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.