Town of Brookeville
Commissioners Meeting Minutes
May 9, 2016
7:00pm
Commissioner:
Present: Katherine Farquhar, Buck Bartley, and Sue Daley
Absent: none
Quorum present? Yes
Present during all or portions of the meeting:
Academy Manager Andrea Scanlon, Treasurer Susan Johnson, and Town Clerk Cate McDonald.
Town Residents: Barbara Ray, Chris Haris
Others: Terri Hogan
Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Commissioner President Farquhar
ROUTINE TOWN BUSINESS:
Minutes: The April Commissioners Meeting Minutes were approved as edited.
Financial: no new updates. The draft FY ’16-’17 budget will be ready to upload to the Town’s website on Thursday, May 12.
Town Operations:
Election: The Town Election is tomorrow from 3pm-7pm. The voter register has been received from MoCo.
Election Supervisor Marti Andress is ready for the election.
Communication: Maggie Kay, a Market St Resident, has offered to help the Town with social media (Facebook, Twitters, etc.). It was suggested we ask her to make a bid about what her implementation plan for a multi prong communication strategy for the Town would include. Jordan Chacon, a Water St Resident, has offered to help with social media before and will be approached to collaborate on a social media plan.
There was a discussion about if the Town should be using social media as a mean to communicate to Residents.
The social media plan and refreshing the Town’s website will be separate bids.
ByPass and SHA:
Sidewalk: SHA is holding an informational meeting at Longwood on May 12 from 6p-8p. The proposed sidewalk will be from Gold Mine Rd to 1 High St. There is talk of the sidewalk to continue down the hill to the Valley House as part of the ByPass – this is not confirmed.
ByPass Update: the latest design plan from SHA will have Brookeville Rd remain open. SHA will give an update at next week’s meeting.
The Mandatory Referral Meeting is scheduled for June 16th M-NCPPC offices in Silver Spring. The time for the meeting has not been confirmed.
All 3 Commissioners and a BPC representative will attend the May 18th SHA meeting in Baltimore.
Traffic Count: the traffic flowing through Town is less when compared to last June – approx. 500-600 less cars on average. This may be due to the ICC. The count performed by the State is fairly accurate.
Town Property
Academy Update: The Academy will be used for an art camp for 4 weeks this summer: the last week of June, 2nd & 3rd weeks of June, and the 1st week of August. The Commissioners welcomed this information.
Fire Alarm: the panel has been replaced. The Fire Marshall requested 3 more strobe light alerts, which were installed today. So far, the panel has been replaced, pull stations replaced, and new smoke detectors installed.
The phone line is currently down so unable to test the alarm. The Fire Marshall will come back for the final inspection after the phone line is fixed.
The Town has 2 more years with the Protection One monitoring contract. After the contract expires, will switch to Bogan for monitoring. Protection One is $81 per month; Bogan would be $45 per month.
Tree Removal: funds for the Ash tree removal will come out of the FY ’15-’16 budget. Academy Manager received a letter from Pogo today needed for the HAWP. Commissioner Bartley signed the HAWP. Academy Manager will explore with Pogo about removal / disposition of the tree.
$3025 contract for tree removal was unanimously approved.
A.I.R. Lawn Care: contract will be prepaid for a discount = $725.61 total. Contract was unanimously approved; Commissioner Bartley signed the contract.
Road Repair: Contract from Maxxon LLC was reviewed. $2600 = repair potholes on North and Water Streets and repair bricks in front of 209 Market St. Contract was unanimously approved; Commissioner Bartley signed the contract.
There is a separate contract for pothole repair for eastern Market St. Commissioner Bartley needs to discuss the contract with Maxxon before it is approved.
Academy Metal Roof: Academy Manager has requested a quote from Michael Brown but has not received it due to poor weather conditions. Leska and Hines have sent quotes. The Commissioners are trying to pay the deposit with FY ’15-’16 funds. Academy Manager does not think this will be possible – will need to get HAWP and then pay deposit after receiving approval to change the roof from cedar to metal.
Commissioner Farquhar suggested that Miche Booz can help craft the HAWP.
Will need to get MHT approval to change the roof from cedar to metal; then get HAWP
The estimated cost for the metal roof is $50K – $60K. The current cedar roof is 20 years old. The Academy Manager will check when the next MHT meeting will be and if the meeting is open. Commissioner Farquhar and/or Miche Booz would attend this MHT meeting if it is open. Academy Manager will start the process with MHT; if MHT approves the change of roof materials, she will get the spec to the roofers to bid. The Commissioners would like 4 bids for the roof replacement: Lakeview Construction, Leska, Hines, and Brown.
Academy Grounds: Jonathan Castellano, Regenerative Earth Design, LLC, sent a letter the Commissioners about their services. This opened a discussion about the landscape design for the Academy lawn: Do we have a scope of what work we want done? It was determined the Commissioners just need a landscape plan for the Academy lawn. The letter from Castellano will be kept on file for future reference.
The Town will solicit bids and design plans from Josh Bryant, cph Corp., and Dick Benoit.
After the plans are received, BPC will review the plans.
There was a discussion about the vision for the Academy lawn: do we have a plan? Do we need a schematic or verbal plan? The Town needs to ask each bidder using uniform guidelines. The Academy Manager will draft a written proposal / RFP for the scope of work for a Master Plan. Commissioner Farquhar will talk with BPC Chair tomorrow for his input and will finalize the RFP.
ADA Door: the power for the automatic door open can be pulled from the exit light. – Estimate from Bogan Electric is $350. Academy Manager is working on getting the specs for the door. Lead time for the work on the door is 2 weeks. Work will be done in FY ’15-’16.
Interior Design: Commissioner Farquhar will solicit ideas and referrals from MHT and Preservation Maryland for the Academy interior. Commissioner Farquhar and Academy Manager along with other interested town Residents will visit local historical buildings for ideas.
Dessert Wall: Commissioner Farquhar proposed displaying the history of Brookeville and the numerous awards the Town has received along the “dessert wall†inside the Academy. Karen Montgomery has offered to help design the wall. There was a discussion about waiting until we have an interior designer consultation; a wall of photos might not be appropriate for a rental hall. It was decided to have Karen Montgomery give her ideas and concept for the wall. The vision for the dessert wall would be upscale and communicate “what is Brookevilleâ€.
Academy Marketing:
Olney Days: Do we want to set up a tent and market there: no
Strawberry Festival: no option this year to set up a table
Photos: waiting for the weather to improve before having the photographer, Luca Casareto, take pictures.
Schoolhouse: The Commissioners will invite Sandy Heiler to the June Commissioners Meeting to present her plan for the Schoolhouse. The proposal will be loaded onto the Town’s website for Town Residents to review.
Comments from the BPC regarding the proposal: 1 – set up a specific time limit (1-2years); 2- have a more specific plan about how the site will be used; 3 – placement of the porta potty; 4 – details about which entity will pay for what.
The Commissioners want to know what Town Residents want for the schoolhouse use, especially North St Residents.
No new work has been performed on the Schoolhouse.
Miche Booz has agreed to help with the grading design for the schoolhouse. The Commissioners will have him talked to CPH, who provided the recent hydrolytic survey. The siding on the north side of the Schoolhouse will need to be replaced.
Academy Manager will arrange to have MoldStoppers come back out to the Schoolhouse. There will be no new cosmetic work to the Schoolhouse until the mold issue has been resolved.
Public Works (sidewalks, streets, lights)
CPH Report: what to do now that the report has been received? Nothing this FY – only road work will be pot hole repairs. The Town will get design plans for North and Water Streets using tar & chip.
Phase 1 is not complete yet. The next report will be regarding drainage.
Commissioners Bartley and Farquhar will talk with vendors at the upcoming MML convention regarding chip & tar paving.
Rough estimate for North Street would be $35K for a 12ft strip of tar & chip and 2 feet each side of gravel.
Market St: Commissioner Bartley will discuss with Maxxon for pothole repair on eastern Market St. This will be a short term fix until Market St can be repaved.
Street Sign: The Town received an approved HAWP for the “Slow: Children at Play†sign for lower North Street. The BPC would like to see a Town of Brookeville permit application.
Brookeville Time
Material for the upcoming edition of the Brookeville Times was discussed.
• Annual Town Meeting: Monday May 16 7-9 PM
• Next SHA Partnering Meeting: Wednesday May 18; All Commissioners will attend on behalf of Town.
• Next BPC Meeting: Tuesday June 7th. 7:30 PM
• Next Commissioners Meeting: Mon. June 13th 7:00 PM; (Elect, swear in the President of the Commission)
Other Business:
• The Commissioners reviewed the Town’s insurance renewal packet from LGIT. Authorization was given for the Town Clerk to renew the policy.
• Commissioner Farquhar wants to show the 13 minute video about the ByPass from 1988 that Bill Wagner produced. The Commissioners agrees to air the video at the end of the Annual Meeting.
• Sunday, September 11 will be the Town Picnic from 3p – 7p
The meeting adjourned at 9:05p.m.
Cate McDonald
Town Clerk