Town of Brookeville
Commissioners Meeting Minutes
January 2, 2017
7:00pm
Commissioner:
Present: Katherine Farquhar, Buck Bartley, and Sue Daley
Absent: none
Quorum present? Yes
Present during all or portions of the meeting:
Town Clerk Cate McDonald, Academy Manager Andrea Scanlon, and Treasurer Susan Johnson
Town Residents: none
Others: Terri Hogan, Greater Olney News; State Senator Craig Zucker
Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Commissioner President Farquhar
State Senator Zucker presented a proclamation on behalf of the D14 team to Commissioner Farquhar thanking her for her years of service to the Town.
Senator Zucker advised the Commissioners that he has been contacted by a Brookeville constituent requesting SHA to erect a “Local Traffic Only†sign before the ByPass opens. There was a discussion about this type of sign, which SHA feels is not needed as only local traffic will be coming through the Town when the ByPass opens. The Town Commissioners expressed that a “Local Traffic Only†sign is not a priority when other issues are more of a priority. There was a discussion about the progress of the ByPass: Parks has a problem with the placement of the noise wall, which may delay the completion of the project. The next SHA Partnering Meeting is January 10th.
Swear in new Commissioner President: Commissioner Daley was sworn in as the new President of the Commissioners by Commissioner Farquhar.
Updates:
• CPH: Commissioner Bartley expected to have the regarding plans for North and Water Streets soon,
• Chairs: Sandy Heiler has procured 41 chairs, 16 of which still needs to be painted. She is going to purchase 6-8 more chairs this weekend from PA.
ROUTINE TOWN BUSINESS:
Minutes: The December Commissioners Meeting were approved as edited.
Financial: The budget reports were run through the end of November. The Treasurer will re-run the reports through December and email.
Question: Line 6025: Local Income Tax – why is the revenue only $15K? Treasurer will call the State and ask why the Local Income Tax revenue is lower than expected.
Line 6185: Professional Services – there will be approximate $10K-$12K more in legal fees expected before the end of the fiscal year. The Treasurer suggested moving the $10K allotted to the BPC to Professional Services to cover the cost overrun on Line 6185.
There will be a cash collateral agreement with Sandy Spring Bank to cover the $101,740 over the FDIC limit.
The Treasurer was asked to prepare reports for the Semi-Annual Meeting: year to date budget (this will need to be posted to the website before the meeting), the Audit report, and how much revenue the Town received from the tax increase and where the funds were spent.
Academy Update:
Donna Will: her program will run for one year and will be evaluated before her contract is renewed.
TOWN OPERATIONS:
• Update on codifying/organize Brookeville Ordinances: The Town Commissioners will need to decide what ordinances are relevant to the Town, pass the ordinances, and send them to a lawyer for review. Since only 1 -2 ordinances have been found, it was suggested to contact Nancy Floreen and see if she has any files. She was the Town’s lawyer when the Charter and Zoning Ordinances were updated.
• Next BPC Chair will be Andy Spagnolo. He will be sworn in at the next BPC meeting by the Town Clerk.
• Semi-Annual Town Meeting January 17 7:30-9 PM:
Agenda items: introduction and swearing-in of new Commissioners; introduction of new BPC Chair, street update, Schoolhouse / Town property update, budget update, events/marketing manager position.
• Schoolhouse project: the Town is moving towards an agreement with Heritage Montgomery. Three estimate will be obtained for the proposed work. Commissioner Bartley and Property Manager will meet with the two lowest bidders.
Question: does the Schoolhouse need a security system? At the time, it is not deemed a necessary expense.
Grading plan for Schoolhouse: Miche Booz sent the grading plan to HPC staff to review before an HAWP is submitted.
• Events / Marketing Manager: The Commissioner will hold off advertising this position to the public until the new Commissioner is sworn in. The Commissioner would like the position to be filled by a Town Resident and will advertise this at the Semi-Annual Meeting.
Town Property
Academy Update:
• Roof: no new bids have been received.
• Academy Interior: no new progress to report
• Academy Lawn: the topological survey has been received. Property Manager will markup the topographic map with what the Town Commissioner would like along with a narrative to send to MHT for approval. After MHT approval, Property Manager will solicit bids.
Arborist: work is in progress.
Streetlight: the contractor has surveyed the Town owned streetlights that need repair/bulb replacement, and work will commence soon. Lightbulbs will be HPS (high-pressured sodium).
Schoolhouse:
Commissioner Bartley and Property Manager will meet with the contractors for the roof repair.
One HAWP will be submitted for all the work required in and around the schoolhouse: tree removal, changes to the parking lot, porta-potty enclosure, etc. The porta-potty enclosure will need design input from the BPC.
There was a discussion about installing a heating / AC unit in the Schoolhouse. The estimated cost is $6K-$7K for installation. Commissioner Farquhar feels a split level unit will help with the maintenance and rentals of the Schoolhouse. Commissioner Bartley feels the cost is not justified until the Schoolhouse has a proven rental history. If a “Friends of the Schoolhouse†committee raises funds, the Town would consider installing the unit.
Motion: install a split level heating / AC unit in the Schoolhouse. 2 against, 1 for this motion.
The split level unit will be added to the HAWP – once approved, the Town can install the unit at any time but is under no obligation to install the unit.
Academy Chairs: What to do with the old chairs when the Town starts using the new chairs? Property Manager will place a for sale ad on eBay and Craigslist. If the chairs do not sell, they will be donated to Our House.
BYPASS – next SHA meeting will be January 10, 2017
Other Business
The Town Clerk has a schedule conflict with the April 10th Commissioner Meeting. The Commissioner changed the April meeting to Monday, April 3rd. Notices will be placed in the Brookeville Times.
Material for January Brookeville Times:
Next BPC Meeting – Tuesday, Feb. 7
Next Commissioners Meeting – Monday, Feb. 13
Will need a bio for the new BPC Chair and Commissioner; repost Events / Marketing Manager job; snow removal information.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Cate McDonald
Town Clerk