, plans and desires.
[42:06] Go before us and make
straight every crooked path.
[42:09] Give us the wisdom to
recognize your will,
[42:12] the courage to obey it, and
the humility to surrender
[42:15] what we cannot control.
[42:18] Amen amen.
[42:20] I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America,
[42:25] and to the Republic
for which it stands.
[42:27] One nation under
God, indivisible,
[42:30] with liberty and
justice for all.
[42:32] 
[42:37] All right.
[42:38] I'd like to open, with the
approval of the minutes
[42:41] from the August 6,
2026, regular meeting.
[42:44] Do I have any questions or
a motion on those minutes.
[42:47] I'll move to accept the minutes.
[42:48] Second We have a motion and a
second to accept the meeting
[42:51] minutes of August 3, 2026.
[42:53] Regular meeting.
[42:54] All in favor.
[42:55] Aye Opposed.
[42:57] All right.
[42:57] Municipal items Mr. Christopher.
[43:00] Good evening sir.
[43:01] Good evening.
[43:02] Council I don't
have a long list.
[43:04] I did want to just
update council.
[43:06] And in the public, we've been
receiving the emails that
[43:10] have been coming in about
some ongoing concerns
[43:14] affecting East East residents.
[43:17] East I'm sorry, Eastern club.
[43:20] And we are addressing
that internally.
[43:22] Our staff is on top of it and
we are looking through what
[43:26] options we have available.
[43:28] From a code
enforcement standpoint,
[43:29] and we'll be reaching out
to both Eastern club and the
[43:33] adjacent property owner, MHC.
[43:37] But I'm going to be serving
as that point of contact.
[43:39] So if you all are receive
additional communications
[43:42] from residents.
[43:43] Those can be
forwarded along to me
[43:46] and then my staff, whether
planning and zoning
[43:49] or a building official,
will be reaching
[43:51] out as necessary to detail out
what we're doing moving forward.
[43:56] So I know there's a lot
of things going on there,
[43:58] so I just want to
update council on that.
[44:01] Thank you.
[44:02] Anything anybody have anything
for Mr. Kitaro this evening.
[44:06] 
[44:08] Thank you sir MS
Vandenberg, how are you.
[44:10] Good I have nothing
at this point.
[44:13] Does anybody have anything for
the town attorney this evening.
[44:16] Rolling right along.
[44:17] Thank you.
[44:18] All right.
[44:19] We're going to move a
couple things around,
[44:21] and we're going to move
to the presentation
[44:25] proclamation presented
to the 2026 Maryland
[44:27] Junior League state champions.
[44:29] And we're going to have Mr.
Rankin read that proclamation.
[44:33] And if you guys want
to please come up team
[44:37] coaches any parents family
who want to be up here.
[44:41] We want to get everybody up.
[44:44] I'm a little nervous, guys.
[44:46] Got a big team here.
[44:47] I feel like I'm up
at bat with two outs
[44:48] in the bottom of the ninth.
[44:49] And you get that run
across, so need to deliver
[44:52] this proclamation here.
[44:53] Good for y'all.
[44:55] So I have a proclamation
here from the town
[44:57] of Easton, Maryland,
for the 2026 Maryland
[45:00] Junior League state champs.
[45:02] And it reads, whereas it
gives us a tremendous amount
[45:04] of pleasure, on behalf
of the mayor, council
[45:07] and all the citizens
of Easton to express
[45:09] to the members of
the Talbot baseball
[45:11] all stars representing Easton.
[45:13] Our sincere congratulations on
your participation in the 2026
[45:17] Maryland Junior League
region tournament
[45:19] in Dubois,
Pennsylvania, where they
[45:20] put together an impressive run.
[45:22] And whereas the team players,
the head coach Brian pluchek,
[45:26] and coaches Jason Smith
and Bobby Callahan
[45:28] are to be commended for
an exciting, hard fought
[45:32] and successful season.
[45:33] Advancing out of the state
tournament to represent Maryland
[45:36] in the junior baseball.
[45:37] Small junior League Baseball
2026 region tournament.
[45:41] And whereas the camaraderie,
the laughs, the memories
[45:44] and the unforgettable miles
together during the practices
[45:47] and tournament are
a true testament
[45:48] of an exceptional
organization that
[45:50] has been active participants,
excelling in our town's efforts
[45:53] to promote and provide
recreational opportunities
[45:55] for our young people.
[45:57] And now, therefore, we are
pleased to publicly commend
[46:01] the Maryland Junior League state
champs for their fine efforts
[46:04] and present this proclamation as
an expression of the affection
[46:08] and admiration from the mayor,
the town council and all
[46:11] our citizens to the coaches
and members of this team.
[46:14] Congratulations
on a great season.
[46:16] This is signed here by
the mayor, Megan Cook.
[46:19] So congratulations.
[46:20] Thank you.
[46:21] 
[46:31] Thank you.
[46:34] I think we'll get you
a little photo here.
[46:35] Yeah That's where I go.
[46:45] You got a camera.
[46:49] In front of you.
[46:51] Yeah 1, 2.
[46:52] 
[46:59] Let's see.
[46:59] Let's be good, boys.
[47:00] Hold it together.
[47:01] 
[47:04] You guys could move
in a little bit on.
[47:06] 
[47:13] The phone first, and then
I will take a picture of.
[47:17] Three two.
[47:18] One OK, now the one for the.
[47:22] What's this.
[47:24] All right.
[47:24] And three 2 1.
[47:28] Thank you so much.
[47:29] Good job, boys.
[47:31] 
[47:38] Thank you.
[47:43] Good I'll send you the video.
[47:46] The video.
[47:47] The whole thing.
[47:48] 
[47:52] I already said that.
[47:54] Chief and team don't feel
like you have to stay.
[47:56] Because the chief of police
is getting ready to come up,
[47:58] and it's going to get really
boring real quick, so.
[48:00] Yeah you're right.
[48:02] OK thank you all.
[48:08] Yeah you don't have to stay.
[48:10] Congratulations, guys.
[48:12] Great job.
[48:13] Thanks congratulations.
[48:17] 
[48:21] I remember where Ryan was.
[48:24] Really this is what
he was talking about.
[48:29] It's not.
[48:30] 
[48:40] Sure it is.
[48:43] Reverend Davis,
whenever you're ready.
[48:45] 
[48:48] Hey, Chief.
[48:49] 
[48:51] Chief you're up.
[48:52] So let's see if
you can beat that.
[48:56] Here we go.
[48:58] Thank you.
[48:59] Council members,
town manager, the.
[49:03] I assume you all
have gotten a chance
[49:04] to take a look at
the police board
[49:05] report for the second quarter.
[49:07] As usual, we were pretty busy
during the second quarter.
[49:12] As we get into summer,
it always picks
[49:13] up for us at spring
time with all
[49:15] our special events and things.
[49:17] I mean, you'll just
look at that front page
[49:19] and see even just
the amount of patrol
[49:20] checks and neighborhood checks.
[49:22] We're talking over
1,000 in that category.
[49:25] And then if you look
at just our patrol,
[49:27] our patrol division in
three months handled
[49:30] 5,000 calls for service.
[49:31] So that's a lot going on.
[49:34] And as you noticed in
that opening paragraph,
[49:35] we're doing that we did
that during that quarter
[49:39] with some serious staffing
issues between people that were
[49:42] on medical leave, people
that have been deployed
[49:46] and some vacancies roughly.
[49:49] We're operating at 20%
down at that point.
[49:52] We're getting a
little bit better.
[49:54] We have only two members
that are now on light duty.
[49:59] They're back in the office and
helping us helping their team
[50:04] handle different things.
[50:06] Other couple have
returned to full duty.
[50:09] The deployments are
the deployments.
[50:11] We have two out right
now for long term,
[50:13] and we have a couple
others that are
[50:15] scheduled for deployments that
are going to be at least a year
[50:19] long.
[50:20] So it's just the way it is.
[50:25] Our military people
are great hires,
[50:27] and it's just part of us
working with the people that
[50:30] are in reserves and the guard.
[50:33] If you look at the community
resource and community
[50:34] engagements, I mean, you can
tell we're pretty engaged
[50:39] in the community in terms
of the different events
[50:42] that we're at between
coffee with a cop
[50:44] teaching, active violence
response and all the
[50:47] different for citizens
going to different events.
[50:52] Officers are out at a
lot of different things.
[50:55] It's been a very busy spring
and beginning of summer for us,
[51:00] and we're now right
getting ready for obviously
[51:02] school to start.
[51:03] We had a little brief
pause here in August,
[51:06] where some of the special
events end of July kind
[51:09] of fell off after 4th of July.
[51:10] We took that opportunity to
do active violence response
[51:14] training, along with Talbot
County Sheriff's Office
[51:16] and some of our allied agencies
at Easton middle school
[51:19] over a two week period.
[51:21] And that was very productive
for us to be able to do that
[51:23] with our other allied agencies.
[51:26] We got some good
feedback from people
[51:28] that came for training on that.
[51:31] I noticed that on the
investigation side,
[51:35] we've had some good cases.
[51:38] Cooks hope is obviously
one that stands out.
[51:41] That was a difficult
investigation
[51:42] for that home invasion.
[51:44] But the detectives
put it together
[51:47] by tracking vehicles and stuff
to try to identify the suspects.
[51:51] And as you read in here, that
led to search warrants being
[51:55] executed in multiple
jurisdictions in Maryland
[52:00] with tactical teams
as well as Marshals,
[52:03] task force catching one of
the people as a fugitive
[52:05] out in Ohio.
[52:07] So kudos to them.
[52:09] As it's recently,
we've also had a couple
[52:13] of incidents involving firearms
in which we made arrests.
[52:16] And in a shooting where
somebody was injured,
[52:18] we had arrest in
that within two days.
[52:21] And we also made another arrest
in another prohibited person who
[52:25] made threats of
violence with a firearm
[52:27] and recovered two
firearms recently.
[52:28] So we're pretty proud of
that detective work to get
[52:31] those firearms off the street.
[52:34] 
[52:38] In terms of our grants.
[52:40] We successfully closed
out all our grants that we
[52:42] obtained for this last year.
[52:44] We did obtain two more, one
for additional training,
[52:49] as well as a continuation
grant for the.
[52:56] Hero program.
[52:57] It's a great program.
[52:58] If any of you ever want
to come out and see it,
[53:00] it's held out at a
training facility,
[53:03] but it's aimed at youth to
instill confidence in them.
[53:07] And most recently,
we took out some kids
[53:10] that we take kids out from
a lot of different areas
[53:13] Multicultural Center.
[53:15] Bam we're taking out
a scout troop soon,
[53:18] and we've taken kids out
that have been involved
[53:20] in the foster system, as well
as kids that have been victims
[53:24] in the past of sexual abuse that
come into the social services
[53:28] system through that.
[53:29] And we've seen a lot of
good results with that.
[53:32] And how it empowers the kids.
[53:34] And we also get a
lot of kids when they
[53:35] get done saying what, I think I
may want to be a police officer.
[53:39] They get to go out
to this facility.
[53:41] They actually do a
mission, to save people.
[53:45] With police officers
as well as NPR comes
[53:48] out with their helicopter.
[53:49] Sometimes they're riding on
boats down creeks and stuff.
[53:53] So it's pretty involved
and they really enjoy it.
[53:56] It's been a really
empowering program for us.
[53:59] So that's about
all I have for you.
[54:02] Do you have any questions.
[54:03] Any questions of the chief.
[54:07] Yeah, I had a couple.
[54:08] Chief, if you got a second.
[54:09] Crossing guards with
school starting.
[54:12] Are we good with all of
our crossing guard hires.
[54:15] Do we have everything filled.
[54:17] We are good, yes.
[54:18] And then.
[54:19] And we think we have some
applications in the queue.
[54:22] So people are interested
in the crossing guard.
[54:24] We always take an application.
[54:26] And then I know it's come
up quite a bit recently.
[54:31] And I know you and I have
talked about it, but just
[54:33] for the public knowledge,
does the EPD utilize
[54:37] flock cameras anywhere in town.
[54:39] We do not.
[54:40] OK yeah.
[54:41] We do not use we don't
contract with flock.
[54:44] And we don't use flock cameras.
[54:46] OK So thank you.
[54:48] Is there anything crime
related that's trending
[54:51] in any neighborhoods that our
citizens need to know about.
[54:54] We've had the whole County
has seen a lot of fraud.
[54:57] And we've actually embarked
in a fraud education process,
[55:01] I think was one of the
neighborhoods that we hit.
[55:04] I think maybe Eastern
club is also at one point,
[55:06] we had we're going to be
making some return rounds,
[55:10] but the sheriffs are also out
there doing educational rounds.
[55:14] There's a lot of online fraud.
[55:17] Telephone fraud.
[55:19] And the amounts of money that
people are willing to give up
[55:23] is substantial.
[55:25] I mean, we have some that is
10,000 and we have some even
[55:30] as high as 100,000, depending
on the type of fraud,
[55:35] whether it's sweetheart fraud
or it's other financial frauds.
[55:39] And it's very hard for us
to investigate and prosecute
[55:43] because a lot of them crossed
not only over state boundaries
[55:46] but can also cross over
international boundaries.
[55:49] So the best approach for us is
to try to educate the citizenry
[55:53] about what the
types of fraud are
[55:55] and to just say no and hang up
the phone or get off the chat.
[56:01] So yeah, I will say, as my
95-year-old mother lives with me
[56:08] and has a landline and
it rings constantly
[56:13] all day long and it's
nothing but spam calls,
[56:17] it's unbelievable.
[56:19] I bet it's 15 calls a day.
[56:23] Unbelievable it is.
[56:24] It's pernicious.
[56:25] And it is a lot.
[56:28] Some people give up a lot of
money before they realize that.
[56:32] And a lot of people are
embarrassed about it,
[56:35] so they don't report it.
[56:37] But I would encourage anybody,
if you're a family member that
[56:40] has somebody that's another
family member that's older,
[56:43] that to talk to them about it
and keep an eye on the finances,
[56:46] because that's often
how we find out.
[56:48] Is that a family member
or a son or daughter
[56:50] says, hey, my mom or my dad.
[56:53] I don't even let her
answer the phone anymore.
[56:55] So it's horrible.
[56:58] I'm curious about something.
[56:59] I know we've had
it comes and goes,
[57:01] but car break ins happen often
and they different neighborhoods
[57:05] and whatnot.
[57:06] So obviously people
need to lock their cars.
[57:07] But I'm just curious, has there
ever been a situation where
[57:10] anybody's been caught or
anyone's been apprehended
[57:13] related to CAR break ins.
[57:15] They go in spurts,
without a doubt.
[57:18] At the end of last year and
the beginning of this year,
[57:20] we had a little rash of
not only car break ins,
[57:24] but actually stolen cars.
[57:25] And some people were
caught in those situations.
[57:28] And then recently in
the courtroom Parkway
[57:30] neighborhood as well
as Eastern club East,
[57:32] we had theft from vehicles.
[57:35] I don't believe we've actually
identified anybody in that case
[57:38] yet.
[57:38] That was a lot of cars.
[57:40] Most of those, almost all
those cars except for one
[57:42] were unlocked.
[57:43] And that's typically
what we do see
[57:45] is that people go around
pulling door handles,
[57:47] looking for the opportunity, not
actually breaking into the car,
[57:51] so they can be very difficult
to pin back to an actual person
[57:56] unless we catch somebody either
in the act or one of our best
[58:01] resources is people who
installed their own security
[58:04] systems and have
cameras that provide us
[58:07] at least some type of
description or photo
[58:10] or video of the person.
[58:12] So we encourage
residents to take hey,
[58:15] take your safety
into your own hands.
[58:16] That's the first.
[58:17] That's the first layer
of defense against it.
[58:20] One lock your cars.
[58:21] Don't keep things that
are valuable in the cars,
[58:24] and invest in your own security
system to help provide evidence.
[58:29] So as much as I
would like to say,
[58:31] hey, we live in a
free country and I
[58:33] should be able to
leave my laptop
[58:35] in my car unlocked and
expecting nobody to steal it.
[58:38] It's inviting heartache
down the road.
[58:42] So thank you.
[58:43] Yeah all right
chief, we appreciate
[58:46] thank you for what you do.
[58:47] Keep doing what you're doing.
[58:48] Keep us safe.
[58:49] Thank you, sir.
[58:49] Thank you.
[58:52] All right.
[58:53] At this moment in the
meeting, we're moving
[58:54] on to the public hearing.
[58:55] 5:35 PM public hearing
to solicit public comment
[58:59] on ordinance number 861, which
proposes amendments to chapter
[59:03] 28 of the town code zoning.
[59:05] The purpose of the
proposed amendments
[59:08] is to revise the code to
make the town's treatment
[59:11] of accessory
dwelling units ADUs,
[59:14] consistent with the
provisions of recently
[59:16] enacted state legislation
and recommended
[59:18] best practices for such uses.
[59:21] Good evening, Mr. Thomas.
[59:22] How are you.
[59:23] I'm fine.
[59:23] Good evening.
[59:24] A tough act to follow.
[59:25] I've got the chief with
his professional report.
[59:28] I've got state
champs and the Pope.
[59:32] Yes I'll do what I can.
[59:34] We're excited.
[59:35] We're ready.
[59:35] Yeah so, ordinance 861 is
brought to you in order
[59:43] to bring the town
into compliance
[59:46] with law that was passed by the
state legislature back in 2025.
[59:52] You may have followed
the state in there.
[59:55] They've been working on
this for gosh, probably
[59:58] four or five years now.
[1:00:00] I think they introduced
legislation in 2021 and 2022
[1:00:07] that ended temporarily in
the creation of a task force,
[1:00:11] which I know oftentimes is
where legislation goes to die.
[1:00:15] But in this case, it actually
led to a proposal that
[1:00:19] was in the form of HB 1466.
[1:00:22] In the accompanying
Senate Bill, which
[1:00:25] passed last year in the
2025 legislative session.
[1:00:30] Part of that required all
municipalities and counties
[1:00:35] that exercise planning and
zoning control to adopt
[1:00:39] a local law authorizing
accessory dwelling unit
[1:00:42] development on land with that
also allows single family
[1:00:47] detached dwelling units.
[1:00:50] And additionally, there were
some other things that eight
[1:00:56] ordinance 861 does not
address, but were also
[1:00:58] part of the law regarding such
things as impact fees and HOAs,
[1:01:05] and the limits that
homeowners associations
[1:01:07] could go in terms of regulating
accessory dwelling units.
[1:01:12] So what is proposed is with
the planning commission,
[1:01:17] feels relatively minimally
necessary to comply
[1:01:21] with the state law.
[1:01:24] We were, by and large, in
compliance with the state law.
[1:01:28] They are proposing
for changes that
[1:01:31] are a combination of either
necessary to match the state law
[1:01:36] requirements, or are suggestions
made by the Maryland Board
[1:01:42] of Realtors that
they thought would
[1:01:44] be appropriate in consideration
of local ordinances
[1:01:48] to implement the law.
[1:01:50] So the first one is in actually
in the treatment of this use
[1:01:54] and proposing to change
it from special exception,
[1:01:58] a special exception use to
an outright permitted use.
[1:02:02] I think that was done
for a couple of reasons.
[1:02:05] One, it was the recommendation
of the board of Realtors to.
[1:02:11] It was also not
related to this effort,
[1:02:14] but it was also a recommendation
of our attainable housing
[1:02:17] task force from last year.
[1:02:19] 
[1:02:23] And lastly, the
thinking is that this
[1:02:26] is a relatively low, impactful
form of affordable housing.
[1:02:34] Then we should probably
facilitate that
[1:02:37] through the easier process.
[1:02:39] And I believe the
feeling is that
[1:02:42] with the accompanying
supplemental standards,
[1:02:45] that there are
appropriate safeguards,
[1:02:47] that a special exception review
is not totally necessary.
[1:02:54] The second proposed
changes is very simple,
[1:02:58] and that's just to terminology.
[1:03:00] The Maryland Board
of Realtors suggested
[1:03:02] we strike the term
granny flat, which is
[1:03:05] what we have called this use.
[1:03:06] You also hear referred
to as in-law suite,
[1:03:10] sometimes referring to how
they are frequently used.
[1:03:14] But the term that
the state has used
[1:03:18] in the more encompassing term
is accessory dwelling unit.
[1:03:21] So we just proposing
that change.
[1:03:24] We're also proposing
I'm sorry, Mr.
[1:03:26] Thomas, can you move your
microphone down a little bit.
[1:03:28] I'm sorry.
[1:03:29] Thank you.
[1:03:30] That's the third
proposed change is simply
[1:03:33] to adopt this state definition.
[1:03:37] For this use accessory
dwelling unit.
[1:03:39] And then lastly, there
are a couple of changes
[1:03:45] to the existing
supplemental standards
[1:03:47] that we have for this use to.
[1:03:52] Fall in line with the
state law specifically.
[1:03:58] Well, one that we've
added on our own volition
[1:04:01] is currently we
require that the owner
[1:04:05] of the accessory
dwelling unit reside
[1:04:08] in the principal residence.
[1:04:10] And we are.
[1:04:11] And this was also suggested
by the Board of Realtors
[1:04:14] to expand that slightly,
to allow the owner
[1:04:18] to occupy either the
accessory dwelling
[1:04:21] unit or the principal
building on the site.
[1:04:26] Next is to impose a
requirement that the floor
[1:04:31] area of the accessory dwelling
unit be no greater than 75%
[1:04:36] of the gross floor area of
the primary dwelling unit.
[1:04:39] That's actually part
of the state law,
[1:04:40] so we definitely need
to make that change.
[1:04:45] Limiting the number of bedrooms
in an accessory dwelling unit
[1:04:48] to no more than two.
[1:04:50] And then lastly, a
provision that it shall have
[1:04:54] direct exterior access that
is separate from the existing
[1:04:58] primary dwelling
with the provision
[1:05:01] that we can administratively
waive this requirement
[1:05:05] if an entrance is
provided that does
[1:05:08] not go into or through
the primary dwelling unit.
[1:05:13] And that's it.
[1:05:14] In some I certainly
entertain any questions.
[1:05:18] I think what we'll do is we'll
allow for public comment,
[1:05:20] and then we'll call you
back up for questions
[1:05:24] in the legislation portion.
[1:05:26] That works.
[1:05:27] Thank you.
[1:05:28] Thank you, Mr. Thomas,
for everything.
[1:05:30] So this is an
opportunity for residents
[1:05:32] to come up and speak on the
issue of ordinance number 861.
[1:05:40] We ask that you do
share your name with us.
[1:05:42] You don't have to necessarily.
[1:05:43] You don't have to give us
your address or anything.
[1:05:45] But we would like to know
who we're talking to.
[1:05:47] And we ask that if you're
speaking for yourself
[1:05:49] as an individual, that we keep
it to three minutes in case,
[1:05:52] we have other people and we have
other stuff to cover tonight.
[1:05:54] And then if you're speaking
on behalf of a group,
[1:05:56] try to keep it to five minutes
would be beneficial to us all.
[1:06:00] So again, please come
on up to the mic.
[1:06:03] If you do have a comment
on ordinance number
[1:06:06] 861 accessory dwelling units.
[1:06:10] 
[1:06:21] Three 7585 Holly Hill lane.
[1:06:26] You have my comments.
[1:06:27] I just urge you, you
don't have to solve
[1:06:31] all this, all these problems,
all these issues tonight.
[1:06:34] You need to get past
the state deadline.
[1:06:37] And then there's
a plan to revise
[1:06:41] the plan, the zoning
regulations to accommodate
[1:06:45] the comprehensive plan.
[1:06:47] You can go back and fine
tune and pick up other things
[1:06:50] like the parking
restrictions after you
[1:06:52] check the boxes for this,
the state parking study.
[1:06:55] So I just urge you to
you can still keep it
[1:06:58] real simple tonight and
come back in six months
[1:07:03] and finish the rest
of the business.
[1:07:06] Thank you.
[1:07:07] Thank you.
[1:07:08] And thank you for your email.
[1:07:09] 
[1:07:22] Good evening.
[1:07:23] I'm Doug Holley from Janet's
way over in Eastern Clovis.
[1:07:26] I'm presenting
myself, and I guess
[1:07:31] I think a lot of the
things have common sense.
[1:07:34] The thing that's
different is because now
[1:07:36] HOA, which has
certain restrictions,
[1:07:39] are no longer valid.
[1:07:40] It kind of changes
the nature of it.
[1:07:43] So look for some common sense
opportunities to give things.
[1:07:50] So I think the requiring
the direct an exterior
[1:07:53] access, the owner living on the
lot which those things belong.
[1:07:58] I would suggest that
maybe in the beginning,
[1:08:01] all waivers should
come before the board,
[1:08:02] so the board can see the
nature of the waivers
[1:08:05] that are being asked for.
[1:08:06] And then once you get a feel
for it, delegate that to others.
[1:08:15] I think that's the key thing.
[1:08:16] Oh, and if there's
a way I don't know
[1:08:18] and I don't want to
steal your thunder,
[1:08:20] but if there's a way to have the
next door neighbor and Eastern
[1:08:23] club East, we require next
door neighbors to sign off
[1:08:26] when somebody's doing changes
so that people are aware,
[1:08:29] and they're not surprised
when all of a sudden
[1:08:31] the crew comes in and
just putting on a new roof
[1:08:33] or something like that.
[1:08:34] If there's some way that
a next door neighbor,
[1:08:36] because they're
going to be affected
[1:08:37] by a new building going
up in the lot next door,
[1:08:41] that would be terrific.
[1:08:42] I don't know what the
answer to that is,
[1:08:43] but it would be very helpful.
[1:08:46] And that's the key thing.
[1:08:48] I did want to just
comment on the one thing
[1:08:50] the Eastern club East talk about
scams and stuff was excellent.
[1:08:56] They did a wonderful job.
[1:08:58] And it's really good.
[1:08:59] Thank you very
much for listening.
[1:09:01] Thank you, Mr. Ali.
[1:09:02] 
[1:09:09] And the last one
was a really bad.
[1:09:11] 
[1:09:14] One yeah, right.
[1:09:19] So what I'm going to do
is have a little taller.
[1:09:25] I'm Lynn Randall, I'm the.
[1:09:26] At the moment, I am the chair
of the architectural committee
[1:09:30] at East club East 452 homes.
[1:09:34] One of the concerns
I have that I noticed
[1:09:36] in reading through
the law, when it says
[1:09:39] 75% of the size of the home,
that would not be realistic
[1:09:46] or even possible in most
lots in East end club East,
[1:09:49] because they're not big enough.
[1:09:50] What I would suggest
is that square footage.
[1:09:53] Th square footage
application based
[1:09:56] on 1000ft versus the size of the
big in terms of how do I say it.
[1:10:06] I'm talking about the
amount of space they take up
[1:10:09] in the property, not 1,000
square foot home if it's two
[1:10:16] stories, but 1,000,
it can't be more
[1:10:18] than 1000ft total on the
ground for the footprint.
[1:10:22] Footprint thank you.
[1:10:23] Sure that's really all the only
comment I had after just reading
[1:10:28] through the law for the
last couple of days,
[1:10:31] but we will definitely
have to put our covenants
[1:10:36] and our architectural
guidelines in line
[1:10:40] with what the town chooses to do
and that may come that may raise
[1:10:45] some additional concerns in
terms of setbacks and things
[1:10:49] like that.
[1:10:50] So thank you for
addressing this.
[1:10:53] Thank you.
[1:10:55] I'm good.
[1:10:55] 
[1:11:09] All right.
[1:11:09] Not seeing anybody
else at the moment.
[1:11:10] We are going to keep this open.
[1:11:12] This public hearing open.
[1:11:15] So again, folks at home, if
you have comments or questions,
[1:11:18] please feel free
to email the town.
[1:11:21] And of course, you'll have the
opportunity at the next council
[1:11:23] meeting as well to speak on this
particular ordinance Mr. Thomas,
[1:11:29] if you want to come
back on up and.
[1:11:31] Oh I'm sorry.
[1:11:31] No, that's a little
bit further down.
[1:11:33] I'm sorry.
[1:11:34] Jump the gun.
[1:11:34] Never mind.
[1:11:36] Jump the gun.
[1:11:36] Sorry moving on to the
legislation portion
[1:11:39] of the evening, we have
resolution number 6226
[1:11:42] authorizing the
finance officer to make
[1:11:44] abatements for the
neighborhood service center.
[1:11:47] Just a couple comments here.
[1:11:49] I did want to point
of clarification
[1:11:52] this resolution 6226
with the mayor serving
[1:11:56] as a board of
directors member, we
[1:12:00] wanted to pass along the
resolution to council
[1:12:02] without a consideration
from the mayor
[1:12:06] as supporting or
not supporting it,
[1:12:07] but wanted to make sure that
council knew that this request
[1:12:10] came in and for you
all we wanted to pass
[1:12:14] along the vote to you all.
[1:12:16] As for consideration, a
couple items we have not
[1:12:22] and the three bullet points
for six South Street.
[1:12:27] I do not believe we have
provided an abatement in
[1:12:32] the past for that property tax.
[1:12:35] And then the final
item, I believe
[1:12:38] this would be the only
nonprofit or any business
[1:12:42] that would receive an
abatement for solid waste
[1:12:45] or recycling fees.
[1:12:46] We currently do not waive
that for anybody else
[1:12:49] except for the Eastern
volunteer fire department.
[1:12:56] So just wanted to give some
context to the request.
[1:12:59] We've given tax abatements
in the past to habitat.
[1:13:02] Habitat for, I think,
construction projects and some
[1:13:04] of the homes when they're under
construction, the second one
[1:13:06] does fall in line
with what we've
[1:13:08] done before with some properties
under renovation or rehab.
[1:13:12] 
[1:13:15] And was there a
specific reason why
[1:13:18] neighborhood service center
is asking for it this year
[1:13:21] versus in past years.
[1:13:24] I did not get any
additional information
[1:13:26] minus the letter that's attached
in the packet for the request.
[1:13:31] And with the mayor not
being able to be here,
[1:13:33] there might have been a
secondary conversation,
[1:13:35] but it did not come to me
through the executive director.
[1:13:39] They do have a new
executive director,
[1:13:41] so maybe he's just trying
to look at other avenues
[1:13:44] to save money.
[1:13:47] Just basically just I don't
want to speak for the director
[1:13:50] of the neighborhood
service center,
[1:13:52] but I do participate with
them on a separate task force.
[1:13:55] And we had a meeting last week
and he reported that they've
[1:14:00] had quite a bit of funding
cut from the state for a lot
[1:14:02] of the work they do to help
support low income and unhoused
[1:14:07] and folks who need assistance.
[1:14:11] And so to your
point, MS Vandenberg,
[1:14:14] I expect maybe this
is to help maybe
[1:14:16] offset some of those cutbacks
they're getting so that they can
[1:14:20] continue to provide
funding to support
[1:14:23] their clients and customers,
residents around town,
[1:14:27] but I don't know.
[1:14:28] 
[1:14:31] Any other comments or
questions at this point
[1:14:33] in time about
resolution number 6226,
[1:14:37] which is eligible for
a vote this evening.
[1:14:41] Just a question.
[1:14:41] Will we be taking a vote now or
during the legislative session.
[1:14:45] We're on the yeah we're at it
are in the legislative session.
[1:14:48] Yeah I have great
concerns about.
[1:14:51] 
[1:14:55] Tax abatements coming
in through the back door
[1:14:58] for any form of basically
for any purpose whatsoever.
[1:15:04] I think that that's something
that we need to examine
[1:15:07] as a policy prior to starting
to give those exemptions one
[1:15:13] place or another.
[1:15:14] Certainly the issue of whether
we should subsidize low income
[1:15:20] housing, the construction
of low income housing,
[1:15:23] or the offering of
low income housing
[1:15:25] was not something that there
was universal agreement
[1:15:29] on in the Affordable
housing task force.
[1:15:33] Some of us, including
me, do not think
[1:15:37] that there is a groundswell
of voter support
[1:15:42] for are having other taxpayers
pay for the cost of low income
[1:15:47] housing, which is
essentially what
[1:15:49] a property tax abatement does.
[1:15:51] It means the town is
collecting less money
[1:15:54] from those structures
that are designated
[1:15:58] for low income housing.
[1:16:00] And the only way to
cover our cost of service
[1:16:03] is to have taxes higher
than they would otherwise
[1:16:06] be for the rest of the town.
[1:16:09] Approving one application
for that after another.
[1:16:13] And this is certainly not
the only nonprofit group
[1:16:16] that provides housing for low
income, special needs recovery.
[1:16:24] Other things I would
oppose having us
[1:16:28] suddenly start granting
those exemptions Willy nilly,
[1:16:32] without having a substantial
discussion of whether it
[1:16:36] is the policy of the
town to subsidize
[1:16:39] low income housing or not.
[1:16:42] Can I make one point
of clarification.
[1:16:45] Before I meant I referred to the
loss in funding at the level.
[1:16:50] I misspoke.
[1:16:51] The state level has not reduced.
[1:16:52] It's the federal level of
funding that's reduced.
[1:16:54] But I just while I
have the mic, I. One
[1:17:01] question I seem to
recall last year, there
[1:17:04] was some financial
related decision made
[1:17:07] related to the neighborhood
service center.
[1:17:09] I can't remember if it was
something about providing them,
[1:17:11] helping supplement
their funding or I
[1:17:14] can't remember what that was.
[1:17:15] I don't know if I feel
like something came
[1:17:16] from the Affordable housing fund
to make a contribution to them,
[1:17:20] and I can't remember the
exact amount that was done.
[1:17:23] They came asking for
a lot, and I think
[1:17:25] and it came from the
Affordable, the discussion was
[1:17:27] from the Affordable housing.
[1:17:28] Yes OK.
[1:17:29] And then just to the point
by Doctor Montgomery,
[1:17:31] I'm not opposed to trying
to get more information
[1:17:34] about these requests,
just given the fact
[1:17:36] that it's the organization.
[1:17:41] I think it's
deserving of support.
[1:17:43] But I think just to the
point of other organizations
[1:17:46] who might need support
as well and might
[1:17:48] be coming to ask for
abatements, it's something
[1:17:49] that we should maybe
talk more about,
[1:17:51] get more information about.
[1:17:52] I don't but this is
not the first time
[1:17:55] that we've given abatements.
[1:17:57] I mean, we've done
this previously,
[1:17:59] so there's already precedent
for giving abatements.
[1:18:05] I hear you when you say you're
not going to subsidize the poor,
[1:18:08] but all of us
subsidize the poor.
[1:18:12] And so I hear you on one
hand, but the relative,
[1:18:20] my understanding is it
would be most difficult
[1:18:22] for some people even
to live in the town
[1:18:25] because they can't afford it.
[1:18:27] I mean, so is the town going
to be inclusive of everybody
[1:18:30] or if you're poor, you
can't get any help.
[1:18:34] And I think the neighborhood
housing is doing a good job
[1:18:37] of helping people who
live in the town of Easton
[1:18:41] and abatements have.
[1:18:43] We've already set precedent.
[1:18:45] We've given abatements ever
since I've been on the council.
[1:18:50] And it wasn't just for
neighborhood housing,
[1:18:52] it was for other organizations.
[1:18:54] So I don't know where
we look for information,
[1:18:58] but I know we've
given abatements
[1:19:00] and we have voted on it.
[1:19:02] And I hear all my
colleagues comments,
[1:19:04] but the precedent
has already been set.
[1:19:08] I'd like to know specifically
what those abatements
[1:19:11] were granted for.
[1:19:12] I do know that we have a number
of developers who are saying
[1:19:16] they will put some
low income units
[1:19:18] into what they were building.
[1:19:20] I would hate to think
that we're setting
[1:19:22] a precedent that builders get
tax abatements from the town,
[1:19:27] because to set a precedent for
giving developers tax abatements
[1:19:33] for properties that they develop
and because of our insistence
[1:19:39] on having some low income
housing or affordable housing
[1:19:46] put in that they
then turn around
[1:19:48] and say, OK, we'll be happy
to do what you are telling
[1:19:50] us to do, but now
you have to put
[1:19:52] the money back in our pockets.
[1:19:54] I think if we are
going to have a policy
[1:19:56] toward affordable housing, it
needs to look in an integrated
[1:20:00] way about whether we want to
have the developer pay the cost
[1:20:04] or whether we want to spread
it across the taxpayer.
[1:20:07] Once again, I see
this as a potentially
[1:20:13] precedent setting
event for housing
[1:20:16] for low income households.
[1:20:18] And I think we need to
think very carefully
[1:20:20] about whether we want
to start to make that
[1:20:24] a part of the town's budget.
[1:20:29] All right.
[1:20:30] A couple of things.
[1:20:32] One, in speaking
with what Reverend
[1:20:35] Davis had mentioned about.
[1:20:36] We've done tax
abatements in the past.
[1:20:38] The habitat for humanity.
[1:20:40] Those were abatements while
those buildings were being
[1:20:44] built. But once they
were done, and I
[1:20:46] would like it to be checked to
make sure I'm correct on this.
[1:20:49] Once they were done
that those abatements,
[1:20:51] we did not renew
those abatements.
[1:20:53] It was just for
that year or two.
[1:20:55] While the construction
was sometimes while
[1:20:56] they were holding or in
the construction. right.
[1:20:59] That's typical.
[1:21:00] And just so that everybody
understands what we're talking
[1:21:02] about here is we're talking
about one residents,
[1:21:07] we're talking about undergoing
another piece of property
[1:21:12] for renovation.
[1:21:14] And we're talking
about the waste
[1:21:15] and recycling fees
for the Office
[1:21:17] of neighborhood service center.
[1:21:19] So those are the three
items that we're looking on.
[1:21:22] But I mean, I could be wrong
based on the conversations
[1:21:24] we're having.
[1:21:25] It sounds like people
want a little bit
[1:21:26] more information as far as
the abatements are concerned.
[1:21:31] And we can provide
additional information
[1:21:33] on previous decisions
that we've made.
[1:21:35] We can also withdraw this or
remove it or not have a vote
[1:21:39] and come with something
that's more overarching.
[1:21:42] That wouldn't specifically
be to a singular property.
[1:21:45] Again, I do think
this is singular
[1:21:46] in nature for my own personal
comments, and we need to.
[1:21:51] It's probably better to
think about it holistically
[1:21:54] on how we would want to
address some of these items
[1:21:57] before I am evaluating each
individual letter that comes
[1:22:02] to me and I give to
you for consideration,
[1:22:05] I do want to make
one additional point.
[1:22:07] I said earlier, the only
person who doesn't pay
[1:22:09] is East of volunteer
fire department.
[1:22:11] Eastern utilities also does
not pay for trash services.
[1:22:14] There's only two.
[1:22:15] 
[1:22:19] Any other comments, questions.
[1:22:22] Thoughts at this point
in time, MS Curry,
[1:22:27] I feel obligated to say that
I have to disagree with Doctor
[1:22:33] Montgomery's initial statement
that this was a request
[1:22:38] coming through the back door.
[1:22:40] And I take exception to that.
[1:22:43] This letter came
to us the same way.
[1:22:46] All the other letters have come.
[1:22:48] And I've known Andy Hollis
for almost 40 years,
[1:22:55] and he's an upstanding,
good man who's
[1:22:57] trying to help his community.
[1:23:00] And I don't disagree with
the fact that we need
[1:23:04] to take a holistic approach
in looking at how if we
[1:23:12] and can we support affordable
housing in a meaningful way
[1:23:17] in this town.
[1:23:19] 
[1:23:22] So let's do it.
[1:23:25] Thank you.
[1:23:26] So it sounds like Mr. Rankin.
[1:23:29] I mean, just to piggyback on MS
Curry, I agree with her comments
[1:23:33] and in spite of wanting to
understand more about this
[1:23:37] and wanting to consider
this holistically,
[1:23:40] I have learned in recent months
how important the neighborhood
[1:23:43] service center is
to our community
[1:23:45] and to the people of our
community who need this support.
[1:23:48] And so I believe they're
a worthy organization
[1:23:53] that does deserve support.
[1:23:56] But I also agree that this
needs a little bit more time
[1:23:58] to consider and
discuss and understand
[1:24:01] better some of the precedents
that have come before.
[1:24:05] It has come in as a one
off thing, which I think
[1:24:07] is important to evaluate rather
than just blanket waving things.
[1:24:11] So I think everything is case
by case is important right now.
[1:24:15] And so I just wanted to make
those additional comments.
[1:24:19] So it sounds like
we're not going
[1:24:20] to have a motion on
resolution 6226 this evening.
[1:24:25] OK my thing is why have
affordable housing task force.
[1:24:29] I mean, are we just
perpetrating a fraud.
[1:24:32] We're saying that we
really want to help out
[1:24:34] people who are less fortunate.
[1:24:36] Is that the real reality.
[1:24:38] I mean, we've been kicking this
can down the road a long time.
[1:24:42] We've come up with
all kinds of answers
[1:24:46] that affordable housing,
attainable housing,
[1:24:49] things of that nature.
[1:24:50] And that housing
hasn't helped anyone.
[1:24:53] If we really want to fix the
affordable housing problem
[1:24:56] in the town, let the town
go buy a piece of land,
[1:24:59] and then we build it and
then we can deal with it.
[1:25:03] Or we as an organization
say that we're going to give
[1:25:06] x amount of dollars to whoever.
[1:25:08] And as we write
some kind of policy
[1:25:11] that we don't get
ourselves in trouble,
[1:25:13] that we're inclusive and
fair across the board.
[1:25:16] I agree with Councilwoman
Curry, the neighborhood housing
[1:25:21] services help a lot of
people that need help,
[1:25:25] that need that
helping hand to get
[1:25:27] them to where they need to be.
[1:25:29] Some people struggle just
for a short period of time,
[1:25:32] but they just need that boost
to get them to the point
[1:25:35] where they're taxpaying citizens
giving back to our community.
[1:25:39] I just don't want to
overlook that part
[1:25:43] as we look for some policies
that we can all live by.
[1:25:49] So any other comments.
[1:25:56] All right.
[1:25:58] 
[1:26:01] All right.
[1:26:02] Moving on to
ordinance number 861,
[1:26:05] an ordinance of the town of
Easton amending chapter 28,
[1:26:08] zoning of the town code
Mr. Thomas, welcome back.
[1:26:11] Thank you.
[1:26:12] Thank you.
[1:26:13] 
[1:26:16] This will be an opportunity for
anybody here on the council.
[1:26:19] Has any questions Mr.
Thomas, regarding ADUs.
[1:26:24] So I'm not.
[1:26:25] I'm concerned about why it's
not a special exception.
[1:26:31] I have quite I have
concerns about that.
[1:26:33] I think that the
individuals in our community
[1:26:36] have a right to have a voice.
[1:26:38] If they wake up to somebody
that has built something 75%
[1:26:44] the capacity of their house.
[1:26:46] I think it's fair and
prudent that individuals
[1:26:49] in the community have a
say, just that they come
[1:26:53] and it's a check off Mark.
[1:26:55] I don't think that's acceptable.
[1:26:57] I think our community
deserves to have
[1:27:00] a voice when it comes to this.
[1:27:02] And then secondly, you
said something about
[1:27:04] and I don't get me wrong.
[1:27:06] Adu OK.
[1:27:07] Maryland law.
[1:27:08] I'm not against any of that.
[1:27:10] But when it comes to the town,
we can put in our own criterias.
[1:27:16] And special exception
is one of them,
[1:27:19] because we want to look
at what you're doing
[1:27:22] and put an extra eye on
it, not just let it happen.
[1:27:27] I'm quite concerned about that.
[1:27:29] But then you said
something about how
[1:27:30] this helps affordable
housing or something
[1:27:33] with affordable housing.
[1:27:35] Say that back to me again so I
can get some clarity on that.
[1:27:39] So I think part of the rationale
for suggesting it be an outright
[1:27:45] permitted use, rather than a
special exception, is obviously
[1:27:48] that's an easier process.
[1:27:51] Special exception is not a
overly burdensome process,
[1:27:56] but it is an additional
process, including
[1:27:59] more time and an application
fee associated with it.
[1:28:05] So if this is a relatively
low bar to affordable housing,
[1:28:13] the thought was, well,
let's remove any.
[1:28:19] Potential barriers
to that happening.
[1:28:22] Yeah I just I'm not
quite sure I can
[1:28:26] buy into that
affordable housing piece
[1:28:29] just because it makes
it easier to flow.
[1:28:33] We haven't even solved
the affordable housing
[1:28:34] piece as of now.
[1:28:36] And now this is going to
be some kind of lead way
[1:28:39] for affordable housing.
[1:28:40] What we need to do is stop
using affordable housing.
[1:28:43] If we're really not going
to really anchor into what
[1:28:45] affordable housing is.
[1:28:47] I'm done talking.
[1:28:48] But the special exception it has
to be in there because I think
[1:28:53] the citizens in our community
have a right to know what's
[1:28:56] going on in their communities.
[1:28:58] It would be horrible that you
wake up one day and then bam,
[1:29:03] that could be catastrophic.
[1:29:04] So in my opinion,
that's where I'm at.
[1:29:07] I'm done.
[1:29:08] Doctor Montgomery, I
agree with every word
[1:29:10] my colleague Reverend Davis has
said up to this at this point.
[1:29:14] In addition, I see nothing in
any of these regulations that
[1:29:20] suggest that these ADUs would
be offered at anything except
[1:29:24] market rates, and 75%
of a $500,000 house
[1:29:32] is a 350,000 $400,000 house.
[1:29:35] I see nothing in this that gives
us any expectation that it would
[1:29:40] be an affordable unit, and
taking away a $100 fee and $500
[1:29:45] in legal expenses
is going to make
[1:29:47] the difference between
affordable and not affordable.
[1:29:51] Now, I've many other things
I'd like to bring up,
[1:29:54] but I just wanted to step
in at this point to support
[1:29:57] what Reverend Davis said.
[1:30:00] Any other comments.
[1:30:01] I offer my take on it.
[1:30:04] I don't necessarily
disagree with what
[1:30:07] my colleagues have said so far.
[1:30:08] But from a conceptual,
affordable housing perspective,
[1:30:16] there's no one thing that's
going to solve the crisis.
[1:30:21] There's not one thing.
[1:30:21] There's not one single
thing we can do to just all
[1:30:23] of a sudden address the issue.
[1:30:25] ADUs were in the attainable
housing task force report
[1:30:30] as one of a number of
options and proposals
[1:30:34] to try and address
this in different ways.
[1:30:38] My view of an ADU in
this context, and I
[1:30:41] know some folks I've
talked to some folks who
[1:30:44] are interested in this concept.
[1:30:46] We have aging people
living in their houses,
[1:30:52] and they have property that they
might want to build a smaller
[1:30:56] dwelling unit so they
can move into that
[1:30:58] and have their child take over
their house and use that land
[1:31:06] so that they're
making more use of it.
[1:31:08] And whether or not that
unit is affordable,
[1:31:11] I think in that
case, is addressing
[1:31:13] another aspect of our housing
challenge that we have here.
[1:31:16] And so you're potentially
creating opportunities
[1:31:19] to folks to be more flexible and
make more use of their property.
[1:31:24] I'm also a little concerned.
[1:31:26] I think we need to talk more
about the special exception
[1:31:28] process.
[1:31:29] But if you buy a property,
it's your expectation
[1:31:32] that you can do some
things with your property
[1:31:34] and to be told that you
can't or that you have
[1:31:37] to go through some
special exception
[1:31:39] to build something
on your property
[1:31:43] could devalue one's view of
or it could lessen their view
[1:31:46] of the value of their property.
[1:31:48] So I need to think
more about that.
[1:31:49] But just something
that came to my mind
[1:31:51] with that, so I hear what
you all are saying about it,
[1:31:57] and I hear your
concerns, and I do
[1:31:59] want the community to be
aware of what's going on
[1:32:01] and be comfortable about what's
going on in their neighborhoods.
[1:32:03] But my recollection
and my view of ADUs
[1:32:08] is it's one tool
in a toolbox to try
[1:32:11] and address some of the housing
challenges we have in town.
[1:32:14] And so I just take a little
bit different view on it.
[1:32:20] I will echo that because
and I'll bring it home.
[1:32:25] I would love to put
an on my property
[1:32:28] that I could live in, and
bring my nephew and his family
[1:32:31] back to Easton,
where he grew up.
[1:32:35] He's been in the Navy
for almost 20 years now.
[1:32:39] They want to come home
with their children
[1:32:41] and raise their children here.
[1:32:42] They can't afford to
buy a house in Easton.
[1:32:45] But if I give them my house
and I build a little ADU
[1:32:48] in my backyard,
then they can come
[1:32:50] and I can play with my great
nieces and nephews all day long.
[1:32:54] I think that's kind of cool.
[1:32:55] I do not think I should be
able to do that without letting
[1:32:58] my neighbors know.
[1:33:00] How do we accomplish that.
[1:33:02] Because I would never want
to put I don't care if it's
[1:33:05] two bedroom little
bungalow I'm putting on
[1:33:08] and I got plenty of property.
[1:33:10] I wouldn't do that to my
neighbors, I really wouldn't.
[1:33:13] I've lived there
almost 40 years,
[1:33:14] so there's no way
I'm going to do that.
[1:33:17] But that's an example.
[1:33:19] That's just and I think that's
what this whole concept is all
[1:33:25] about.
[1:33:26] It is an affordable I don't need
a four bedroom, three bath house
[1:33:29] anymore.
[1:33:30] I need a little bungalow.
[1:33:31] But I would love to
stay in my neighborhood.
[1:33:33] So how cool is that.
[1:33:34] It's a win-win.
[1:33:36] So that's just my take on it.
[1:33:38] But again, should not be allowed
to do that without talking
[1:33:41] to my neighbors.
[1:33:43] Yeah Doctor Montgomery,
anything else.
[1:33:46] Yes several things.
[1:33:47] The first one is that I
think many of my concerns
[1:33:50] would be taken
away at this point
[1:33:51] if we simply kept it
as a special exception.
[1:33:55] Because I think the
use that MS Curry wants
[1:34:00] to make of it and
your willingness
[1:34:02] to consult with
your neighbors, it's
[1:34:03] exactly what a special
exception is there
[1:34:05] for, and good reasons that the
neighbors and others can accept.
[1:34:11] I think we'll always
work in that process.
[1:34:15] As far as this being something
in our toolbox for dealing with
[1:34:18] affordable housing, I
think that's saying,
[1:34:21] I'm going to go out
and buy a screwdriver
[1:34:24] so that I can fix my entire
$15,000 air conditioning system.
[1:34:28] It's just so trivial
that I do not
[1:34:31] see it without and without
direction that I don't see
[1:34:34] it making a great difference.
[1:34:36] Certainly not any difference.
[1:34:38] If we are debating
the difference
[1:34:40] between a special
exception and permission.
[1:34:44] I'd like to change
the subject a bit
[1:34:46] though, because it disturbs
me that we are reacting here
[1:34:51] to both what the
requirements of the state are
[1:34:55] and what some recommendations
of Realtors are.
[1:34:58] So I'd like to know exactly
what wording in here
[1:35:02] is mandatory for
the state, and what
[1:35:04] wording is trying to go along
with what the realtors want, 31.
[1:35:08] Because I would reject, I would.
[1:35:10] We have to accept.
[1:35:11] First we need to ask
ourselves, why would
[1:35:13] we want to do the latter.
[1:35:15] I represent a Ward which
has three very large
[1:35:22] and one moderate sized
homeowners association.
[1:35:26] None of them want to see
ADUs within their homeowners
[1:35:29] association.
[1:35:31] They want to be able to retain
some vestige of their ability
[1:35:35] to define the community the way
it was originally conceived.
[1:35:40] And so I'm always going
to advocate for that.
[1:35:43] And therefore, I want to know
what is the absolute minimum
[1:35:46] the state requires us to do.
[1:35:48] Because I think that's
what I am obligated
[1:35:50] to argue for my constituents.
[1:35:53] And just a final
conceptual point.
[1:35:55] I think we always have
to challenge the notion
[1:35:58] if I have property
rights, I should
[1:35:59] be able to do anything I want.
[1:36:01] That is absolutely false.
[1:36:04] The whole idea of
zoning is to tell
[1:36:07] people what it is that they can
and cannot do on their property.
[1:36:11] As a matter of how it is
going to conform to the needs
[1:36:19] of the rest of the community.
[1:36:21] My property rights.
[1:36:23] My rights end where yours start.
[1:36:25] And that is true of everything.
[1:36:27] And the notion that I get
irritated if I have to go
[1:36:31] get a permit for a shed, but I
understand the reason for it.
[1:36:35] I certainly do not think that
my property rights give me
[1:36:40] the right to develop, to
add additional housing
[1:36:43] on my property.
[1:36:45] That's what the developers
would like us to believe,
[1:36:51] so that they can go out
and sell their property
[1:36:53] at the maximum amount
they can get for it
[1:36:56] and build the maximum
amount of housing on it.
[1:36:59] And that's not the kind
of town I want to see.
[1:37:02] And that's not the
kind of development
[1:37:04] I want to see Mr. Thomas.
[1:37:07] It sounds like from
the conversation
[1:37:09] this evening that I think
there's some people.
[1:37:11] I think there's definitely
a consensus on the idea
[1:37:15] of a special exception.
[1:37:17] But also, if you could.
[1:37:20] We can look up.
[1:37:24] What is it.
[1:37:25] Housing bill.
[1:37:26] I wrote it down.
[1:37:28] 1466 I know we
could look that up.
[1:37:31] But if you could
share with us, I
[1:37:33] think sounds like
from a couple people
[1:37:35] what the requirements actually
are from housing bill 1466
[1:37:40] to see that.
[1:37:40] Yeah, and that doesn't have
to wait till the next meeting.
[1:37:44] No, I can do that.
[1:37:46] Yeah OK.
[1:37:47] Yeah I think the important
point about the homeowners
[1:37:49] association, I think
that in the bill or not.
[1:37:52] If that's not in
the bill, then I
[1:37:53] think that's something
that we should
[1:37:55] tell the homeowner in the bill.
[1:37:57] If I remember, I'm sorry.
[1:37:58] Does address the homeowners
association in their addresses.
[1:38:00] The size addresses
a couple things.
[1:38:02] Yeah, it does say in there
that what was the term
[1:38:05] miss Vandenberg we were using
before when it came to there
[1:38:08] was some kind of unreasonable
limitation, unreasonable
[1:38:11] limitations.
[1:38:12] That's what it was.
[1:38:13] There's also Maryland
Department of planning
[1:38:15] has a frequently asked
question regarding ADUs
[1:38:17] that I think is very helpful.
[1:38:19] So we can send that a link
along with the explanation.
[1:38:22] Yeah, that would be great.
[1:38:23] What's the housing bill number.
[1:38:25] State 1414 1414 1614 6666.
[1:38:29] Thank you Mr. Thomas, thank
you, as always, for your work.
[1:38:39] And for putting up with us.
[1:38:41] Thank you.
[1:38:43] My pleasure.
[1:38:44] And obviously, again,
we're keeping this open.
[1:38:46] So folks at home you want to.
[1:38:48] 
[1:38:52] Contact the town and share
your thoughts and concerns.
[1:38:54] You may do that as well.
[1:38:55] And of course, we'll have it
open for the next meeting.
[1:38:58] Yeah thank you to
the folks that have
[1:38:59] already reached out with some.
[1:39:01] Absolutely yes.
[1:39:04] All right.
[1:39:05] Moving on to
ordinance number 862,
[1:39:07] an ordinance of
the town of Easton
[1:39:08] granting the application of
Lowe's home centers, LLC,
[1:39:11] formerly Lowe's home centers,
incorporated, for a planned unit
[1:39:15] development Amendment
under the provisions
[1:39:18] of the Easton zoning ordinance.
[1:39:20] Good evening.
[1:39:21] Good evening.
[1:39:22] My name is Todd Bartok, senior
construction manager for Lowe's
[1:39:26] home centers, LLC,
Mooresville, North Carolina,
[1:39:30] and I'm here to
seek the approval
[1:39:32] for the storage of outdoor
sales and display of trailers
[1:39:41] and sheds on that
portion just outside
[1:39:45] what we call the lumber yard.
[1:39:48] Thank you very much.
[1:39:49] First of all, for
coming this evening.
[1:39:52] We appreciate you being here.
[1:39:55] Normally when we had an
Amendment change or anything
[1:39:58] like that, we usually
have somebody come in
[1:39:59] and there wasn't anybody
here last meeting.
[1:40:01] So thank you for
making the trip.
[1:40:03] That was my fault. No,
no, no I apologize.
[1:40:05] I travel all over the
US and just missed it.
[1:40:08] No worries.
[1:40:08] And thank you very much for
making the time to be here.
[1:40:12] Does anybody I have a
couple of questions,
[1:40:15] and I'm not sure if they might
be able to be answered or not
[1:40:17] this evening, but does anybody
have any questions or comments
[1:40:20] about ordinance number 862?
[1:40:24] And if you remember,
I'm not sure
[1:40:27] if everybody was here for that.
[1:40:29] Yeah Mr. is there any way you
can put that up on the screen.
[1:40:34] Because we didn't have
it because there's
[1:40:36] a lot of the actual ordinance.
[1:40:38] Well, the maps, the
map and the layout.
[1:40:42] Yeah I lose.
[1:40:45] Give me one second.
[1:40:47] Who gave us that
presentation, Mr. mayor.
[1:40:50] There All right.
[1:40:52] Thank you.
[1:40:53] Joe I know it was you.
[1:40:54] Appreciate that.
[1:40:55] Joe could I ask just a
quick factual question
[1:40:58] while we're putting that up.
[1:40:59] Absolutely will,
what you're doing now
[1:41:01] change the function of any of
the rest of the buildings there.
[1:41:06] The garden center will stay
where the garden center is.
[1:41:09] The does not affect
anything, any
[1:41:13] of the existing improvements.
[1:41:15] All right.
[1:41:24] So, Joe, one of the
questions that I had had
[1:41:27] was about the screen between
the shop, the end of where
[1:41:34] the Lowe's building is.
[1:41:36] And then over to the Weiss,
formerly the Food Lion,
[1:41:42] used to be a Food Lion.
[1:41:43] Now it's Weiss.
[1:41:45] And that's one of the.
[1:41:47] So for those of you that
were not here because.
[1:41:50] Were you here.
[1:41:51] No, you weren't here.
[1:41:51] So I'd like our other my
fellow council members
[1:41:55] to see what Lowe's
is proposing as far
[1:41:59] as the screen screening goes.
[1:42:04] Well, do we have that.
[1:42:06] Do we have that.
[1:42:08] It might be on the laptop.
[1:42:12] Sorry, we're just
throwing this at you
[1:42:15] and I'll do a brief description.
[1:42:19] There it is.
[1:42:20] There we go.
[1:42:21] 
[1:42:26] That's better.
[1:42:27] 
[1:42:31] Does that work for everybody.
[1:42:32] Perfect so that's the current.
[1:42:34] That's the current view.
[1:42:35] Yeah, but this is rendering.
[1:42:39] Yeah those are.
[1:42:40] These are not there right now.
[1:42:42] And then this is the other.
[1:42:44] These are the proposed
right next to it.
[1:42:46] So they would be on
both sides of the area.
[1:42:49] No just the one just
the two different views.
[1:42:54] Yeah, two different
views you're getting.
[1:42:56] This is not our property.
[1:42:58] So we can't really
put anything on there.
[1:43:00] But that area there, we
would plan to screen.
[1:43:06] We're looking toward the
Lowe's building at this point.
[1:43:09] Yes OK.
[1:43:10] 322 OK.
[1:43:12] So we're screening it
along the public well,
[1:43:15] semi-public road,
which is the road
[1:43:17] that goes into Kroger circle.
[1:43:21] Correct OK.
[1:43:22] 
[1:43:25] In this view is if
you're at Lowe's looking
[1:43:28] back toward right Parkway.
[1:43:33] And right now, you seem to
have almost permanently had
[1:43:35] a large trailer sitting there.
[1:43:38] 
[1:43:40] That trailer moves
around the site.
[1:43:43] It's a preload site.
[1:43:45] So when someone comes in
and orders a large load,
[1:43:48] we'll load it on that and
then they'll haul it off.
[1:43:50] No, I meant the 50 foot 1.
[1:43:54] That's parked there
frequently, right behind
[1:43:57] where those trees will be.
[1:43:59] Are you speaking
of this one here.
[1:44:00] The trailer that's been there.
[1:44:02] I don't see anything
as big as what I know.
[1:44:05] It's pretty good.
[1:44:05] I don't have anything
out there permanently.
[1:44:07] Yeah, I know it has wheels, but
no, I mean, not in that area.
[1:44:12] That area there in front
of the lumber yard.
[1:44:16] We don't have anything
out there permanently
[1:44:18] that there that's shown there.
[1:44:22] Potentially I don't
believe it's there.
[1:44:24] Google Maps.
[1:44:25] Yeah I don't have a better.
[1:44:29] So it moves around the site
depending on parking available.
[1:44:33] OK talking about.
[1:44:36] Tractors any other
questions at this point.
[1:44:41] And again, since
we had two people
[1:44:43] who weren't here last time.
[1:44:44] Yeah I apologize because I've
also been trying to figure
[1:44:46] this out from the renderings.
[1:44:47] So the plannings would provide
a screen between where you're
[1:44:51] looking to do this and then
those parking spots there you'd
[1:44:55] be displaying right in here
in those parking spaces,
[1:45:00] you'd be displaying
sheds or whatever it
[1:45:01] is you want to be displaying.
[1:45:03] There's typically four to five
sheds that are display only.
[1:45:07] They're not.
[1:45:08] You can't actually
pick it up and buy it.
[1:45:10] It's a display.
[1:45:11] And then the others are
6 to eight actual pull
[1:45:16] behind uncovered trailers.
[1:45:19] They're utility trailers
that are for sale,
[1:45:22] so they range from depending
on the sale of them,
[1:45:26] anywhere from 5 to 10.
[1:45:29] So it's like an
outdoor sales floor.
[1:45:30] Is that a yes for those trailers
right there and then right now
[1:45:35] they're parking spots.
[1:45:36] So they would just be converted
to this outdoor showroom
[1:45:39] concept.
[1:45:40] Yes along this area here.
[1:45:42] 
[1:45:46] I don't believe we're
going all this far.
[1:45:48] Somebody else.
[1:45:49] That's enough.
[1:45:51] You're just taking
those first 10 spaces,
[1:45:55] and it won't impact
any of the circulation
[1:45:58] around the shopping center.
[1:45:59] It takes out that whole last
row of parking, which, I mean,
[1:46:05] which is not the people
who use those parking.
[1:46:06] No, because that whole side
is basically for contractors.
[1:46:12] Contractors and professionals.
[1:46:14] So it's separated from where the
retail customers park and go.
[1:46:23] It is those 10 spaces there
that we're talking about.
[1:46:27] OK from landscape island
to landscape island.
[1:46:32] And there's no
stipulation that's
[1:46:33] interrupted because
they don't take they
[1:46:36] don't exceed the parking space.
[1:46:39] They're actually
back about a foot.
[1:46:41] So they do not exceed
the length of the space.
[1:46:45] Correct the length
of the parking space.
[1:46:47] OK, so are they actually the
trailers are parked in a parking
[1:46:51] space, like head in.
[1:46:54] OK no.
[1:46:55] Their tail in their tail so
that you can hook up to it
[1:46:59] and drive it away.
[1:47:00] OK Got it.
[1:47:04] And then the sheds are
actually pushed back
[1:47:06] to the edge of the curb, back
towards the edge of the curb
[1:47:08] here because
they're on that end,
[1:47:11] but they're sitting
like in this area
[1:47:14] because they're not a
full depth of the parking
[1:47:16] stall, which is 18 feet.
[1:47:18] So there's plenty of
room for pedestrians
[1:47:20] to stand out in front of them.
[1:47:22] And how many sheds at
one time 4 to five.
[1:47:26] It all depends, of varying
sizes, I would imagine.
[1:47:30] Yes, but they're
more of a display.
[1:47:32] They're not.
[1:47:34] You're not going to bring
a 4 by 14 out there.
[1:47:36] You're going to have a display.
[1:47:38] So it'll be about 6 to
feet wide by 10 feet.
[1:47:43] OK anybody else with a question.
[1:47:51] I don't know if you're going to
be able to answer my question
[1:47:53] or not, but we had
a lot of residents
[1:47:55] that we're concerned about flock
cameras on Lowe's parking lot.
[1:47:59] There's three of them
in that parking lot,
[1:48:01] and I don't know if there's
somebody that would be
[1:48:04] a good person to contact
if we had questions
[1:48:06] about the use of flock cameras.
[1:48:08] It's the only place in
town that uses them.
[1:48:11] And so I think some residents
had some questions about them.
[1:48:14] I can put you in
touch with someone.
[1:48:16] That would be wonderful.
[1:48:17] I don't have that
individual's name with me.
[1:48:20] They're in AP, which
is asset protection.
[1:48:24] Gotcha so I can definitely are
they strategically located.
[1:48:29] I know there's one
on both ends of here,
[1:48:31] so I'm not sure if it is to
protect this new outdoor area.
[1:48:36] It's not to protect anything.
[1:48:39] It's reading license
plate as they come in.
[1:48:41] So we're trying to keep
those that have warrants.
[1:48:47] I mean, if you have a warrant
and it comes up, it'll flash it
[1:48:51] and it notifies the
police and they come over
[1:48:54] and we don't want a whole
bunch of people that
[1:48:57] are out there, known felons
that are out there trying
[1:49:01] to rob from us.
[1:49:02] But I know that the police
department, typically in some
[1:49:07] of our other
jurisdictions, are the ones
[1:49:08] who actually ask us to put
them in the parking lot,
[1:49:12] and we do that.
[1:49:13] And then we do have some
that we provide our own.
[1:49:17] So third party would you have
somebody we can reach out to
[1:49:22] and I'll send it to you.
[1:49:23] I'll actually send
it through, Joe.
[1:49:25] That'd be perfect.
[1:49:26] OK thank you very much for that.
[1:49:28] And if I understand
that correctly,
[1:49:29] this is a Lowe's policy, not
just like local to Easton,
[1:49:32] but this is something
that regional.
[1:49:35] Yeah I don't know
what the policy is.
[1:49:38] I'm sorry.
[1:49:38] That's fine.
[1:49:39] It's not in my purview, so
I can't really answer that.
[1:49:42] I don't want to say
anything stupid.
[1:49:44] Does anybody else
have any questions
[1:49:50] regarding the location.
[1:49:54] Anybody have any motion
or question or concerns.
[1:49:58] Are we taking any
questions from the audience
[1:50:01] at this point or no.
[1:50:03] The public hearing was closed.
[1:50:05] The public hearing is closed.
[1:50:06] Yeah you closed that
two meetings ago.
[1:50:08] Yeah you did.
[1:50:10] I'll move to approve
the Amendment.
[1:50:13] Second We have a motion
and a second to approve
[1:50:17] ordinance number 862.
[1:50:19] An ordinance of the town of
Easton granting the application
[1:50:22] of Lowe's home centers, LLC
for a planned unit development
[1:50:26] Amendment under the provisions
of the Easton zoning ordinance
[1:50:30] Mr. roff MS Murray.
[1:50:33] Yes Mr. Rankin yes.
[1:50:35] Doctor Montgomery.
[1:50:36] Yes Reverend Davis.
[1:50:37] Yes president.
[1:50:39] Yes thank you.
[1:50:42] Thank you for your time, sir.
[1:50:44] And if people did have comments,
they can, of course, make them.
[1:50:50] Let me get to public
participation.
[1:50:53] All right.
[1:50:54] Moving on.
[1:50:56] Ordinance number 863, we
have to set a public hearing
[1:51:00] for this ordinance number
863, an ordinance of the town
[1:51:02] of Easton adopting a temporary
moratorium on the application
[1:51:05] for approval of construction,
of expansion of process,
[1:51:10] processing of excuse me, or
issuance of the building permits
[1:51:14] for the operation of a data
center within the town of Easton
[1:51:17] for a period of 12 months,
pending consideration
[1:51:21] and adoption of revised
zoning ordinance provisions
[1:51:25] and such other legislation
as the town council may
[1:51:28] consider advisable to promote
the public health, safety,
[1:51:31] and welfare.
[1:51:32] So we need to set a
public hearing for this.
[1:51:34] Yes and for the next one.
[1:51:38] And for the next one.
[1:51:39] OK ordinance number
864, an ordinance
[1:51:42] of the town of Easton amending
the town of Easton zoning
[1:51:45] ordinance to create
the use data center
[1:51:47] and to provide
supplemental standards
[1:51:49] associated with the use.
[1:51:51] So the soonest we could
have a public hearing
[1:51:53] would be at your
September 8 meeting.
[1:51:56] There's time, I think,
to get an advertisement,
[1:51:58] because there's an
extra Monday in there.
[1:52:01] And it's going to
go to the planning
[1:52:03] commission for recommendation
that later this week.
[1:52:06] So there you will have that
before your public hearing
[1:52:09] if you did it on the eighth.
[1:52:10] 
[1:52:13] All right.
[1:52:14] With that, sir.
[1:52:16] All right.
[1:52:16] 
[1:52:19] All right.
[1:52:19] Moving on.
[1:52:21] Time for the public
participation and comments.
[1:52:24] Just like with
the public hearing
[1:52:25] can come up to the microphone
and share your concerns
[1:52:29] or questions with the council.
[1:52:32] I'll try to keep it to about
three minutes for an individual.
[1:52:35] Five minutes if you're
representing a group.
[1:52:37] We'd love to hear
from you again.
[1:52:38] Please come up to the podium
and share your name with us.
[1:52:42] You do not need to
share your address,
[1:52:43] but share your name with us.
[1:52:44] And what you're concerned
about is about the data
[1:52:58] center moratorium.
[1:53:00] It's public comment.
[1:53:01] So it could be about
whatever you want.
[1:53:03] You can come up to the podium.
[1:53:04] Sure hello, my name
is William Grant.
[1:53:13] I did not honestly expect for
a data center moratorium here,
[1:53:19] but I just want to express my
own personal support for it
[1:53:23] as typically data
centers, especially
[1:53:26] the more recent ones about AI.
[1:53:30] They require large amounts
of processing power and that
[1:53:34] and generate large
amounts of heat and noise.
[1:53:38] Because to cool the large
amount of processors in there.
[1:53:44] And that generally results
in a large quality of life.
[1:53:54] Cost to the residents
of this town.
[1:53:56] And as such, I don't believe
that a data center in Easton
[1:54:03] would be remotely close to
worth the quality of life
[1:54:07] and economic cost of it.
[1:54:09] That is all.
[1:54:10] Thank you.
[1:54:11] Thank you sir.
[1:54:12] 
[1:54:24] Any other public comments.
[1:54:26] Seeing none, move on
to committee reports.
[1:54:31] Anybody have any committee
reports for this evening.
[1:54:35] I do not.
[1:54:36] All right, then,
we'll move on to items
[1:54:38] by members of the
Council MS Curry.
[1:54:41] I don't have anything
this evening, Mr. Rankin.
[1:54:45] A couple of brief things.
[1:54:46] Thanks, as always, to everybody
who provided public comments.
[1:54:49] We appreciate those.
[1:54:50] And they're important
for our work.
[1:54:52] I want to continue to
lift up the Todd family.
[1:54:54] Family in Cambridge,
who lost their daughter
[1:54:56] last week in a car accident.
[1:54:58] I know that's impacted
a lot of folks,
[1:55:00] not only in Dorchester County,
but also Talbot County.
[1:55:02] So I want to continue
to lift up that family.
[1:55:04] And then finally, I wish
good luck and safe travels
[1:55:08] and semesters to
all those going off
[1:55:10] to school, returning to school.
[1:55:12] President Patel and
myself have daughters
[1:55:14] who are going off to
college this week,
[1:55:16] and it's our first, well,
this first one for me.
[1:55:20] So it's going to be a big
change and a big challenge.
[1:55:22] And so I just wish
all those kids going
[1:55:25] out to figure out who they are.
[1:55:27] Good luck and have a great time.
[1:55:30] Doctor Montgomery,
first of all, I'd
[1:55:32] just like to again congratulate
our youth baseball team.
[1:55:37] I am constantly impressed at
the ability of our local teams
[1:55:42] in this small town to win
state and larger championships,
[1:55:47] and we just have
a great and varied
[1:55:51] group of teens in high
school and players second.
[1:55:58] Again, I want to thank our Mr.
and Mrs. Van Amburg for taking
[1:56:05] on the task of sorting through
the issues at Easton club
[1:56:12] and MHC that have to do with
mowing of the grass, which I
[1:56:17] know has been a constant thorn
in the side of the residents
[1:56:21] there with issues of is it a
meadow or is it a golf course.
[1:56:26] And then with the many,
many issues and questions
[1:56:31] that have come up about
stormwater management there.
[1:56:35] And I think that
establishing that there
[1:56:39] is one point of
contact in the town
[1:56:42] to which complaints, requests,
suggestions should go.
[1:56:47] And similarly, one voice
coming back to answer questions
[1:56:50] in one consistent way is
going to do a great deal
[1:56:55] to make the community
more comfortable with
[1:57:00] where things are and
to move us forward
[1:57:02] for an ultimate resolution.
[1:57:04] So thank you for the
time that you put in,
[1:57:06] and thank you even
more for the time,
[1:57:08] you are going to be putting
into this in the future.
[1:57:12] Reverend Davis.
[1:57:13] So I want to make sure
that everyone understands
[1:57:16] the school is about to
start in our community
[1:57:19] and when school is in
session, be patient.
[1:57:23] Take your time.
[1:57:24] Traffic is heavy.
[1:57:26] And if you have some free time,
you pray for those two fathers
[1:57:30] down there that are
grieving, that their children
[1:57:33] are going to college.
[1:57:35] They'll probably save some money
from the food bill and all that.
[1:57:39] So we just want to
keep them in school.
[1:57:42] Starts for council
president Donna Vitello.
[1:57:46] So we just want to make
sure he stays safe.
[1:57:48] And I also want to speak
out against all this gun
[1:57:51] violence that's happening in our
world and even in our community.
[1:57:56] Senseless people are dying
because of gun violence.
[1:58:00] We need to seek some
answers to the Gun Violence
[1:58:03] that's going on in our country.
[1:58:04] So thank you, Reverend Davis.
[1:58:09] I also want to congratulate
again the Maryland State Junior
[1:58:13] League champions, and I
really want to share a big
[1:58:17] thank you to not only the
coaches, but the parents,
[1:58:19] having been on one of those
teams once before with my son.
[1:58:23] It's a lot of driving.
[1:58:25] It's a lot of extra practices.
[1:58:27] So the parents and
the coaches really
[1:58:31] thank you very much for
doing that for your kids.
[1:58:34] And just because everyone
else has said it,
[1:58:36] we do have school starting
on Monday here in town,
[1:58:41] dutchmans lane, peach blossom.
[1:58:44] 
[1:58:46] Glenwood thank you.
[1:58:48] Just keep those
locations in mind.
[1:58:50] Country school.
[1:58:51] They're on Goldsboro
high street with ST
[1:58:55] Peter and Paul Elementary.
[1:58:57] So just keep those locations in
mind out on Washington Street.
[1:59:00] There you go.
[1:59:00] There you go.
[1:59:01] Thank you.
[1:59:02] Just keep those places in mind
because it will definitely
[1:59:05] be different next week.
[1:59:08] And again, I know residents
in certain parts of town
[1:59:13] are hoping to see
changes occur, and hoping
[1:59:17] to see them maybe occur a
little faster than they are.
[1:59:19] But again, we are
making those changes.
[1:59:24] We are working towards it.
[1:59:25] And government is not
necessarily supposed
[1:59:28] to be moving fast all the time.
[1:59:30] We're supposed to take our
time and make sure we're
[1:59:32] doing the right things.
[1:59:33] So those things are
occurring though.
[1:59:36] And with that, I'd like to
take a motion to adjourn.
[1:59:39] Second All in favor.
[1:59:41] Aye good night everybody.
[1:59:44]