TOWN MEETING MINUTES
Ordinance 1-2004 – Amending the Zoning Ordinance and
Ordinance 2-2004 – Amending Section 31 PN District

April 7, 2004
7:00 p.m.,
Trappe Town Hall


The Public Hearing was opened by President Lewis and called to order at 7:00 p.m. Vice President Bob Niemeyer and Commissioner Danny Adams were present. President Lewis introduced Ordinance 1-2004 stating that we introduced and presented it at the last meeting in March.

AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF TRAPPE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE TO CREATE SECTION 32, ENTITLED “PN DESIGN PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES, SECTION 33, ENTITLED LIGHTING DESIGN STANDARDS, SECTION 34, ENTITLED “PARKING DESIGN STANDARDS”, SECTION 35, ENTITLED “STREET DESIGN STANDARDS”

SECTION 36, ENTITLED “SIDEWALKS, CURBS AND GUTTERS, AND SECTION 37, ENTITLED “LANDSCAPING AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS”

There were no comments from the public. The Public hearing was closed at 7:05 p.m.

President Lewis read Ordinance 2-2004

AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF TRAPPE AMENDING SECTION 31 OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE ENTITLED “PN NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICT” TO CORRECT A TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF STOREFRONT AREA AND VILLAGE CENTER AREA AND BY ADDING SECTION 31.07 ENTITLED “LAND USE TABLE FOR THE PN DISTRICT”

There were no comments from the public on this ordinance and the public hearing was closed at 7:17 p.m.


Drake Ferguson:

Mr. Drake Ferguson made a presentation to the Town of a plaque in honor of Mr. Ed Cannon, who passed away in December, 2003. Mr. Cannon’s sister, niece and friends were here for the presentation. Mr. Ferguson had an inscription placed on the plaque. He gave a short talk about Mr. Cannon and his many generous deeds throughout the town, telling of the many trees, bushes and plants that Mr. Cannon had planted over the years. He will always be remembered for his kindness and helpfulness to everyone.


Town Meeting
7:35 p.m., April 7, 2004, Trappe Town Hall


The regular Town meeting was opened by President Cheryl Lewis and called to order at 7:35 p.m. Vice President Bob Niemeyer and Commissioners Edgar Harrison, Danny Adams and Norm Fegel were present. Everyone stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

SPC STEVE GRAFTON:

SPC Steve Grafton was home from active duty in Iraq and was presented by Com. Edgar Harrison and the Council a plaque with the inscription of his name and the Town Logo, thanking him for his service to our Country. He was presented with Resolution 3-2004, from the Town. Many residents came to thank him with a standing ovation after SPC Grafton thanked everyone for their prayers and thoughtfulness and phone calls to his parents during his deployment.

A motion was made by Com. Adams to accept Resolution 3-2004. Motion was seconded by Com. Fegel.

Vote:

Adams – Y, Lewis – Y, Harrison – Y, Niemeyer – Y, Fegel – Y

MINUTES:

The March minutes were accepted as presented. The March financial statement was accepted as presented.

Executive Session: - March 22, 2004

There was an Executive Session on March 22, 2004 at 7.00 p.m.

Council members present were: Cheryl Lewis, Edgar Harrison, Bob Niemeyer Norm Fegel and Mr. Don English the Zoning Administrator. Attorneys present were Dave Thompson and Brynja Booth. The meeting was for legal advice.

Old Business

ORDINANCE 1-2004

President Lewis introduced Ordinance 1-2004 stating that we have just held a public hearing on Ordinance 1-2004 at 7:00 p.m. and there were no comments. Attorney Booth stated that the Planning Commission had wanted it back to look over and make some changes.

Attorney Booth addressed the changes that were made.

Motion was made by Com. Harrison recommending that we adopt Ordinance 1-2004 amending the zoning ordinance. Motion was seconded by Com. Niemeyer.

Vote:

Adams – Y, Lewis- Y, Harrison – Y, Niemeyer – Y, Fegel – Y

ORDINANCE 2-2004

President Lewis introduced Ordinance 2-2004:

Attorney Booth said there were no changes since we adopted the PN Ordinance in November. Com. Harrison said the definitions of the Village Center area and storefront area were reversed. The Planning Commission worked on the Land Use Table and recommended that we adopt.

Motion was made by Com. Harrison to adopt Ordinance 2-2004 amending PN Ordinance. Motion was seconded by Com. Adams.

Vote:

Adams – Y, Lewis – Y, Harrison – Y, Niemeyer – Y, Fegel – Y

RECOMMENDATION - DAVIS, BOWEN & FRIEDEL – Annie Williams

President Lewis read the letter of recommendations that Annie Williams of DBF, had presented on the newly annexed property. She has made a few recommendations based on the MDE public hearing on ground water.
  1. Storage treated water from lagoon is now at 60 days and she is recommending increasing this to 90 days.


  2. Screening plant so that it would not be visible to adjacent property owners. We have moved so that the trees will surround the visibility of the plant.


  3. Moving of elevated water tank. It is now in the storefront area. Diagram will show moving.
President Lewis said that she would let Ms. Williams know if the Commissioners approved of the changes.

MUNICIPALITIES:

President Lewis said that the Municipalities are working together to fight the Excise Tax on all building permits, which could start at $3,800.00 and go to $5,800 per house. We are trying to sit down with the County and discuss the issues, but have not had much success in meeting with them. The Towns asked to be on the agenda for April 6, 2004. All of the towns asked where the excise tax was going, and we received a very negative response.

The discussion continued on the response of the County Council. The question was asked by Mrs. Ferguson how many people do the four towns represent? President Lewis stated that we represent ˝ of the County. The question was asked what we can do. Answer vote.

New Business

BARBER ROAD AND PINEY HILL ROAD.

Attorney Booth said at the meeting in May on the East side Annexation, Barber Road and Piney Hill Road were taken in by the Town. The roads annexed into the municipality should be owned by the Town not the County. We need to do a quit claim deed and present it to Ray Clarke to transfer the roads from the County to the Town. Mr. Clarke has sent a letter in reference to the roads.

Motion was made by Com. Harrison to authorize President Lewis to sign quit claim deed conveying the property to the Town. Motion was seconded by Com. Fegel.

Vote:

Adams – Y, Lewis – Y, Harrison – Y, Niemeyer – Y, Fegel – Y

GRASS CUTTING BIDS:

President Lewis said that we have nine sealed bids for grass cutting to open.
  1. Jeff Bradley, $ 470.00 Weekly


  2. Dodd’s Landscaping, $ 325.00


  3. Steve Jackson, $ 830.00


  4. Kennedy Lawn Service, $ 645.00


  5. Marshall’s Prop. Lawn Care, $ 549.00


  6. Sedgwick & Son, $ 491.00


  7. Richard Harmon, $525.00


  8. Advanced Lawn Care, $935.00


  9. Summer Scapes, $630.00
The Council suggested that Com. Adams and Jackie Naylor wastewater superintendent carefully review the bids and bring back their findings to the meeting scheduled on April 21st at 7:00 p.m.

HVAC BIDS:

President Lewis stated that we have three bids for the heating and air condition system for the Town building to be opened and reviewed.
  1. Shaws, $ 27,230.00


  2. Comfort Air, $ 19,621.00


  3. DMO, $ 22,038.00
President Lewis said we will not award the bid tonight, we will let this be reviewed also, and bring back to the meeting on the 21st. She suggested that they have Mr. Outten help them review the HVAC bids.

MOSQUITO CONTROL:

President Lewis read the letter from the State of Maryland where the rate for spraying for mosquito has gone up this year from $725.09 last year to $920.00.

We will need to add this to our budget for the new year.

LIBRARY IN THE TOWN:

Mr. Horvath Director of the Talbot County Library and Mr. Jim Dawson came to speak to the town of the possibility of a library in Trappe. Mr. Horvath felt that we needed a library. The Council was in agreement and everyone felt that with the new development this would be perfect timing. Mr. Horvath felt that if we could ask the developer to plan for a building while they are planning, it would be a perfect opportunity to have the library we need. He suggested that if we could get a committee together to study this that he would work with us on getting a library here.

President Lewis said that she would start looking for a committee to get started on this.

MR. BRIGERMAN:

Mr. Brigerman got a permit for a pool, but was very concerned that our zoning ordinance 26:16 called for a 6ft fence around the pool. He felt that this was too high. Mr. Brigerman had talked with Cambridge, Easton, St. Michaels and Oxford, none of which called for a 6 ft fence. He would like to know if this ordinance could be amended to 4 ft.

President Lewis advised Mr. Brigerman that she agreed and told him to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission on April 21st with a recommendation.

President Lewis made a recommendation that we entertain the same size fence as listed in the Boca Regulations.

EMPLOYEE REQUEST:

The employees of the Town asked to have the office closed on Good Friday, April 9, 2004.

Motion was made by Com. Harrison to close the Town office on April 9, 2004.

Motion was seconded by Com. Fegel.

Vote:

Adams – Y, Lewis – Y, Harrison – Y, Niemeyer – Y, Fegel – Y

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:

Cheryl Lewis, President

Joedy Cecil, Clerk