Town Commissioners Minutes — 2017-08-09

QUEENSTOWN COMMISSIONERS

August 9, 2017 PRESENT: President Thomas B. Willis, Jr., Commissioner Hogie Schuster, and Commissioner George L. Plumbo, Jr., Mike Bowell, Acting Town Manager, and Amy Moore.

Town Clerk.

WORK SESSION CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:06 P.M.

Work session was called to review and discuss draft rental and short-term rental legislation.

Renters Ordinance - Questions/comments that arose were:

1.

Number ofrentals vs owner occupied?

2.

Number ofpeople permitted in a household? Can that be regulated in a renters ordinance?

3.

Who inspects and what regulations are followed?

4- SubJeasing was not addressed in draft ordinance.

5.

Compile list ol'rental properties.

6.

All property o\4ners ofrental properties should receive a copy ofthe water/sewer invoice that is sent to their tenant. The property owner is ultimately responsible if tenant does not pay.

Short-Term rental Ordinance - Questions/comments that arose were:

.

1 It's believed that the State considers Air B&B's to be a hotel. If this is the case, hotels are not permitted in the R-1 zone. How does this affect a regular B&B?

2.

This ordinance will be forwarded to the Plannine Commission to review and determine designated use.

President Willis motioned to adjoum the work session at 6:48 p.m. and take a break between meetings. Motion seconded by Commissioner Schuster, and motion carried unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:OO P.M.

Public hearing on proposed Ordinance 17-06 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF

QUEENSTOWN TO AMEND THE QUEENSTOWN ZONING ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH

LOCATIONS FOR MEDICAL LICENSED CANNABIS DISPENSARIES

President Willis motioned to amend Ordinance 17-06 to include Highway Commercial (HC) zone as a zone permitting medical licensed cannabis dispenaries. Motion seconded by Commissioner Schuster, with motion carried unanimously.

Due to the amendment to the Ordinance, the hearing will be postponed until August 30,2017 at 7:00 p.m. The public asked that the Sheriff s Department be invited to the hearing. Town Clerk will contact the Sheriff s Depa.rtrnent and provide notice ofhearing postponement.

REGULAR MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 7:15 P.M,

GUESTS:

Robert Rauch, Town Engineer, was present to provide updales on wastewater operations, kayak/park grant project, and Queenstown Harbor Golfproject.

o Town advertised lor a water and wastewater operator several months ago. White Marsh, Inc. (Tidewater) was the only responsive bidder. Mr. Rauch recommends the Town hire them as the operator beginning January l, 2018. President Willis motioned to accept White Marsh as operator of the water and wastewater facilities beginning January -, 2018. Motion seconded by Commissioner Plumbo, with motion carried unanimously.

o Grant approved from DNR for $120,000 for living shoreiine project, boardwalk and kayak launch. The design has been completed, and his engineers estimate for the entire project, based on his design, is $251,628. DNR/State has additional 100% grant money available and is encouraging the Town to apply for additional funding as they are favorable ofthis project. Next steps would be to apply for additional grant funding and

prepare proposal for bids. President Willis motioned to authorize Mr. Rauch to proceed with additional grant requests and prepare proposal to bid. Motion seconded by Commissioner Schuster, r'ith motion carried unanimously.

o Mr. Rauch was previously requested to provide a cost estimate to prepare design standards and regulations for installation ofnew water meters and inspections. Currently, the town does not have a published set of design standards. He recommends the Town consider developing Town of Queenstown standards to cover all infrastructure. To prepare a full set ofstandards would cost $5,000-$7,500. He would research other

jurisdictions and apply them to Queenstown as necessary. Mr. Phil Snyder, Town resident and Planning Commission member, stated he would support the Town doing this. These issues have come up during Planning Commission review of development projects, and having adopted standards would be beneficial during the review process.

r Queenstown Harbor Golf Course has been working on what plans they have and several different options for development. The Town should be receiving a letter from Lex Birney soon identilying an additional grouth allocation area. Mr. Rauch will meet with Town Planner, Peter Johnston to discuss further.

o He expects to hear on the water tower and infrastructure improvement grant within the next few weeks. He won't know how USDA will determine the loan to srant ratio until he hears back from them.

PUBLIC WORKS: Lane Cole r Worked on hauling storm debris .

Two tees in need of removal - one in the open space at Queenstown Village and the other at 220 Old Wharf Lane in the Town's right of way. The Commissioners will take a look at before approving removal.

r Resurfacing work has begun on Maryland Ave. and Steamboat Ave.

PLANNING: Betty White .

Owners of Hippocratic Growth presented the Commission with a plan for a medical cannabis dispensary. They need to be operational by December 201 7 in order to meet their permit requirements, and it is too late to be considered by the Planning Commission.

r Lex Bimey came before the Commission with four proposals for four different plans, and each with different growth allocation needs. Commission provided feedback, and Mr.

Bimey will be coming back to the Town with their choice.

FINANCE COMMITTEE: Patricia Bowell r No Update o Mr. Perry Stutman advised that the draft annual report of employee assessment is completed, as well as the draft employee handbook that was provided on a previous date.

Would like to have a work shop set uo alier Commissioners have time to review both documents.

ACTING TOWN MANAGER: Mike Bowell o Munilink project coming along. Next water and sewer billing will be done from Muni- Link.

r Manuals are about comolete

TREASURER'S REPORT:

General Fund checking s112,834.05 Water/Sewer checking $142,281.38 s WWTP Project checking 4,907.12

CLERK:

r Clerk advised that she received letter from Tereza Hagerstrom regarding speeding on Main Street. Ms. Hagerstrom installed an app on her phone and was able to clock vehicles traveling past her house. She provided acopy ofthe letter to the Sheriffs Department as well, and ultimately met with a deputy who discussed lack of signage on Rt. l8 showing the speed limit. The deputy advised that if signage was put up by SHA

then they can enforce. Lane Cole advised that he has a call into SHA but has not been able to meet up with Charlie Coppage. There were further discussion among the Commissioners for additional speed control options, such a painting the speed limit on the road and "yield to pedestrian" signage in the crosswalks. These options will be discussed when a meeting with SHA is scheduled.

r Email from Perry Stutman with concems regarding golf carts being driven on the road.

As our Town Attomey was not present to discuss this, Mr. Stutman did not wish to address.

r Clerk advised that Ms. Marge Lantz of Queenstown Village still has concerns and complaints regarding idling trucks at Royal Farms. She has been keeping track of when this occurs. as she was instructed to do by the Commissioners, and reported to the Clerk numerous occasions of the violation. Clerk was instructed to get with Town Attomey on enforcement, as Royal Farms has been notified ofthese disturbances on several previous

occasions.

o Clerk advised that Slate Comptroller Franchot will be hosting a press event on Wednesday, August l6th at I :00 p.m. at the Queenstown Premium Outlets to remind residents of the upcoming Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week. Commissioners Plumbo and Schuster will both atlend.

OLD BUSINESS:

.

President Willis motioned to adopt Resolution

17-104 A RESOLUTION OF THE

COMMISSIONERS OF QUEENSTOWN TO PROHIBIT ON.STREET PARKING OF

VEHICLES ALONG CERTAIN AREAS OF OLD WHARF LANE AND MARYLAND

AVENUE. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Plumbo, and motion canied unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS:

r Commissioner Plumbo would like the Town to look into a standard for mailboxes and posts. He believes it would be a very inexpensive way to clean up the appearance of some of the unsightly areas, and improve the efficiency for the post office. He offered to look at different areas and research.

r He would like to get a financial update that includes the Certificates of Deposit.

.

There are several tree losses in town and wonders if any trees to be planted as part of mitigation at the WWTP could be used. Per Pat Bowell, we can't use Town mitigation requirements on private property.

.

There were some traffic reports generated last year that he would like to have a copy of.

Ms. Bowell advised she would provide him with copies.

ATTORNEY UPDATES: Brynja Booth r No updates as attorney not present

OPEN DISCUSSION:

r Joe Kelkowski - Aker Road - recently hit with a tomado on Kent Island and possibly in Queenstown. Some people did not have enough insurance to cover cleanup and repairs.

There are a lot of limbs and trees down which could pose a fte hazard. Some of the residents need financial help to clean up. He did not see anyone from the Town come out to see what damage they had. He asked ifthere was any money available to the residents in need. He stated that one resident still has a lot of limbs and debris on his property and it's his responsibility to clean it up- There are some property orvners who need to repair

fences, etc. He would like to see the Town follow up on these issues to make sure things get cleaned up.

o Di Quynn-Reno - Main St. - emailed a statement to be read at the Board of Appeals hearing on July l9th as she was unable to attend. She was informed that it had not been read at the hearing due to time but was included as part of the record. Had she known it was not going to be read she would have given it to someone else to read on her behalf.

She asked what the protocol was for these types of things. As the Commissioners were unaware ofany protocol, she requested they determine how this should be handled for clarity for future submittals. She also advised that the annual town yard sale will be held on October 7th. She will orovide a flver to the Clerk for inclusion in the next water/sewer billing.

There being no further business at this time, President Willis motioned to adjoum the meeting at 8:51 p.m. Motion seconded by Commissioner Schuster, and motion carried unanimously.

Respectfu lly submitted, 0,r'1]Vn*.- Amy $/ Moore, Town Clerk