[0:21] good evening everyone and Welcome to our

[0:24] last meeting in 2024 December 17 2024

[0:30] uh director Fitz could you please do a

[0:33] roll call Mayor James here councilman

[0:37] Winkler here councilman trolinger presid

[0:42] councilwoman Bryant Ward pres councilman

[0:44] Jenkins pres Adam Mary you have a quorum

[0:48] thank you very much if you all could

[0:51] stand and join us in the Pledge of

[0:52] Allegiance

[0:55] please I PL allegiance to the flag from

[0:58] the United States of America

[1:00] and to

[1:10] thece thank you Council if you've had a

[1:13] moment to uh look over the agenda I will

[1:16] entertain a

[1:18] motion Madame mayor yes I move that we

[1:21] accept the December 17 2024 meeting

[1:24] agenda as presented thank you very much

[1:27] do I have a

[1:28] second second

[1:30] thank you any uh

[1:33] discussion all in favor please indicate

[1:35] by saying I I motion

[1:40] carries

[1:43] next we have answer that see needs to be

[1:49] no she okay next on the agenda is the uh

[1:54] approval of the minutes from the regular

[1:55] meeting I'm going to separate these out

[1:58] uh as two motions

[2:00] uh for the regular meeting of December

[2:02] 10th 2024 do I have a motion to accept

[2:05] the uh to approve the minutes from the

[2:07] regular meeting of December 10th 2024

[2:10] Madame mayor yes I move that we approve

[2:13] the meeting the regular meeting minutes

[2:15] of December 10th for 2024 as presented

[2:18] thank you very much do I have a second any

[2:22] discussion all in favor please indicate

[2:24] by saying I I I motion carries and if

[2:29] you've had a opportunity to look at the

[2:30] closed session uh minutes I will

[2:33] entertain a motion as well Madame mayor

[2:35] yes the December 10th Clos session

[2:39] meeting minutes need to be amended to

[2:41] remove Jay Gullo um as being in

[2:44] attendance he wasn't ask to attend and

[2:47] with that I I make a motion that we

[2:49] accept it with the corrections thank you

[2:51] very much do I have a mo uh second to

[2:55] accept the amended closed session

[2:57] minutes Madam mayor I second the motion

[3:00] to accept the amended minutes for the

[3:04] Clos session all right thank you uh any

[3:08] discussion all in favor please indicate

[3:10] by saying I I any opposed motion carries

[3:14] all right that brings us to our uh

[3:17] public comment if anybody would like to

[3:19] speak I ask that you state your name

[3:22] whether you live within the Incorporated

[3:24] Town limits and if you could limit your

[3:27] um talking points to 3 minutes that

[3:29] would be greatly appreciated any

[3:32] takers all right we'll go into our

[3:36] monthly reports first up is the finance

[3:40] uh Department M uh Miss

[3:47] Larson good evening Council any

[3:49] questions regarding the um monthly

[3:51] Treasures report all right I'll open the

[3:53] floor Council any questions go ahead

[3:57] thank you thank you Miss Lon um

[4:00] a couple questions

[4:02] um there's a um I'm not sure what page

[4:06] is but it's a there's a 25% variance in

[4:10] Year date with the sewer Enterprise fund

[4:12] I think it's uh the pie chart

[4:15] on page 20 one of

[4:20] 41 it's actually the spreadsheet in the

[4:23] pie chart the sewer are you referring to

[4:25] the capital

[4:27] outlay well the total expenditures yeah

[4:30] that that so it's the capital it's the

[4:32] projects we have two projects that are

[4:35] near completion we still have a few more

[4:37] items on the Southwest quadrant okay and

[4:39] um mod one those are coming to an end

[4:42] and that's why the decrease is

[4:44] there and then there another variance

[4:46] for stor Water Management of

[4:48] 88.6% and that's probably again the ms4

[4:52] on those projects

[4:55] okay all right any other questions for U

[4:59] Miss l

[5:02] thank you very much all right next up is

[5:06] Human Resources Director Kennedy any uh

[5:09] questions for director Kennedy's

[5:12] report mam mayor yes thank you director

[5:15] Kennedy has the RFP been put out for the

[5:19] town

[5:20] manager that was being um managed by the

[5:23] assistant Town manager and yes they are

[5:25] uh we are actively recruiting and taking

[5:27] first applications on January 20th

[5:30] okay are doing the first review I'm

[5:31] sorry the first review of applications

[5:33] on the 20th and we've received

[5:35] applications the search firm has yes

[5:38] okay thank

[5:41] you I'm G to do that question I'll just

[5:43] follow over the planning director any

[5:45] applications yet for the plan director

[5:47] position um I have not heard but it has

[5:51] gone out okay and then back to the town

[5:54] man how many applications have you

[5:57] receed have they received is there a

[5:58] number

[6:00] last week 24 24 okay thank

[6:05] you right any other questions answer

[6:09] mine thank you very

[6:11] much all

[6:14] right director Mossy on

[6:21] up any questions for uh

[6:27] inspections thank you for the thanks

[6:30] again and I know you're

[6:31] busy um several years ago there was a

[6:35] request to look at enhancing our code

[6:38] with a our our code Zone enforcement

[6:41] talking about a livability code and I

[6:43] know it's kind of Fallen because of

[6:46] different reasons is there any potential

[6:47] that we maybe we could revive that

[6:49] because I know I provided an example

[6:50] from Westminster Maryland not that

[6:53] that's the end all be all but maybe that

[6:55] can be a template for future

[6:56] consideration and I asked the question

[6:58] because uh there's

[7:00] another

[7:02] recurring let's to say trouble spot uh

[7:05] in in our neighborhood and this uh I I

[7:10] my idea would be perhaps if we beef up

[7:13] our enforcement actions we get greater

[7:15] compliance and perhaps have greater

[7:17] credibility with with the state's

[7:19] attorney and circuit court so I would

[7:21] just throw that out there absolutely

[7:23] it's my hope with the new planning

[7:25] director we have a fresh start a clean

[7:26] slate we can work on that livability

[7:29] code code and then the other couple

[7:31] issues that I noted on the monthly

[7:33] report okay um dealing with very minor

[7:35] issues um so we'll jump right in with

[7:39] the new director and get to work on the

[7:41] code thank you you're very welcome any

[7:44] other

[7:46] questions uh yes um I know we had a

[7:50] resident last week that came and you

[7:52] probably know about this because there

[7:54] was some further communication about it

[7:55] via email that expressed some concerns

[7:58] with

[8:00] um you know the development of Pine

[8:02] Grove and the effects thereof as far as

[8:05] sediment erosion and how the this

[8:09] particular developer has gotten in

[8:10] trouble in a different area of Maryland

[8:12] I'll be it um and I know um met a mayor

[8:17] I'm not sure if that was through

[8:19] capacity as um acting Town manager or

[8:24] not but regardless address those issues

[8:27] as far as it related to mde

[8:30] um compliance but I it it's come up a

[8:33] couple times where either councilman

[8:36] Jenkins because his Ward is

[8:38] affected or myself because of

[8:41] agricopia um have asked in the past of

[8:46] director Harrington or director stall

[8:48] when they were here do we have

[8:53] enough

[8:54] manpower on the town side to ensure that developments that are going up in

[9:02] our community are being watched and I

[9:07] know we can't uncover every rock or

[9:11] watch every nail being hammered in um

[9:14] but the response that councilman Jenkins

[9:16] and I had gotten in the past was look we

[9:19] use vendors everything's going fine I'll go drive over there and take a look

[9:25] kind of a thing um what can we do or

[9:30] what are we already doing to know that

[9:33] this is being taken care of or or does

[9:36] the town need more help in that aspect

[9:40] I'd like to know what your thoughts are

[9:41] yeah absolutely your Forte basically

[9:44] absolutely uh I know my personally

[9:46] myself and inspector clagett we're over

[9:48] there a whole lot uh we do our routine

[9:50] patrols through the neighborhoods

[9:52] keeping an eye on the construction I

[9:54] will say that uh when issues have come

[9:56] up over there um Dr Horton's very

[9:59] responsive uh and we've had us there's

[10:02] always going to be growing pains uh with

[10:04] any development anywhere um but they're

[10:07] very responsive uh they're very quick to

[10:10] address any

[10:11] issues um and it it it from my

[10:14] standpoint being over there every day um

[10:18] it's going pretty smooth like I said

[10:20] there's always going to be

[10:21] hiccups um but I couldn't ask for a

[10:23] better crew over there to deal with any

[10:25] issues that come up so I have to give

[10:28] them credit where it's due

[10:30] um and as far as the coverage goes we

[10:32] are keeping a close eye on it uh plan

[10:35] check does an excellent job for us they

[10:37] report any issues that they see when

[10:38] they're in the field um so I'm very

[10:41] confident that um things will happen

[10:44] that we're not on site but we're quick

[10:46] to respond to it and um I don't see the

[10:49] need that we need any additional

[10:50] Personnel over there

[10:53] um it's it's actually running pretty

[10:56] good I know there's a lot of growth and

[11:00] I know even beside that you guys have

[11:03] lots of responsibilities on just

[11:05] existing structures existing um codes

[11:09] and so if there is a need um just let

[11:13] Council know because we don't obviously

[11:16] the the fix later on is going to be even

[11:19] more painful than the growing pains um

[11:23] and I guess maybe if there's any

[11:25] opportunity to see where we may be

[11:28] vulnerable mhm um that would be helpful

[11:31] I know um just growing up in Damascus

[11:36] seeing Clarksburg the way they developed

[11:40] too fast and they had

[11:42] inspectors but essentially they they

[11:45] just did whatever they wanted and then

[11:46] later on there were fines but at that

[11:49] point the whole character and community

[11:51] that was supposed to be put in place it was it was too late absolutely and

[11:57] I'm not saying we're at that point but

[11:59] it's something to just keep in mind you

[12:02] know as Council like we we want we want

[12:04] you to have what you need I appreciate

[12:07] that do you know what I mean absolutely

[12:08] thank

[12:11] you um you mentioned plan check do does

[12:13] plan check do site

[12:15] visits they or do they just do a rud I

[12:18] mean to cut off but or do they just do a

[12:20] preliminary like a plat approval you

[12:23] know um initially and

[12:26] then um do they do they do ongoing site

[12:29] throughout the sure they do have

[12:32] specific uh inspections that they go out

[12:34] to um but the inspectors at plan check

[12:37] have they we work great with them and if

[12:39] they see something in their travels uh

[12:42] they'll report it to me so essentially

[12:43] they're an extra set of OD absolutely

[12:47] okay I just have one F question that

[12:50] councilman TR brought up I just I just reminded that the previous plan

[12:55] director there she indicated they had

[12:57] monthly meetings with pine grve

[12:59] I believe that was the case so I don't

[13:00] know whether because of the turb I know

[13:02] that's still happening no I have not had

[13:05] any direct contact with but to your best

[13:08] recollection during those particular

[13:10] monthly meeting were there any red flags

[13:13] or issues or concerns that were raised

[13:15] not at all not at all um I again I have

[13:17] to give them credit uh deal with all all

[13:20] sorts of developers um but they run a

[13:22] pretty tight ship over there and um

[13:25] they've not given us any issues or any

[13:27] concerns they seem to be on top of

[13:29] things councilman Jenkins I'll address

[13:32] that we do still meet monthly um aon's

[13:37] not part of those meetings but the town

[13:39] manager is uh Kirk is on those meetings

[13:42] as well as far and the engineers are on

[13:46] there um there's several people on those

[13:49] meetings and we are meeting monthly so

[13:52] you don't I mean so I'll ask it again I

[13:55] mean there so there's no red flags or

[13:56] issues or indic

[13:59] or we had some back and forth things

[14:02] have gotten

[14:03] resolved okay thank

[14:06] you and I would just like to um end with

[14:09] you know it was great that Miss pinkis

[14:11] brought this concern to council because

[14:15] it gave not only us uh awareness of that

[14:20] others are watching what's going on in

[14:22] town but um our team was able to all get

[14:26] together and we spoke with mde and our soil and conservation Specialists uh

[14:32] storm water management the assits and

[14:34] town manager our our attorney and the

[14:37] developers attorney and the developer

[14:40] and I learned so much about the process

[14:43] and um Carrie was very responsive with

[14:45] mde she said nope this happens all the

[14:49] time and it's not unique to Pine grve

[14:52] and gave examples of other developments

[14:54] within our Incorporated Town limits that

[14:58] they may get some something that they're

[14:59] pinged on and immediately they fix it

[15:02] it's kind of like and she told me it's

[15:04] like a um punch list when you buy a new

[15:07] house you identified 10 things that may

[15:11] not be up to your standards and they're

[15:14] immediately addressed that doesn't mean

[15:16] that that has gone that's a black mark

[15:19] against them so it was a very

[15:21] educational thing for me as well and and

[15:24] appreciate all that you're doing big

[15:25] project with a lot of moving parts and uh the the important thing to me in

[15:30] inspections is if there's a problem how

[15:33] quickly do they address it and um and

[15:37] they they've been pretty successful at

[15:38] that with no push back so that's all I

[15:40] can ask right thank you and thank you

[15:43] very much for your hard work too all

[15:45] right

[15:52] Chief good evening mayor and councel uh

[15:54] any questions from the police report

[15:57] well first of all I don't like that

[15:58] you're in front of Kings Grant right now

[15:59] for the reason that you're in front of

[16:01] Kings Grant so prayers to everyone

[16:02] involved in that accident but thank you

[16:04] uh I understand on good authority that

[16:06] the traffic is moving through and uh you

[16:09] all are instrumental in that I'll open

[16:11] up the floor for uh comments thank you

[16:14] Madame mayor Chief in the um 21 22 23 we

[16:19] were having problems with retention and

[16:21] recruitment how are we doing with

[16:24] retention well we we have done fairly

[16:27] well with retention uh I I did get

[16:29] notice that one offer is going to be

[16:31] leaving this week but uh comparative to

[16:36] some of our other uh jurisdictions we

[16:39] haven't done too bad okay we we'd love

[16:42] to keep it that way okay uh any other questions uh yes it's

[16:49] just a comment uh Chief thanks for your

[16:51] report um I did want to thank you for

[16:54] the continued uh Community work uh with

[16:57] your officers and toys for to program

[17:00] and with the Maryland State Police um it

[17:03] really uh was touching to see the

[17:05] Departments locally get together um and

[17:08] affect the community the way that you

[17:10] did I know sometimes um even though

[17:13] everybody's trying to do the right thing

[17:15] it's hard to get everybody on the same

[17:16] page and um it was great to see that so

[17:20] thank you for your work in that um 21

[17:23] tons of food is a is a lot to pick up

[17:26] and there it's a lot of cans you better

[17:28] have some friends to help you along the

[17:31] way right um I did want to ask you as

[17:35] far as

[17:37] in this time of year typically we see

[17:41] kind of a decrease in a number of

[17:43] certain incidents and an increase of of

[17:46] incidents at the big box stores is that

[17:49] what we're seeing typically right now is custom for this time of year we're

[17:53] not seeing as being as busy as the big

[17:56] box stores and I think that has a lot to

[17:58] do with uh loss prevention rules that

[18:02] the box stores have placed on their

[18:04] folks who do their security uh we do

[18:07] find that when we do have things uh some

[18:10] places the officer will get there and

[18:12] they've already documented for this

[18:14] particular individual of interest that

[18:16] they've already had five 10 20 cases so

[18:20] when the officer does go they're there

[18:22] for the whole day writing a report or

[18:24] whatever but uh uh as the council knows

[18:28] a uh they helped us purchase a couple of

[18:30] the trailers that have cameras on them

[18:33] uh I know one's immobilized and the

[18:35] other one's going out and I think those

[18:38] uh help deter crime at our big box

[18:42] stores uh but you also have this time of

[18:44] year where domestics and mental health

[18:46] calls go up and there's it there's been

[18:49] no uh no slowing down in those sorts of

[18:51] calls for

[18:53] service um the other question was and

[18:56] Madam mayor mentioned it as actually the

[18:59] second time in what two two meetings

[19:02] where we've had a very serious Collision

[19:06] out near bath on

[19:08] 488 and you know that road is of course

[19:12] where some of council resides like we're

[19:14] off that road and it's a major thorough

[19:16] away and we have talked

[19:19] to um our Traffic Engineers along the

[19:23] way the last couple years about what do

[19:25] we need to do to get the attention of

[19:29] the state with regards to traffic coming

[19:32] in that area is there a report you guys

[19:35] can run as far as number of incidents

[19:38] that we can be looking at comparison

[19:42] wise for the data between current and

[19:45] maybe five years ago where we can

[19:47] present and packets at that that's

[19:49] actually pretty easy for us to generate

[19:51] through the uh Maryland State Police

[19:53] Collision uh system and uh they're

[19:57] really good about

[19:59] it all goes by coordinates now but uh we can do that I can tell you that I

[20:04] personally have walked from the area

[20:08] there where the traffic light is now all

[20:10] the way up to the entrance of Kings

[20:12] Grant with people from Sha citing the

[20:15] challenges that we have and uh I I know

[20:18] they have lots of projects and lots of

[20:19] other things but um when we have

[20:22] collisions there they're usually serious

[20:24] collisions I I don't know how bad the

[20:27] rollover was but tonight's in the roll

[20:29] over um thank you yeah just let us know

[20:32] when you get that together and you know

[20:35] Chief even something as simple as a

[20:37] putting um a reflective mirror up there

[20:40] is so they can see because

[20:43] usually uh the the accidents are because

[20:46] someone is turning and someone is going

[20:48] straight and that person coming out of

[20:50] the entrance is not they can't see that

[20:53] other car and that's usually what

[20:54] happens and I've been asking for that I

[20:57] didn't think that would be so difficult

[20:59] to provide I I remember that

[21:02] conversation in the Sha telling us that

[21:04] the mirrors were not something that they

[21:07] use as a a traffic cing device but uh I

[21:10] think as the council can see we had uh three fatal collisions in four days

[21:17] and our collisions I think it was last

[21:19] month we we really exceeded the number

[21:22] of collisions that we had year to date

[21:24] so uh uh it's things that we keep an eye

[21:26] on and we we do try to do traffic

[21:28] enforcement in those areas but the calls

[21:31] for service this time of year tend to

[21:33] keep our folks

[21:35] busy anything else but go ahead thank

[21:38] you Madame Chief is there anything we

[21:40] can do on Ken Avenue we've got a lot of

[21:42] kids that walk up and down there and I'm

[21:44] telling you folk are going at least 40

[21:47] miles an hour on Kent Avenue this one

[21:50] car came around yesterday and it was

[21:53] going so fast it bearded into the other

[21:54] lane something has got to happen because

[21:57] they are not observing that 25 miles an

[22:00] hour we can uh we can do two things we

[22:02] can do enforcement we can also put the

[22:04] speed trailer out to give us some sort

[22:05] of idea about car counts it and I know

[22:09] when they see the speed trailer the

[22:11] natural tendency is for people to slow

[22:12] down but it helps us pick up on the most

[22:15] active times of the day for that roadway

[22:18] because it gives us car counts and

[22:19] that's helpful for enforcement

[22:22] okay thank you just to concur with

[22:25] councilwoman Bryant Ward and councilman

[22:27] trer I mean we've talked about it and

[22:29] it's again happening in Clark's run I

[22:32] mean this morning this young lady I know

[22:35] where she lives must have gone 50 miles

[22:37] an hour down east pin and I'm walking in

[22:40] the street with two dogs and two other

[22:42] people anyway um so uh so I certainly

[22:46] concur that you guys are stretched

[22:49] because of the calls and enforcement is

[22:51] not it's one element of it so uh Ive

[22:55] I've still attempted to get the clock

[22:57] run citizens Association meet with you

[22:59] guys and I can't get them a date yet

[23:02] they haven't given me a date I'll reach

[23:03] out to them again because they're

[23:06] interested in doing that so and then

[23:08] we're happy to do so I know you are and

[23:10] I tell them that but I I can't drag the

[23:13] horse to water if they don't want to do

[23:14] it but I'll keep trying and then I know

[23:16] I forwarded to you and maybe the council

[23:19] different techniques for traffic

[23:20] neighborhood traffic coming that I

[23:23] believe as a council we should try to

[23:25] look at those as

[23:27] policies as part of either complete

[23:29] Street or or zero you know traffic zero

[23:34] because the state's now doing it and and

[23:35] so the other jurisdiction and I would

[23:37] just throw that out there for further

[23:39] discussion thank you we're happy to be

[23:41] part of that discussion thank you thank

[23:43] you Chief keep for great Work Director

[23:52] fips all right I will open the floor for

[23:55] any questions for director fips

[24:03] thank you keep up the great work and the

[24:05] great report all right um the planning

[24:11] do you want to take any questions uh

[24:14] since uh Celia might not be on but any

[24:17] questions for planning I will try okay

[24:22] go ahead I have thank you I have a

[24:23] couple questions uh in her report talks

[24:26] about reviewed rosewick scoping proposal

[24:29] I don't know what that is I don't that

[24:32] was the one that was the one I don't

[24:34] have any answer okay I'm sorry about

[24:36] that and then

[24:38] um what else I had something else I

[24:40] can't remember what it was oh um so and the there's a bullet about

[24:44] annexation oh the last one reviewed

[24:46] annexation restrictions draft Ordinance

[24:49] do you have any information about what

[24:50] that is um there's a rule now that when

[24:53] the zoning changes when and property is

[24:56] beinged from the county and the zoning

[24:58] there's a 5e wait right putting that in

[25:02] ordinance form we do not have that in

[25:04] ordinance oh you just going to

[25:05] institutionalize it in the order clean

[25:07] it up to the state law yes thank

[25:10] you any other

[25:12] questions go ahead thank you Madame

[25:14] mayor um so with all of the growth right

[25:19] how do we prepare as a town to increase

[25:23] our capacity to service all of the

[25:26] growth that we're experiencing is that

[25:28] something planning looks at you know I

[25:30] can't imagine that we could continue to

[25:32] maintain the town on the existing

[25:34] Staffing levels that we have additional

[25:37] homes you know additional trash how do

[25:40] we main how do we prepare for that type

[25:42] of growth well they do maintain all

[25:46] those figures they have to report those

[25:48] to the state department of planning each

[25:50] year the population growth they keep

[25:54] track of that the building permits and

[25:56] all of that

[25:59] that's something I would think we would

[26:01] talk about during the budget season and

[26:03] when we're doing our strategic

[26:06] planning and also if I can add on to

[26:09] that with the developers they are

[26:10] required to do traffic um reports they

[26:14] uh to they do impact reports as well to

[26:17] impact uh on the schools on the roads

[26:20] all of that that is all part of their

[26:22] package that they have to submit and you

[26:25] probably know better than I do because

[26:26] it comes to the Planning Commission uh

[26:28] and now we've got uh apfo that should be

[26:33] coming out in January that has been

[26:35] reviewed and written and U being

[26:38] reviewed so th that's how they do that

[26:40] they are required to do studies upon

[26:43] studies but that's not the question the

[26:45] question is for us as a town as a

[26:49] municipality infrastructure do we have

[26:52] the Staffing that's adequate to cover

[26:55] the services that we have you know we

[26:57] could cover you know know the smaller

[26:59] developments that most of the

[27:00] developments that we have are not really

[27:02] big I just noticed Pine grve has town

[27:05] homes on um rosewick and St Charles so

[27:10] how do we prepare when when we are

[27:12] looking at picking up trash with the

[27:14] number of um you know staff members that

[27:17] we have are we adequately going to be

[27:20] able to do that without over tasking

[27:23] them you know are they going to be

[27:24] picking up trash from sun up to sun down

[27:27] you know well that that it's going to be

[27:29] something we need to talk with each

[27:31] director about um Pine grve that example

[27:34] was one that um previous director um

[27:37] Garner was looking into yeah um those

[27:41] are things we're going to need to

[27:43] discuss yes the schools I'm not

[27:45] concerned about because I know that's

[27:46] going to happen but as a municipality

[27:49] we're confined by Resources by space by

[27:53] you know building capacity to sta staff

[27:56] and house them we only have so many

[27:58] garbage trucks so many people to work

[28:01] the garbage trucks and with time off and

[28:04] everything now just making sure that we

[28:06] are adequate to take care of those needs

[28:09] um one of the things we've always said

[28:11] we want to be able to provide the same

[28:12] level of service great service that we

[28:15] provided in the past and how do we make

[28:17] sure that we do that keep doing

[28:20] that go ahead ask I just want to add a

[28:22] comment g go

[28:25] ahead uh I had a question as to um so

[28:30] mayor James mentioned that the

[28:32] developers are required to of course

[28:34] provide impact studies whether it's

[28:37] traffic or environment or whatever

[28:41] um in our growth as I think a more

[28:47] mature municipality in getting a an

[28:51] engineer um that we begin to work with

[28:55] um is is there an opportunity for us to

[28:59] also have um maybe look at an

[29:03] independent entity that can

[29:06] evaluate traffic studies

[29:08] because um when someone is coming for an

[29:11] application and we've seen this multiple

[29:13] times for their own

[29:16] development it is not comprehensive as

[29:18] it relates to the other developments

[29:20] that are going up either simultaneously

[29:23] or close in time and unfortunately

[29:27] that's not how we live

[29:28] right so development on one side of town

[29:31] is certainly going to affect the traffic

[29:33] flow on the other and I've noticed that

[29:36] they all come back pretty clean and

[29:39] pretty non-disruptive and unfortunately

[29:42] six is not that way right and

[29:45] so uh just in what I do for a profession

[29:49] there are experts on multiple sides and

[29:53] unfortunately sometimes um they're paid in a way that supports

[29:57] their position position before it's

[29:59] written and I don't want to say that is

[30:01] what what happens but it's ripe for for

[30:04] that and so I would say like maybe as we

[30:08] work on kind of growing out and securing

[30:12] our infrastructure as councilwoman

[30:14] Bryant Ward discusses like making sure

[30:17] we can produce the services our

[30:19] residents need that we look at perhaps

[30:22] an

[30:23] independent traffic engineer at the same

[30:26] time um because that's they're going to

[30:29] have the town's best interest in mind as

[30:33] we evaluate and they can look for any

[30:36] vulnerabilities as to something produced

[30:38] by the developer not not to say ill

[30:41] intent but could happen no

[30:45] but any other questions go ahead thank

[30:48] you I I would concur with the previous

[30:50] comments by counciler and Council Bryant

[30:53] Ward

[30:55] um the other related issue I remember I thought in early in our term

[30:59] didn't we we did a sta a staffing

[31:02] analysis and study um so I'm going to

[31:06] make a big assumption that perhaps

[31:08] that's still somewhat valid and perhaps

[31:10] that can provide some guidance as we go

[31:12] into the budget season of what staffing

[31:15] needs we may or may not need in the

[31:17] future and then I would again throw out

[31:20] um which was proposed in last year's

[31:23] budget then it was

[31:25] removed uh uh an analys that's because

[31:29] land use patterns have a significant

[31:32] physcal impact on us

[31:35] infrastructure and and I know there was

[31:37] a budget item that was in the budget in

[31:40] FY 24 but for some reason it was removed

[31:43] in the current budget a $90,000 study to

[31:46] do a land use analysis of the impact of

[31:49] different land uses on our fiscal

[31:52] sustainability and I would again argue

[31:54] for that as well thank you all right

[31:59] last but not

[32:01] least acting

[32:04] director

[32:06] wood any questions for public

[32:10] works thank you you came prepared

[32:13] tonight with two little iPad

[32:15] huh he stepped up there looking like a

[32:17] director um question SMI um who monitors

[32:23] the lights for smco we have all around

[32:26] that our town the lights are out once

[32:29] before the light there was a a light out

[32:31] at the parking rod and um I work with

[32:35] Brent to get that light turned back on

[32:38] or bul replaced or whatever but we've

[32:40] got it all across you know the town

[32:43] where they're out and the base of some

[32:47] of the light poles are eroding and I'm

[32:49] afraid that they're going to topple over

[32:51] so who takes us who does that who looks

[32:53] at that um I'm not 100% sure if

[32:58] uh if we do that or if Smo is

[33:01] responsible

[33:03] for I don't believe Smo riding around

[33:05] looking to

[33:07] see I'll address that for you okay um

[33:11] smco is responsible for them but they do

[33:14] not they do not we have to report them

[33:17] we have to physically go out there and

[33:18] get the the there's a number on the

[33:21] light pole and report that to get it

[33:23] changed so I got to walk around steeple

[33:26] just and get the number

[33:28] we do that in King's grand for sure

[33:31] taking Brooklyn yes but we we report

[33:35] that just make out okay so the next

[33:39] question I can't remember who did it or

[33:42] why but they came through and that's

[33:44] when they were shaving the sidewalks

[33:47] down because the trees were uprooting

[33:50] them and making them an Mak them a trip

[33:52] Hazard so it must have stopped because

[33:56] we have all of these marking on the

[33:58] sidewalk and nothing's been done in over

[34:00] a year with those

[34:02] markings yes so we

[34:04] have a list of all the sidewalks in the

[34:08] town that uh need to be repaired or

[34:10] replaced and we're uh trying to come up

[34:12] with a contract to uh get all that taken

[34:16] care of

[34:17] okay so uh I was working with Kristen

[34:21] and uh we're going to put more detail

[34:25] into it so like if we have a contractor

[34:28] come out to uh look at it they're more

[34:31] aware what they're going to have to work

[34:34] with Okay and last question how are we

[34:37] on the meters are we at 100% yet because

[34:39] we were supposed to be 100% first year

[34:42] in we're in the high 90s I think it's

[34:46] like 97% so we probably never gonna hit

[34:49] 100% might as well just live with that

[34:51] 97% okay thank you so much all right any

[34:55] other questions just just a thank you

[34:57] cuz I

[34:58] know between leaf removal and water man

[35:02] breaks you'll probably be sick of me

[35:04] talking to you so I want I want to

[35:05] publicly say thank you for you guys

[35:07] going the asra exra effort and I as we

[35:11] talked earlier I tried to tell the

[35:13] community that there at times there are

[35:15] things that are beyond the control of

[35:16] the pl and Public Works namely the

[35:19] weather and the water main breaks and

[35:21] then sometimes priorities change like

[35:23] water system versus leaf leaf pickup so

[35:27] I appre appreciate you you and your

[35:28] staff doing that job thank you very much

[35:30] thank you all right good thank you very

[35:34] much all right so matters of council

[35:37] discussion pension Pension Plan update

[35:40] director

[35:44] Kennedy thank you mayor and councel um

[35:48] as requested I am putting together a

[35:50] separate uh memo here

[35:53] for uh where we are with the pension uh

[35:56] last month when I was here the the

[35:57] council had asked for some documentation

[36:00] and further information about where did

[36:02] some of the numbers come from that I had

[36:03] presented last month so I was able to go

[36:05] back to the vendors have them create um

[36:08] something like a statement of work that

[36:10] would better explain where the data is

[36:12] coming from and why the projected costs

[36:15] are so much more than we initially

[36:16] planned for and what we had budgeted for

[36:18] so I've included them um the USI summary

[36:21] was there um when we went to publication

[36:23] and then today I was able to get the

[36:25] final answers and information from amret

[36:27] so those were included to in a separate

[36:29] email um neither of those organizations

[36:33] were able to meet with the council as

[36:34] requested um before the end of the year

[36:36] because of the holidays and their staff

[36:38] taking vacations they have um USI is

[36:42] committed to being here late um next

[36:44] month for the January 28th meeting and

[36:47] Amrit is I believe waiting um for final

[36:51] information from their team about when

[36:52] their availability is either for January

[36:55] 14th or for one of the February dates

[36:58] um so what we wanted to do in the

[36:59] meantime is make sure you had something

[37:00] in front of you that showed kind of what

[37:03] the costs are where our hurdles are

[37:05] going to be where some of the expenses

[37:06] are how many moving pieces are part of

[37:08] this Pension Plan creation um and then

[37:12] um what we've what we thought would be

[37:14] the best plan to do is have you guys

[37:16] have these in front of you read them and if you have any further or continued

[37:22] questions to give them and send them to

[37:24] me by the 10th that way we can give them

[37:26] and pass them along to the vendors so

[37:29] that they have time to prepare answers

[37:31] and have all the information ready for

[37:32] you when they do come and

[37:35] present right do I have I'll open the

[37:38] floor any questions for director Kennedy

[37:40] on

[37:42] this go ahead thanks again for the work

[37:45] and the effort i i u is it possible

[37:48] to have a a sheet or whatever where you

[37:52] where all the pl are compared on one

[37:54] piece of paper or you know column A is

[37:56] this I mean is it this to me right now

[37:59] for me this is a little disjointed so

[38:00] I'm having a hard time P together we're

[38:03] not anywhere near a comparison plan yet

[38:06] right now we're looking at just these

[38:08] are the con these are the Consultants

[38:10] that are getting all those pieces

[38:12] together and that the administrative

[38:13] costs are already exceeding um what

[38:17] we've budgeted by two to three times and

[38:19] also one of the plans doubles the amount

[38:22] that we budgeted for even like the

[38:24] initial payment to start the fund um so

[38:28] we're not even at the pen to paper stage

[38:31] yet and that's what I was trying to

[38:32] explain last month is that because these

[38:35] costs are already escalating so much

[38:36] more than what we were that this is

[38:38] still the intent to keep going because

[38:40] we will have to have a budget amendment

[38:42] once we get to get into these contracts

[38:44] to continue working on this plan because

[38:46] it is more than what we

[38:48] anticipated so that's why we've got this

[38:51] in front of you is to have those further

[38:53] questions about um where we go from here

[38:56] well we get more information um in

[39:00] January when they when uh USI comes here

[39:05] will they be able to say here's exactly

[39:08] what we can do for you is that the

[39:10] intent for January or and um AMR this is

[39:15] what we can and cannot do in that way we

[39:17] can

[39:18] have a conversation with them saying

[39:21] okay we kind of understand and this is

[39:24] quite admittedly above my head on this

[39:27] but what they're trying to put together

[39:29] is that the kind of conversation you

[39:31] envision on um in January I I I believe

[39:35] the conversation is going to be just to better help answer the counil

[39:39] questions about the challenges um with

[39:41] the plan that we are trying to create

[39:43] okay thank you go ahead thank you Madame

[39:45] mayor is it possible for us to see the

[39:48] ask what is the scope of the work that

[39:51] we're asking these actuarials to do I I

[39:54] gave um I gave them the 12 bullet points

[39:57] that the council selected out of the

[39:59] Bolton plan and I said we would like to

[40:00] make a plan based on these 12 bullet

[40:02] points so if I go so you're telling me

[40:04] to go back where to look at that the

[40:07] December 19th meeting when Bolton

[40:08] presented their um their their summary

[40:12] of the different plan options that the

[40:13] council got to look at and choose

[40:15] December 19th 2023 yep and it should be

[40:18] also in the approved budget um for

[40:21] fiscal year 25 because we also included

[40:23] a copy of that in there I believe

[40:29] all right any other

[40:31] questions go

[40:35] ahead is there

[40:37] any I don't know how to how to I guess

[40:41] what I'm kind of still hung up on is Bolton was hired and and obviously I

[40:47] came into this this late to the to the

[40:49] table so to speak and it had already

[40:50] been discussed but Bolton came with a

[40:53] selection of

[40:55] ideas but nobody ever asked whether they

[40:58] were feasible or whether they were even

[41:01] practical I guess is what I'm so is

[41:04] there is there any response from this

[41:07] USI or amret as

[41:09] to what Bolton has suggested if that

[41:13] could be

[41:14] tweaked to be more accommodating or to

[41:17] be

[41:19] more I guess um match what's already

[41:23] existing in the marketplace that was

[41:24] actually their first response when I

[41:26] handed the the B bullet points to them

[41:29] their first response was we should maybe

[41:32] tweak and try something different

[41:34] yeah they um to do it exactly as written

[41:37] they said would be very challenging so I

[41:39] guess I mean if if Bolton had suggested

[41:42] that we build a spaceship to Mars

[41:44] whether that's practical or not I mean

[41:47] that's what we're trying to do correct

[41:49] yeah what what Bolton provided us was

[41:51] some very very high level Concepts and

[41:53] made a lot of assumptions a lot of

[41:54] vagaries okay I think that that's we can

[41:58] spin our wheels and try to create

[42:00] something that's

[42:02] non-existent or we can go and find

[42:04] something that's already in place that

[42:06] matches what the police

[42:08] officers are are entitled to and what

[42:11] they're asking for and just find

[42:13] something that more is in line with

[42:16] where the work's already been done

[42:18] because I I I if I hear you correctly

[42:20] you're saying this isn't just to run the

[42:23] plan this is just to get it up and

[42:24] running is already exceeded and and some

[42:26] estimate of the annual um annual

[42:29] Administration once it is in planned um

[42:32] so these numbers also include the legal

[42:34] plan document which is will be that

[42:36] probably just that one time cost unless

[42:39] the plan changes in the future because

[42:41] um the idea was that this wraps around

[42:43] Maryland so if Maryland changes then we

[42:45] have to go through the legal process

[42:46] again um so the legal part would be a

[42:48] one-time cost and then the

[42:50] administrative fees are are significant

[42:52] year-over-year and then we already know

[42:54] one of them said the Actuarial F go up

[42:55] at least 3% every year

[42:58] okay and this includes public works as

[43:00] well yes thank you Madame mayor yes um

[43:03] councilman Winkler just a correction

[43:06] when Bolton sat here this was based upon

[43:10] we received a list of other

[43:12] municipalities who had this outside of

[43:16] um the big thing at that time was um

[43:19] what was the plan leops and we said we

[43:22] were not doing leops corre find other

[43:24] municipalities of similar size and scope

[43:27] and what are they doing and they did

[43:29] have plans for their Police Department

[43:32] that's what Bolton brought to us the

[43:34] recommendations we had multiple

[43:37] conversations and at the the last

[43:39] conversation ended with Miss Larson

[43:42] saying that one is doable that's why we

[43:46] moved forward we we didn't have one

[43:48] conversation we had several

[43:50] conversations looking at the carve out

[43:52] and what could and couldn't be done we

[43:54] moved forward because when we got

[43:57] different conversations we saidwell that

[44:00] won't work if we do that this is going

[44:01] to be that the in the last conversation

[44:05] that made this Council move forward with

[44:07] the plan and we all moved forward was

[44:11] because we were told this was

[44:14] doable disagree with that statement

[44:16] because you weren't pres it was never

[44:18] said it was doable yes it I would I

[44:20] suggest that you go back and look at the

[44:23] umil meeting counc Brian word I'm not

[44:25] trying to be argumentative but the

[44:26] evidence is such this plan does not

[44:29] exist in the United States if I can

[44:31] interrupt for a second the the its

[44:34] doable plan was based on much lower

[44:37] administrative costs and a much lower

[44:39] buyin and now that we're discovering

[44:41] that that is not the case then miss

[44:43] Larson's comment about it's doable is no

[44:45] longer valid because but at that time

[44:47] and that's why we moved forward when

[44:50] what we're saying now is that this is no

[44:52] longer the case I understand but we

[44:54] moved forward because we were told it

[44:57] was

[44:58] doable we also were making a lot of

[45:00] assumptions about what the plan would

[45:02] include and and how how it would be

[45:04] execut if what it looks like financially

[45:06] and what it looks like to create

[45:08] understand all that I understand the

[45:09] reality versus Theory I'm clear right we

[45:11] made a decision based on Theory okay but

[45:14] we made the decision based upon the

[45:16] advice and the information that was

[45:17] given to us so I asking that

[45:22] we we're putting up a lot of barriers to

[45:25] this thing and I I just feel that it's

[45:28] barriers and a a lack of desire to see

[45:31] it move forward that's causing all of

[45:34] this anxiety if this is not the plan we

[45:38] they only wanted certain things then we

[45:42] find the plan that would get to the the

[45:45] retirement age that they were asking

[45:48] that matches what we approved and agreed

[45:50] to instead of making it something bigger

[45:53] than what we started out with so I'm

[45:56] asking so if you're telling me that the

[45:59] ask in the plan that we had from Bolton

[46:03] is the thing that saying we can't do

[46:06] this we can't do that I don't believe

[46:08] that there's anything on this Earth

[46:10] that's totally impossible I I can't

[46:13] imagine that this has never been done

[46:16] when we saw multiple municipalities that

[46:20] had retirement plans for the police

[46:22] officers that matched what they were

[46:24] asking why did we deviate also asking

[46:27] for public works as well if this was

[46:29] just as simple as a police plan this

[46:32] would be a completely different approach

[46:33] but even Bolton Said Public Works is not

[46:36] a thing including them is that what's

[46:38] causing the

[46:39] problem well no it's still overall it's

[46:41] still going to be overall costs well I

[46:43] mean I'm looking at this not just from

[46:45] you know from this perspective but from

[46:47] a financial responsibility and this is

[46:50] you know much much more than than where

[46:52] we think we're going to be and and I

[46:54] just want to make sure that we

[46:56] understand understand before we put in

[46:58] time and effort that this is almost

[47:01] double just administratively from the

[47:05] ground and I don't think it is feasible

[47:07] and I don't think it

[47:09] is you know I mean we could we could

[47:11] make a plan all day but I don't know

[47:14] that that's in the best interest for

[47:16] fiscal responsibility for the town I

[47:18] think there's other solutions that I

[47:20] mean and Karan and I have said this in

[47:22] multiple meetings there are other there

[47:24] are other options that are more fiscally

[47:26] responsible to the town and more

[47:27] sustainable to the town that will still

[47:29] accomplish the same

[47:31] thing that is not going to take all

[47:33] these steps and create something from

[47:35] scratch we can use our existing options

[47:38] to do

[47:40] this and and we've the treasurer and I

[47:43] have been saying that since the

[47:44] beginning we can we can do the same

[47:47] thing for less without the complications

[47:50] of paying thousands tens of thousands of

[47:52] dollars to another consultant to another

[47:55] agency to for legal fees and for all

[47:58] actuarials and trust funds and finance

[48:01] commit you know all that we wouldn't

[48:03] have those extra expenses and it's it's

[48:08] educating and getting people better of

[48:10] managing the funds and the money and

[48:11] matching we can still do an employer

[48:14] contribution maybe get the employee to

[48:16] put some skin in the game and and get

[48:18] them enough money that they can retire

[48:20] at age 50 or 55 or wherever it wants to

[48:24] be and I think part of the hangup here

[48:28] is we're looking for a plan that has it

[48:30] in writing that says you can leave at 55

[48:32] and I think if we do it the right way

[48:35] with like the other plans that we have

[48:36] that exist that we already are part of

[48:38] through Mission Square then once you

[48:41] have that Financial goal then go right

[48:44] like we don't have it could be at 45 if

[48:46] that's what they wanted to retire

[48:49] at I just think there's it's just it's a lot of money to to to go down a

[48:55] path to to create something

[48:58] that like to cman Winkler's Point other

[49:01] organizations already have existing

[49:02] plans that we could mirror better or

[49:06] again include people we're including

[49:08] people that are not typical and Bolton

[49:10] Said that too and a matter of fact in

[49:12] Plan Three which is what the council

[49:14] wanted Bolton very specifically said

[49:16] that this was probably a decrease in

[49:17] benefits to the public works team I

[49:19] don't remember him saying it's actually

[49:21] in it's actually in the report

[49:23] underneath Plan Three it says in writing

[49:26] this is probably decrease in

[49:28] benefits and that's the one that the

[49:30] council picked

[49:35] anyway any other comment yes absolutely

[49:39] um thank you for

[49:43] your um contextual analysis from what I

[49:47] hear you are saying today that you and I

[49:54] don't think Council found Bolton to do

[49:56] the analysis right you guys presented

[50:00] Bolton to give us the analysis right who found

[50:06] Bolton how did Bolton end up Captain

[50:09] Norris what's that Captain

[50:12] norrison all right so

[50:15] Bolton they have no idea what they're

[50:17] talking about essentially is what I'm no that's not what I'm saying Bolton gave us what we asked

[50:22] for which was very high level concepts

[50:25] of things that we might be able to do in

[50:26] some world but you're you're telling us

[50:29] today that that you can come up with a

[50:33] plan that gives us everything we're

[50:36] looking for and more at a fraction of a

[50:39] cost that isn't going to require any

[50:42] thirdparty vendors it's not going to

[50:45] require any legal oversight it's not

[50:48] going to require you know maintenance

[50:51] cost to anything that we're looking at

[50:53] from amret which we got today and from

[50:56] USI

[50:57] um is that that's what you're telling us

[50:59] that you've got something in mind that's

[51:02] going to

[51:03] eliminate any need for increase of taxes

[51:06] to provide benefits for the police

[51:08] department as well as Public Works yes

[51:11] and I believe Treasurer tried to present

[51:13] that as part of the budget process this

[51:15] year okay and that's of

[51:17] equal detail and insight as what what

[51:21] Bolton gave us is that fair I just want

[51:23] to make sure that we we understand

[51:26] because you're trying to tell us you've

[51:28] got it all figured out we're not paying

[51:30] attention what as to the needs of our

[51:33] Police Department what we're trying to

[51:34] tell you is there's other options but it

[51:36] requires the employees to have some

[51:40] fiscal responsibility meaning see a

[51:43] financial advisor every year to make

[51:45] sure they're on track by doing a

[51:47] contribution or a matching

[51:49] contribution um I'll just throw out

[51:51] numbers say the town says okay we're

[51:53] going to do 5% matching the employee

[51:55] does 5% that would be 10% going into a

[51:59] um contribution plan that the employee

[52:01] would build up over 25 years and if you

[52:05] look at rate of returns and how much

[52:07] risk the employee wants to take but they

[52:09] have to take some responsibility and

[52:11] monitor this so it's the town will be

[52:14] and then they also have more varieties

[52:16] on choices they can use the funds how

[52:18] they want when they want if they want to

[52:19] work longer if they want to take

[52:21] everything it gives them more options

[52:23] instead of having a defined plan

[52:27] they'd have a contribution plan aren't

[52:29] you

[52:31] assuming in making that analysis that is better for them than what the

[52:36] employee actually wants so for example

[52:39] when we look at other police departments

[52:41] throughout the state and locally that's

[52:44] not a comparable plan I'm not assuming

[52:47] anything but they already have a pension

[52:49] plan what it would do is give them

[52:51] another Avenue another another bucket to

[52:53] choose from instead of um saying well

[52:56] this is what you get this is all you get

[52:58] because this is what the plan is you

[52:59] have no say in how you're going to

[53:01] manage it how much it's going to make

[53:03] you have no say in it and it also gives

[53:07] the talent say okay we know exactly each

[53:09] year what it's going to cost us to

[53:12] provide this benefit to the employee but

[53:14] again it's it's saying well the employee

[53:17] needs to take some fiscal responsibility

[53:20] and the town will help them with

[53:23] that okay um

[53:28] councilwoman Bryant Ward asked for what

[53:31] the ask was of these companies can you

[53:34] remind me and I know we talked about

[53:36] this the other time how why the net was

[53:39] cast for the vendors to participate and

[53:41] trying to create this bolt-on plan that

[53:43] they said was feasible it's nobody we

[53:46] didn't ask them to create a unicorn we

[53:49] asked them to give us something that we

[53:51] could use but we've got we've got two

[53:54] you did what we asked you to do and we

[53:56] we're scheduling them to talk to us

[53:58] about it how are these the only two that

[54:00] responded out of 10 are these two that

[54:03] responded out of two no there's three

[54:05] other vendors that uh chose not to

[54:09] engage with us okay when I gave them

[54:12] what our ask was and I told them and I

[54:14] showed them the 12 bullet points that we

[54:15] wanted to make a plan out of um they

[54:19] either um stopped communicating or they

[54:21] declined to um

[54:23] participate and so these are the only

[54:25] two that are still

[54:27] left that I have asked that are willing

[54:29] to engage and to try how does this

[54:32] request go out that we send it writing

[54:34] do we make phone calls um so a lot of it

[54:37] was so I started by reaching out to

[54:41] Bolton and asked them for who they

[54:42] worked with I reached out to our Brokers

[54:44] and asked who their people work with I

[54:46] reached out to Mission square and asked

[54:48] who the who they have relationships with

[54:50] and each one provided me multiple

[54:52] sources so Mission Square provided me

[54:55] three options andf P had provided me two

[54:58] options um and then uh Bolton had

[55:02] reached out to some contacts and I never

[55:03] heard back from them so um so these are

[55:07] from existing sources that have

[55:08] relationships with people who do it who

[55:11] have given me those points of contacts

[55:13] okay and then from there you get the

[55:15] points of contact and

[55:17] then and then I reached out to to the

[55:19] points of contacts and I said hey here's

[55:21] what we're looking to do here's where

[55:23] we're starting from are you willing to

[55:26] help us um create this plan do we do

[55:29] that in

[55:30] writing emails I mean most of it was

[55:33] email communication um and then um once

[55:36] I made the initial contact then um a lot

[55:39] of the discussion happened via Zoom

[55:43] calls can I see those emails to the

[55:46] vendors set can we see those are you

[55:51] okay with that that's really going

[55:53] that's operations that's going beyond

[55:55] the scope of what the council is to do

[55:57] is to start going into communication on

[56:00] that and and to you know personally I

[56:03] feel like that's a questioning my

[56:04] Integrity of being able to ask for the

[56:06] right thing if if the council doubts

[56:08] that i' I've gone out and seek five and

[56:10] talked to multiple sources I believe

[56:13] that you did okay then why do we need I

[56:15] mean I don't understand what my emails

[56:17] are going to help I just want to make

[56:20] sure that we're on track what happens

[56:24] appar what appears to happen with this

[56:26] project and it may be the nature of the

[56:29] project itself is that one step leads to

[56:33] three studies which has been happening

[56:36] for the last I don't know six eight

[56:38] years um it seems strange to me and it

[56:43] that we paid Bolton and maybe this is

[56:47] maybe this

[56:48] is who who they are I guess is what

[56:53] we're we're hearing that we paid them

[56:54] all that money and they're not willing

[56:56] to communicate with us back as to what

[56:58] they've recommended so I'm trying to

[57:01] figure

[57:02] out but they they made a re that's all

[57:05] we asked them to do is make

[57:06] recommendations and then they did that

[57:08] so there's nothing more for Bolton to do

[57:10] they were never building a they were

[57:11] never buil having them build a plan was

[57:14] never part of the conversation

[57:15] understood but that's the basis for what

[57:19] we're trying to build and we're saying

[57:21] that that Foundation is not appropriate

[57:25] I have given all these vendors Bolton's

[57:27] plan right so they have seen exactly

[57:29] what Bolton gave us right so okay so

[57:34] typically if you've got one piece of

[57:37] information you give it to a separate

[57:39] expert and they say nah that doesn't

[57:42] work I've seen it where you go back to

[57:45] that first source of information and say

[57:48] hey they say this is a problem do you

[57:50] want to comment on that sounds like you

[57:52] tried to do that but they did not

[57:54] respond back

[57:56] um I talked to Tom last week with an

[57:58] email and his response was you know I

[58:01] said hey just for some clarity of what

[58:03] you did and and he said what they gave

[58:06] us was some highlevel concepts for

[58:09] somebody else to build a plan off of um

[58:12] you know they're I gave them you know I

[58:14] gave the amarant USI the information and like Bolton said they they did a lot

[58:19] of their work based on a lot of

[58:21] assumptions and some rough Actuarial

[58:23] data that is not the same Actuarial data

[58:25] that we will need to use once the plan

[58:27] is created because once we have a clear

[58:30] definition of of what the scope of that

[58:32] is going to be then another Actuarial

[58:36] will give us actual numbers of what the

[58:38] plan will be based off of when we look

[58:41] at these

[58:43] two

[58:44] um statement works that you've given us

[58:48] would you say they're Apples to Apples

[58:52] no

[58:53] um each one has a different approach you

[58:56] I is more of uh an all-in-one um

[59:00] organization so it'll be a one point of

[59:03] contact streamline they will manage all

[59:05] the moving parts for us whereas amaret

[59:08] is more of a u peac mail consultant

[59:12] where they will have they will reach out

[59:14] and have separate pieces um a separate

[59:17] trust a separate legal team a separate

[59:19] everything and communicate individually

[59:21] with each of those rather than under one

[59:24] umbrella because the

[59:26] I mean they're vastly different as to

[59:28] the maintenance and annual um but the

[59:32] request was the same they had all the

[59:34] same information and this is what they

[59:36] came back as their plan of this is how

[59:38] we would develop it based on on their

[59:41] area of expertises but to be clear and I

[59:44] just want to make sure I understand this

[59:47] is not for a this is not for the plan

[59:51] yet this is to develop a

[59:54] plan and this is the um expected cost to

[59:58] not only create the plan but then to

[59:59] maintain it once it is

[1:00:04] created I guess my big

[1:00:07] concern

[1:00:11] is as you've stated it it's Unique to us

[1:00:16] as a

[1:00:17] town it's Unique potentially

[1:00:21] to um the

[1:00:23] vendors and again going back say

[1:00:26] something that we had talked about on

[1:00:28] developers and traffic

[1:00:30] studies um you know is there an

[1:00:34] independent

[1:00:36] Source aside

[1:00:38] from um perhaps aside from the

[1:00:41] Departments and I say that in plural who

[1:00:44] can analyze these issues right I

[1:00:49] mean I mean and I don't know I don't

[1:00:53] know I'm concerned about it but

[1:00:57] have either of these been

[1:01:01] given

[1:01:04] uh the Miss Kennedy and Miss Larsson

[1:01:07] plan no because the council asked us to

[1:01:10] pursue Plan Three and so that's what I

[1:01:12] requested okay those are all questions I have

[1:01:17] thank you right any other questions just

[1:01:20] a quick question thank you uh so uh is

[1:01:23] there any participation by police

[1:01:25] department members or Public Works in

[1:01:27] any conversations you have so you

[1:01:29] understand their needs or their feelings

[1:01:31] we're not at that what this is wouldn't

[1:01:34] be part of that that conversation this

[1:01:36] is just developing a a a plan like

[1:01:41] this the the members of Public Works and

[1:01:43] police are

[1:01:45] not are not trained in the same way that

[1:01:49] HR and finance are in these areas so I

[1:01:52] don't we're not to what are their needs

[1:01:55] because the plan that we picked is clear

[1:01:57] about age

[1:01:59] requirements uh uh contribution

[1:02:02] requirements and those this the stuff

[1:02:04] that we have to to wrinkle out is not a

[1:02:07] decision from the Departments it's a

[1:02:09] decision uh from the operational side

[1:02:11] how much are we going to contribute when

[1:02:12] are we going to contribute to it are the

[1:02:14] employees going to have skin in the game

[1:02:15] are we grandfathering anybody that's

[1:02:18] nothing that involves the

[1:02:20] Departments I guess that just I'm

[1:02:23] disappointed by that because I think

[1:02:26] okay you're you're trying to build the

[1:02:28] plan but it it just seems to me that it

[1:02:30] would be great to have an ongoing

[1:02:32] dialogue with potential participants in any plan whatever it is so I'm really

[1:02:39] disappointed that there's no Outreach uh

[1:02:43] participation there just just a dialogue

[1:02:47] to talk and listen so and I would just

[1:02:49] add that as as another

[1:02:51] concern but again again councilman we're

[1:02:54] not in any state stage where where those

[1:02:58] are needed yet if we get further down

[1:03:01] the road then maybe that would make

[1:03:02] sense but right now well we're not there

[1:03:04] I respectfully disagree because

[1:03:08] again existing and potential future

[1:03:11] employees are going to be engage are

[1:03:13] going to be part of the process and

[1:03:16] they're going to be from my view again

[1:03:17] unless I'm getting it wrong and

[1:03:19] apparently I am they're going to be

[1:03:20] blindsided and they're going to have no

[1:03:22] knowledge no participation no

[1:03:27] they're going to be like blind almost so

[1:03:29] all I'm I agree with you this is maybe

[1:03:31] not the time but I would think as good

[1:03:34] best practices you would have a dialogue

[1:03:37] with the staff that's right but we don't

[1:03:39] do that for we don't do that for any

[1:03:41] other benefit we don't do that for

[1:03:42] health insurance decisions we don't do

[1:03:44] that for I'm not going to argue with you

[1:03:46] I this different I'm just trying to

[1:03:48] express my disappointment and and and my

[1:03:50] ask is that there be a dialogue simple

[1:03:53] very simple thank you okay councilman

[1:03:58] Jenkins way before the plan that was

[1:04:02] decided to move

[1:04:04] forward we had the conversations with

[1:04:06] the police department and what they were

[1:04:08] looking for they were looking for the

[1:04:09] age they were looking

[1:04:11] for not having to work 30 years extra so

[1:04:16] did have those conversations prior to we

[1:04:19] haven't had any sense but we did have

[1:04:22] those conversations I didn't say we

[1:04:25] didn't the say why can't you continue

[1:04:28] well maybe once we get like uh director

[1:04:31] Kennedy said at this point it's more

[1:04:34] operational get the plan going first and

[1:04:37] then

[1:04:39] but well I I still like express my

[1:04:44] disappoint all right well thank you well

[1:04:47] we look forward to um seeing what

[1:04:50] happens in January thank you for a very

[1:04:53] robust conversation appreciate that

[1:04:56] moving on to our next part is a reports

[1:04:58] from the mayor and Town Council

[1:05:02] councilman

[1:05:03] Winkler um historic preservation

[1:05:06] committee um met with a local architect

[1:05:10] regarding some of the updates to uh the

[1:05:13] train station and a feasibility study so

[1:05:17] once we um about kind of finishing off

[1:05:20] that as a as a potential Museum um to

[1:05:23] how some of the historic uh artifact for

[1:05:25] the town um and once we get that

[1:05:29] information back we'll have that to uh

[1:05:32] hopefully in January or February to

[1:05:34] present to council for moving forward

[1:05:36] with it great thank you very much

[1:05:39] councilman

[1:05:40] challinger no nothing thank you

[1:05:42] councilwoman ryant Ward so I'm I

[1:05:45] reported on the Planning Commission last

[1:05:46] week but I wanted to report that the

[1:05:48] chief and I did me to talk about the DCC

[1:05:52] and I completed all of the past due

[1:05:54] annual reports reports that need to be

[1:05:56] submitted I'm going to bring them up for

[1:05:59] um to talk with um assistant Town

[1:06:02] manager Miner um so that we can get

[1:06:05] those filed and then we did discuss

[1:06:07] going forward you know a new board that

[1:06:10] would represent the entire community and

[1:06:12] then looking at having establishing um

[1:06:15] board meetings because we would need to

[1:06:17] do that once we're back in good

[1:06:19] standings based upon the annual filings

[1:06:21] then we'll look to revise the bylaws and

[1:06:25] in the Articles of Incorporation and um

[1:06:28] identify a new resident agent and so

[1:06:31] that we get things moving again well

[1:06:33] thank you and thank you for all your

[1:06:35] hard work that's great councilman

[1:06:38] Jenkins uh thank you and councilman

[1:06:40] Brian W thank you for that effort that's

[1:06:42] really good I appreciate that effort I

[1:06:44] know it takes a lot of work to do that

[1:06:46] um I was not able to attend Wednesday's

[1:06:49] last Wednesday's um Tri County council's

[1:06:52] Bicycle pedestrian infrastructure

[1:06:54] committee meeting unfor I was in transit

[1:06:56] so I could not attend but I will provide

[1:06:59] a uh report out from that meeting at our

[1:07:02] next meeting because this there will as

[1:07:04] we all know there will be a significant

[1:07:06] impact on pedestrian safety projects all

[1:07:09] over the state because of the

[1:07:10] significant uh budget cuts to the

[1:07:13] Maryland Department of transportation's

[1:07:15] budget so I'll give a report in January

[1:07:17] thank you thank you and I had the great

[1:07:21] pleasure and honor of attending

[1:07:23] Washington squares holiday event over

[1:07:25] the weekend which boy those people can

[1:07:28] cook and uh it was really nice and they

[1:07:30] are just always so grateful for the town

[1:07:35] um when they apply for Grants to that

[1:07:38] they are recipients of those at least

[1:07:40] they have been for the last couple years

[1:07:42] so they wanted me to thank you all and

[1:07:45] so I just have um this is our last

[1:07:48] meeting of 2024 so as we conclude this I

[1:07:52] wanted to take a moment to acknowledge

[1:07:55] the hard work and dedication of our town

[1:07:58] staff you all have been absolutely

[1:08:02] amazing this year we weathered some

[1:08:04] storms didn't we we said goodbye to our

[1:08:07] dear friend and colleague Jeff Garner we

[1:08:10] also saw several key team members move

[1:08:13] on to advance their careers a bitter

[1:08:16] bittersweet Part of growth and success

[1:08:19] and we continue to address important

[1:08:21] issues such as water allocation

[1:08:23] development within our Incorporated Town

[1:08:26] limits in infrastructure that tends to

[1:08:30] fail at the most inopportune times and

[1:08:34] Personnel changes but together we made

[1:08:36] it through this year and you know what

[1:08:38] maybe next year's going to be a little

[1:08:41] less hectic so I would also like to

[1:08:44] recognize Carolyn Johnson who is

[1:08:47] retiring after almost 24 years of

[1:08:51] dedicated service to the town of L pla

[1:08:55] her retirement is well well deserved and

[1:08:57] we wish her nothing but the best in her

[1:09:01] next chapter of her life um she will

[1:09:03] leave a mark here on Town um she was

[1:09:07] quite uh she is quite the presence here

[1:09:10] and she will be greatly missed looking

[1:09:12] ahead to 2025 holds exciting

[1:09:16] opportunities for our town we will

[1:09:17] continue collaborating with the county

[1:09:19] on the library and water

[1:09:21] allocations make strides towards

[1:09:24] creating a more walk downtown expand the

[1:09:27] bike trail that is going down um on

[1:09:30] Radio Station Road and work to make

[1:09:32] bring a greater presence of the Arts

[1:09:35] into the home into our hometown which

[1:09:37] should we should see something visible

[1:09:40] in the first quarter so I personally

[1:09:43] want to wish you all and your families

[1:09:46] the very best may you enjoy a joyous

[1:09:50] holiday season and a prosperous healthy

[1:09:53] new year thank you and

[1:09:56] um again thank you for uh all that you

[1:09:59] do for the town and with that I call

[1:10:02] this meeting adjourned at

[1:10:05] 7:09 have a good night

Town Council - 17 Dec 2024

Transcript