Page 4 - November Banner 2018_Neat
P. 4

Page 4             November 2018                                  The Catoctin Banner Newspaper                         www.TheCatoctinBanner.com                     Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com

                       T o wn  H all  R epor ts                                         Thurmont

                            O c t ob er 2 0 1 8                                        For more information on the Town of Thurmont, visit www.thurmont.com
                                                              by James Rada, Jr.       or call the town office at 301-271-7313.

            Emmitsburg                                                                 Town Sees Big Insurance Savings
                                                                                          The Town of Thurmont entered into an agreement with the Local
            For more information on the Town of Emmitsburg, visit www.emmitsburgmd.    Government Insurance Trust. The trust is a pooled insurance fund among
            gov or call 301-600-6300.                                                  government entities that allows their combined size to get them better
                                                                                       insurance rates.
            Incumbents Re-elected                                                         The Thurmont Commissioners had allocated $100,000 in the current
               The Emmitsburg Town Election was held on September 25, 2018.            budget for insurance. The town’s insurance provider at the time quoted
            Incumbents Clifford Sweeney and Timothy O’Donnell ran unopposed for        the town $96,143. However, town staff decided to shop around to see if
                                                                                       a better rate could be had. LGIT quoted $60,471 for the same insurance.
            two open commissioner seats. Forty-eight ballots were cast. Sweeney received   Chief Administrative Jim Humerick told the commissioners that LGIT also
            forty-four and O’Donnell received forty-one. The winners were sworn in for   offered an extensive line of online training in different areas of municipal
            their new four-year terms during the October 1 town meeting.               government that LGIT customers can use for free.
               Following a recommendation from Mayor Don Briggs, the board of             Commissioner Marty Burns raised the issue as to whether Thurmont
            commissioners was reorganized. Sweeney became the new president of the     Mayor John Kinnaird had exceeded his power by authorizing town staff to
            board and O’Donnell became the treasurer. Glenn Blanchard became the new   change insurance providers without approval from the commissioners.
            vice president of the board. Elizabeth Buckman remained the liaison with the   Kinnaird said, “It’s my duty to see we don’t exceed our stated budget.”
            Citizen’s Advisory Committee, and Joseph Ritz, III remained the liaison with   It was pointed out that the line item was for insurance and did not state a
            the Parks Committee.                                                       specific company. Those types of things are typically left to the decision of
                                                                                       staff and/or the mayor. Kinnaird also noted that had the insurance quotes
            Rezoning of Emmit Gardens Property Approved                                exceeded the approved $100,000, he would have brought the issue back to
               The Emmitsburg Commissioners held a public hearing during their         the commissioners to decide what to do.
            October 1 public meeting to consider rezoning the property at 600-602 East    The other commissioners had no issue with Kinnaird’s decision,
            Main Street Ext. Joseph Baldacchino, representing the Sarah E. Baldacchino   particularly since it saved the town more than $35,000. The commissioners
            Trust, asked that the property be rezoned from low-density residential (R1)   unanimously approved the agreement with LGIT.
            to neighborhood commercial (B1). This zoning better represented how the
            property had been used years ago when it served as a home and dentist office.  Colorfest Looking Good
               The commissioners agreed that a mistake had been made in the original      A few days before the 55  Annual Catoctin Colorfest, the Thurmont
                                                                                                                 th
            zoning, but they had concerns that B1 zoning would allow a future property   Mayor and Commissioners received an update on the number of permits
            owner to install a large sign that was out-of-character with the neighborhood.   issued for the festivals.
            Another concern was the placement of required fencing would impinge on a      Last year (which was the record year for permits issued), a total of 764
            utility right-of-way.                                                      permits were issued. This year, with three days to go before the festival, 719
               After much discussion, the commissioners approved the rezoning, while   permits had been issued with more expected. This is more than either 2016
            reserving the right to approve signage and fencing when, and if, it happened.  or 2015. Chief Administrative Officer Jim Humerick told the commissioners
                                                                                       that he expected the 2018 total permits to be at least as many as 2017 and
            Commission Turns Down Group Asking to Hunt on Scott Road Farm              possibly more.
                The Indian Lookout Conservation Club asked to enter into an agreement     The town issues permits for craft vendors, for-profit-food vendors, non-
            with the town to allow its group to hunt on the town-owned Scott Road      profit food vendors, information-only booths, parking, and yard sales. Craft
            Farm if the group took care of the maintenance of the property. Town staff   vendors make up the majority of the permits, but the for-profit-food vendors
            did not recommend this agreement to the commissioners for numerous         pay the most for their permits.
                                                                                          All income from the permits is used to pay for the services that the town
            reasons, such as making it harder to enforce the no-hunting ban and showing   provides during Colorfest. This includes staff overtime, security, trash
            favoritism to a small group of citizens. The commissioners decided to stick   removal, porta-potties, and shuttles.
            with their original decision to re-evaluate its no-hunting rule next August.
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9