Town of Brookeville
Commissioners Meeting Minutes
October 18, 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:
Town Clerk Cate McDonald, Academy Manager Andrea Scanlon
Town Residents: Barbara Ray, Duane Heiler, Sandy Heiler, and Debbie Wagner
Others: none
Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Commissioner President Farquhar
Commissioner Bartley will be 30 minutes late to the meeting
Open Discussion:
• Halloween: will the Town be “Trick or Treating†on Halloween night (Monday) night or move to another night? Response: The Town does not change the day for “Trick or Treatingâ€. There was a discussion about having an event at the Academy Halloween night for Town Residents. It was decided to promote SUMC’s “Table and Treat†event, which will take place Sunday, October 30 on the lawn of SUMC.
• Suggestion to use the Brookeville Times to welcome new families and make personal announcements.
• A one point, the Town had a volunteer welcome wagon. The welcome “baskets†can be restarted and will include†a “Brookeville: Capital for a Day†DVD, Town directory, historical map poster, a pin, and a welcome letter that included historical tax credit information.
• A discussion was held about the 2 year tax increase that is set to expire in 2017. Any tax increases will be discusses at a later Commissioners Meeting. The Commissioners will ask the Treasurer to total up the amount of taxes collected in the 2 years and to highlight where the money was spent. If the Commissioner can find a stream of revenue, then they can cut taxes.
• When will the new entrance signs be installed? Discussion deferred until Commissioner Bartley arrives.
Academy Chairs: review of the “chair report†with updated information from Sandy Heiler was reviewed. The plan is to purchase “Windsor-style†chairs for use in the Academy’s Dining Room. The current chairs in the dining room would be moved upstairs to the Lecture Hall. The Lecture Hall chairs would be sold. Finding 75 Windsor chairs in good conditions is difficult. Mrs. Heiler has found groups of 6-8 from individuals or used-furniture dealers and 15 from the Howard University Law Library in Baltimore. The chairs will be a mixture of various kinds of Windsor chair. The Windsor chairs can be stacked 2 high when not in use. There are 3 options to come up with a total of 75 chairs:
1 – Purchase a batch of 75 new, unfinished custom made chairs
2 – Purchase in small good quality 75 used chairs
3 – Purchase a mixture of new and used chairs.
All chairs would need to be painted black.
New chairs would need a lead time of 8-10 weeks plus painting.
Buying chairs in small batches may take more time plus a place to store them until 75 are found.
There was a lengthy discussion about the Windsor chairs and the Commissioner agreed to the following:
Purchase:
15 chairs from Howard Univ. Law Library
15-20 good quality chairs from a dealer in New Market
40-45 new chairs from a furniture maker in WV
Total: 75
Average price will be $100 per chair
$25-$30 to paint each chair = $1,875 estimated
$11,000 for chairs
Total estimated cost = $12,000.00 for period appropriate chairs for the dining room
The consensus: a mix of new and used chairs feels more like “Brookevilleâ€.
Town Commissioners voted (3-0) to purchase several lots of Windsor style chairs. To reach a total of 75 chairs, the Town may purchase unfinished bow back Windsor chairs from a furniture maker in WV. All of the Windsor chairs will be painted black.
The next purchase for the Academy will be new tables. We need to have tables the chairs can go under.
CPH Engineering:
Status report for regrading of lower Water Street: Commissioner Bartley is soliciting bids for contractors with the topographic map.
RFP sent to Serra Stone, Maxxon, and Weigand. Proposals should be back in a couple of weeks. After proposals are received, Commissioner Bartley and BPC Chair will review. An interim meeting of the Commissioners may need an interim meeting once proposals have been received and reviewed.
Question was raised about why the Town is only doing the lower portion of Water Street. There may be backlash from Residents. What do the commissioners say to Residents about splitting the road work?
Residents of 209 Market Street report having a lot of wash down water from Water Street onto their property. Commissioner Farquhar reports that the Residents of 209 Market believe that when Water Street was build, there were design and engineering things that happened and that there are drains under the road that are not working. The drains are from Water Street, under 211 Market, and drain onto 209 Market’s yard. There was a discussion about how this was not possible: The Montgomery’s would not have allowed a drain across their property and runs under their pool. Water Street was developed in 2003 and the pool was put in sometime in the 1990’s. There was a discussion about weather patterns changing due to climate change and the natural flow of storm water. The topographic maps will show the natural flow of water. There is a French drain along Water Street adjacent to 211 Market’s shed/garage. Residents of North Street have been asking what the Town is going to do about storm water runoff onto their property. Also, what surface will the roads become (gravel vs. tar & chip). Rain water flows downhill so there is not much the Town can do to disrupt the natural flow of rain water. Commissioner Bartley will review the plans from the Water Street development to determine if there are drains running to North Street.
How to make a decision about resurfacings? Many Resident would like tar & chip. First, the Town will need to consult with HPC to see if a surface change to tar & chip will be allowed. Mrs. Heiler, a member of HPC, said HPC approves tar & chip all the time for gravel roads because over time gravel roads are not long pervious.
Commissioner Farquhar wants to know what is holding up the road surface change; the Town has the money now. Commissioner Bartley said he gotten an estimate for North Street for a 12ft tar & chip strip with 2 feet of gravel on each side – the question: would that type of road works for Brookeville. The Town is now at the design / concept phase and need to determine what type of road surface. There may be financial help from the State and grants available to help defer the cost. The Town needs a design to get an accurate quote.
Options for road surface:
1. Improve the gravel roads. Cheaper but requires continual maintenance
2. Change surface to tar & chip (exposed aggregate). More expensive, easier to maintain, and less maintenance.
3. Restructured gravel (dig down to original gravel)
When North Street is resurfaces, Commissioner Bartley will work with CPH to see if there is a design option to channel water runoff onto Market Street. The object would be to minimize drainage across properties with a gutter or something similar, as best we can, particularly for North and Water Streets, as some houses were build lower than the road. Commissioner Farquhar will have meeting with the Residents of Water and North Street to get their input.
Question to Commissioner Bartley: when will the 3 new entrance signs be installed? Commissioner Bartley will get the contractor to schedule a date. Commissioner Farquhar wants to have the North Street sign moved at the same time. Commissioner Farquhar wants MoCo to erect a flood sign at the intersection of Market and Brookeville Rd.
Phase 1 of Schoolhouse project:
Jon Cholwek, an arborist at Pogo, will be providing an estimate to update the 2008 tree survey with particular attention to North Street trees.
Status of the Schoolhouse project: the Commissioner met with Heritage Montgomery. The proposed work for Heritage Montgomery to use the schoolhouse will be done in 4-5 phases. Phase 1 will be to access the trees from 209 Market to the Schoolhouse. If the Town proceeds with Heritage Montgomery’s proposed use of the Schoolhouse, the Town will pay for necessary tree removal and trimming. Heritage Montgomery will pay for the lot clean-up, installation of the walking path, and a fence along 211 Market’s property line. The Town would need to maintain the lot. Commissioner Farquhar wants to make sure the arborist surveys the tulip poplars on the lower end of North Street. There is no final agreement with Heritage Montgomery – the Commissioners are working on a preliminary agreement. Heritage Montgomery will not clean up the lot and install the fence until there is signed agreement. Once a draft agreement is reached, it will be uploaded to the Town’s website and be made available to Residents.
Schoolhouse exterior repairs:
• The Academy Manager is working on the chimney cap.
• Door frame – Heritage Montgomery will not pay to repair as maintenance of the Schoolhouse is the Towns responsibility.
• Commissioner Bartley, Miche Booz, Chris Scanlon, Josh Bryant (CPH) are working on re-grading plan for the Schoolhouse lot. After the lot is regraded, the repairs to the door frame will take place. If the French drain is removed, a HAWP will be needed.
Academy Update:
• Contract with Donna Will: Academy Manager reported that Donna Will’s first use of the Academy for a field trip was this past Friday. There was over 100 children and all went well. This past Monday, the bus went to the wrong location so the field trip did not take place. Currently, there are 25 field trips plan from now until the end of the school year.
• Another Cub Scout Den will be using the Academy for their meeting.
• Chabad of Olney is holding a weekly art class on Wednesday nights September – May
Storage: Academy Manager reports that Chabad and Donna Will has asked to store items at the Academy. Their contract for use of the Academy states items may not be stored at the Academy. Commissioner Farquhar does not want to make any contract commitments for more than a year (end of this fiscal year). The Commissioners need to discuss a strategic plan for the Academy. For example – weddings and parties make more money than community use of the Academy. Does the Town want the Academy to make more money; a significant income stream? Currently, community use of the Academy does not conflict with weekend rentals of the Academy.
The Town has discussed options for install a shed on property for storage, but MHT prohibits a shed. If the Academy Manager is flexible enough to allow storage, that is fine but The Town is not responsible to provide storage. The Academy Manager will organize a massive clean-up of the Academy to help free up some storage space for Town use. The Commissioners will decided what items to keep and what items to toss.
An idea to purchase 1 High Street to use as the Town office was discussed. That idea might be discussed at a later date.
ROUTINE TOWN BUSINESS:
Minutes: The September Commissioners Meeting were approved as edited.
Financial: deferred until next Commissioner Meeting
BYPASS:
• Next Partnering Meeting at SHA, Baltimore = TBD
Town Operations:
• Town Lights: after many months and different bulb options, the Town will revert back to using HPS (high pressure sodium) bulbs in the Town’s cast iron streetlights. HPS bulbs should last 5 year. LED bulbs will be reconsidered in the future when the technology changes.
• Academy Metal/Shingle-Shake Roof: The Academy Manager solicited option from Sandy Heiler, BPC Chair Scanlon, and Miche Booz. After she gets all the opinions, she will solicit bids. After the bids are received, she will submit them to the Commissioners for comments / approval. After the Commissioner approve what material will be used on the roof, the Academy Manager will apply for MHT approval.
Material for October Brookeville Times: Water Street drainage remediation from Commissioner Bartley; information about what’s happening at the Academy.
Semi-Annual meeting: will be schedule for a date in January.
The Commissioners will have an executive session Friday, November 4th at 8:00am
Other Business:
• New website: deferred
• Technology and email: Town Clerk would like to use Google Apps or Outlook 365 for email. Currently, GoDaddy’s web based email is used but it does not sync email across all devices and it is glitchy. Also, she would like the Commissioner to determine what type of website they prefer (a basic information site or with more options ie: able to have directory online, send / receive text message, able to integrate social media). Also, have the ability to store documents online, in the cloud. Commissioner Farquhar will solicit opinions / input from Town Residents about uses of cloud based options and communication options.
• The request for a free Academy rental for private fundraiser will be offered a rate of $200 to cover the Towns cost of cleaning the Academy.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30p.m.
Cate McDonald
Town Clerk