Town of Brookeville
Commissioners Meeting Minutes
September 13, 2015
7:00pm
Commissioner:
Present: Katherine Farquhar, Buck Bartley, and Sue Daley
Absent: none
Quorum present? Yes
Present during all or portions of the meeting:
Treasurer Susan Johnson, Academy Manager Andrea Scanlon and Town Clerk Cate McDonald.
Town Residents: Andy Spagnolo and Harry Montgomery
Others: Lisa DelFavero, Mark DelFavero (BSA Troop 601), Aiden Sanchez (BSA Troop 759), and Marcos Sanchez
Proceedings:
· Meeting called to order at 7:06 p.m. by Commissioner President Farquhar
Open Discussion:
Harry Montgomery said he was interested in the RoundUp discussion scheduled for tonight. Also, he was generally trying to see what was going on in Town. He gave an update on Karen, who was recently released from the hospital.
ROUTINE TOWN BUSINESS:
Minutes: The August Commissioners Meeting Minutes were approved.
Financial: Budget was reviewed.
Treasurer reports the Town has $500K in reserves.
In future budget reports, she will break down big ticket items (ie – sidewalks) in separate columns instead of lumping together in other.
Kudos: great Town picnic on Sept. 13. Around 22 homes attended
Permits:
Signed: garage permit for 4 North St
Signed: Pepco tree permits; ok for accept credit card payment for $200 ( 8 permits x $25 permit fee) with no additional credit card fee.
BYPASS & BEYOND:
Strategy meeting earlier this evening with Town Attorney Jody Kline went well.
Mandatory Referral meeting will be Thursday, October 22 at Park and Planning Commission in Silver Spring. Commissioner need to develop a strategy to maximize participation – need elected official; will send letters to our State Delegation with invitation to attend. Will have a panel of 2-3 speakers.
Need to maximize Town attendance at the SHA informational meeting at Longwood Sept. 29
Next biweekly SHA Meeting is Sept. 16 (then Sept. 30) in Baltimore. All Commissioners are planning on attending.
No updates on the SHA Sidewalk Project for High Street.
No meeting date yet with MHT. Proposed dates are October 6 or 7
Beyond the ByPass Task Force: Commissioner Daley reports that the next meeting will not be until November due to Don Moore’s travel schedule. Town Clerk will email Don Moore regarding the next Task Force meeting date.
Town Property
Academy Report:
-Rental report was emailed prior to the meeting
-Chabad of Olney has booked a lecture series
-Another Cub Scout Den has asked to use the Academy; will need to arrange a spring service project for Scouts
-Question from Harry Montgomery: can Town Residents use the Academy for Book Clubs? Residents support the Academy but are not able to use it. Commissioner Farquhar suggested that Mr. Montgomery come up with a list of things / clubs / events that would interest people in the Town for publication in The Brookeville Times.
-Records: need to figure out what to do with the records stored in the Town’s office and storage closet, especially the BPC. Commissioner Farquhar has asked the BPC to meet this Fall to sort through and organize the 2-3 drawer in the filing cabinet. BPC will need to decide what legally we need to keep and what we want to keep. BPC Chair Chris Scanlon will make the decision on what stays and what goes.
Commissioner Farquhar will attend the MM Fall Conference and will ask how other Town’s store data.
Motion by Commissioner Farquhar: When the Academy is rented to a group of 25 or more people (outside of the usual and customary users such as boy scouts), a trained representative of the Town is hired to be “on duty†at the event: Extend welcome, provide information & guidance, be a resource, trouble-shoot, ensure noise, trash, etc. are under control, be a helping hand if there is confusion, controversy, emergency.
Academy Manager not sure where to find a supply of people for an Ambassador / Hospitality job.
Commissioner Farquhar stated this would only be for unknown, non-Town groups.
Commissioner Bartley seconded; motion open for discussion.
Academy Manager is opposed to this idea:
1. Financial: an Ambassador would add approximately $150 per rental. Not sure if we raised the rental rates that much, people would be able to afford to rent the Academy.
2. It changes the nature of the rental. The Academy has always been a self-service rental facility. If we hire an Ambassador, that person would need to speak with the authority of the Town to act.
Since she became Academy Manager, there has only been 1 incident where the renters did not call her when there was an issue. Most call her when there is an issue.
Would Town Residents need an ambassador? What would that do to their already reduced rate?
Concerned about what training would be needed; how to schedule, especially with last minuet rentals.
Harry Montgomery suggested the Town treat the Academy renters like airline passengers: supply a video like they do at takeoff. People would learn from the video and you would not need a trained person at the Academy.
Academy Manager said she walks through the Academy with all rentals.
Treasurer stated that the Town should pay for the Ambassador fee, not the renters, like they do at the Sandy Spring Museum. The Academy may be too small for this type of service. The way the Academy operates now is not unreasonable for the price- that is paid.
Commissioner Farquhar states that most venues have an attendant. She is concerned about the hospitality image of the Town. She acknowledges that this would be a change but feels there should be a representative at the Academy during rentals.
Commissioner Bartley asked if anyone has asked for an attendant in the past. Academy Manager responded no.
Motion Vote:
In favor: 1
Opposed: 2
May need to amend the motion for future discussion. Suggestion to survey renters to determine interest in a facilitator; maybe pilot program with an on-site representative. Maybe offer a wedding package the facilitator price built in.
-Town Holiday Party is December 5, 2015
-Sandy Heiler wants a 2nd screen of “Brookeville: Capital for a Day†at the Academy similar to the July event. Commissioner agree that the Town will not be paying for food & wine for this screening.
-Greater Olney Newspaper wants the Town to run another ad. The Commissioners decided against renewing the ad and will talk about ways to market the Academy at another time.
Survey: survey stakes are in place. Commissioner Bartley will solicit 2-3 bids to engage a landscape architect while the stakes are in place. The Town will need to consider a budget: will the landscape architect be time paid or % of project?
Harry Montgomery suggested that the Town engage a company that specializes in organic landscaping.
Academy Manager thinks the BPC may have plans from a while ago from a landscape architect for the Academy. She will ask Chris Scanlon. Commissioner Farquhar will ask Miche Booz and other members of the BPC to help at their October meeting.
Schoolhouse: what to do with the Schoolhouse? Ask landscape architect if the schoolhouse is move to the Academy, where would it go.
Academy Maintenance:
-Walkway installation is complete
-Lamp pole: fixture is at restorer and will need a new pole.
Discussion: do we need to wait for landscape architect to suggest where the pole goes before it is restored; Town needs to do something for lighting the door outside and we need a permanent solution. Commissioner Bartley wants the canisters lights with a dawn / dusk sensor. Academy Manager does not like the look of the canister lights. As a temporary solution, Commissioner Bartley will install a blank lightswitch so the canister lights stay on all the time for safety. The Academy Manager will have the fixture repaired and the Town will discuss a permanent solution for outside lighting with the landscape architect.
-ADA door: when electrician comes out to install the push button for the ADA door, he will install a photo cell on the canister lights.
-Roof: Contractor Hines feels the Academy roof has at least 10 years left before it needs to be replaced. Academy Manager has solicited 4 bids for the Academy roof with a 20K variance in pricing for cedar shingles. The budgeted amount for the roof is $25K. Commissioner Bartley feels the best solution would be to replace the roof with metal for the quoted price of $62K. Before the Town gets more bids for a metal roof, the Town will get preliminary approval from the HPC and MHT to change materials (cedar shacks vs. cedar singles vs. tin). Will get pricing, but will not replace rood this year.
-Lawn mowing: Treasurer will write a work order to Mark Ennes and pay him $30 per cutting of the Academy lawn.
MOTION to accept; seconded and passed.
-Automatic door opener: Academy Manager has received 2 bid: $2750 and $4300. She is working on a 3rd bid. Commissioner authorized her to spend up to $3000 for the door and have a Commissioner sign the contract. Will use a wireless button to open the door.
-Fire Alarm service will be in October
-Academy passed the annual sprinkler inspection; 2 sprinkler valves needed to be replaced
-Refrigerator is not staying cold. Discussion about replace / repair / redesign the kitchen with a kitchen planner. $2k in the budget for a microwave. Commissioner will have more discussion about this topic.
Schoolhouse
Possible Rental to Kathy Lynn in Oct/Nov for art installation. Who takes responsibility for Schoolhouse rentals? More discussion needs on this topic. For this one rental, Academy Manager will handle the rental.
Academy Manager has a contract for short term Schoolhouse rental but thinks the Schoolhouse is not ready to rent due to a potential mold issue. She will contact MoldStoppers to take a mold test.
Remaining roof repairs estimated at $40K. Commissioner Farquhar will ask Miche Booz to talk with roof contractors about the scope of the work and have Miche Booz decided on the contract.
$2K to repair the gutters approved; will ask Miche if snow guards needed and if he agrees the additional cost is approved. Will hold off having the Schoolhouse painted.
Commissioner approved an air test for mold prior to any rental.
Public Works (sidewalks, streets, lights)
VOTE: Restricted use of Glyphosate (“Roundup†and similar herbicides) in Brookeville per petition in early August.
After discussion, the Commissioner approved the following to be reflected in all future Town contracts:
Cease the use of glyphosate for “general cosmetic purposes†(such as crab grass in gravel lanes, weeds in brick sidewalks, reduction of weeds on street margins) on Town property; strictly limit use to poison ivy/poison oak and similar plants. This change will take place in all future Town contracts.
RoundUP will not be used, without Commissioner approval, in all future Town contracts. The Town will seeks alternative methods of weed control such as the product Nature Advantage.
-Leaf removal/pickup: last year, Todd Greenstone’s contract for leaf vacuuming was $2K. Commissioner Bartley will contact Todd Greenstone about leaf removal this year.
– Tree removal & pruning: JC Tree Services gave the lowest estimate for this service: $2500. Commissioner Bartley and BPC Chair Scanlon will walk North St. with contractor before the work commences.
– CPH Corp bid: price not to exceed $35,370 for the design fee for drainage issues on Water and North Streets and pavement failure of Market St.
The Town will need to solicit more bids prior to awarding CPH the work.
-North St lights: lights still out. Town Clerk will check with Dennis Bogin to see when he will complete the work.
Town Government
Town Directory: project date for updated directory to be delivered will be at the Holiday Party. Discussion: A Town Resident asked if we could include children’s information in the Directory. Commissioners will leave that decision to each household if they want their child information in the Directory.
The BPC has been asked to included information about the permitting process in the Directory.
Leszek Syski asked that his information be included in the Directory. Discussion about this as Leszek Syski lives outside of the municipal boundaries of Brookeville.
309-311 Market: properties were discusses with Attorney Kline, who will do further research and get back to the Commissioners.
October Commissioners Meeting: Meeting will be held Tuesday, October 13 due to conflict with Community Night. The Academy will share a table with SUMC. Academy Manager will donate a free Academy rental for the Silent Auction.
The meeting adjourned at 9:45p.m.
Cate McDonald
Town Clerk